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Orlando Realtor Takes Office as President of Florida’s Largest Professional Association

ORLANDO, Fla., January 2009 – Cynthia Shelton, CCIM, CRE, a broker/salesperson with Colliers Arnold Associates Inc. in Orlando, has been installed as the 2009 president of the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR), the state’s largest professional association with more than 125,000 members. She was president-elect in 2008, a position that prepared her for her current post.

“My 33 years of experience in the real estate industry (which ranges from residential, ownership, management, development and commercial) should allow me to parlay my experiences to the benefit of our Realtor membership,” Shelton says.

She notes that, like other businesses, the real estate industry is going through very challenging times. “The Florida Association of Realtors will continue to focus our efforts on providing education and tools to help our members be successful,” Shelton says.

Shelton is a member of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association, the Central Florida Commercial Association of Realtors, The Women’s Council of Realtors, Commercial Real Estate Women, the CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) Chapter, Counselor of Real Estate (CRE) and the International Council of Shopping Centers. She also serves as an instructor in the CCIM Institute program.

She served as the 2002 national president of the CCIM Institute. Shelton also was the 1996 president of the Florida CCIM chapter and 1994 president of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors. She has been a member of the FAR Board of Directors since 1987 and a board member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for 25 years.

In 2006, Gov. Jeb Bush appointed Shelton to the Florida Property Tax Reform Committee. She says she will continue to work on solutions and relief for rising real estate taxes for all property owners.

Along with fostering continuing educational opportunities for members and helping young people get a foothold into the real estate profession, Shelton says she wants to help members “demonstrate to consumers that using a Realtor adds value to their real estate transactions – that having a well trained, well educated, professional Realtor work on their behalf is one of the wisest, most sound business decisions they can make.”

The Florida Association of Realtors, the voice for real estate in Florida, provides programs, services, continuing education, research and legislative representation to its 125,000 members in 67 boards/associations. FAR's Media Center Web site is available at http://media.floridarealtors.org.