Doris Banchik-Moxley selected to lead Realtors’ association

 

Vowing to keep excellence in the practice of real estate, Doris Banchik-Moxley, newly installed as president of the Santa Ynez Valley Association of Realtors, has listed her goals for the coming year.

“We are always looking to improve, but all of our efforts are in support of our mission: excellent real estate practice,” she insisted.

Banchik said there are three principal objectives for 2008: Install a state-of-the-art Multiple Listing Service information system; join the Central Coast Regional MLS; and create a broader interface between the association and the community.

 

“We will replace our current MLS information system with what we consider to be the best system in the market,” she explained. “In addition to providing extensive data on past and current listings, this new system will allow us to perform extensive market analyses, which will be of great benefit in providing pricing guidance to our clients. The system will have a companion public access website, for listing and related information.”

She also discussed joining other multiple listing services.

 

“By the end of the first quarter, we will become the seventh MLS in the Central Coast Regional MLS. This is a consortium covering the greater Santa Maria area, all of San Luis Obispo County and parts of Monterey and Kern counties, and was formed years ago to share listings,” she said. “As a result, our listing data base will increase from approximately 350 properties to close to 5,000 properties, which will add greatly to our ability to serve our buyers. At the same time, the exposure of our Santa Ynez Valley listings will increase from our current 360 members to an estimated 4,000 members, which is great news for our sellers.”

Banchik said the association also wants a broader interface between its members and the community.

 

“I am planning to launch a campaign for the community to introduce and inform people of the resources that we have,” she said.

“I believe that we have information that would be useful to the community, particularly at this time of real estate market uncertainty. At the same time, I would like to look at ways to get more advice and input from our community, as some basis from which to evaluate our effectiveness and to change for the better,” she said.

 

Banchik was selected to succeed 2007 president Barbara Moor during recent association elections. She was installed, along with other officers and board members, during ceremonies held by the group on Nov. 30 at Alisal Guest Ranch.

Others serving will be Judy Crawford, president elect; Debbie Buffington, secretary/treasurer; and Bob Jennings, Jonee Hanson and Brett Ellingsberg, all directors.

 

Executive committee members for 2008 are Debbie Buffington, Bob Jennings, Gigi Gerritsen, Jenae Johnson, Meagan Tambini, Sharon Currie and Evan Lash. Master of Ceremonies Allan Jones received a special recognition award during the installation ceremony for his service to the association. The event included a silent auction to benefit Santa Ynez Valley People Helping People.

A broker associate with Sotheby’s International Realty in Los Olivos, Banchik has lived in the Santa Ynez Valley since 1989. She initially operated an investment business in Los Angeles from 1994 to 2000, but decided to move into real estate at that time, citing its enduring value as her reason. This decision allowed her to spend more than just weekends in the area and become a fulltime resident.

 

Before moving to the Santa Ynez Valley, she worked with Hambrecht & Quist, an investment and banking icon, for 10 years. A native of New York, she holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in nursing and an MBA in finance and marketing from Harvard. She is married to physician-consultant John Moxley III, and they live on a 20-acre estate on Ballard Canyon Road, “along with two dogs and five cows,” she said.

With her background in finance and marketing, Banchik has built a real estate practice that focuses on transitional properties, which she said allows clients who have long-range plans to move into the area to make their investment in steps. She sells everything from condominiums and single family homes to ranches and land.