|
|
 Fatima Sogueco  Friday, May 28th, 2010  Now Available… Foreclosure Prevention Library for zipForm® 6!
C.A.R. members who are current zipForm® 6 users can now access the new Foreclosure Prevention library, which was launched on May 26.
C.A.R.’s Foreclosure Prevention Library is an add-on library consisting of 10 short documents explaining how homeowners can avoid foreclosure and foreclosure scams. The library consists of the following titles:
- Proposition 8 – Property Tax Relief
- Tips for a Short Sale Seller
- Tips for a Short Sale Buyer
- Foreclosure or Short Sale
- Foreclosure Prevention Resources
- Short Sale Process
- Foreclosure Timeline
- Homeowner Liability After Foreclosure
- Avoiding Foreclosure Scams
- Alternatives to Foreclosure
Each disclosure form allows you to customize contact information and make these available to your clients who may be at risk of foreclosure or who are already going through the process. The library is designed to help you act as a resource to your clientele who may be experiencing this painful process, and in so doing, possibly help prevent foreclosures.
Continue reading: zipForm® Today – California Special Edition
Patrick Lieuw Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
 “Going on a Panama cruise next week – finally taking a vacation!” Have you, your spouse, or your child ever posted anything like this on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare on your phone, your website or another social media website? Did you stop to think about how vulnerable this information makes you? You may think that only your close friends and family will access this information, but you can’t be sure that this is true. What if a stranger, an acquaintance, your teenager’s classmate or a distant friend-of-a-friend reads it and decides your house is an easy target for a robbery?
Think about what else you may post on these websites: pictures of you dancing the funky chicken at your cousin’s wedding, or pictures of your latest (Not-Safe-For-Work) Halloween costume. Has your son or daughter ever posted anything like this or maybe much worse? It may seem funny at the time, but keep in mind – your boss several years from now may be able to easily see this information with a simple search of your name. In fact, a recent Microsoft commissioned survey found that as many as 70 percent of hiring managers have rejected candidates based on information found online.
In all of these examples, easy access to information posted on the Internet can have serious consequences. Have you run an online search of your name recently? You may be surprised with the amount of information out there. One can easily find a person’s full name, phone number, birth date, address and pictures with a few clicks of the mouse. For instance, www.intelius.com is one site that searches utility, change of address, property and business records and other publicly available information to find people. You might have to pay a little more money to access more details of a person, but it is still a relatively easy process for someone to obtain information on you.
Continue reading: The Pitfalls of Social Media
Daniel Allen Monday, May 24th, 2010
The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® present
NAR’s Resort and Second Home Markets Course
Be a part of this exciting opportunity to learn about the resort area and second-home specialty and fulfill one of the core education requirements for the RSPS Certification!
If you have helped clients purchase their lake cottage/cabin OR helped find a home for their college student OR take advantage of the great deals out there to use a second home for investment, you are a Resort and Second-Home Specialist. Why not share that with the world? Earn your RSPS certification today.
This two-day course from NAR, focuses on the essentials of assisting customers and clients in tourist-driven areas and other second-home markets, including:
- How to take advantage of community resources and tourism bureaus.
- How to prepare to act when laws that directly affect the resort business are scheduled to change.
- How to handle the media – rather than being handled by it.
- The benefits and challenges of second homeownership.
- The Resort & Second-Home Markets course is one of the core education requirements for the RSPS Certification and fulfills the elective course requirement for the ABR® designation.
For more information about how to earn the RSPS Certification, visit www.car.org/education/designations/RSPS/
If you have already earned one of the approved NAR designations, you might immediately qualify for the RSPS Certification. For the one-time application fee of $195 and having successfully completed the Resort and Second-Home Markets Course, you can become RSPS member with immediate benefits.
It’s all about elevating your business!
Attend the Resort Symposium in Lake Tahoe from June 13, 2010 through June 15, 2010.
Now that you’ve finished your core RSPS Course requirements in Sacramento, come on up and join us in Lake Tahoe to enjoy the benefits of being an RSPS! Visit www.resortsymposium.com for more information.
|
Continue reading: Learn About Resort Area and Second-Home Specialty Real Estate!
Scott Short Friday, May 21st, 2010
 It appears the black cloud over California is being lifted by the PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) companies. When the housing market started to decline, the PMI companies retreated from the “sand” states (California, Florida, Arizona, and Nevada), or at least pulled back on the maximum loan-tovalue (LTV) they would guarantee. They still have a lot of areas they are avoiding (flips, non-owner occupied and condos – just to name a few).
April was the first month mortgage rates were not artificially stimulated by the Fed. (The Federal government bought $1.25 trillion of mortgagebacked securities (MBS) over the past 15 months.) Rates initially jumped up mainly due to the long Easter weekend after a shortened trading day on Good Friday.
Rates settled down the following week mainly attributed to the safer mortgages being produced now than were before. (Meaning that the quality is better and the risk of default is less.) Hopefully the appetite will continue. The Mortgage Bankers Association believes the 30 year mortgage rate will increase to 5.5% by mid-to-late summer and then possibly 6% by year end.
Kudos to the SAR Housing Opportunities Committee for hosting the “Show Me the Money” seminar held on April 29. There is an amazing amount of money being allotted to energy upgrades in the form of rebates, tax breaks and incentives. The REALTOR® community needs to stay current with this information in order to effectively educate clients on how to utilize the available programs.
On April 15, Congress reauthorized and the President signed into law an act that includes reauthorization of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through May 31, 2010. This temporary measure is retroactive to March 28, 2010, the date the NFIP’s authority expired, and provides the NFIP the ability to issue new and renewal flood insurance policies and increased coverage on existing policies.
Continue reading: More Changes, It’s the Name of the Game
Vicki Cox Golder Thursday, May 20th, 2010
 To: All REALTORS®
From: Vicki Cox Golder, 2010 NAR President
Date: May 20, 2010
Re: NAR Update: Midyear Meetings Conclude with Call for Action
Dear fellow REALTOR®,
Last week, thousands of your fellow REALTORS® traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet with industry leaders and members of Congress on key issues facing our industry and our businesses. I encourage you all to check out the following highlights from the meetings:
Real Estate Summit – NAR hosted a three-day summit focused on Stabilizing the U.S. Mortgage Finance Delivery System. Watch videos of featured speakers, including FHA Commissioner Dave Stevens; political experts Ed Gillespie and Terry McAuliffe, financial expert Ron Insana, and economist Diane C. Swonk.
http://www.realtor.org/meetings_and_expo/real_estate_summit
REALTORS Property Resource(TM) – NAR CEO Dale Stinton provided an update on the latest Second Century Initiative, which will give you access to a wealth of information on properties across the United States.
http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/realtors_property_resource
Continue reading: NAR Update: Midyear Meetings Conclude with Call for Action
Barbara Harsch Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
 By the time you read this, some 300 Sacramentans, including six representatives from SAR, will have returned from the Metro Chamber’s Cap-to-Cap trip to Washington DC.
The annual Cap-to-Cap program brings the region’s business, labor and government leaders together to build consensus for important regional priorities. Volunteers working on 13 teams will bring the region’s top issues to our nation’s leaders via 90 issue papers and more than 230 appointments with elected leaders, the Obama administration and other agency officials. Cap-to-Cap is the largest local chamber of commerce program of its kind in the nation.
I have a special regard for this effort. In 1943, in the middle of WWII, my father, Otto Rohwer, who was then the president of the Chamber of Commerce, went to Washington DC as part of a regional delegation to lobby Congress – not for more defense contracts – but for appropriations to build the Folsom Dam. Sixty-seven years later, I am serving on the Flood Protection team.
On the Flood Protection team, we worked for 200-year flood protection. Funding is not the only issue; we worked to educate federal agencies on how outdated regulations and policies stand in the way of flood protection and improving regional water supply.
The other Members of our delegation this year were Doug Covill, President-elect; Kathy Fox, Secretary- Treasurer; Nelson Janes, Executive Vice President; Caylyn Brown, Government Affairs Director, and Eric Rasmusson, Government Affairs Consultant. We spread out through the halls of Congress and numerous government agencies, bringing Sacramento’s message.
Continue reading: Building Relationships through Cap-to-Cap
Judy Wegener Monday, May 17th, 2010
 Just a few years ago, the SAR “Store” could be found down at the end of a hallway towards the back of our building. Now, the SAR Retail Center acts as the hub of SAR, welcoming Members into a store filled with colorful real estate signs, dozens of books, hundreds of forms and access [...]
Janelle Fallan Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
A four month rising trend brings single family home median sales price near December 2009 levels. Additionally, April continues a six month trend of increased year-to-year sales price.
After a February to March jump in units sold, April reflects a decrease. The 1,536 units sold this month is a 6.3% decrease from the 1,640, sales of March. Year to year, the current figure is 10% below the 1,707 units reported in April 2009. Conventional sales – non REO or short sales – have slowly been climbing, making up 37.8% (580 units) of all sales this month. This stands less than one percent below the 591 REO units sold (38.7%) Short sales round out the remainder of sales, accounting for 23.6%, or 362 units, of the total. accounting for 24.7% of all sales. Conventional sales have shown a steady increase, rising 15.8% from April 2009. Compare the current figures to last April, where REOs, short sales and conventional sales accounted for 65%, 13% and 22% of total sales, respectively.
The median sales price increased slightly (1.6%) from $182,000 to $185,000. The current figure is 10.7% higher than the $167,100 median price last year. The $200,000 – $249,999 price range mode accounts for a majority (17% or 261 units) of the 1,536 total sales this month, while homes under $100,000 totaled 200 (13%) units.
The Total Listing Inventory has recently been split up to more accurately display the current market. Active Listings numbered 3,679 properties and Active Short Sales Contingent showed 2,383. Active Short Sale Contingent properties are short sale properties on which initial offers have been made and are not entirely “active.” After breaking down Total Listing Inventory, we find that the Housing Market Supply figure is more accurately reflected. Month to month the Housing Market Supply figure increased 9.1% from 2.2 to 2.4 Months. This figure represents the amount of time – in months – it would take to deplete the Active Listing Inventory (3,679) given the current number of closed escrows (1,536). According to MetroList® MLS data, the average home spent 61 days on market (from the time it was listed to the time escrow was opened) and was 1,650 square feet. Of the 1,536 sales this month, 181 (11.7%) had 2 bedrooms or fewer, 837 (54.4%) had 3 bedrooms, 421 (27.4%) were 4 bedroom properties and 97 properties (6.3%) had 5+ bedrooms.
Continue reading: Sales Volume Decreases, Median Sales Price Rebounding Since January
Steve Goddard Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
 Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President Dear C.A.R. Member,
Greetings from Washington, D.C.! This week, your Leadership Team and I are in our nation’s capital, meeting with California’s congressional delegates and representatives from leading housing industry groups, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, HUD, the Mortgage Bankers Association, and others. Tomorrow, we’re meeting with Senator Boxer’s Chief Economic Advisor, Marcus Stanley, and Housing Coordinator Jeff Moscovitz. On Thursday, we’ll meet with FHA Commissioner David Stevens, and on Friday with Grace Cooper, the acting director of the Veterans Administration, and Bill White, the VA’s loan service supervisor.
What happens in Washington has far-reaching implications for the housing market back home in California and its impact reverberates through all facets of the real estate industry, including our own. That’s why it’s more important than ever to become involved in the political process. Our goal in Washington is to make certain that our interests are represented, and that our voices are heard, before elected officials craft legislation impacting our industry.
This is a busy time of year in the legislative arena, on both the national front and in California. Following our federal lobbying trip, nearly 2,000 REALTORS® will converge in Sacramento on June 9 for the Association’s annual Legislative Day activities. Legislative Day is a great way to meet face-to-face with your state legislators to discuss the issues that affect our industry — and your livelihood — the most. Assembly Speaker John Pérez and Senator Dennis Hollingsworth are set to kick off the Morning Briefing, followed by opportunities to meet with your own elected officials in the afternoon.
If you’ve always wondered how Sacramento works, or what elected officials really do, this is your opportunity to find out firsthand. If you’ve never participated, I hope you’ll consider doing so this year – please add your voice with that of other REALTORS® and join us.
Continue reading: Your May Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Stella Ling Tuesday, May 11th, 2010
 Starting January 1, 2011, the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) will be amended to streamline the disclosure of home safety devices. First, the TDS will include a new disclosure of whether the seller has a carbon monoxide detector. This disclosure addresses a new law requiring California homeowners to install or plug in a carbon monoxide device in an existing single-family residence by July 1, 2011 (next year), and other existing dwelling units by January 1, 2013. The new TDS will specifically state that installation of a carbon monoxide detector, among other appliances and devices, is not a precondition of sale or transfer of the dwelling.
Second, the TDS will be amended to incorporate a seller’s certification that, by close of escrow, the seller will be in compliance with existing requirements for smoke detector and water heater bracing. Effective January 1, 2011, the new TDS will eliminate the need for a separate standard form Water Heater and Smoke Detector Statement of Compliance (C.A.R. Form WHSD) for applicable transactions.
The new requirement to install or plug in a carbon monoxide detector will apply to dwelling units with a fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or attached garage. “Fossil fuel” means fuel gases, wood, oil, coal, kerosene, or other petroleum or hydrocarbon products that emit carbon monoxide as a combustion byproduct. Special rules apply to residential landlords.
Continue reading: TDS to be Amended for Home Safety Devices
|
Register | Login
|
Recent Comments