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You’re sitting next to your client, you don’t have a printer, but you do have your iPad. The latest enhancement to zipForm® Mobile Web Edition is the ability to sign documents with your fingers or capacitive stylus directly on the mobile device. With mobile integration to zipVault®, your free storage solution for C.A.R., [...]  The Oxford English Dictionary tells us that a profession involves the application of specialized knowledge of a subject to a fee-paying clientele. According to Wikipedia, a profession is a specialized occupation characterized by intensive training and subsequent licensure by a regulatory body. The word is derived from Latin, meaning to swear an oath. That oath is based upon adherence to ethical standards which include client confidentiality, truthfulness and striving to be an expert. There is also a stipulation about upholding the good name of the profession. Starting to sound familiar? Your REALTOR® Membership defines you as a professional. SAR, with the state and national REALTOR® organization, has been doing so for over 100 years. Along with this overriding benefit, there are tangible savings, discounts and value that you receive through your Membership in the REALTOR® organization. Excellence in educational programming is a prime and perennial benefit of SAR Membership. You can take all of the courses that you need for license renewal at a Member discount of at least $10 each course. You are also entitled to knowledgeable advice at no charge on how to renew your license. Continue reading: Communicating Your Value as a Professional REALTOR  By the time you read this, most of you (I hope all of you!) will have paid your dues to SAR, C.A.R. and NAR. Do you think about what you are getting for your money? There are so many ways you get your money’s worth that SAR has a page on the website just to list them. Go to www.sacrealtor.org/benefits. In my experience, you don’t need to do too many transactions in a year before zipForm® alone is worth the price of your Membership. By the way, if you have not yet paid your dues, you will lose access to zipForm® on February 1. SAR is here to help you with things you couldn’t do by yourself, or if you did, you would have no time to sell real estate. A prime example is our political action effort. Many times, SAR is able to stop regulations or fees before they go into effect and you may not even hear about them. Another value is the diversity of SAR. Each one of us brings his or her own insights and background, and I’m not just talking about differences in gender and ethnicity. Many of us started out in a different career. We represent many cultures and age groups, to say nothing of our hobbies and memberships in other organizations. We can harness all of that knowledge to make the SAR even better. A couple of years ago, Barbara’s theme was All Aboard. Doug’s theme last year was Your Bridge to Success. Now that we’re all on board and successful, my theme for this year is to Focus on Collaboration. Los Angeles authorities have asked C.A.R. to communicate this warning to REALTORS® who hire unmanned aircraft operators to take aerial photographs for marketing high-end properties. Using these devices (also known as drones) for flight in the air with no onboard pilot may violate, among other things, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) policy on unmanned [...] Chinese lion dancers highlighted the festivities as Patrick Lieuw was installed as the first Asian-American president and the 95th president of the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® on January 10 2012. Patrick’s theme for 2012, “Focus on Collaboration,” highlights the value he places on the diversity of SAR’s Membership as well as his interest in photography. “This year I’m pulling out my widest angle lens, because I plan for an all-inclusive composition, and that means every single current member of the SAR, and as many new members as we can attract. Each one of us brings his or her own insights and background, and I’m not just talking about differences in gender and ethnicity. Many of us started out in a different career. I, for instance, was an engineer.” He said, “While others have pointed out that I am the first Asian-American President of the SAR, all I want you to remember, is that we are all one ‘Realtor family’ working together, to better our Association and our clients.” Patrick, a REALTOR® with RE/MAX Gold Natomas, has been a real estate broker and a Member of SAR for 23 years. He has also been a C.A.R. Director and Chair or Vice-Chair of numerous SAR and C.A.R. Committees. He is also involved in the Asian Real Estate Association of America, the Women’s Council of REALTORS® and the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. Sales increased for the month to 1,668 units sold, up 8.9% from the 1,531 closed escrows last month. Year-to-year closed escrows were also up (10.9%) from the 1,504 units sold last December. Making up the closed escrows this month were 561 REOs (33.6%), 490 short sales (29.4%) and 617 conventional sales (37%). The median home sales price dropped this month to the lowest December median since 2000 ($148,000). This is a 2.4% decrease from the $165,000 median sales price of last month. The chart below shows the rise and fall of the December median over the last twelve years.
The $200,000 – $249,999 price range mode still accounts for the majority of the 1,668 total sales this month (14.4% or 241 units), while homes under $100,000 totaled 306 (18.3%) units. Closed escrows from conventional financing (574 units or 32% of all sales) decreased 4.4%, cash buyers increased 12.4% (552 units or 30.8%) and FHA financing decreased 11.8% (508 or 28.3%). These numbers include the 127 condo sales this month. The average amount of days spent on the market (from list date to opening escrow) 71 days; the median DOM remained at 40. The Total Listing Inventory has been split up to more accurately display the current market. Active Listings numbered 2,966 properties and Active Short Sales Contingent showed 2,122. 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. The Housing Market Supply figure for December was 1.8 Months – a 14.2% decrease from last month. This figure represents the amount of time – in months – it would take to deplete the Active Listing Inventory (2,966) given the current number of closed escrows (1,668). According to MetroList® MLS data, the average home was 1,845 square feet. Of the 1,668 sales this month, 162 (9.7%) had 2 bedrooms or fewer, 883 (53%) had 3 bedrooms, 514 (30.8%) were 4 bedroom properties and 109 properties (6.5%) had 5+ bedrooms. Continue reading: Month-to-Month Sales Increase 8.9%, Lowest December Median Since 2000  As part of the many benefits made available to members, C.A.R. offers its standard real estate forms in zipForm® 6, providing ease, convenience and a significant business tool for California REALTORS®. zipForm® 6 is the exclusive software of C.A.R.’s standard forms. It has recently come to C.A.R.’s attention that some members may be attempting to modify the pre-printed text of C.A.R.’s standard forms or upload blank or modified versions of C.A.R.’s standard forms into other software programs for use in those programs. C.A.R’s standard forms are protected by U.S. copyright laws which expressly forbid the unauthorized reproduction of any portion of copyrighted material by any means, including electronic formats. Blank C.A.R. forms may not be printed from zipForm® 6, and any placement of C.A.R. standard forms in other software programs for use in those programs (other than a completed C.A.R. form in locked, .pdf format and saved in connection with a real estate transaction) infringes upon C.A.R.’s copyrights in its forms and is strictly prohibited. If a member needs to view a form that is not filled out, forms with the water mark “Sample” are available for printing from the zipForm® 6 software but are not to be used in transactions. Additionally, the removal or modification of pre-printed text in a C.A.R. form is a violation of C.A.R.’s copyrights in its forms and a breach of the zipForm® 6 End User License Agreement. Member placement of blank or modified C.A.R. standard forms in other software programs for use in those programs could result in substantial liability to the member for copyright infringement under federal law, as well as termination of the member’s zipForm® 6 account for violation of the End User License Agreement. The C.A.R. copyright policy benefits our members in numerous ways. C.A.R. forms receive valuable protection under the C.A.R. User Protection Agreement. The C.A.R. User Protection Agreement will not apply, however, if the C.A.R. forms are used or modified in a way that violates C.A.R.’s copyrights in the forms. Additionally, proper use of C.A.R.’s standard forms in zipForm® 6 ensures that members are using the most current, up-to-date versions of the forms. Members can be confident that the C.A.R. standard forms in zipForm® 6 are reviewed in light of the latest changes in applicable law. C.A.R. standard forms in other software platforms may not be the most current version of the form and therefore may put you and your clients at risk. Finally, use of C.A.R. standard forms in zipForm® 6 helps to ensure that your membership dues do not subsidize the use of C.A.R. forms obtained from zipForm® 6 by individuals who have not purchased a license or otherwise are not entitled to such use. Continue reading: Reminder About Proper Use of C.A.R.’s Standard Forms and zipForm® 6 Sales decreased for the holiday season to 1,531 units sold, down 5.1% from the 1,614 closed escrows last month. On the other hand, year-to-year closed escrows were up 17.6% from the 1,302 units sold last November. Making up the closed escrows this month were 514 REOs (33.6%), 453 short sales (29.6%) and 564 conventional sales (36.8%). These numbers have adjusted a bit from month to month with REOs down 8.1%, short sales up 9.6% and conventional sales up .1%. The median home sales continues bump along, this month increasing .1% to $165,000 from the $164,900 median sales price of last month. The median sales prices has bumped up and down in the $160,000s for the last 10 months (see chart below). Compared with November 2010 ($180,000), the median sales price is down 8.3%.  Median Home Sales Price for 2011 Chart The $200,000 – $249,999 price range mode still accounts for a majority (15.3% or 235 units) of the 1,531 total sales this month, while homes under $100,000 totaled 260 (16.9%) units. Closed escrows from conventional financing (545 units or 33.5% of all sales) increased 6%, cash buyers decreased 4.5% (445 units or 27.4%) and FHA financing increased 4.5% (522 or 32.1%). These numbers include the 94 condo sales this month. The average amount of days spent on the market (from list date to opening escrow) 72 days; the median DOM was 40. The Total Listing Inventory has been split up to more accurately display the current market. Active Listings numbered 3,236 properties and Active Short Sales Contingent showed 2,196. 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. The Housing Market Supply figure for November was 2.1 Months – a 4.5% decrease from last month. This figure represents the amount of time – in months – it would take to deplete the Active Listing Inventory (3,236) given the current number of closed escrows (1,531). According to MetroList® MLS data, the average home was 1,706 square feet. Of the 1,531 sales this month, 150 (9.7%) had 2 bedrooms or fewer, 832 (54.3%) had 3 bedrooms, 440 (28.7%) were 4 bedroom properties and 109 properties (7.1%) had 5+ bedrooms. Continue reading: Decrease in Sales Marks Seasonal Downturn, Sales Price Hovering in Mid $160’s  County Supervisor Roberta MacGlashan will help the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® celebrate the 29th year of CanTree. Each year, local REALTORS® build “trees” entirely of canned goods to raise funds and awareness for the Salvation Army. On November 21 and 22, the CanTrees will be constructed at The Secret Garden in Elk Grove and the Sunrise Mall. At the association’s Main Meeting on December 6, Supervisor MacGlashan will join hundreds of area REALTORS® as the check from this year’s fundraising efforts is presented to the Salvation Army. The Christmas CanTree Project raised $80,000 in 2010. Since 1983, SAR has raised more than $2 million to feed Sacramento’s hungry citizens. The food donated will be distributed to needy families and individuals through The Salvation Army’s Holiday Food Basket and year-round food assistance programs. More than 165,000 local individuals are expected to benefit from the food contributed through CanTree, according to The Salvation Army. CanTree is a critical factor in successfully feeding thousands of people at Christmas time. The Christmas CanTree is sponsored by SAR, but many organizations and individuals contribute to its success through donations of food, money, or goods and services. Schedule: Sales decreased just .1% from 1,615 units sold in September to the current 1,614 units sold this month. Year-to-year, closed escrows were up 20.4% from the 1,341 units sold last October. Making up the closed escrows this month were 590 REOs (36.6%), 436 short sales (27%) and 588 conventional sales (36.4%). These numbers have stayed relatively level month to month with REOs down 1.8%, short sales up 3% and conventional sales down .2%. The median home sales price barely changed month-to-month, increasing .4% to $164,900 from the $164,283 median sales price of last month. Compared with October 2010 ($179,500), the median sales price is down 8.1%. The $200,000 – $249,999 price range mode still accounts for a majority (14.7% or 237 units) of the 1,614 total sales this month, while homes under $100,000 totaled 311 (19.2%) units. Closed escrows from conventional financing (550 units or 31.6% of all sales) decreased 2.1%, cash buyers decreased 7.7% (499 units or 28.7%) and FHA financing decreased 5.7% (534 or 30.7%). These numbers include the 124 condo sales this month. The average amount of days spent on the market (from list date to opening escrow) 68 days; the median DOM was 39. The Total Listing Inventory has been split up to more accurately display the current market. Active Listings numbered 3,477 properties and Active Short Sales Contingent showed 2,162. 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. The Housing Market Supply figure for October was 2.2 Months – the same as last month. This figure represents the amount of time – in months – it would take to deplete the Active Listing Inventory (3,477) given the current number of closed escrows (1,544). According to MetroList® MLS data, the average home was 1,717 square feet. Of the 1,614 sales this month, 148 (9.1%) had 2 bedrooms or fewer, 873 (54%) had 3 bedrooms, 471 (29.1%) were 4 bedroom properties and 118 properties (7.3%) had 5+ bedrooms. Continue reading: Sales Activity for October Remains Flat, Prices Show Similar Trend |
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Friday, February 10th, 2012
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