|
|
 Nelson Janes  Friday, February 3rd, 2012  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
LeFrancis Arnold Tuesday, December 20th, 2011
 Dear Member,
I’m excited to begin my term as your 2012 President, but I first want to thank our outgoing C.A.R. President Beth L. Peerce for serving this organization so well over the past year. She helped keep you, the REALTOR®, at the center of the real estate transaction during this challenging time. Thank you Beth for your service to organized real estate!
Like Beth, I also am a second-generation REALTOR®. I followed my mother into the real estate business in 1976 and became a broker a year later. I have served as a C.A.R. director since 1994. I’m going to continue serving the organization this year by helping you get through the tough economic times and be successful in your business.
But I won’t be doing it alone. I’ll be joined by a very capable 2012 Leadership Team comprised of President-Elect Don Faught, Treasurer Chris Kutzkey, and C.A.R. Executive Vice President Joel Singer. I’m excited to serve with this incredible team.
As one of my first duties, I’m pleased to share with you the good news that the FHA loan limit was reinstated last month so that middle-class home buyers have access to affordable home financing. The higher loan limit expired on Oct. 1, 2011, when it was reduced to $625,500, but now has been restored to $729,750 for an additional two years, through Dec. 31, 2013. However, the higher loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans were not reinstated. C.A.R. and NAR both have long advocated for making higher loan limits permanent.
Continue reading: C.A.R. Monthly Message from President LeFrancis Arnold
Beth L. Peerce Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
 Dear Member,
Last month I informed you that Congress failed to extend the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA conforming loan limits and allowed them to expire Sept. 30. Since then, the Senate passed an amendment to an appropriation bill that would restore the $729,750 loan limits through December 2013. The Senate and House are now working out the differences between the Senate bill and the House bill, which the House passed earlier this year, but it did not reinstate the higher loan limits. If the House and Senate agree on a final bill, we will have a two-year extension to the conforming loan limits. C.A.R. is also working with the California Congressional Delegation to ensure this provision is included in the final bill.
C.A.R. and NAR are now working to get support for the extension in the House, but we need your help also. Please look for a Call for Action email from NAR asking you to call Sen. Dianne Feinstein and possibly other members of Congress. Please act now and urge your representative to extend the higher loan limits for GSEs and FHA. Well-qualified buyers don’t need another hurdle to access affordable mortgage financing.
Big changes on the way to help millions of distressed borrowers. Late October, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced important changes to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) to help millions of underwater borrowers whose mortgages are backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The changes will allow borrowers who are current on their mortgage payments to save an average of $2,500 a year by refinancing their mortgages, regardless of what their homes are worth. The revamped HARP Program will also streamline the refinancing process, eliminating certain types of appraisals and underwriting requirements, and reducing or eliminating fees that prevented homeowners from refinancing in the past.
The FHFA is working on details of the new rules, which should be finalized by Nov. 15. Banks may be able to start issuing refinanced loans by Dec. 1. We’ll continue to keep you updated on this issue.
Continue reading: C.A.R. Monthly Message from President Beth L. Peerce – November 2011
Caylyn Brown Thursday, October 13th, 2011
On October 6, 2011, the Senate Finance Committee held another in a series of hearings on tax reform, this time focusing on housing incentives. Five witnesses testified from a variety of perspectives, but they were unanimous on one point: Now is not the time to make any changes to the mortgage interest deduction (MID). [...]
Dave Tanner Thursday, September 29th, 2011
 A new rule originally published by the Federal Trade Commission and now transferred to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau became effective August 19, 2011. The rule applies to mortgage information being provided to consumers.
I imagine now many of you are thinking that you do not care because you do not do loans. Unfortunately the law is written so broadly that you may still be covered by its provisions.
If you just tell a consumer that mortgage rates are about 4% you are probably ok. If you tell them mortgage rates are about 4% with 20% down for 30 years you are probably subject to the rule. Likewise if you provide a consumer a lender rate sheet or leave rate sheets laying out at your open house, you must comply with the rule.
Not only does the new law require certain disclaimers be made to consumers, it also requires you to keep a copy of any notices or rate sheets you provide to consumers for at least two years. They need to be maintained within the broker’s record retention system so that they can be provided to regulators upon request.
If you are particularly industrious and want to read the entire 22 pages of the rule you can go to the Federal Register and search for 16 CFR Part 321.
NAR has published a two page Letter of the Law article which can be downloaded at www.realtor.org/letterlw.nsf/pages/0811maprule?opendocument&login&Print=Yes.
Continue reading: The New MAP Rule From the FTC
Doug Covill Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
 We came back from the NAR Mid-Year meeting feeling a bit tossed around.
The housing market will not recover, and therefore the economy will not recover, until all creditworthy homebuyers can get a mortgage. For example, we don’t need to get rid of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We need to go to this time back before they got so loose. The pendulum has swung too far. Making it too hard to get loans won’t help the economy.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said sales would rise 15-20 percent if FHA and Fannie and Freddie would return to normal lending standards.
We heard a lot of talk about requiring all buyers to put 20 percent down to buy a home. We all understand the value of buyers making a down payment. But that is no way to encourage home ownership. The crowd burst into applause when one speaker called that idea “lunacy.” Mr. Yun referred to such proposals as an attack on the middle class. He also calculated that, using average prices and salaries, it would take a buyer 14 years to save for a 20 percent down payment.
We all know that not everyone should be a homeowner. We also know that homeownership creates lots of benefits, including more education, less crime and better health. We also know lots of people who could and should be able to buy a home right now but are finding it very hard.
Continue reading: President’s Perspective for June 2011
Ron Phipps Friday, May 6th, 2011
 Dear Fellow REALTOR®,
By now, we have all seen images of the widespread destruction in Alabama and other southeastern states. Tornadoes and severe storms destroyed entire neighborhoods, leaving thousands without homes. More than 300 people have lost their lives, and the tragedy is still unfolding.
In times like this, we ask ourselves “How we can help those suffering such unimaginable loss?”
REALTORS® have earned a reputation for our tremendous heart and compassionate work on behalf of others. We hope you will join our latest effort to help those affected by this disaster by making a tax deductible contribution to the REALTORS® Relief Foundation (RRF). We encourage you to click in the link below and complete the form.
https://secure.realtor.org/RelFundTrack.nsf/Contribution?OpenForm
The Foundation has already sent a $150,000 contribution to the Alabama Association of REALTORS® Disaster Relief Fund. This contribution came directly from people, like you, who have given directly to the Fund in the past. The Foundation can do more with your help.
Continue reading: Relief Appeal – Southern U.S. Tornadoes Disaster
Doug Covill Monday, May 2nd, 2011
Government relations is one area in which it would be very hard for you to do for yourself what your REALTOR® association does for you. Just the amount of time and expertise involved can be overwhelming.
Volunteers and state and federal lobbyists work all the time to protect your ability to do business, by looking out for private property rights and private property values. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our industry is under attack every day.
The work the association does here is so vital, and you may never hear anything about it. A problem may start when a regulator has what seems like a good idea, but does not understand the ramifications. This is where our two SAR advocates do such important work.
Caylyn Brown and Eric Rasmusson follow issues at the County and the cities of Sacramento, West Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Folsom, Citrus Heights, Orangevale and Carmichael, as well as other government agencies such as water, sewer and air quality. By developing and maintaining critical relationships with local officials, Caylyn and Eric are often able to deal with issues when they are still ideas, long before they are proposed as ordinances or regulations.
A good example of the behind-thescenes work they do occurred when Caylyn was reviewing the agenda of an upcoming council meeting of one of our suburban cities. She noticed a proposed regulation of “Open House” signs. One effect of the regulation would have been to limit open houses to Sunday afternoons only, which would have had a direct and detrimental impact on our Members’ ability to do business in that city. The city staff person didn’t realize that that’s what the regulation would have done. Diligent SAR staff and volunteer efforts took care of the issue before it went any further.
Continue reading: Working to Protect Your Ability to Do Business
Beth L. Peerce Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Dear REALTORS®,
Over the past few months, I’ve been sharing with you the many things that C.A.R. has been doing to address your concerns related to short sale transactions. We recently conducted a survey to obtain information about members’ experiences working with lenders in distressed transactions. The results of the Short Sale Lender Satisfaction Survey were released just today, and I’d like to reveal some of the findings to you. (See the full results.)
- The survey found that fewer than three in five short sales close in California, which illustrates the complexity and difficulty of navigating lenders’ and servicers’ short sale procedures.
- The most frequent problems REALTORS® cited in working with lenders and servicers during the short sale process include unresponsiveness, onerous procedures, and long processing delays – problems that many of you probably have experienced firsthand.
Overall, the survey results show that the short sales system is clearly flawed and must be standardized and streamlined to reduce the inventory of foreclosures. I want you to know that C.A.R. has been working on many fronts to make this happen. It has appointed two distinct task forces just to help address this issue. In addition to conducting the Short Sale Lender Satisfaction Survey, another of the action items the task forces have undertaken is writing an open letter to consumers focusing the spotlight on short sales.
Continue reading: C.A.R. Monthly Message March 2011
Caylyn Brown Wednesday, December 15th, 2010
Throughout 2010, NAR made significant progress educating Congress and the Obama Administration that a stable and sustainable housing market is the primary building block for any economic recovery. NAR had a series of successes in the regulatory and legislative fields, some of which are highlighted below.
As we look ahead to 2011, NAR will [...]
|
Register | Login
|
Recent Comments