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 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.
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Continue reading: Learn About Resort Area and Second-Home Specialty Real Estate!
Daniel Allen Monday, May 10th, 2010
The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® present
Your Guide to the NEW Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA) and Related Forms Course
New 2010 RPA-CA Form Now Available!
Understand the updates to the most important form in California real estate!
The California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions (Form RPA-CA) is the cornerstone of every successful real estate transaction in California, and there are several essential concepts, principles, and facts about this form that all REALTORS® should know.
Learn about all the NEW CHANGES to the form to better serve and protect yourself and YOUR CLIENTS!
How you will benefit from taking this course:
- Familiarize yourself with the 2010 changes to the agreement.
- Learn how to create, modify, cancel, or close a transaction.
- Identify, explain, understand, and remove contingencies.
- Complete all mandatory and recommended disclosures.
- Ensure all commissions are paid in full and on time.
- Understand all the important terms of the contract.
This course is Department of Real Estate (DRE) accredited for 4 hours of Continuing Education (CE) in Consumer Protection.
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Continue reading: Learn the NEW RPA-CA Form! Classes now forming in Sacramento!
Daniel Allen Monday, April 12th, 2010
The CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and the Sacramento Association of REALTORS® present
Your Guide to the NEW Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA) and Related Forms Course
The NEW RPA-CA Form is coming in April!
Understand the updates to the most important form in California real estate!
The California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions (Form RPA-CA) is the cornerstone of every successful real estate transaction in California, and there are several essential concepts, principles, and facts about this form that all REALTORS® should know.
Learn about all the NEW CHANGES to the form to better serve and protect yourself and YOUR CLIENTS!
How you will benefit from taking this course:
- Familiarize yourself with the 2010 changes to the agreement.
- Learn how to create, modify, cancel, or close a transaction.
- Identify, explain, understand, and remove contingencies.
- Complete all mandatory and recommended disclosures.
- Ensure all commissions are paid in full and on time.
- Understand all the important terms of the contract.
This course is Department of Real Estate (DRE) accredited for 4 hours of Continuing Education (CE) in Consumer Protection.
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Continue reading: Learn the NEW RPA-CA Form! Classes now forming in Sacramento!
Steve Goddard Wednesday, March 17th, 2010
 Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President
Dear C.A.R. Member:
You’ve heard from me before about upgrading your WINForms® software to zipForm® 6, and nearly 100,000 of you have done so. Thanks! But if you haven’t, you must upgrade your WINForms® software by March 31 – WINForms® no longer will be available come April 1. March also is the month to renew your access to the software. If you upgraded to zipForm® 6 before March 1, you need to renew by logging in to your zipForm® account, where you’ll be prompted to “Renew Now.” For information on all things zipForm®, go to car.org and click on the “Learn More” link under the zipForm® 6 logo in Quick Links.
Also on the forms front, the final versions of C.A.R.’s new Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA), two related new forms, and one revised form now are available for you to preview at http://www.car.org/legal/standard-forms/rpa-study-group-input/. These forms, along with 16 additional revised forms, will be released April 28 in both zipForm® 6 and hard copy format.
C.A.R. is offering a variety of training opportunities related to the new RPA. REALTOR® S.W.A.T. (Special Weapons and Tactics) events are being held throughout the state and incorporate RPA training with continuing education credits, as well as market and legal updates, and more; go to www.realtorswat.com for information on an event near you. Additional training specific to the new RPA also is available. Visit www.car.org/education/calendar/CourseScheduleQ1/ for classes being offered. Free training is available through Forms Tutor®, an online service that explains the standard forms clause-by-clause, with audio and text instructions. Please visit http://www.car.org/tools/zipForm6/ft/ for Forms Tutor® information, which will be updated on April 28 to reflect the new RPA and related forms associated with the release.
Continue reading: Your March Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Steve Goddard Thursday, February 25th, 2010
Dear C.A.R. Member:
The NEW California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions Form (RPA-CA) will be released on April 28, 2010!
Are you prepared to represent your clients with this new form? Prepare early and learn about the NEW CHANGES to the RPA-CA form to better serve and protect yourself and YOUR [...]
Stella Ling Friday, February 12th, 2010
An agreement for a “nonrefundable” escrow deposit is invalid and unenforceable, according to the recent California case of Kuish v. Smith (2010 WL 373225). This case serves as a good reminder for REALTORS® that inserting a “nonrefundable deposit” provision into a real property purchase contract may be legally ineffective.
The Kuish case involved a $620,000 escrow deposit for the purchase of a $14 million oceanfront home in Laguna Beach. Instead of using a liquidated damages provision, the buyer and sellers merely agreed in the purchase contract that the deposit would be “nonrefundable.” According to the trial court, both parties were “big boys,” meaning that they were “sophisticated business people [who] understood all the ramifications of their actions in freely negotiating to make the [deposit] non-refundable.”
The buyer eventually cancelled the agreement. The sellers refused to return the deposit to the buyer, even though they sold the property to someone else for $1 million more.
The buyer sued to recover the $620,000 deposit, and won on appeal. The court stated that “any provision by which money or property would be forfeited without regard to actual damage suffered would be an unenforceable penalty. To construe the term ‘nonrefundable’ to establish [the sellers'] entitlement to the full deposit without regard to actual damages would essentially create a liquidated damages provision.” Yet, the parties in this case did not separately sign or initial a liquidated damages provision.
Continue reading: Nonrefundable Deposit Deemed Invalid
Steve Goddard Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President
Dear C.A.R. Member:
The C.A.R. Board of Directors meetings in Indian Wells concluded last weekend, and as always covered a lot of ground in a short period of time. More than 50 committee meetings during the week culminated in the official meetings of the full board on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning.
Your board of directors is a dedicated group of volunteers who give their time and expertise to your state association and to our industry. If you’re not directly involved in your local association, or aren’t yet a volunteer at the state or national level, I encourage you to do so. It’s an opportunity to give voice to the issues important to you and your peers, and to directly impact your livelihood and the future of our industry. My involvement over the years has enriched both my professional and personal life.
At the meetings, changes to the California Residential Purchase Agreement and Joint Escrow Instructions–most often referred to as the “RPA”–were approved by the board. The RPA is the standard form, produced by C.A.R., used in nearly every residential real estate transaction in the state. The RPA hasn’t been significantly modified since 2002, and the changes approved this past week followed nearly two years of effort by the RPA Study Group and the Standard Forms Advisory Committee, with over 1,000 comments from members helping inform the process.
Changes regarding the initial deposit; the notice to perform; FHA/VA loans; financing; the appraisal contingency; the wood pest inspection; home warranty coverage; and contingencies and cancellations; among others, were approved and will be incorporated in the revised form, scheduled for release April 28. For a complete timeline regarding the RPA release, visit http://www.car.org/legal/standard-forms/. Final Drafts will be posted Feb. 22. Classes will be held throughout the state and begin next month. Please click here for more details.
Continue reading: Your February Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Steve Goddard Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
Steve Goddard - 2010 C.A.R. President
Dear C.A.R. Member:
A new year, and with it, new beginnings and new opportunities. Like you, I’m looking forward to meeting the challenges that invariably present themselves as we get underway.
It’s heartening to see encouraging signs in both the general economy and the real estate market in California. As is often the case, California is ahead of the nation in market recovery. The state’s median home price increased year over year in November for the first time since August 2007, sales bottomed out more than two years ago, and the median home price reached its trough in February 2009. Going forward, we expect the statewide median home price to rise 3.3 percent to $280,000 this year, with a slight decrease in sales. While no one has an infallible crystal ball, it looks like the worst is behind us, and we can move forward with confidence that better days are ahead.
There’s exciting news to share on the statewide MLS front: calREDD™ on Monday officially launched at the Lake County Association of REALTORS®. We remain convinced that a true statewide MLS is in your best interests, and we will continue to work to that end. It’s a complicated process, but as calREDD™ Chairman Mike Silvas so succinctly stated, it’s always easy to criticize innovators who are shaking up the status quo. Following Monday’s successful launch in Lake County, calREDD™ now will focus on deployments at the Chico, Oroville, and Paradise associations later this month, with more to follow in March and April.
Continue reading: Your January Message from C.A.R. President Steve Goddard
Steve Goddard Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
REALTORS® and their clients who encounter unlawful or unprofessional conduct by an appraiser may file a confidential complaint with California’s Office of Real Estate Appraisers (OREA). Since implementation of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) in May 2009, REALTORS® have reported many challenges and difficulties with appraisals, such as low appraisals, inexperienced appraisers, out-of-area appraisers unfamiliar with a local neighborhood, and problems with Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). Appraisers are regulated by the OREA, and starting January 1, 2010, a new law directs the OREA to develop a registration process and other regulations to oversee AMCs as well.
A complaint of appraiser’s misconduct may be filed with the OREA. The complaint may be made confidentially, but proper prosecution may ultimately require the complainant’s testimony in a legal proceeding.
Continue reading: REALTORS® May File Confidential Appraiser Complaints
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