REALTOR® WEEKLY UPDATE
Weekly Update on PGPCNPREALTORS.com
November 5th, 2009
To view archive editions, please click HERE.
Breaking News!
Looking for an Education Class, Designation or Certification? Is there a seminar topic, Real Estate Certification or NAR Designation that you would like to have offered at our local Association? Do you want more training on Technology, Law, Risk Management, or any other topic? Please email David-Logan@comcast.net to let us know what you would like to see. Also, we have had some members express an interest in holding NAR’s Real Estate Professional Assistant Certification (REPA) at our Association, if you would be interested in having your Personal Assistant, Administrative Staff, or Office Employees obtain a NAR Certification, please email David Logan as soon as possible.
FAR’s FREE Webinar Series: Your State Association has put together an excellent series of FREE webinar with nationally recognized experts and timely topics. These short seminars are a perfect opportunity to take advantage of excellent information from the comfort and convenience of your home, office, or anywhere you have internet access. The following live webinars is available on November 6th at 2pm: Auction Real Estate: Earn a Commission featuring Neal VanDeRee and Jim Accursio, Presented by the Auction Marketing Council. Please click on the class title for more information along with a link to register. Do not miss this unique FREE opportunity and get the most out of your membership!
Microsoft Office 2007 Classes – You asked for them and now they are available! Our very own Microsoft Certified Trainer Mary Tombs will be presenting classes on Microsoft Office 2007 on the following dates (each class will be held from 9am-12pm) PowerPoint – Nov 10th; Excel – Nov 12th Each of these classes is FREE for Education Passport Members and $15 for Non-Passport holders. Space is limited, so sign up today to reserve your seat. Email David-Logan@comcast.net to RSVP or with additional questions. **Please note that attendees must bring their own laptop with Office 2007 as the Association’s computer lab has Office 2003** If you do not have a laptop with Office 2007, but would still like to attend, please email David Logan to see if something can be arranged.
New Professional Development Opportunities – email David-Logan@comcast.net for questions or to sign up. All Courses are FREE to Education Passport Members. Do not miss these opportunities to obtain the knowledge and learn the skills which will increase your business and earn more money!
Nov 10th 12pm FREE Short Sales, Foreclosure & Bankruptcy Seminar: Hear from attorney Mark Martella about how to navigate the process and know the right terminology. FREE LUNCH!
Dec 3rd 1pm How to Increase Repeat and Referral Business: Hear Nationally Recognized Real Estate Educator Richard Flint and learn how to keep the clients coming back & increase referrals!
Last week’s drawing – Sponsored by adams homes
Blaine Harteg has won a $20 Gift Certificate to Carrabbas compliments of Adams Homes, please email David-Logan@comcast.net or stop by the Association office to pick up your prize! ADAMS HOMES is now building all brick homes. They have gotten so many requests for brick in recent years, they decided to launch this in their Sarasota and Charlotte Counties Division. Pricing starts at $124,900 for the total brick home which includes all four sides of their homes. All pricing includes the homesites also. Adams Homes can build in Deep Creek, Creekside in Punta Gorda, North Port, Port Charlotte, Rotonda and South Gulf Cove. For more information of a rendering of one of our brick homes, call 941-423-8703. Or visit our website their www.adamshomes.com.
FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK!!
Karen Rolland, President
My fellow REALTORS® and Members,
Well, we are half way there on the extension of the First Time Homebuyer’s Credit! The Senate supported extending the 1st time Homeowners Credit, but we still need to make sure our voices are heard to be sure it passes in the House of Representatives. Please keep pumping your input to our legislative delegates to make sure this happens. Go to www.floridarealtors.com or www.realtor.org and voice your opinions to the representatives in the House of Representatives. The vote is next week.
We have been dealing with a number of issues in this market. One, of particular note, is the issue of lock boxes and access to properties. As a member of our Association, you have the ability to access properties through the Supra system. This system records who (and when) properties are being shown. You and your association are protected if you use this system. If you are involved in REO’s or Short Sales, you may be required to place a combination lock on your listings in order to allow access to the property by the lenders or their designated representatives. You are advised to use the Supra lock box in addition to the combination box. The Supra system provides you protection because all access to the property is recorded. The combination locks should only be accessible to the individuals dictated by the lender. If you provide the combination to anyone other than the lender or their designated representatives, you are at risk and the association will not be here to protect you. Under NO circumstances should a lock combination be given to anyone (via the MLS or whatever) unless you are confident the recipient is trustworthy. If you have a combination noted in the MLS, you are encouraged, for your own protection, to remove it and place a Supra box on the home in addition to the combination lock required by the lender.
Thank you for the opportunity to be your President this year!
Education Corner
Nov 10th 12pm FREE Short Sales, Foreclosure & Bankruptcy Seminar: Hear from attorney Mark Martella about how to navigate the process and know the right terminology. FREE LUNCH! Email David Logan to RSVP for this important and timely seminar which will give you insight into the process of Short Sales, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcy from the perspective of an attorney who works on these issues on a regular basis. Click HERE for more details.
Dec 3rd 1pm How to Increase Repeat and Referral Business: Hear Nationally Recognized Real Estate Educator Richard Flint and learn how to keep the clients coming back & increase referrals! Free for Education Passport members, $15 for non-passport.
FREE Hands-On MLS Training! Courses include “Design Web Page & Capture Leads”, “iMapp: interactive tax and mailing labels”, “Tools: MongoFax, RatePlug, ShowingTime and MLX Wireless”, “Creating a Professional CMA”, and “MLXChange Advanced” and more. Classes are HANDS ON with laptops provided. Click HERE for class schedule, additional details and to reserve a seat, space is limited!
Looking to Improve your Public Speaking or Leadership Skills? - Come join us for our next meeting of Toastmasters International on Wednesday from 7:30am – 8:45am, there is no cost to attend the meeting and you are not obligated to join, come see what this is all about. The club is open to REALTORS® and Non-REALTORS®, so invite your friends, neighbors, or co-workers. You will have the opportunity to see what a meeting is like and discover how Toastmasters can help improve your communication and leadership skills and network with other professionals. Remember, good communication skills are the keys to success in business and real estate! For more details or to RSVP for the meeting, please email David-Logan@comcast.net you can read more about Toastmasters on the web at www.toastmasters.org
Where in the World Is…..
The following agents can now be found at…
Kim Platzer – RE/MAX Anchor
Gerald Mell – RE/MAX Anchor
Amy Heck – Five Star Realty
Sandra Osorio – Five Star Realty
Joe Sheridan – Five Star Realty
Edward Gallio – Five Star Realty
Jerome Fain – Century 21 Almar
Karin "Cari" Hallinan – Anderson & Associates
Welcome new business partner
Market Watch
Foreign Investor Challenge: Mortgage Financing - In order to help his clients close on units at the luxury St. Tropez condominium in Sunny Isles Beach, developer Joe Milton recently put up $100 million of his company’s cash to set up a mortgage company to fund loans. That’s because foreign buyers – a key factor in the recent surge in home sales in South Florida – are often locked out of the market if they don’t have cash in hand. “Sixty percent of our buyers are foreign,” yet there are no loans being made to foreign nationals, said Milton, president and chief executive of J. Milton & Associates in Coral Gables. While foreign cash buyers have certainly boosted sales, Milton wants to make sure financing isn’t the issue keeping even more from owning a home in South Florida. “International buyers are activating this market and reactivating sales,” said Jenny Huertas, the international sales director for Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour-based brokerage and consultancy. For the full article, click HERE.
New Federal Guidelines on Commercial Loan Modification - Banks must accurately identify their potential losses when modifying troubled commercial real estate loans under federal guidelines issued Friday. Regulators have warned that rising losses on commercial real estate loans pose risks for U.S. banks, with small and mid-size banks especially vulnerable. Nearly $500 billion in commercial real estate loans are expected to come due annually over the next few years. Agencies including the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve and Office of Thrift Supervision released the new guidelines for banks, which emphasize that modifying loans in a prudent fashion is often in the best interest of both the bank and the creditworthy commercial borrower. Click HERE for the rest of the story.
FHA 203(K) Loans on the Rise - A Streamlined 203(k) provides extra money on top of the mortgage to pay for improvements such as a new roof, appliances, furnace, energy-efficient windows and cosmetic improvements like carpet, paint, and remodeled kitchens and baths. The maximum rehab loan is $35,000, but the Streamlined 203(k) allows the money to be rolled into the entire mortgage, so the repairs can be paid off over time along with the house. Under the program, a seller is paid at closing, and the remaining money from the Streamlined 203(k) goes into an escrow account. As repairs are completed, money is removed from the 203(k) escrow account to pay for them. There are other rules. A licensed contractor, for example, must complete the work within six months, though some lenders allow the borrower to do minor cosmetic work, such as painting. For more info on the Streamlined 203(k) program visit the Department of Housing and Urban Development website at: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/203k/203kslrp.cfm Source: Minneapolis-St. Paul Star-Tribune, Lynn Underwood (10/25/2009) © Copyright 2009 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
House Committee Weighs Scrapping HVCC - The appraisal system imposed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last May is under attack by the House Financial Services Committee and could be on its way out. The “Home Valuation Code of Conduct” could be terminated by the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency under a bipartisan amendment approved by the House committee. The amendment would require the new agency’s director to replace the code with a set of rules developed through regular administrative procedures and public comment periods used by all federal agencies. The valuation code was the product of a settlement among New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Critics say the code created more problems than it solved and has encouraged lenders to use inexperienced appraisers who don’t know the areas where they are doing the work, which results in lowball valuations as well as higher fees. The legislation under which the code would be scrapped is likely to pass the full House, but may have a tough road in the Senate. Source: The Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth Harney (10/30/2009) © Copyright 2009 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688
Real estate trivia
This Week’s Question
Question: What Jacksonville Based company is considered to be Florida’s Largest Private Landowner? This company has been around for more than 80 years, at one time owned nearly 1 Million Acres of Florida land, and is currently building the first International Airport in the United States since the 2001 terrorist attacks.
Answer: Click HERE to read about this company and how there are continuing to develop a large portion of Florida.
Last Week’s Question
Question: Falling home prices have driven some real estate investors into the market to snap up good deals, including some of our favorite Hollywood celebrities. Do you know which young celebrity is amassing a pricy portfolio of upscale real estate investments?
Answer: Click HERE to see which famous young actor is working his “magic” with the New York real estate market.