VanEd Newslog

Today is the last day to submit applications for the Colorado REALTORS® for Education Charity Grant program

Teachers across Colorado who have not yet applied for a grant from the Colorado REALTORS^® for Education Charity Grant program have only through today to get those last minute applications submitted online. The program, now in only its second grant cycle, will stop accepting applications on Halloween. Then the Board of Directors will begin the difficult work of sorting through the applications and awarding grants.

The board of directors will be working in November to complete the review process and select the recipients.

VanEd is proud of our work to help establish this program and invite you to visit the programs donation page online at www.vaned.com/charity. Here you can find the online applications or make a donation to the program.

VanEd Presents: 2008 Colorado Real Estate Commission Annual Update Course available online

The new 2008 Colorado Real Estate Commission Annual Update Course is now available online at www.vaned.com. The newest course covers new laws, rules and forms. There is also information included covering Affiliated Business Arrangements and the new legal resident status bill. This 4-hour course may also be used as elective Continuing Education credit for those who have completed their Update Course requirements. VanEd still recommends taking the update course every year to ensure compliance with CREC rules.

The 2007 CREC Annual Update course will remain available online through the end of October. Beginning on November 1st, the Division of Real Estate has said that the 2007 annual update course may no longer be taken for credit. This means that for the remainder of October, VanEd will continue to offer both the 2007 and 2008 CREC Annual Update courses.

All licensees are reminded that once a CREC Annual update course has been superseded, it is no longer valid for credit. This means that as of January 1st, 2007 only the new 2007 CREC Annual Update course was valid and after November 1st, 2007 only the 2008 CREC Annual update course ~ version #1 ~ will be valid. Members are encouraged to verify that the course they are completing is in fact valid for credit. For details on all of the CE requirements in Colorado, visit our Requirements info page by clicking here.

Finance Friday: National Mortgage Licensing?

In his testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives on Oct. 24th, 2007, John Dugan, the Comptroller of the Currency, has endorsed a bill calling for national sales practice standards for all mortgage originators.   This bill would impose restrictions on loans containing negative amortization, prohibit the requirement of mandatory credit life insurance policies, and prohibit loan originators from steering borrowers to a mortgage "that is not in the consumer's best interest".  It will add additional categories of fees (including prepayment penalties) to be included in the APR calculations. It will also establish national underwriting standards for all sub-prime loans. While these standards will not apply to "prime" loans, it will include Alt-A mortgages.  If this happens it will quite probably end no-doc, low-doc, and stated income loans.

In the news this week, National City, a Cleveland based bank, announced the closure of its correspondent lending division.  This follows the August closing of its correspondent home equity division.  National City will still provide mortgages through its retail and wholesale divisions.  Bank of America announced the closure of its wholesale lending division on Thursday, resulting in over 3,000 layoffs.  Mortgage loans will only be available through its retail banks because Bank of America closed its correspondent lending division several years ago.

Interest rates improved this week with no point low fee thirty year mortgages approaching 6.125%.  Jumbo rates have also improved, getting close to 6.5%.

Guest Author Randy Kelly is a Mortgage Banker and Finance Author with Boulder West Financial Services. He can be reached on-line at http://www.boulderwest.com/.

Learn How to Invest in Real Estate with Money You Didn’t Know You Could Use

Though many experts say today’s real estate market is down and getting worse, there are always great opportunities for the smart investor. While you may have found such hidden gems, you may not realize that you can buy investment property with your retirement money, combined with a bank’s money.

Learn how to find the investment property from a real estate professional, how to invest your retirement funds with Entrust New Direction, and how to leverage those retirement funds with First Bank.  The first cross-industry class will be November 13^th in Colorado Springs, with more to follow in the metro area. Find out more at www.newdirectionira.com.

Guest Authors Bill Humphrey and Catherine Wynne are Principals with Entrust New Direction IRA.They believe that education is the most important ingredient when self directing into non-traditional investments. Reach them online at www.newdirectionira.com

VanEd Presents: Senior Real Estate Specialist designation course

Van Education Center announced that they have begun to offer the online SRES^®, Senior Real Estate Specialist designation course. The SRES^® Designation course will instill a new level of knowledge and understanding of the 55+ real estate customer. Agents who complete this training will gain the skills and recourses needed to serve this special and growing segment of the real estate market.

The SRES^® course also receives MRE, Master of Real Estate Credit and can be used as an MRE elective for those candidates who wish to learn more about this specialized market. You can learn more and enroll by clicking here.

VanEd is proud to offer the SRES^® training online through our partnership with REALTOR University. We continue to expand our course offerings to include only the highest level of educational opportunities for our members and students. If you have any questions about the SRES^® designation or any other designation program, including the MRE, Master of Real Estate designation, visit our designation information page online at www.vaned.com/designations.

Finance Friday: Happy Anniversary

Today is the 20th anniversary of the 1987 market crash when the Dow lost 508 points, or 22.6% of its value.  This was the largest single day drop in the Dow's history, but not the biggest percentage drop. In today's market, a 22.6% loss would be 3200 points.  While no one is predicting a crash of that magnitude, the losses in the sub-prime securities could certainly trigger a big sell-off.  Yesterday, MGIC, the nations largest mortgage insurance company posted a third quarter loss, which is their first quarterly loss since they went public 1991.  Today PMI, the mortgage insurance company with the largest Florida exposure, posted a larger than expected third quarter loss as mortgage defaults mount.  E-Trade Financial also posted a third quarter loss after writing off $200 million of mortgage backed securities.
The wheels may not be falling off the stock market, but their are a few loose lug-nuts.  The latest sell-off has triggered a flight to quality resulting in lower interest rates.  Today's rates for no point low fee thirty year fixed rate loans has dropped to 6.25%.

Guest Author Randy Kelly is a Mortgage Banker and Finance Author with Boulder West Financial Services. He can be reached on-line at http://www.boulderwest.com/.

Notes from the field: Will Social Security be Secure?

Social Security preservation has finally hit the campaign trail. Both John Edwards and Hillary Clinton have recently expressed concerns about the health of social security. Remedies could include both greater fiscal responsibility and eliminating the current $97,500 income limit for the social security tax. Experts predict that consumers will be expected to shoulder the burden of their retirement through IRA, Roth and SEP accounts, in addition to Health Savings Accounts, a new tax-deferred/tax-free savings option for every American.

Investing IRA assets in real estate is an opportunity that real estate agents and their customers may have previously overlooked, but that may become a more popular option. You can learn about these individual retirement options in various classes offered online by Van Education Center.

Guest Authors Bill Humphrey and Catherine Wynne are Principals with Entrust New Direction IRA.They believe that education is the most important ingredient when self directing into non-traditional investments. Reach them online at www.newdirectionira.com

CARHOF set to raffle off a house at CAR Convention

The CARHOF Raffle ends this week and the odds of winning are fantastic! The drawing will be October 24th at the CAR State Convention. VanEd will have a booth at the convention, so stop in and say hello!

This years Grand Prize in the CARHOF raffle is a new home built by Sanctuary Homes valued at $300,000. The winner may also choose to take $200,000 in cash. Only 10,000 tickets were scheduled to be sold in the raffle at $100 a piece. However, at this time CARHOF is reporting that only around 2000 tickets have been sold so far. This means that with ticket sales ending this week (the drawing will be held in Colorado Springs on October 25, 2007) the odds of winning the house are now even better! And CARHOF directs 50% of the profits from ticket sales back to the local associations around the state to support local communities through grant cycles and programs.

For more information you may online to the CARHOF Raffle page. Need tickets? Contact a local REALTOR® or the association office in your area or purchase tickets online using the following link - Purchase Tickets Now!

Finance Friday: FHA Down Payment Assistance Disappearing

Seller provided down payment assistance for FHA loans will soon disappear. For contracts written after November 1, 2007, FHA will not allow down payment assistance that is traceable back to the seller.  This includes programs like Neighborhood Gold and Quickdown.  For some reason, the Nehemiah program has been given a six month exemption from this rule, so it can provide down payment assistance until April of 2008.  This ruling does not affect actual gifts and grants from  non-profits as well as other traditional sources of gifts from relatives, employers, churches, etc.

On the interest rate front, rates have remained stable for this week.  No point low fee 30 year fixed rate mortgages are still about 6.375%.  Also 100% financing is still available to qualified buyers.

Guest Author Randy Kelly is a Mortgage Banker and Finance Author with Boulder West Financial Services. He can be reached on-line at http://www.boulderwest.com/.

VanEd Presents: EcoBroker Designation available online!

Van Education Center has partnered with EcoBroker to deliver the Nationally recognized EcoBroker Designation program online to all VanEd students. EcoBrokers stay current with the growing green real estate market and are better able to help their customers get the most when buying or selling a home. The EcoBroker designation provides the latest and most comprehensive energy and environmental real estate training.

The EcoBroker online courses may be approved for continuing education credit and all designees receive a full profile page on EcoBroker.com. The course package costs $395 and students have up to a year to complete all three online courses. Designees also have access to proprietary marketing templates and advertising opportunities.

You can view detailed program information, information about courses and benefits or register for the EcoBroker online courses by clicking here!

Colorado Real Estate Commission 2008 Annual Update Course information

The Division of Real Estate has confirmed that VanEd may offer the 2008 CREC Annual Update course beginning next week. VanEd has begun working with our local host providers to ensure the fastest delivery possible to our student members. The 2008 CREC Annual Update course will be available in the Classroom beginning the week of October 15th.

VanEd will also be delivering the CREC Annual Update course online as always. The online course should be available next week as well.  The 2007 CREC Annual Update course will run through the end of November, so students who need to complete both the 2007 and the 2008 CREC Annual Update courses will be able to do that through October 31st at midnight when the '07 course will be expired.

For all of the information and registration details for either of the CREC Annual Update courses, visit us online at http://www.vaned.com/CREC/.

Redline version of 2008 Colorado Contract posted on VanEd

VanEd has put the redline version of the new 2008 Colorado contract to Buy and Sell real estate online. The form is available by clicking here, and highlights the changes made between the 2007 and 2008 Contract.

All other new and revised forms will be uploaded this week in both redline and clean copy for agents and managers to download. These forms are available for use as of October 30th and are mandatory for use January 1st, 2008. All contracts may be found online at VanEd by visiting the following link;

  http://www.vaned.com/contracts

Finance Friday: Home Prices vs. Income

The real culprit in the housing downturn may be a lack of income.  In the 1960's the median annual income was about 38% of the median home price.  Nationally the average home price in 1968 was $20,100 and the average household income was $7665, which meant it took the equivalent of 31 months income to purchase a home.  By the 1978, the average income was 31% of the median home price, which meant it took about 38 months of income to purchase a home.  This percentage of income to home prices remained about 30% until the year 2000.  Since the turn of the century, home prices nationwide have increased almost 60%, while the median income has only increased 15%.  The median income is now only 22% of the median home price, and it takes the equivalent of 55 months of income to afford the average home. 
This discrepancy was hidden for the first four years of the century by declining interest rates and relaxed underwriting standards.  As rates and underwriting standards returned to normal, the lack of income has become a big factor in the increase in foreclosures.

On the interest rate front, the unexpected increase in new jobs created today has caused a slight increase in mortgage rates.  No point low fee thirty year fixed loans are at 6.5% today.

Guest Author Randy Kelly is a Mortgage Banker and Finance Author with Boulder West Financial Services. He can be reached on-line at http://www.boulderwest.com/.

VanEd Colorado Real Estate Licensing (pre-license) program gets upgrades

Van Education Center today announced that for all 168-credit hour and 120-credit hour online pre-licensing programs in Colorado, VanEd would accept partial payment programs for new students. This option will make it easier for new students to begin the educational programs that are necessary to earn their Colorado real estate Brokers license.

VanEd is the leader in online education in Colorado, and was the first online pre-license program in Colorado . VanEd is also one of the oldest online providers in the Nation, delivering real estate and appraisal education in more than 30 states, including being a primary real estate provider in Colorado, Nebraska and Texas. With a recent launch of a new Learning Management System (LMS), VanEd's online programs continue to be improved for both students and instructors.

To learn more about all of VanEd's programs, visit www.vaned.com.

CAR conducts public policy survey among REALTORS®

The Colorado Association of REALTORS® is conducting a survey in conjunction with NAR asking for members views on public policy issues at every level. Members are encouraged to complete the online survey to help the association target those issues that matter most to the membership and their clients.

For more information, and to find a link to the survey, click here or visit the CAR home page online at www.coloradorealtors.com.

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 moves through committee

H.R. 3648, named the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, was moved through the House Ways and Means committee. The bill would amend the IRS code to exclude the discharge of indebtedness on principal residences from gross personal income.

The bill, introduced in committee September 26th, would create a permanent exclusion from taxable income of debt forgiven in a short sale or foreclosure. Current law requires the lender to send a 1099 to the taxpayer/borrower for the amount of any loan that is forgiven, treating that amount as gross personal income for tax purposes. This bill would exclude debt forgiven from the taxpayers gross taxable income.

For more information, VanEd offers the updated Taxation in Real Estate course online. This course includes a summary section that details these and other updates or changes to the real estate tax laws.

The bill also extends the private mortgage interest deduction that currently would only allow for loan contracts made in 2007 and carries this deduction through 2014. To pay for these and other changes, the bill would also amend the current exclusion of $250,000 ($500,000 if married filing a joint return) of gain realized in the sale or exchange of a principle residence. Currently if a taxpayer lives in a home for 2 of the previous 5 years the exclusion would be applicable to all gain realized during the life of ownership of the property. Under this bill, a taxpayer would only be able to utilize the exclusion to the extent that it relates to the period of time when the home was used as a principle residence. To read a description of the bill, click here.