VanEd Newslog

VanEd Presents: Commercial Leasing ~ available for CE credit in Nebraska, Colorado, Oregon and Texas

Commercial Leasing is now approved for 3 hours of Continuing Education credit in Nebraska. This course, a part of the MRE program, will expose residential real estate professionals to the nuts and bolts of commercial leasing. The course covers site assessment and comparison, as well as representation and analysis of customer needs.

The course also introduces standard leasing types and clauses that a practitioner may come across in a given transaction. This course is now approved in the following states. For more information or to get started, click on your state below;

Colorado - Nebraska - Texas - Oregon

Designation Spotlight: CIPS ~ Certified International Property Specialist

VanEd offers our students access to leading online education programs, including the Certified International Property Specialist, or CIPS, designation program.  VanEd is proud to present four of the CIPS courses online. 

The CIPS organization was founded in 1953 as a real estate education curriculum that focuses on the critical aspects of international real estate transactions. Courses in the CIPS program are designed to give students intensive study focusing on currency and exchange rate issues, international and regional market conditions and investment and tax issues related to international real estate transactions. REALTORS® must complete the "International Real Estate for Local Markets" course before joining the CIPS Network. This course also counts as 12 credit hours towards the MRE, Master of Real Estate designation!

To learn more about the CIPS designation and the courses available, visit the VanEd information page online at www.vaned.com/CIPS. Continuing Education credit is also available in some states!

HVCC takes effect May 1st

New rules governing conventional appraisals, which will impact loan originators and mortgage brokers kick in on Friday, May 1st, 2009. The Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) is intended to take the loan originator out of the appraisal process. The purpose of this rule is to prevent collusion between the loan officer and the appraiser that many officials believe led to the overvaluation of homes and the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Effectively, HVCC makes it illegal for a mortgage broker to contact an appraiser directly to obtain current market value to determine the possibility of the owners refinancing. It also prohibits the loan officer from asking a real estate agent for a Broker's Price Opinion (BPO). Lenders are also worried about the appearance of collusion, so many are relying on appraisal management companies for appraisal services. These companies force appraisers to work for much less, often as low as $150.00 per appraisal. Most good appraisers, who normally charge $400 or more, will refuse to work for appraisal management companies. The quality of most appraisals will suffer, and may negatively affect purchase transactions.

These guidelines only apply to conventional loans. FHA and VA appraisals are not affected.

The biggest news of the week is the apparent suicide of David Kellermann, the CFO of Freddie Mac. Freddie Mac, which either owns or guarantees 13 million mortgages, and reported a 4th quarter loss of $23.9 billion. Does this mean Freddie has more problems than have been disclosed?

Foreclosure filings increased to 341,000 in March, up 12% from February and up 46% from March 2008, bringing the first quarter filings to 843,000 which is the highest on record. This is after 3 million total foreclosures in 2008, which was 81% higher than 2007. It appears the moratorium on foreclosures is over. The second wave of foreclosures is starting. The first wave was mostly the product of bad loans. The second wave is because of job losses and declines in income.

Interest rates have remained steady for another week, 4.5% to 4.75% with one point for borrowers with 20% equity and over 700 credit scores.

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: Residential Site Valuation & Cost Approach

VanEd is proud to announce the addition of our newest course -  Residential Site Valuation & Cost Approach. It meets the standards set forth by the AQB as qualifying education for the Licensed level.

This 15-hour course provides an overview of the valuation process as a basis for understanding the site valuation and cost approach methodology.

Tuition is only $249 and includes a textbook!

For more information about the program, and to see if it is currently available in your state, click here.

Designation Spotlight: Accredited Land Consultant

The RLI: Land 101 course, the first course in the ALC, Accredited Land Consultantdesignation program, is available online. The ALC designation is offered by the REALTORS® Land Institute (RLI). Visit our Designation Information page for more information.   

The REALTORS® Land Institute(RLI) is an affiliate of NAR, and is the only branch focused on land brokerage. This includes farm and ranch, subdivision and undeveloped tracts of land.  Organized in 1944 as the Farm & Land Institute, RLI is now a nationwide organization. The ALC designation is run through the education arm of the RLI.

Visit our ALC information page online to learn more about this designation and course offering! Ready to get started today? Click Here to enroll for Land 101!

NOTE: The Land 101 course is also approved for MRE, Master of Real Estate designation credit!

Q&A with Jennifer Allan - "Does My 'Friend' Owe me a Courtesy Call When She Hires Someone Else?"

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is also a regular contributor to Realty Times and RE/MAX Times.

Question: I understand that I won’t always get my friends’ business, but when I don’t, is it reasonable to expect a courtesy call explaining why they hired someone else?

JA: It’s tough when someone you know entrusts their real estate business to another agent, isn’t it? When you’re new, the disappointment can take days to get over, but even for Old Fogies like me, it’ll still sting for an hour or two.

As discussed in an earlier Q&A, it’s best to give your friend the benefit of the doubt and assume that she had a perfectly good reason for her decision not to bring you in on her real estate transaction. Trust in that, swallow your hurt and move on. Don’t risk the friendship (or future business!) by demanding an explanation, complaining to mutual friends or sulking the next time you see her.

I don't think the general public realizes how hurtful it is when our friends hire someone else - I doubt they even give it much thought. In most cases, it's not AT ALL personal, so they don't even think to feel bad about it, or feel they owe you any explanation.

So, does your friend owe you a courtesy call? No. If you get one, dandy. But if you don’t, please don’t fret. More than an hour, anyway.

A Special invite from Jennifer: "Join me this Wednesday, April 22nd at 4pm (Pacific) / 7pm (Eastern) for a FREE teleconference panel discussion on the often uncomfortable subject of the Negotiating Your Commissions. REGISTER FOR "THE ART OF COMMISSION NEGOTIATION"

Guest Author Jennifer Allan has authored five books and multiple courses designed to teach agents her Sell with Soul philosophy that centers on four interrelated principles: Respect, Competence, Confidence and Enthusiasm.  The latest release of her book Sell with Soul is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.com.

 

 

We asked author Jennifer Allan to answer questions based on her teaching and experience in the real estate industry. Jennifer is also a regular contributor to Realty Times and RE/MAX Times.

Finance Friday: No Hope4Homeowners

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 included a temporary FHA program to help borrowers who are facing difficulty in paying their current mortgages. This program replaced a fairly unsuccessful program knows as FHASecure.

The H4H program, which runs from Oct. 1, 2008 until Sept. 30, 2011, set aside $320 billion to help as many as 400,000 troubled borrowers. I have criticized this program many times because of the high mortgage insurance premiums (3.00% up front and 1.5% annual premiums), prohibition on second mortgages, and the requirement to share 50% of future appreciation with the FHA. With these restrictions, I thought most borrowers would be better off to let the house go into foreclosure and rent for five years before trying to buy again. It appears most borrowers agreed with me because through March 2009 only 865 borrowers have applied for this program, and only 1 (one) loan has been closed.

The efforts by other lenders to modify troubled loans has been more successful. However, statistics are showing that over one-half of the modified loans became delinquent within the first six months after modification. Unfortunately, most troubled borrowers don't have the income to afford any reasonable payment and with home prices declining monthly, don't have the ability to sell the house and pay off the mortgage.

The economic woes continue. New unemployment claims decreased by 53,000 for the week of April 11th, but were still a mind boggling 610,000. Continuing claims now exceed 6 million.

Housing starts plunged to a seasonally adjusted 510,000 units, slightly better than the January figure which was the lowest in the 50 year history of keeping this statistic. This figure suggests the February increase in housing starts was an anomaly as the new home market remains weak.

Mortgages had a quiet week as borrowers can still get a 30 year fixed rate at 4.5% by paying one point. The rates should stay low as long as our government keeps supporting the market by buying Fannie Mae securities. As soon as the Fed exists the market, rates will jump as evidenced by the complete lack of Jumbo fixed rate loans.

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 announces Free "Getting Started" course for all pre-license students

VanEd recently began offering new Professional Development courses online, including Getting Started and Staying on Track. This course, from author Jennifer Allan (Sell With Soul), will teach you how to start up a (successful) real estate business and how to manage the dozens of details that are involved. This Professional Development class will take you day-by-day, step-by-step through that process. Jennifer Allan has authored five books and multiple online education courses that deal with customer relations, pricing strategies and balancing your life.

For those veteran agents who may need to refocus or re-energize their careers, the course assignments are designed to help you hit the ground running while keeping your enthusiasm and motivation high.

And to kick start a new career year offright, VanEd and Jennifer Allan are now offering the course FREE to all of our Pre-License students!  Students registering for any of our complete licensing packages will be automatically enrolled in the Getting Started and Staying on Track course upon completion of theirpre-license education classes. And for no charge, it's an unbeatable offer!

VanEd is the leading provider of online real estate pre-license education classes and courses in many states, including Colorado licensing, Nebraska licensing and Texas licensing education.

Guest Author Jennifer Allan has authored books and courses designed to teach agents her Sell with Soul philosophy that centers on four interrelated principles: Respect, Competence, Confidence and Enthusiasm. Her latest release of Sell with Soul is also available in the VanEd bookstore.

Winner announced from 2009 REALTOR® Rally

The 2009 REALTOR® Rally was held last week at the Colorado Convention Center. VanEd joined thousands of Colorado real estate industry professionals in Denver for education, training and to see what's hot in real estate for 2009. This year the rally featured two keynote speakers; Larry Kendall and Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist.

 Those who stopped by the VanEd booth wereregistered to win free online Professional Development courses and also heard about what's new in education.

In the morning author Jennifer Allan, who wrote the new "Getting Started and Staying on Track" professional development course talked with guests, and in the afternoon the Planning Institute of Colorado joined us at our booth to promote the "Land Planning" courses they have authored.

The booth drawing give-away is a three-course package of Professional Development courses designed to teach you how to start and maintain a successful career. The winner will receive all of the following courses, available online;

• Blogging Effectively - by Doug Devitre
• Getting Started and Staying on Track - by Jennifer Allan and;
• Introduction to Social Networking - by Brad Hanks (hey! this course even counts for 2 hours of MRE credit!)

Congratulations to our drawing winner - Billie Behl of NGReal Estate in Aurora! Billie will be enrolled in all three of the VanEd Professional Development courses online!

Report from the AARO Spring Conference

The AARO, the Association of Appraisal Regulatory Officials, spring conference was held in New Orleans, LA from April 4-6, 2009. VanEd was a sponsor at the conference. Highlights of the meeting included the following;

1.      The  Appraisal Qualification Board (AQB) released results of national exam that was first required 1/1/08.  The exam results are summarized on the following table:

 

AQB National Exam Pass Rates
First Time Test Takers	Pre-2008 Education	2008 Education
Licensed Residential	35-40%	60-65%
Certified Residential	40-45%	85-90%
Certified General	55-60%	90-95%

 

2.       This Spring the AQB will be publishing a document titled, “What are the Benefits of Engaging a professional Appraiser?” 

 

3.       The ASB approved the changes for the 2010-2011 USPAP.  The primary changes relate to the following;

a.       Changes in the definition of Signature

b.      Changes in the definition of Jurisdictional Exception

c.       Clarification of the JURISDICTIONAL EXCEPTION RULE

d.      Changes to the ETHICS RULE including a requirement for the appraiser to disclose, “...any services regarding the subject property performed by the appraiser within the three year period immediately preceding acceptance of the assignment…”

e.      Clarification of the COMPETENCY RULE

f.        Clarifications to Standard 3, Appraisal Review, Development and Reporting

These changes will go into affect as of January 1, 2010.

And finally, findings from the Illinois appraisal regulatory board suggest that when an appraiser works for an appraisal management company the appraisal management company is the client and the client must be disclosed in the appraisal report.

Furthermore, the appraisal should disclose the amount of their fee.  Without such a disclosure, the appraiser is violating the Management section of USPAP which says, “The payment of undisclosed fees, commissions, or things of value in connection with the procurement of an assignment is unethical.”  This could represent a change for many appraisers working with appraisal management companies.