VanEd Newslog

Designation Spotlight: SRES ~ Senior Real Estate Specialist

Van Education Center offers 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 skillsand 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 provide access to the SRES^® training online through our Designations InformMRE, Master of Real Estate designation, visit our designation information page online at www.vaned.com/designations.

Note: The SRES online course is available for CE Credit in Colorado, Idaho and Washington.

If you have any questions about the SRES^® designation or any other designation program, contact us at info@vaned.com and we'll be happy to help!

Stay in touch with the NAR Mid-Year Meetings this week in Washington D.C.

The National Association of REALTORS® is set to hold their Mid-Year meetings in the nations capital all this week. You can view the complete chronological list of all NAR and Affiliate Meetings by Clicking Here. You can also set up your meeting planner using that same site link. Visit the Mid-Year page on-line for more information on the REALTORS® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

Meetings, classes and events begin Monday and run all the way through next weekend. The Board of Directors meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 14th at 8:30am ET.  This years education sessions include "Life on MARS and Liability on Earth: Keep your Business Light Years Ahead: Risk Management and License Law Forum" on Wednesday morning "Strategic Plan to Maximize Exposure and Optimize Leads with REALTOR.com®" on Thursday. Don't miss these and many other high powered sessions.

Not going to be able to make this year’s meetings? Catch all the conversation at Midyear Live! Midyear live will feature all the social networking conversation, meeting buzz, and industry news around the Midyear Meetings. (at least visit to check out the cool tools!) 

VanEd will be in attendance again this year. We hope to see you at the upcoming meetings!

(Follow VanEd on Twitter to stay on top of current information and receive special discounts and promotions on all of our new courses - perhaps even on the recently updated "Mortgage Fraud" course or discount offers on Real Estate & Appraisal Licensing education!)

Should You Price to Ward Off Appraisal Problems?

Home-sellers want more for their homes than the market is likely to pay. That's a fact; it's been a fact forever, during boom times and busts, and will continue to be a fact long after these tough times are behind us.

Nothing wrong with it; it's human nature and we're all guilty of putting a higher value on our own precious stuff than anyone else is going to. But part of our job as listing agents is to gently persuade our seller clients that we need to price properly in order to get their home sold.

But should that "proper price" take in to account what the house might appraise for?

In my opinion, no.

WHAT???? Jennifer, are you out of your mind?? What if you overprice the house and it sells at that price and the appraisal comes in low?? What then?

Indeed.

I take great care in pricing my listings - I want to get my seller the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time, assuming that's his goal, too. And I've been doing this long enough to understand that pricing it RIGHT is best way to get the highest price, as opposed to pricing it high and hoping a bigger idiot comes along and pays that price. So, before I continue, let me assure you that I know how to price a house to sell quickly, without giving away my seller's money.

If I feel a house will sell for more than the market data indicates, I'll not hesitate to price it accordingly. If a particular house shows so well and feels so good that it blows away the similar competition and recent sales... even if "on paper" it's not "worth" more, I'll put that higher price on it. My seller deserves the opportunity to see her hard work or design-sense or whatever pay off for her.

(Again, remember, I'm not stupid and I'm not inexperienced. I know what I'm doing.)

So, back to the original question. "What if it sells at full price and then doesn't appraise?"

Frankly, I'll deal with that when and if the problem arises. If I get my seller "too much money" for his house, and the appraiser or underwriter doesn't agree with me and the buyer, then we'll go to Plan B. Which, yes, may include the seller coming down on his price to meet the appraisal. Or getting a second appraisal. Or whatever other solutions we can come up with.

And yeah, it might suck and everyone might get mad. But I'll deal with that at the time!

I'd much rather take the chance of getting top dollar for my seller and then scrambling to justify it, then to pro-actively risk leaving my seller's money on the table when we could have gotten more.

In other words, I don't believe in underpricing a home in order to avoid appraisal issues, and I don't believe it's a good tactic to use when discussing price with a seller prospect.

How do you feel about it?

 

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagadorn 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

Her newest courses, 74 Ways to sell your listing & The SWS Listing Analyzer will both be released this Spring - watch for release specials!

What is Mortgage Fraud?

Definition: Fraud is a deliberate deception practiced in order to gain unfair or unlawful gain. [source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed.]

Mortgage Fraud has grown into one of the most notorious crimes in the United States. It has left many home owners with "underwater" mortgages that are substantially higher than the valued price of their home. Many lenders with defaulted loans and foreclosed homes, and many real estate professionals are in the precarious position of needing to rigorously screen new clients' financial portfolios while keeping apprised of major regulatory changes and new procedures. Industry professionals need to learn about the different types of mortgage fraud and discover how to recognize the signs, take precautions, and report incidents.

Protecting your business from fraud can be a daunting task. It sometimes seems as though there are as many different fraud schemes as there are criminals who use them to defraud lending institutions. One of the best ways they can safeguard against fraud is through a rigorous post-funding quality control program, in addition to sound pre-funding quality control practices.

One of the most difficult aspects of dealing with mortgage fraud is that it's hard to know the scope of the problem. The human element involved makes would-be fraudsters hard to spot, and those already committing fraud even harder to identify. Because these people are white-collar criminals, they look, dress, act, and talk just like the rest of us. They won't look like criminals; they'll look like loan officers, real estate agents, members of management, loan processors or closers and, of course, the next door neighbor.

Over the next few weeks in conjunction with the launch of our recently updated Mortgage Fraud class online we will discuss mortgage fraud in greater detail. What it is, recognition and best practices for prevention. Please join us each week as we cover the basics in each of these areas. And beginning today our Mortgage Fraud course online is discounted through the month of May.

Click Here for more information on the updated Mortgage Fraud class online, available for 6 hours of MRE, Master of Real Estate Credit.

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.

Let's Do Away with the Dorky Announcement Letter

Back in 2007, I wrote one of my most popular (and deservedly so, she says modestly) blogs ever. In fact, this one blog has brought more real estate agents to my website than any other, and continues to attract new souls to my midst on an almost daily basis.

I'm referring, of course, to the classic "Let's Do Away with the Dorky Announcement Letter." In this blog, I sternly advise new real estate agents to Think Before They Write to their spheres of influence, announcing their venture into real estate as if it's the most exciting news since... oh, I don't know what.

But, alas, the Dorky-ness continues. The other day, I got a nice email from a brand new agent asking if I had a sample of a form letter she could use to announce her new career to her friends and family (no, I don't). Today, I got an inquiry from an agent who apparently found that form letter the other new agent was looking for, sent it out to his SOI and is wondering why no one responded.

I get that a lot. Agents writing to me in frustration that they ARE communicating with their Spheres of Influence ("just like you told me to, Jennifer!") but nothing is happening. No one seems to care about them and their real estate business. But... when I ask for details on what they're sending out to their spheres, they proudly send over their Dorky letters, monthly recipe postcards and boilerplate newsletters.

Sigh.

My friends, I get it. I KNOW that you're busy; I know that it sounds overwhelming to create new material on a regular basis. And since you can easily buy pre-created material, what is wrong with just using that? It's better than nothing, isn't it?

NO. NO. NO.

Sending boring, boilerplate, templated stuff to your sphere of influence won't cut it. I'm really really sorry, but that's the truth. I wish it would - then I could just create my own line of Dorky Letters, Postcards and Newsletters and sell 'em to you myself! (Hmmmmmm... if you can't beat 'em join 'em? Nah).

I discussed this topic on a SWS Teleseminar entitled "Don't be Dorky, Be YOU!" Here are the details: www.sellwithsoul.com/dorky.

Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagadorn 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.



Alabama Association of REALTORS® letter RE: Alabama REALTOR® Disaster Relief Fund & how you can help

The following letter was issued by the Alabama Association of REALTORS®:

Thank you for the emails, texts and telephone calls since Mother Nature’s fury last Wednesday altered Alabama’s population and landscape with awful energy.

Yes, we need help. This email is in response to your expressions of concern and inquiries about how to help us. The most experienced FEMA and National Weather Service personnel report that the number (118) of tornadoes in Alabama, paths on the ground (one 238 miles and varied from ½ to 1 full mile wide and another for 110 miles and a mile wide), wind speeds and overall violence of the cells was unprecedented. There just isn’t a way or time for me to tell you what has happened and what IS happening on the bright and sunny Saturday.

Here are a few staggering Alabama facts. 250 deaths and thousands missing (500 is one county), 5 million plus dead poultry (Alabama 3^rd largest producer), Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant shut down as all outside power lines ripped away and no power production for weeks, 19 large power cable towers lost, bodies being found miles from tornado paths, thousands of business and industries totally destroyed (5,731 homes and buildings totally destroyed in Tuscaloosa alone), etc.  Go to http://www.al.com/  from time to time to get a sense of conditions here. We have one REALTOR® death confirmed and reports of two missing. There are 23 members whose homes are totally destroyed and until cell and internet communications are restored we can’t know of others.

We have activated the Alabama REALTOR® Disaster Relief Fund and we can accept tax deductible donations from members and non-members wanting to help. The online link is http://www.alabamarealtors.com/ or mail checks to P. O. Box 4070, Montgomery, AL 36104. Please post anyone wanting to assist in person should go to http://www.servealabama.org/ as this is the official site where volunteers are given options to help where the need is the greatest. Help is needed.

Alabamians are volunteering in person and collecting essentials to ship to north Alabama. An event on this scale causes those of us untouched to take action. The spirit of people is beginning to give a glimpse of what is ahead – rebuild, recovery and come back better than ever. Thank you for your prayers for all those whose lives have suddenly changed.

 

Danny Cooper
Executive Vice President
Alabama Association of REALTORS®
Office: 334-262-3808   Fax: 334-263-9650