VanEd Newslog

Our top story picks this week include good news from the FHA, appraisal opinions and speed traps

While many were at the Midyear meetings and others were taking care of graduation parties and other events leading up to Memorial Day Weekend (yes, that's this coming weekend) there was still some news that happened. Here are some recent stories that we found interesting;

Verizon caught our eye when it announced that it was moving to end unlimited data plans. As people move to the 4G network they will need to select a tiered plan to join. We aren't sure how many people in the industry will be affected by this but with the explosion of mobile tools in real estate this is sure to become something we all need to pay attention to.

REEA, The Real Estate Educators Association, announced that the cancelled 2012 annual conference was rescheduled for August 10-13 and will be held in Kentucky on the campus of Morehead State University. This is good news for educators and the recent webinar hosted by REEA also showed how the organization was moving forward. Great job by the current BOD. Exciting things are ahead, instructors can learn more at http://REEA.org.

Have you seen Trapster yet? find speed traps, photo radar and even road closures with this app. Available for Android, iPhones and even Blackberry this app uses crowd sourcing for something positive: fewer tickets! http://www.trapster.com/ (Since over 15 million people have this app already maybe it was just us that missed it...)

Built in 1592, The Crooked House of Windsor has a long and colorful history. We enjoyed the photos of the house as well as the story. http://bit.ly/KhISfm

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced that they would be changing lending policies relating to condominiums. This is good news as the current restrictions, originally implemented before 2010, seem to be limiting the availability of affordable financing for many projects and first time homebuyers. The ... interesting? ... news was that there was no time line announced for the changes, just that they would be "very, very soon".

This wasn't the only news from the FHA recently as they also announced that the National Servicing Center (NSC) would begin offering Preforeclosure Program (PFS) Training for Real Estate Professionals. Learn more about these regional events online here - http://bit.ly/J4XjHb.

One important study we saw (and took a great interest in) finds that drinking coffee can extend your life. Read more online at http://bit.ly/L3uMO8.

And appraisers recently got a look at the Appraisal Practices Boards (APB) Valuation Advisory #3: Residential Appraising in a Declining Market http://bit.ly/IYWP1I.  

For more updates and information follow VanEd on any of our other social networks below. 

 

Post Midyear & Summer events that will help boost your business

If you have the time this busy summer these events top our list of 'things to do'. Don't forget to contact us to see where we will be and find out how to connect with us while you're there!

After the successful NAR Midyear legislative meetings and expo (held May 15th - 19th) it's not too soon to start planning for any and/or all of the following events;

 

Looking for some sort of Quasi-Governmental run webinar training on short sales? We know you are! The FHA’s National Servicing Center (NSC) is pleased to announce the Preforeclosure Program (PFS) Webinar Training for Real Estate Professionals. The training is being offered on a regional basis to offer more local and regional assistance, so check online to see when your regional training is being offered http://bit.ly/J4XjHb. 

Agent reboot - June 6th in Portland, OR is the next agent reboot (from Inman News) Learn all about mobile, video, blogs and gadgets that can help boost your business and increase productivity. The program travels to Oklahoma City in September as well. http://www.agentreboot.com/

Mortgage Tech Summit: Denver - On June 7th & 8th Join mortgage and real estate professionals from around the state as they focus on lead generation, efficiency and marketing tools. Apps and utilities too. Don't miss out on what is certain to be the top mortgage marketing event of the year in Colorado. http://MortgageTechSummit.com for more information.

AFIRE - Awesome Females in Real Estate - Join 100 of the most talented and inspiring women leaders at the 6th Annual Awesome Females in Real Estate Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona June 20th - 22nd. Learn more and register at http://realestatecoach.com/afire/.

Looking for some appraisal information in July? Then don't miss the public meeting of the ASB: Appraisal Standards Board on Friday, July 13th in Denver. Register online at http://bit.ly/JfCnwn  

The Aspen Board of REALTORS® is hosting two VanEd continuing education classes on July - Ethics for REALTORS® and the CREC Annual Update Course are both scheduled for July 26th in Aspen. Visit http://VanEd.com/Aspen for details and to register for one or both of these live classes.

Inman Connect - San Francisco - Held August 1st - 3rd this year the connect conference will blow you away with new information and innovations that can immediately help feed the techie in you - http://www.realestateconnect.com/ (note: agent reboot will be held in San Francisco on July 31st)

Instructors can close out a great summer by gathering and the recently announced REEA 2012 Conference, "Phoenix Rising: The New REEA Experience" on the campus of Morehead State University August 10th - 13th. This event is sure to be better than expected with announcements on the DREI program and the new REEA structure happening at a rapid pace. Find out more online at http://www.REEA.org.  

With so much going on in the real estate, mortgage and appraisal industries it is more important than ever to stay up to date on rules and technology. Have an event scheduled that we missed here? Let us know! email us at info@vaned.com and we will be happy to look at it! And don't forget to follow any of our social media channels to stay current on all of the conferences and events!

 

VanEd Presents: Online Nebraska Real Estate Licensing Program

Van Education Center is proud to offer the course Real Estate Finance in Nebraska. This 30 hour course, combined with VanEd's Principles in Real Estate (30 hours), will meet the Salesperson education requirements in Nebraska. Both are included in the Nebraska Real Estate Salesperson Licensingpackage. Take these real estate classes online with VanEd and receive all books, exam prep and instructional support from the leader in distance education in real estate.

Package price includes all books & "Getting Started and Staying on Track" course FREE

VanEd is the leader in Distance Education, including Pre-License education in Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Nebraska. VanEd also offers Continuing Education online. For more information on our Nebraska Pre-License education, visit us online at www.vaned.com.

The Nebraska Real Estate Licensing program has been online at VanEd for three years and is the most successful online real estate education available. See why the most successful people in real estate choose VanEd!

Colorado Real Estate Commission plans E&O Insurance rule update to help Indpendent Brokers

On June 5th at the real estate commission meeting in Denver the commissioners will be voting on a change to Rule D-14 - Errors and Omissions (E&O) Insurance that would change the requirement that companies with only one licensee carry separate E&O Insurance policies.

Under the current rule, every licensee, as well as all real estate companies, must carry at least the minimum required amount of coverage. This current requirement means that Independent brokers who open a company but do not employ additional licensees in the firm must carry a separate "company" policy. This has the effect of duplicating coverage for those licensees who choose to work alone.

The new rule would require a company policy only for those firms that have employed licensees in addition to the supervising broker, effectively eliminating the need for an Indpeepdent broker to have a company policy E&O policy that duplicates the coverages already in place under the licensees individual insurance policy.

The proposed language change to Rule D-14 is below. (Note: only the portion of the rule being reviewed for change by the commission is posted here. For the full notice you may go online to http://bit.ly/IHsLWt)

National Flood Insurance Program set to expire. Again.

After Fall legislative action the government funded National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through May 31st of 2012. This gave the NFIP a reprieve and it stayed on life support ~ again. Until now.

In an April 23rd press release FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, requested a long-term extension asking congress for a two year extension of the program. FEMA also reports that besides the inability to write new policies, if there is a lapse in authorization that diminishes income to the program and payments to recent flood victims might be delayed or even halted. 

There are a large number of real estate transactions that require flood insurance coverage and NAR reports that approximately 40,000 transactions per month would be placed in jeopardy by a failure of Congress to pass any reauthorization of the NFIP. You can read the FEMA press release by clicking here.

In a fall publication Henry Harrison wrote about the NFIP as wll as his personal experience with Hurricane Irene and with FEMA personel, whom he described as "professional, courteous and genuinely helpful." He concluded his article with the following statement; "Seems Congress is once again playing brinksmanship with America's flood insurance program. After our recent experience, that doesn't seem wise to us."

You can read more from Henry's October 2011 article at http://www.revmag.com/.

Ready for National Open House Weekend? It's this weekend, April 28th - 29th

Realtors® from all over the country will be hosting open houses this weekend as part of National Open House Weekend. According to a report by Inman News there will be more than $14 billion in listings open for buyers to peruse. This is an opportunity to learn more about the current state of the housing market for buyers and sellers, while allowing the real estate community to educate the consumers about the benefits of home ownership.

Learn more about how NAR supports the nations Realtors® at the local level online at http://www.realtor.org/topics/nationwide-open-house

Or watch the stream below to find homes that may be open in your area! Follow #openhouse2012 on twitter;

 

What we're reading: Internet Privacy tops our list this week

Don't be Evil, but Don't miss the train - This New York Times article sparked our interest as Google (among others) are both investigated and maligned for their internet security practices. What qualifies as a "best practice" in the online world may not be what the users think it should be. http://nyti.ms/HWvb4U 

There was a case that caught our attention where Bid Rigging in Foreclosure Auctions drew USDOJ charges that led to a plea deal in Alabama. The buyers wouldn't bid against each other but instead designate who would buy the property and then the group would have a second, secret auction later. This is illegal, so don't try this at home.  http://1.usa.gov/IzwBDj 

On a more entertaining note we enjoyed the story of the colossal cat on the Today show - check out this 39 pound kitty (which would equate to a 600 pound person) and see how sweet he was!  

There were also a few items of interest for instructors as we found articles on Ways to use Facebook effectively in class and Seven ways to wake the dead and inspire action with PowerPoint. If you're an instructor take a look at those quick reads for a few good tips.

 

And lastly, while staying on our instruction theme, we're at the Texas Real Estate Teachers Association (TRETA) Annual Conference this week in Fort Worth, Texas at the Historic Stockyards. There is a fantastic lineup of speakers including regulators and industry executives from all over Texas. Visit www.TRETA.org for more information or to see the schedule and we'll post any excellent updates that come from the conference.

 

Connect with us on any of our other social networks below to stay up on all that things social!

REALTOR® Nationwide open house weekend this Saturday, Sunday

REALTORS® across the country will be holding open houses on the weekend of April 28th - 29th during the Nationwide Open House Weekend. Thousands will open their doors and use this time to get people into listings and to educate the public about the historically low interest rates.

Join thousands of REALTORS® around the nation and hold an open house on the weekend
of April 28 - 29, 2012!  Encourage your buyers to visit and your sellers to participate.

How is this weekend different than any other weekend in April?  This is an incredible opportunity for consumers to shop for a new home while:
 

o    Interest rates are still low

o    Home prices are lower that they have been in years

o    There are a variety of home choices available

o    There are investment opportunities that exist in many markets 

 

Eventually, home prices and interest rates will climb, and inventory in various price ranges is becoming scarce in many areas of the country. Do not wait for institutional investors to begin to absorb the market.

REALTORS® can find more information and resources online by clicking here. And look for local or state marketing opportunities through your association or local media outlets. It may be an excellent opportunity to get a screaming deal on traditional marketing outlets that many in the industry won't be utilizing (or have forgotten about altogether!).

The most successful people in real estate use VanEd. Please connect with us on one of our social network sites listed below.

It's already Spring and Tax Day is upon us ~ Have you taken time to create a Marketing Plan yet?

It's time to revisit marketing plans again!

If you didn't sit down in December to create your annual marketing plan, then now is the time. As the Spring market season quickly approaches agents should be getting ready now for what we hope is the busy season just ahead.

Do not worry about market forecasts or interest rates or even company advertising bills as you sit down to start planning. Instead, focus on what you can do to increase your personal traffic. Focus on your direct expenses and don't worry about indirect expenses that arise out of any given transaction. (Why not worry? Expenses are bad!) While you can save for a rainy day, you can't determine what calamity will befall any given transaction in advance, so planning for it won't help. Besides, we're looking for a positive year!

Clear some time in your schedule at the office. Don't plan in front of the TV while watching a congressional hearing or ER or even The Office. I assure you that your mood will be affected by any of those shows, and when planning it is best to keep an open mind to help you set some realistic goals and schedules. Another good reason to do this at the office is so that if you need help identifying what you did last year or the year before, you will be where the files are. Easy access to records will help speed up this process.

Now begin planning!

Sounds easy, but isn't. There are a variety of good resources out there that will help you get started. Programs such as Act! offer tools to help agents be more productive. I suggest that you start by reading a little bit on planning and goal setting, and Realtor Magazine Online has some good suggestions on where to start. You can read the article 8 Step personal marketing plan online. There are also links there that will show you sample plans and give you tips on Niche marketing and other areas that you may want to focus on. It's a good place to start, and now is the time.

Need a coaching program? Kelle Sparta of Sparta Success Systems offers an online coaching program that will help you identify your goals and plan and get you going.

ARELLO Mid-Year meetings happening this week...also

Real Estate Regulators from around the world gather this week in Austin, TX for the 2012 ARELLO Mid-Year Meetings. Here they will discuss how various regulatory agencies are navigating the changing economic and governmental factors that affect them and their licensees. Regulators will also share knowledge and best practices for effective oversight and management of the various regulated programs to develop solutions that will ensure greater consumer protection for the citizens of their jurisdictions.

Many of the ARELLO workgroups and committees will also consider goals and rules governing licensing examinations, professional distance education, best practices in real estate and the time share registry. Regulators will also share ideas and concepts for proper rulemaking and position statements. The decisions made at the annual convention typically have an impact on the real estate industry for years to come. You can follow along on twitter (search box is below) by using the hashtag #ARELLOMidyear12. You can also learn more about ARELLO on their web site at http://ARELLO.org.