Follow the VanEd - Real Estate School News blog to learn more about our online real estate courses and live classes, the latest real estate and appraisal news, and updates to laws, and regulations across various states.
In our blog, students will learn more about what it takes to get a real estate license, what the current industry looks like for agents, and how to effectively navigate the evolving real estate education industry.
Discover our favorite posts of the week. These posts feature our real estate school across the web and where you can connect with us and discover more about us. Learn about real estate, education, and the industry with these informative and helpful articles.
Our real estate courses are approved and regulated by several organizations depending on the course topic, state, and/or national governing authorities. We strive to have all our courses approved at the highest levels, even when it is not required.
This month our team spent time helping new affiliates, volunteering on two state exam reviews, performing with children in penguin suits, attending conferences and updating 3 programs (including more than 20 courses!). Feels like there were a full 31 days in this month. We also had our first zombie sighting in months. So there's that.
And during all of that there was still news and information being presented. Here, in absolutely no particular order, are our favorite items.
ARELLO Names Bruce Wooley Investigator of the Year
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) is pleased to announce former TREC Chief Investigator, Bruce Wooley has been named 2016 Investigator of the Year by the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials. Click here to read the full story.
Zombies overrun home of sales rep Chris DeLuca
REMOnline posted how there will be a gory zombie doctor’s office, a graveyard with ghosts and zombies, a human meat market, a living dead daycare, a torture chamber and a giant jumping spider all taking over the home of the Sutton Group Heritage sales rep. The event is for a good cause so if you're in the Ontario area we suggest you go.
As for us - Thank you for the heads up - we will NOT be attending. #Zombies
Real Estate Groups Concerned About APB 'Green' Guidance
The Real Estate Roundtable announced Sept. 9 that it led a real estate industry comment letter to the Appraisal Practices Board stating concerns about its first draft of the “voluntary” guideline Valuation of Green and High Performance Property: Commercial, Multifamily and Institutional Properties.
In its letter, the coalition noted several “significant” concerns about the draft. You can read more online by clicking here.
New EcoBroker® Course Launched
From our perspective, one of the most exciting new Continuing Education courses to come along in a while is the new EcoBroker: Trends in Sustainability update course. This new course covers current issues including Solar leases and financial concerns regarding today's Sustainable homes. The course also discusses key risk reduction issues using what EcoBroker® fondly calls the Liability Reduction Paradigm.
With Twitter announcing that Vine is going the way of the Model A Ford, we wanted to make sure first that all our vines would be saved. Then we saw that "The company insists that they will be working alongside creators to make sure that all questions are answered and that the discontinuation is done “the right way” (if such a thing exists). In the meantime, Vine will be sharing updates and information via their Twitter account."
#DeadOnTheVine
We actually thought that was a pretty good hashtag.
Fun Facts about the World Series
In Game 4 of the world series Jason Kipnis of the Cleveland Indians became only the third player from a visiting team to hit a 3-run home run at Wrigley Field in Chicago, home of the Cubs. Can you guess the other two?
Jimmie Foxx and Babe Ruth. Pretty good club to join Jason - congratulations.
Tour the Haunted Ghost Town That Could Be All Yours (If You Dare)
Zillow Porchlight posted on how you could have an abandoned school, general store, and homes all to yourself ... except for the ghosts. It seems that you'll have to share those. "Along with the sprawling acreage and historic buildings, Johnsonville’s buyers will also be inheriting some ghosts — or at least the stories that people have about them."
As for us, the stories are fine. Not sure about the ghosts, but hey, it's Halloween, right?
Global Real Estate Summit
The Institute of Real Estate Management has already posted a video about next Octobers IREM Global Real Estate Summit.
Collaborate - Innovate - Differentiate is the theme for the Summit which is planned for October 10th, 2017 in Chicago.
Registration opens Spring 2017 - click here for more information. (Ignore the blatant pitch to send the author to Chicago next Fall)
Think we missed a story that we should have included? Let us know. Email us stories at [email protected] and we'll make sure to consider them!
This CAR webcast originally aired on March 16th, 2016 and is embedded below for you to review. In this presentation, Director of the Division of Real Estate, Marcia Waters, presents new and updated information. Updates include a discussion of upcoming rulemaking hearings and how and when forms and contracts will be changed moving forward. The Director also discusses the process of the Sunset Review which the Division is under at this time.
Note that the Presentation begins at about the ten minute mark in the Livestream broadcast.
We hope you are joining more than 8,000 fellow REALTORS® and affiliates for this years NAR REALTOR® Party Convention & Trade Expo next week in Washington, D.C. VanEd will be there working on education issues with our association partners and learning about all the new and upcoming technology that always presents istelf at the trade expo.
If you are headed to the conference you can find all of the events and a scheduling planner online by clicking here.
Download the New RPCTE App Download the new REALTOR® Party Convention & Trade Expo app to your mobile device, so you can navigate the convention more efficiently. Learn more.
If you can't be in D.C. you can still follow along. The NAR REALTOR® Party Live Blog can be found online at http://live.blogs.realtor.org/ and you can follow the conference on twitter using the search below or follow the hashtag #RPCTE (p.s. you may also still see #NARMidYear from some old-school folks).
This month was filled with interesting stories. We've collected a few of our staff favorites and posted them here in brief.
Wind Energy - Twenty Six Senators urged the Senate Finance Committee leadership to Extend wind production tax credits. The credits support 80,000 American workers. A bipartisan coalition of 118 members of the U.S. House sent a similar request to the House Committee on Financial Services. We were excited by three things in this announcement, including the support of a Green industry that creates jobs for people all over the country and the positive effect the wind industry has on real estate markets, but mostly we were impressed that the support was bipartisan. Really, when does that happen in Congress?
Housing in 2014 - Economist David Berson wrote the 3 things you need to know about housing in 2014 for Housingwire. We think his #3 item (Mortgage availability shouldn't worsen and may improve) is a bellweather statement. This leads him to state that is interest rates rise then refinance applications will fall, which should lead lenders to eae lending standards to the extent possible under the new QM rules. A boost in lending activity means a boost to home sales, and that would be good for all of us.
Vampires - Vampire Gravesites in Poland? Yep. As reported by Newsy, a vampire grave site seems to have been unearthed. Typically we're more concerned with zombies, but the finding of vampires also raises many questions for us. We have concerns.
This month's best Tech item - CNN published the map of underwater cables wiring the internet. The The Washington research firm Telegeography logged the map in its Submarine Cable Map. Find the article by clicking here. The gallery truly is facsinating - if you like tech as much as we do.
Key Court Ruling for Property Managers - The city of Farmers Branch, Texas, passed an ordinance requireing potential tenants to prove citizenship, creating the possibility that immigrants could no longer rent property within the city. The ordinance was immediately challenged in court and was never enacted. Earlier this month, Farmers Branch lost a long and expensive court battle when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals case. The ruling says two things: First, for real estate professionals, you cannot demand proof of U.S. Citizenship in order to rent property to a prospective tenant. Second, some have suggested that this affirms that Immigration law is the responsibility of the Federal Government, not local municipalities.
The case may have ramifications on another case that is being litigated out of Fremont, Nebraska as well where the Court of Appeals has issued an opposite ruling on a similar ordinance. Read more about the Farmers Branch case in the Dallas News.
Dateline: Las Vegas: A man went into the Excalibur hotel and in a failed attempt at burglery was "detained" (possibly "defeated") by the men in the cast of the Thunder Down Under male review. We tried to tweet this but couldn't think of any combination of hashtags that would be ...ya' know... oh, forget it. Just insert your own comment here.
Zombies can't get us here! - Turns out Estately was finally able to put some resources into one of the issues we think is most critical: Determining where we need to be when the zombie apocolypse begins. Their list of U.S. States Most and Least likely to survive a Zombie Apocolypse finally hit their blog. Turns out where we are is fairly safe (which we are grateful for) but there are a few states that need to do a better job preparing their citizens for the eventual ... or at least, concievable ... We're afraid of zombies. That is all.
Just in Time for Spring - In an article from Wired magazine we learned that the U.S. Mint will releae a 2014 National Baseball Hall of Fame Commemorative Coin that will be unlike any other. In 2012 Congress passed an Act that gave birth to the coin, which will be domed (as in, roundish) to reflect a baseball on one side.
Think we missed a great story this month? Let us know! Comment here or tweet it to us at http://vaned.com/twitter.
A while back I invited folks to participate in a survey about your opinions on being an Exceptional Agent. Here's a link to the original invitation if you missed it - and it's not too late to chime in if you'd like.
The results of the survey were fascinating (to me anyway, I really like this stuff) - you can see the results yourself here.
You might notice that one of the biggest discrepancies between what you thought was a critical factor in being exceptional and how you (as a group) rated yourself was #9 - Having Systems in Place to Manage Current Listings and Contracts (Checklists and Follow-up). As a group, you rated the importance of this a 9.5, but as far how "exceptional" you feel YOU are was only a 6.8 - which was the biggest spread in the survey.
In other words, as a group, you know that keeping track of your listings and contracts is important, but you aren't necessarily happy with how well you're doing it.
If this applies to you, please consider spending time re-visiting your own contact management system. Spend time training yourself to use the tools you have available so that you can become and expert at using a contact management system to implement buyer and seller checklists so that nothing slips through the cracks... and so your clients will think you are (and tell everyone they know that you are) the very best real estate agent on the planet.
Want more on how you can use a contact management system to be the best thing to happen to your clients and yourself? Sound like a good use of an hour or so? You can view a previously recorded webinar here --> Click Here to see the Webinar.
Hope to see you there!
Guest Author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn has authored multiple books and 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 is available in the VanEd bookstore. You can also visit her online at www.sellwithsoul.comor attend one of her free teleseminars on a variety of topics of interest to the real estate community.
The NAR Midyear meetings are this week in Washington, D.C. and we are expecting lively meetings and many issues to be covered. We encourage all our students and members to attend the meetings, but if you cannot attend then you can follow along on Midyear live.
You can also see updates by following along on twitter - see below;
Here are the messages the REALTORS® will be delivering to Congress while visiting them in the Nations Capital:
We also want to point out that a group of folks at the Sumner Association of REALTORS® won our hearts for opening their 2013 annual meeting with a celebration of thier 50th anniversary: Flash Mob Style ~
Couldn't make it to Atlanta today or tomorrow for RETSO? Don't worry - you can follow along with all that is happening there by following the twitter hashtag #RETSO. Not sure what RETSO is about? Check out the video introduction from Brad Nix, founder of the RETSO conference,
at RETSO online at http://RETSO.com.
'Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery' #Facebook #copycat"
Our favorite story comes from the The Upstart Business Journal, with the incredibly, amazingly appropriately titled story discussing Facebook's "idea" for some new, revolutionary Hashtags. Cuz that's new. The article opens "In a move that continues to blur the lines between the social networks it looks like Facebook is putting together a plan to copy Twitter’s iconic hashtags, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal."
Read the article online. Heck, retweet it! Those hashtags are Great!
With the Census Bureau and HUD reporting a five year high in housing starts, up more than 27% from February 2012, housing appears to be back to numbers not seen for the last five years. That's good news not just for the real estate industry but also for the financial markets and of course goods and services industries that focus on real estate products. Hopes are high for the summer, even if later that same day CoreLogic CoreLogic stated that 10.4 million mortgages still have negative equity. #partypoopers (see that...we used an appropriate hashtag!)
AGBeat followed up with a story that noted that the current increase in housing sector jobs is double the National rate. You can read more about that using the link below;
AEI was last weekend and as if the Association Executives didn't have enough to worry about before they went, they sure got an earful while they were there. Some of our favorite posts to Twitter include;
And in a great example of social media presence, one services provider noticed they had gotten a big mention at the AEI conference so they returned the favor with a discount offer!
Want the HaikuDeck iPad app? Check out hat link by clicking here.
So, you have a Bottom Feeding Buyer (BFB) who is bound and determined to get a killer deal on some real estate, huh? He’s heard-tell of this here “buyer’s market” and wants to get himself a piece of that action. Even if it takes all year…sigh.
We’ve all been there. Including our guest author Jennifer Allan-Hagedorn (who incidentally also made our favorites list in 2011) wrote a piece for us titled "How to Talk Your Bottom-Feeding Buyer Out of Low-Balling". The response to this post was fantastic, and it remains a timely article almost a full year later.
In March there were two posts that caught our eye. Teller (yes, of Penn & Teller) Reveals His Secrets and discussed seven steps to.... well.... manipulating us! He also revealed that it took 18 months to create one trick, which amazed us. After revisiting this post we suggest you take a look too. (incidentally, someone in our office might be trying to use these tactics on me as revenge for eating that last holiday cookie) http://bit.ly/ymk0ew
That same week we were all reminded how we normally hush rowdy library patrons - and told there might be a better way on the horizon. Right now we use the tried and true "shhhhh" method, but we all want a better way to get our library neighbors to be quiet. Enter a team that worked to develop a solution (not to mention that this is now on the top of my office mates wish list), a new Japanese SpeechJammer Ray Gun! http://bit.ly/wN2b4B Yep. #shhh
On October 1st, 2012 the Federal Reserve released a speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke given at the Economic Club of Indiana where he asked and then answered five key questions related to QI, or Qualitative Easing. Read the answer to the first question to get a hint of what the Fed is planning on doing in the coming year: "What are the Fed's Objectives and How is it trying to meet them"
Henry Harrison wrote about the Residential Real Estate Recession
Real Estate Valuation Magazine published a commentary this past summer from Henry Harrison. The article includes ideas on how to help, and also notes that "...A robust housing market is the greatest primer for the American economy."
The bubble did not burst all at once, as in a stock market crash, but rather, values fell more gradually in some markets and much faster in others, proving once again that there is no "national" real estate market in the country, but rather many different markets, each highly dependent upon location (location, location, location). Find this commentary online at http://www.revmag.com/files/6_3_12.html.
The Appraisal Standards Board put out some good advise with the release of APB Valuation Advisory #3: Residential Appraisal in a Declining Market (review this here http://bit.ly/IYWP1I ). At least one appraiser noted that with many markets showing improvement or at least a leveling off, perhaps it's time to consider an advisory statement on appraising in an increasing market.
In case you missed it, Executive Director Anne M. Woody of the Oklahoma Real Estate Commission (OREC) recently announced her retirement. She has been the Executive Director since 2001 and has been a mainstay at OREC since she was in her teens. Read more online at NewsOK. Best wishes to Mrs. Woody from all of us! Her assistance and guidance has been invaluable.
And we would be remiss if we didn't point out that when the Fall 2012 issue of REVMAG was delivered online (click here to view) it marked the final edition for longtime editor Ruth Lambert. Ruth has helped to publish more than 100 issues of the popular and informative appraisal magazine, and has been a longtime friend and colleague of those of us here. We wish you the best on your next adventure, Ruth!
From Carla Cross comes the amazing story of Ihtzak Perlman - read what he said and realize how relevant this is to each of us. Some in our everyday lives, and others in those rare, genuinely awesome moments when we are given to rise up and do what we thought we couldn't do. Couldn't have a post on favorite things without this uplifting and courageous story. Worth every second to read this article.
And Finally: "The easiest way to describe it is it's a bit like wrestling but with a lot of contact below the knees,..." Yep. We're talking the British Shin-Kicking championships. With what has to be the tallest trophy presentation stand ever assembled, citizens in Gloucestershire got to see firsthand how difficult it is to kick the shin out of the competition. (Video is available) Read more of our favorite post of the year online -
Have questions or comments? Think we missed one? Let us know! Send us an email at [email protected] and don't forget to follow the VanEd NewsLog, fan, like and link with us online!
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