More than 10,000 REALTORS® are expected to descend on the National Mall in our nation’s capital tomorrow morning for the Rally to Protect the American Dream, and not all of them are attending the NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo. In fact, a bus left from Bismarck, N.D., yesterday morning to bring a handful [...] Click Here To View More
Can’t Make Rally on Thursday? Attend Virtually
About 13,000 REALTORS® are expected to be at the Washington Monument on Thursday, May 17, for the Rally to Protect the American Dream. If you can’t be one of them, you can participate virtually—and we hope you do. Participating in the virtual rally is easy and should be fun, too. But more than that, it’s [...] Click Here To View More
Flood Insurance: Don’t Give Lenders One More Reason to Say ‘No’
NAR President Moe Veissi told a panel of U.S. senators yesterday that the last thing the housing market needs right now is another reason for lenders to decline your client’s mortgage loan application. “Tight lending standards remain a problem,” he told the members of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee subcommittee on economic policy, “and we [...] Click Here To View More
Court Side: Withdrawal of Fair Housing Case Leaves Disparate Impact Issue in the Air
In April, the magazine hosted a webinar with two NAR attorneys—Ralph Holmen and Finley Maxson—in which we examined six cases and their potential impact on your business. Last week, I wrote a post on the RESPA case, Freeman v. Quicken Loans. Here’s a look at the Fair Housing case that we discussed. Remember: If you [...] Click Here To View More
REALTORS® Ease Closing Cost Woes in N.Y.
Closing costs in New York state are high, so you can imagine that coming up with the money for first-time buyers is a challenge. That was a problem the New York State Association of REALTORS® identified several years ago, and it took steps to do something about it by creating the NYSAR Foundation and its [...] Click Here To View More
Using Home Ownership Matters Resources to Boost Your Business
You’ve been hearing a lot about NAR’s Home Ownership Matters campaign over the last year and a half. It’s all about letting lawmakers and policymakers in Washington know that home ownership is a bedrock value of our country and any reforms to stop problems like the toxic loan practices that upended the market four years [...] Click Here To View More
Homeownership Rates Continue To Drop Despite Perfect Buyers Market
Homeownership rates continue to drop from the record 2004 levels as millions of Americans recover from the popping of the real estate bubble. Its not surprising that the trend towards renter-ship has picked up pace. Remember, thus far close to 4 million owners have lost their homes to foreclosure, 6 million are currently in default and its predicted that 11,000,000 are currently underwater in their homes. Sobering statistics that point to a long road to a true housing recovery. Urgent Short Sale Event: Must attend Short Sale industry update. New fast close, direct assignment short sales. Become a Lender Preferred Short [...] Click Here To View More
NAR Pushes Servicers on Freddie Short Sale Affidavit Updates
January 23, 2012 On Jan. 5, 2011, NAR reached out to Bank of America and Freddie Mac regarding inconsistencies in Bank of America’s implementation of required changes to Freddie Mac’s mandatory short sale affidavit. On Nov. 18, 2011, Freddi... Click Here To View More
Government Extends Period to Request Review of Foreclosure Handling to July 31
February 20, 2012 Borrowers who faced foreclosure in 2009 or 2010 may be eligible for a free independent review of their foreclosures and they now have until July 31, 2012 to make a request for that review. The reviews which were ordered by the Office ... Click Here To View More
Fantastic Breaking News: Highest Q1 Pending Home Sale in 5 YEARS! (Video)
Fantastic Breaking News…Highest First Quarter Pending Home Sales in 5 YEARS! THIS is the exact news that the Big Banks have been waiting for….expect a significant INCREASE in REO listings and Short Sale approvals over the next 12 months. Bottom line, this IS the bottom of the 7 year housing crash (thank God!) Here is the full report from our friends at the National Association of Realtors: (CNBC Video follows) Pending home sales increased in March and are well above a year ago, another signal the housing market is recovering, according to the National Association of Realtors(R). The Pending Home [...] Click Here To View More
National Association of Realtors: The Supremes Rule
By Steve Brown, First Vice President, National Association of REALTORS® When people think of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), they usually think of our issues advocacy with the Legislative and Executive branches. But the truth is NAR also works with the Judicial Branch when needed. Standing up for the rights of property owners is [...] Click Here To View More
I’ve Registered, Have You?
By Scott Louser, 2012 Vice President & Liaison to Government Affairs, National Association of REALTORS® As soon as I heard about the rally in Washington, D.C., I knew I had to be there. The American Dream of homeownership is under attack. As REALTORS® and as Americans, it’s our duty to defend homeownership and point out [...] Click Here To View More
Breaking News: Short Sales and REOs Now 47.7% Of ALL Sales!
I need to apologize to all Real Estate University Students…(and Real Estate Insider News readers)….when I said: ” 2012 Is the Year of the Short Sale “ What we should have said was…”2012-2015 Are The YEARS Of The Short Sale”. In other words, the time to be a short sale agent is NOW and will continue for at least 5 years! Read on: CNBC’s Diana Olick wrote a very interesting article on her blog today…here are the highlights with a few comments: Foreclosures and short sales (when the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage) accounted [...] Click Here To View More
National Association of Realtors and U.S. Treasury “Help For Homeowners” Outreach
WASHINGTON, DC, Apr 23, 2012 – The National Association of Realtors(R) is joining forces once again with the U.S. Department of the Treasury to offer aid to homeowners who are struggling to keep their homes and avoid foreclosure and to help Realtors(R) better assist clients through the short sale process. At a Making Home Affordable “Help for Homeowners” outreach event today in Chicago, Realtors(R) and homeowners will gain valuable insights and information about short sales and have the opportunity to meet directly with loan servicers for assistance with difficult transactions. The event, sponsored by the Treasury Department, is the latest [...] Click Here To View More
An Artful Open House
Bender’s own artwork will be on display at his open house in Philadelphia By Wendy Cole, Managing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine Is it an art show or an open house? Brett Bender, a sales associate with Prudential Fox and Roach in Philadelphia, has decided that his listing for a 4,000 sq ft. single-family home in the City of Brotherly Love [...] Click Here To View More
FHFA Announces New Short Sale Directive
April 23, 2012 On April 17, 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced a new directive as part of FHFA’s continued servicing alignment initiative that directs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to align their guidelines for servicing delin... Click Here To View More
NAR and Industry Call for Expanded Rule-making Process on RESPA/TILA
April 23, 2012 On Friday, April 13, 2012 NAR and 11 other industry trade associations submitted a letter to the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asking for an expanded rule-making process so that industry can properly evaluate the p... Click Here To View More
Industry and Consumer Groups Call for Broad Qualified Mortgage
April 23, 2012 NAR spearheaded a 33 member coalition in sending a letter to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Richard Cordray calling for a broadly defined Qualified Mortgage (QM) under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer ... Click Here To View More
NAR: Prices Up, Inventories Down
Existing-home sales last month were down slightly but they remain at about a 4.6 million level, as they have since January, so if that level holds for the remainder of the year we could see a strong 2012, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said at a press conference in Washington today. The relatively strong performance [...] Click Here To View More
Short Sale Questions Answered | Radical Change To Credit Reporting Following Short Sale
Harris Real Estate University ASD (Accredited Short Sale Designation) students…what follows is a question (and answer) I recently received from an underwater owner. Share this post everywhere. Its critical that folks know the facts about their options. Q. Can I do a short sale even if I am current on my payments and can afford the payments? (If so, can you refer me to one of your Harris Real Estate University ASD agents?) A. The quick answer is Yes (and yes). Can you short sale your home even if you are not late on your mortgage and may be able to [...] Click Here To View More
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