Interesting Developments at the Board of Directors Meeting

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

There was a lot of ground covered during the Board of Directors meeting Monday at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo. Here are some of the highlights:

• The REALTOR® Property Resource (RPR): Attendees got a guided tour of this impressive new site, which ultimately aims to cover pretty much every property in the United States. RPR will be a massive database that will allow NAR members (and only NAR members) to search properties across numerous criteria, from school districts to tax info. Users will also be able to gauge the value of a property based on home improvement projects, site conditions, and comparables. Call it contemporary. Call it cutting edge. Just don’t call it an MLS. Read more

Buyer Reps: Helping Everyone Win in a Short Sale

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

There’s a temptation among buyers hoping to land a good deal with a short sale to avoid committing themselves with money and effort until the seller’s lender gives its OK, but that’s a sure-fire way to ensure the deal won’t close, short-sales trainer Lynn Madison said Sunday at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo.

Lenders are too backlogged and have too much to lose to consider offers whose buyers haven’t provided earnest money, had an inspection conducted, or applied for financing, said Madison, who help devise and also teaches classes for NAR’s new Short Sales and Foreclosures Certification Program (SFR).

Doing all of these things—along with submitting a reasonable offer—can improve your client’s chances greatly. This is not the time to low-ball on a property whose value has already deeply plunged, she said. Read more

Listing Videos: They’re That Easy

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Making informative and even entertaining videos of your listings seems like a complicated undertaking involving a professional camera, lights, editing equipment, and a lot of knowledge of how all that equipment works, but in fact you can be uploading videos tomorrow without too much trouble.

I’ll be talking about this at 1 p.m. today at the NAR Expo booth at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego. Maybe you won’t be posting videos tomorrow when you’re back at the office but you’ll certainly see that it’s pretty easy to do. Read more

Middle-Market Is Next Home Segment to Improve

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Executives from some of the largest brokerages in the country expect to see their sales grow 6-8 percent in 2010 and home prices to start heading up about 3 percent, REALTORS® heard in a state of the real estate industry discussion Saturday at the 2009 NAR Conference & Expo.

John L. Scott Real Estate chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott said expansion of the tax credit to include repeat buyers will help boost middle-market sales next year, although mortgage financing above the $417,000 non-jumbo conforming loan limit will remain a challenge. “The repeat tax credit will at least start a conversation about buying” among existing home owners, Scott said. Read more

YPN at NAR 2009: Learning, Connecting, Having Fun

By Jared James, Guest Contributor

What a night it was at REALTOR® Magazine’s YPN exclusive, invitation-only event on the pool deck of the Hotel Solamar. Just when I started thinking that a rooftop might not have been the best place for anyone who enjoys mingling without goose bumps all over their body, we were greeted by conveniently placed heat lamps and fire pits that not only added to the modern feel, but also ensured that everyone stayed warm and comfortable.

I didn’t get to talk to as many people as I would have liked, but of those I did get to interact with, it was nice to see a diversification of experience and levels of success. In this summit of the “who’s who” of young people in real estate, I was surrounded by past and present 30 Under 30 honorees, TV producers, and tomorrow’s up-and-coming stars. One moment I was talking to a charming lady from a  resort destination in Idaho, and the next minute I was greeted by an agent from Beverly Hills, Calif. There was one thing that I found in common with each and every agent that I came in contact with, though, and that was that they all had a curiosity and hunger to learn how to better succeed in today’s changing market. Read more

Learned Over Lunch

By Sarah Trzepacz and Jennifer Cavendish

In a conference this size, you have to make choices about the sessions you attend. The cool thing is that even when you miss a session, you don’t necessarily miss the lesson. Take today’s lunch for example, when we grabbed a bite at the San Diego Convention Center. While sharing a communal table, we stumbled into an energetic conversation among several REALTORS® who had just attended the “Mobile Technology Guide for 2010″ session with Max Pigman.

They shared  their excitement about the business potential of  technology and social media tools, and discussed how they could be used to build relationships with clients new and old. While several already used sites like Facebook and Twitter in their personal lives, none had yet deployed them as business tools.  However, inspired by Pigman’s presentation, they were all enthusiastic about taking the leap. Read more

Stevens Strongly Defends FHA’s Financials

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In an address to hundreds of REALTORS® at the 2009 NAR Conference & Expo Saturday afternoon, FHA Commissioner David Stevens offered a fervent defense of the organization’s financials. He specifically addressed the negative press surrounding the FHA’s recent audit, which showed part of its capital reserves below congressionally mandated levels.

Stevens distinguished the FHA’s capital reserves for unexpected losses from its regular reserve fund, which remains above 2 percent. Together, the two funds equal almost 4 percent in reserves. “We’ve come through the 100-year flood,” he said. “Despite the crisis, FHA is still standing with $31 billion in capital, $3.5 billion more than it had a year ago.” Read more

The Socially Networked Neighborhood

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

If you want to become recognized as your neighborhood’s real estate expert, you should create a fan page for it on Facebook, advises Max Pigman, vice president and national speaker at REALTOR.com®. Pigman talked about how to get some marketing traction via social media in a Friday morning session at the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Diego.

He said that real estate pros can “take over” their neighborhoods if they create a fan page, invite residents to join it, and post updates regularly about community events and local real estate and development trends.

“This becomes the perfect place to assert that you’re the real estate expert for your area,” he said. “Every time you send an update, everyone can see it. If you get strategic with this, you can connect with your sphere at an unbelievable level.” Read more

HVCC: Bad Code or Badly Implemented Code?

By Robert Freedman, senior editor, REALTOR® Magazine

The Home Valuation Code of Conduct is getting a bad rap for causing what real estate professionals say is a rise in inaccurate appraisals, Alfred Pollard told a packed room of REALTORS® Friday in a risk management-regulatory issues joint forum at the 2009 NAR Conference & Expo in San Diego.

Pollard, the general counsel for the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), said HVCC was released at a time when the economy was in a massive contraction—what he called a systemic event—and that this broader picture has to be taken into consideration when talking about valuation trends. “Concerns [over valuations] might not be 100-percent tied to this code,” he said.

FHFA oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which earlier this year adopted HVCC and applied it nationwide in an agreement with the New York attorney general. HVCC expires in late 2010 but the two secondary mortgage market companies can retain all or parts of HVCC going forward.

Nor is it fair to rap all appraisal management companies (AMCs) for handing out valuation assignments to inexperienced or out-of-market appraisers who are willing to work for reduced fees, Mark Johnson, COO of LSI, a big AMC, said at the forum.

Any AMC that lets appraisers work outside their area of geographic competency is violating appraisal standards under USPAP and they should be reported, he said. “I do believe there have been some bad actors,” he said. Read more

Taking the Time

In talking to many REALTORS® today—in sessions, on the walk between hotels, and in committee meetings—I noticed one thing that all these discussions had in common: optimism. REALTORS® are hopeful, they’re positive, and they’re pushing themselves and the association to be better, more efficient, more valuable. I have heard thoughtful, practical, and creative ideas throughout the day, but one thing really struck me: REALTORS® giving their time. Read more

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