Buyers who qualify for FHA and/or VA mortgages are frequently shut out of purchasing opportunities because there are many condominium developments that have not obtained approval from the FHA or VA. A recently-approved law in California aims to help rectify that situation. On Wednesday, August 12, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill 596 […]
That is obviously a rhetorical question. The question might be, “Where are they the most vulnerable”? The one area that yields the most problems is non-disclosure of home defects. Yet, only 83% of the Realtors are protected by the famous Errors and Omissions insurance. Also, there are thousands of agents in California who are not […]
Everyone is a movie critic, as I believe I am. Some use thumbs-up, stars, checks, numbers, but I will just say, “Should you watch or not watch a movie”? MCFARLAND; This small farm town just north of Bakersfield made the papers some years ago when a bunch of the students who worked the fields won […]
There has been a fair amount of celebrating in the real estate industry over a recent Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that upheld the independent contractor classification of real estate salespersons. However, not only is the decision in Monell v. Boston Pads a rather narrow one, based on an unusual circumstance in that state’s law, but […]
Last week we discussed the D.A.N.G.E.R. Report that was recently released by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). NAR commissioned Stefan Swanepoel and his T3 group to prepare the report on threats facing the real estate industry. D.A.N.G.E.R. here stands for “definitive analysis of negative game changers emerging in real estate”. The report’s results are […]
Two words people should understand are Prequalified and Preapproved. Buyers and Sellers should know the difference. It is important. I will quote the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau site: “Prequalification is a lender’s estimate of how much you could be eligible to borrow based on information you supply. Prequalification does not mean you will get the […]
HUD has been discussing changes to Reverse Mortgages for a long time. Many changes have already been introduced such as limits on the amount someone can receive in year one, waiting periods, etc. All of the changes are designed to protect consumers from making risky decisions. One procedure has been discussed since 1/13/2004 and promulgated […]
A California Homeowner Association (HOA) adopted a rule that homeowners who rented out their homes could not do so for periods of less than seven days. Moreover, the HOA imposed an annual fee of $325 on owners who rent out their homes. The purpose of the fee was to defray, at least partially, the extra […]
MLO’s in California can be licensed in three categories. FDIC – The Big Banks like Wells Fargo and Bank of America; DBO – Formerly the Dept. of Corporations; CalBRE – Formerly the Dept. of Real Estate. Did you know that the Federal Requirements for Education and Exams vary for these groups? FDID originators have no […]
I strongly recommend that Associates check their Status Sheet regularly. You might find some Agency error, and people checking the files would think that you had been disciplined in the past. One point about the files: For licensees who have had their license a long time, the date of licensing will say, “Unofficial-taken from secondary […]
