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Should newly-minted real estate licensees be required to go through an apprenticeship period?

This is the question being discussed among real estate professionals across the county.

The topic in question is whether or not an initial license alone is sufficient for a person to practice the business of real estate. The solution suggested by professionalism advocates is to adopt legislation requiring an apprenticeship phase. Providing structured supervision and training to new licensees in an effort to elevate the character and professionalism throughout the industry.

In spite of the ongoing apprenticeship debate, most do agree that our industry is due for a "new development of professional consciousness and  a higher standard of professional service",  towards both consumers and practitioners alike.

How many of you think our industry lacks professionalism amongst its peers?

In a recent article written by Realty Times—California Real Estate Commissioner discusses "what makes a real estate practitioner a professional". 

Read it here and honestly ask yourself how many of the 7 professional attributes  you possess. 

http://realtytimes.com/todaysheadlines1/item/31818-20141202-real-estate-commissioner-seeks-greater-industry-professionalism

So, how many of the 7 did you claim?

Michael Humphries, designated broker for Compass Roads Realty, Inc. and writer for iOn real estate covers local and national real estate news, industry trends and market analytics. Read more of his work here.

Search for thousands of homes in South Florida with direct access to the MLS. http://compassroadsrealty.com/

DSNews ran an article this morning with results from a recent survey revealing over half of the country still believes we are in a housing crisis.

Although it is true that some areas in the country are still struggling to put the crisis behind them, markets from Florida to California and everywhere in between are experiencing a robust recovery and many submarkets have been realizing year-over-year double digit appreciation since 2012.

So why do some people still think the housing market is underperforming?
3 Reasons—Uninformed. Underinformed. Misinformed.

The reality is, real estate data is at least 3-6 months old by the time the mainstream media gets their hands on it before reporting it back to the public. Keep in mind, the sale of a home and it's selling price is recorded after the transaction closes. The time lapse between contract and closing averages 90-120 days.

Also real estate statistics are released on a month-end/end-of-quarter and year-end basis. If you're not paying close attention you could be a year behind on your outlook of the housing market. I suspect this is why more than two and five adults believe the housing market today continues to be a serious problem.

Example: A house that sells on Jan 1 and closes on April 1 doesn't show up in the data mix until the end of May when the month end reports are released. Worse yet, it won't count as a statistic in the quarterly analysis until the end of July. This is especially problematic in a fast moving market.

By the time the general public get's in the loop it's old news. Armed with old information when selling your home or buying a new one can be dangerous and could cost you thousands of dollars.

How can you get reliable and up-to-date information?

To start you can visit the County Records/Tax Assessor website in the area to search sale prices, closing dates and property details. You can also check out Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com to browse through homes for sale and obtain information on closed homes. These sources will give you a general idea of what homes have been selling for and the current asking prices in a given market.

Your best source for real estate trends has always been a good local agent. Most real estate agents are more than willing to share their knowledge. They are the experts and can easily provide you with a current market analysis summarizing for sale, sold and pending activity in the area.

Everything about the real estate industry is time sensitive, the old saying "no news is good news" doesn't apply.

Keeping your ion REAL ESTATE.
Michael Humphries, designated broker for Compass Roads Realty, Inc. and real estate author covers local and national real estate news, industry trends and market analytics. Read more of his work here.

follow Michael:

Search for thousands of homes in South Florida with direct access to the MLS.

http://compassroadsrealty.com/

ion REAL ESTATE | by Michael Humphries | Compass Roads Realty, Inc

A Short Sale is defined as any sale of real estate that generates proceeds that are less than the amount owed on the property. A real estate short sale occurs when the lender and borrower decide that selling the property and absorbing a moderate loss is preferable to having the borrower default on the loan. It is therefore an alternative to foreclosure. Lenders try to recoup as much money from the sale as possible because they must also pay settlement fees, including agent commissions, at closing.

Who Can Do a Short Sale?

There are two basic qualifiers for a short sale. While these two qualifiers do not cover every conceivable type of short sale, they are pretty standard for about 90% of the short sales. They are:

• Zero or Negative Equity
• Seller Hardship

With a few exceptions, if you've got those two qualifiers going for you, you are likely to get a short sale approval. There are a few banks who will not do a short sale under normal circumstances. Most banks aggressively pursue short sales and want to approve them. There are nearly twenty thousand short sales currently For Sale in South Florida.

Who Pays the Commission?

In a traditional sale, where the transaction results in net proceeds to the homeowner, agent commissions are the responsibility of the seller. In rare markets, a buyer may also pay agent commissions. In a short sale, the commission technically remains the responsibility of the seller, but the lender covers it with part of the sale proceeds. Because short sales are designed for financially-distressed homeowners, sellers seldom can afford to contribute money to close the deal. The lender effectively plays the role of seller in decision-making and bearing the expenses of selling.

Are There Any Cost to the Seller?

In addition to the commission, the lender typically also pays for all closing costs, including title insurance, taxes and document stamps. Other than being responsible for past due utility payments, the seller usually pays $0 at closing. The federal government has streamlined the short sale process for more than 100 lenders participating in its Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program, or HAFA. The lender can pay up to 6 percent of the sale price in agent commissions on a HAFA short sale transaction. In general, lenders base the maximum commission fee allowed in a short sale on what is "reasonable and customary" for the market

Do You Need to Use A Realtor?

Most lenders require that the sellers hire a real estate agent to represent them in a short sale. Although in some states a seller may initiate a short sale request directly with his lender and even market the home and receive an offer on his own, it is likely that at least one agent will be involved -- either representing the buyer, the seller or both. A short sale is one of the most complex sales in today's market and requires a tremendous amount of time and experience to successfully close the deal. There have been over 21,000 short sales completed by realtors over the past 6 months within Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Michael Humphries, designated broker for Compass Roads Realty, Inc. and real estate author covers local and national real estate news, industry trends and market analytics. Read more of his work here.

follow Michael:

Search for thousands of homes in South Florida with direct access to the MLS.

http://compassroadsrealty.com/

By Michael Humphries - Compass Roads Realty, Inc. |

8 Steps to a Successful Short Sale Purchase

In this two part post I will layout eight steps to follow that will walk you through a successful short sale purchase from search to closing.

Short sales are gaining market share again and are expected to make up nearly 35% of our inventory during the next 12 months. According to RealtyTrac, who charts real estate activity across the country, completed short sales are expected to exceed the 2012 number, which will likely be around 1 million for 2013. Forty percent more than the 600,000 foreclosures expected this year.

So like it or not if you’re in the market to buy a home this year you are going to be very limited in an already limited supply of inventory unless you consider short sales in your search.

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from selling the property will fall short of the balance of debts secured by liens against the property. This type of sale requires a third party approval of price, terms and whether or not the seller is eligible to short sale their property. A bank, lending institution or mortgage servicing company plays the third party role.

It has taken the industry a long time to adapt to the short sale complexities. These waters were unchartered prior to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

It’s like the “Ten Thousand Hour Rule”– the idea that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master any skill– that Malcom Gladwell writes about in his book Outliers. We’ve certainly put in the hours and have finally subjugated the madness and mayhem associated with this type of sale. Or, at the least, we’re able to keep it to a minimum.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have recently implemented new procedures to help expedite the process that it takes to complete a short sale– these transactions can take up to three times longer to close than a traditional sale and often never make it to the closing table. The new changes are proving effective so far in reducing completion times and are expected to increase closing ratios significantly.

If you play your cards right, you can look forward to a more practical 90 day timeframe. And if you learn how to navigate through the red-tape associated with a short sale, you can greatly increase the odds of successfully completing your purchase.

Here are four of the eight steps you can follow to minimize the bureaucracy and maximize your Success Story.

1. Find a Realtor: Find a realtor that has hands on experience working with short sales. This is the most important step– period. This type of real estate deal really requires the help of an experienced agent or attorney.

Your realtor should have at least three completed short sale transactions under the belt to qualify as “experienced”. The difference will make or break your deal.

2. Mortgage Prequalification: If you plan on financing your new home you will need a Prequalification Letter from a reputable mortgage company, bank or credit union. The seller’s bank won’t even look at an offer that contains a financial contingency without a prequalification letter attached. Not having these credentials upfront will cause pointless delays submitting your offer.

The majority of lenders will provide a letter at no cost and it only takes a 10 minute phone conversation or a quick online application to complete.

3. Short Sale Search: In addition to traditional listings, ask your realtor to include the short sales in your search criteria. A lot of agents have gotten into the habit of excluding them. There are two types of short sale listings: Approved and Unapproved.

• Approved - simply means that the seller has qualified for and has received approval from their bank to short sale the property. In some cases the bank has approved the list price.

Approved short sales will have a higher yield in terms of potential, especially those with list price approvals. These listings should be considered first before betting on the unapproved– wildcard listings. Although price approvals are subject to change, particularly in markets experiencing rapid price appreciation, these listings are far better to work with than the unapproved deals.

• Unapproved - most short sales are listed as unapproved when they first go on the market. This status means that the seller hasn’t received the banks approval on price, terms or seller eligibility and in some instances, all of the above. In most cases the bank is not even aware that the property is on the market.

Unapproved listings should be left to the specialist, the few and far between agents that have been successfully working short sales for 3 plus years. They have developed ways to quickly indentify whether or not an unapproved short sale listing has a breathing chance for approval.

4. Listing Alert Notifications: Ask your realtor to set you up on an automatic listing alert system that will email you new listings as they hit the market. This will put you in-front of the market and give you an advantage over your buyer competition.

In Part 2, I will outline how to formulate an offer price that will get the banks attention, the valuation process and how to avoid the most common short sale pitfall.

Watch the blog next week for Part 2 – 8 Steps to a Successful Short Sale Purchase

Many partners including the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Fannie Mae, HOPE NOW, HUD, and NeighborWorks America will host "Help for Homeowners" Community Events on Tuesday, March 19, 2013 at the Paradise Event Center - Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.

For a FREE list of short sales in Miami-Dade or Broward County;
Email “FREE SHORT SALE LIST” to: compassroads@compassroads.com. Include a list of Zip Codes or City Names of interest.
Visit us at: http://www.compassroadsrealty.com/default.html