My New Blog

This article was passed along to me from Steve Sadler, who is building the first LEED Platinum home in NE Florida. Check out his website, and you can purchase a DVD of the whole process of construction.

www.BuiltTotallyGreen.com

Here is a link to the article I received today:

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/green-building-news/getting-grip-green-home-appraisals-and-insurance

There is help out there for homeowners who are on time with their payments and help for those behind on payments. If your loan is owned by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac you may be eligible for the Making Home Affordable program which allows people to refinance at the current lower rates. The plan will help people to stay in their homes by making the payments more affordable. So many people do not know about the available programs. Here are the links to both sites:

Freddie Mac http://www.freddiemac.com/ 

Fannie Mae http://www.fanniemae.com/

Let me know if you found success with a modification - I would love to hear a success story! email me at jen@jenrowe.com

I found this very interesting article about how things are changing in our country. http://adage.com/article?article_id=139592

We will all have to re-think old ways of doing business, marketing, etc.

I like it!

This is an interesting article regarding the use of distressed sales as comparables. Some appraisers are using bank owned and short sales as comparables (sometimes that is all that is available), which can be risky due to unknown factors such as the interior condition. Appraising today calls for extreme due diligence - making calls to Realtors and verifying as much information as possible is necessary to have accurate values.

http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?sectionID=0&newsID=9369

As of May 1st new legislation enacted the HVCC which requires lenders to follow strict appraisal ordering guidelines. Loan officers can no longer have direct contact with the appraiser. Mortgage brokers can no longer hire an appraiser directly. Many lenders have hired Appraisal Management Companies to order appraisals. The problem with this is that Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs) are totally unregulated, they often charge $500 to $600 for an appraisal and only pay the appraiser $160 for a full appraisal! The general public does not realize that the appraisal fee they are being charged does not go directly to the appraiser. Appraisal fees have remained relatively the same for the past 30 years - $350. The fees are now going up, but the appraiser is not seeing the benefit, in fact many appraisers are now out of business. For the added time, new forms, and additional underwriting requirements, a full appraisal can take a minimum of 8 hours to complete. Add the increase in E&O insurance, MLS dues, database costs, paper, software, etc. Appraisers who work for the Appraisal Management Companies are earning about $10 per hour. The appraisers in our area are not signed up with any of these companies - most appraisers who are signed up are new to the business and it is the only work they can get. This is why you are seeing so many out of town appraisers. The fees are so low, and the AMCs require the report to be completed in 24-48 hours. Often these reports are inaccurate and incomplete. It does not make financial sense for these appraisers to spend the required time on the report. Realtors - not all local lenders have an AMC - BB&t started an in-house ordering system after a failed attempt at using Fiserv (no local appraisers signed up). BB&t now has only local appraisers and they are HVCC compliant. Check with your preferred lender to see how they order an appraisal. It could mean the difference between a sale closing or falling apart because of a bad appraisal. Check out this recent article (this is going on all over the country)  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09092/960003-28.stm 

I attended an excellent real estate seminar in Sarasota, FL at the beginning of the month. John Schaub was the speaker. He has been investing in real estate for over 37 years & is extremely knowledgeable in the single family market. He and others in attendance believe we are finally at the bottom of the market. If I take a look at my appraisal volume over the past month, I would have to agree. The rates are the lowest in 37 years, prices are great. If I could take a day off to look around, I would buy something right now. In my opinion, this is the best time for investors. Real investors. Many who dabbled in the 2005 boom who got burned probably will not invest any time soon - if ever. Too bad, with the right information & education, real estate as a long term investment can not be beat. Everyone needs a place to live, and our population continues to grow. Houses are great investments. However, the biggest lesson I learned at the seminar is patience. Buy the right house, in the right location, and the right price (under market) and don't sell it. Eventually, the house will be paid off and will have increased in value as it is being paid off. If you want to know more, visit www.johnschaub.com