The Real Estate Standards Organization, or RESO, has recently approved a draft of the updates to the standardized data format for distributing real estate listing information know as RETS, or the Real Estate Transaction Standard. RESO was started as a collaborative effort to promote standards in listing information across databases.
The new standards have been designed to let Multiple Listing Services and other industry organizations, including Zillow, Google and others, to more easily and effectively share property information and get that information to consumers more efficiently. The idea is to have the same information available for use on multiple real estate sites thus saving both time and money for the industry and the consumer.
Some of the partner organizations to the RESO will begin implementing the new standards immediately and then deliver feedback to the partners in August, when it is expected that a vote for final approval on the RETS will take place.
The REALTORS® Commercial Alliance is hosting a Webinar Wednesday, April 23rd at 11:30am CDT. The Webinar will cover important legislative issues affecting primarily commercial practitioners.
With Congress preparing to examine Flood Insurance and issues relating to financial regulation and oversight, the remainder of 2008 is sure to be filled with large legislative issues. During this Webinar you will hear from Lisa Brechtel and Dan Blair. Mr. Blair is a NAR Lobbyist and Lisa Brechtel is the NAR commercial Legislative and Regulatory Policy Representative. They will update and inform as to all the critical legislative issues prior to the NAR Midyear meetings is Washington D.C.
The event is free for members, and to register you need to contact Kaela Altman at 888-648-8321 for information on how to participate in the RCA Webinar.
HUD has released Mortgagee Letter 2008-09 which announced new limits on cash-out refi’s. The new loan-to-value (LTV) ratio may not exceed 85% of the estimate of value if the loan balance is to exceed $417,000.
The letter also states that any loan where the amount of the loan exceeds the conforming loan limit of $417,000 (January 1st, 2008 limits) and the LTV exceeds 95% of the estimate of value and the property is determined to be in a declining market by the appraiser or the lender, then a second appraisal will be required.
These new rules are designed to protect the Federal Housing Administration which will now be in a position to guarantee larger loans than it has previously. The letter also describes how a declining market is determined.
>>>>> Click Here to read Mortgagee Letter 2008-09
The REALTORS® Commercial Alliance has published a commercial activities list for those members interested in following a more focused track of events. The events begin on Monday, May 12th with a Commercial AE course, but are followed by a list of meetings and events that may have more interest for those members whose focus is either primarily or at least partially in the Commercial sectors.
Included are the Land use and the Environment forum, as well as the Commercial Business trends forum. Meetings for REALTORS® begin on Tuesday May 13th and run through Friday May 16th.
>>>>> Click Here to view the RCA Commercial Activities brochure
NAR President Richard Gaylord had published a REALTOR® Top Ten tips podcast on boosting your business. In the podcast President Gaylord goes through practical tips on how agents can continue to be successful given current market conditions.
Also discussed are ideas on how to help consumers get moving into the market who may be currently sitting on the sidelines, and how agents need to work harder and continue to learn new skills if they want to remain in the business. Agents will need to become more involved in the community, continue their personal education and development and become an expert on all things real estate in their local marketplaces.
>>>>> Click Here to view the video podcast
