Regina P. Brown, e-Pro Realtor®

"May 1^st was the deadline for U.S. financial institutions and creditors to comply with the "Red Flag" regulations adopted by the Federal Trade Commission - an extension from the previously announced November 2008 deadline. Every business that furnishes goods or services on a delayed-payment basis is required to develop and implement programs designed to detect, prevent and mitigate the effects of identity theft. Written by Charles H. Kennedy, Of Counsel, Morrison and Foerster LLP, this white paper clarifies requirements of the Red Flag regulations and offers guidance for how impacted businesses can prepare," says Iron Mountain.

For more information, go to Iron Mountain's web site at http://imknowledgecenter.com/detail.asp?cId=148&pid=1&tyId=4&hId=

So Lenders, what's your game plan? How are you keeping your clients' confidential data safe?

I teach a CE accredited course, certified by the California Dept of Real Estate, that shows real estate offices, agents, and lenders HOW to protect their clients' confidential data. If you're interested in some tips, give me a call! I'll be happy to help you.

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

	Enjoy my NEW Books:

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

I received this email from California Association of Realtors® Newsline today:

"U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan recently announced that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will allow home buyers to apply the administration's new $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit toward the purchase costs of a FHA-insured home. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 offers home buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000 for purchasing their first home. Families can only access this credit after filing their tax returns with the IRS. Home buyers using FHA-approved lenders can apply the tax credit to their down payment in excess of 3.5 percent of appraised value or their closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate.

"Currently, borrowers applying for an FHA-insured mortgage are required to make a minimum 3.5 percent down payment on the purchase of their home. Current law does not permit approved lenders to monetize the tax credit to meet the required 3.5 percent minimum down payment, but, under the terms of the announcement, lenders can now monetize the tax credit for use as additional down payment, or for other closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate."

Read the complete HUD article here:

http://www.hud.gov/news/release.cfm?content=pr09-072.cfm

Are you still wondering whether you can use it as a downpayment for your first house? The HUD article says:

"Currently, borrowers applying for an FHA-insured mortgage are required to make a minimum 3.5 percent downpayment on the purchase of their home. Current law does not permit approved lenders to monetize the tax credit to meet the required 3.5 percent minimum down payment, but, under the terms of today's announcement, lenders can now monetize the tax credit for use as additional down payment, or for other closing costs, which can help achieve a lower interest rate. Buyers financing through state Housing Finance Agencies and certain non-profits will be able to use the tax credit for their downpayments via secondary financing provided by the HFA or non-profit. In addition to the borrower's own cash investment, FHA allows parents, employers and other governmental entities to contribute towards the downpayment. Today's action permits the first-time homebuyer's anticipated tax credit under the Recovery Act to be applied toward the family's home purchase right away."

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

	Enjoy my NEW Books:

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Yes I'm a Realtor®, but that is not synonymous with a salesperson. Of course I help families buy their homes, families sell their homes, and families keep their homes. But that is only the paid part of my career. Here are some of the other duties I perform:

I attend City Council meetings and speak out on behalf of home owners.

I volunteer to build houses through Habitat for Humanity for my low-income neighbors.

I answer many questions from prospective home buyers about every aspect of buying a home.

I stay abreast of the ever-changing real estate techniques, rules, and government laws.

Newspapers and magazines interview me for industry articles that educate home owners.

I know the housing stats for local neighborhoods and use those stats to educate home sellers.

I write letters to my congress people to pass legislation that protects the rights of homeowners.

I support new and innovative programs that assist first time homebuyers.

Radio stations invite me to educate home buyers on their weekly shows.

I constantly learn, grow, and educate myself in order to keep up with the market changes.

I contribute funds to the California Assn. of Realtors® Housing Affordability Fund to assist home buyers.

I share my wealth of knowledge and experience with anyone who asks, even if they stop me at the grocery store.

Through my blogs and articles that I write, I educate home buyers, sellers, and owners.

I educate homebuyers through my workshops; also in person, by email, and by phone.

I am a member of the National Association of Realtors® and uphold its high standards of integrity.

I participate in professional industry events and leadership such as seminars and conferences.

I lobby the government to stop undue over-regulation of home sellers.

I can provide referrals to top contractors & vendors whom I've screened.

I have a wealth of resources to which I can refer anyone who asks.

*I have a crystal ball and I can accurately predict future property values and mortgage interest rates. (Ha ha... just kidding! I don't have a crystal ball but sometimes my clients think I do.)

And how much do I earn for being a Homeowner Advocate, a Neighborhood Expert, a Community Volunteer? Nothing; in fact, it probably costs me! But it's all part of my job.

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

	Enjoy my NEW Books:

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Sellers, some of you are receiving multiple offers on your property for sale. So what's a seller to do? How to choose the BEST offer?

Well, if the price (and total costs) net the same, select the offer with the most cash financing. For example:

• An all-cash offer is better than an offer with a 50% downpayment and 50% financing
• A 50% downpayment is better than a 20% downpayment conventional loan
• A 20% downpayment is better than a 3.5% downpayment FHA loan

"But why is an all-cash offer better than a financed offer," you may ask? "I'll net the same amount of money in the end, right?"

Yes the NET may be the same BUT there are other issues that Sellers must consider:

1. An all-cash offer can close QUICKLY (assuming the buyer has funds available immediately -- ask for proof of funds). Whereas, a financed purchase usually takes at least 30 days to close, and many times longer. And the faster you get your money, the sooner you can invest it in something else, or simply be relieved of the hassle of selling your house.

2. All-cash offers don't have financing CONTINGENCIES. Will the buyer's loan go through? Won't it? How can you be sure? After many years of real estate sales experience, I can say that a high percentage of purchases fall out of escrow due to financing issues. Such as:

• Buyer qualified earlier, but now does not (credit score changed; financial ratios changed; buyer bought a new purchase on credit)
• Lender changes their loan requirements (they shouldn't, but some lenders change in the middle of the loan)
• Buyer's rate lock expired and loan rates increased
• Lender goes out of business (yes, this has happend up to 1 DAY BEFORE close of escrow)

3. With an all-cash offer, the buyer is very confident that he can close escrow, so you the Seller can request a NON-REFUNDABLE earnest money deposit. However, a financed buyer usually insists on a refundable deposit, because they are at the mercy of their lender.

4. No appraisal is needed for an all-cash offer. This is a critical piece of the financing "puzzle". Lenders will require an appraisal to determine the house's value. Appraisals can kill a deal. How?

• An appraisal comes in LOWER than the amount agreed between buyer & seller. Now the buyer wants the seller to lower his price, but the seller refuses.
• An appraisal notes specific items on the home that are "red flags" for the lender's underwriting department, and they refuse to proceed until certain items are fixed, which the seller refuses to fix at his expense (FHA & VA lenders are notorious for this).
• The appraiser is from out of the area, is not familiar with that specific neighborhood, and therefore does a poor appraisal, which is questioned by the lender.
• Appraisals can take a long time to get completed, especially with the new HVCC laws, they are delaying escrow closing time-periods.
• The lender, for whatever reason, isn't satisfied with the appraisal, and orders a 2nd (or 3rd) appraisal to confirm the 1st one; and then uses the lowest appraisal value.

5. Fannie Mae loans will question certain things, such as "property flipping", and will not lend on a property that has been sold within the previous 90 days. But all-cash buyers don't have to worry about these restrictions.

6. All-cash offers eliminate a huge layer of documents, paperwork, red tape, government rules, and headaches for the Buyers, and save time.

Of course, TERMS and PRICE are not the only things Sellers considers when selling their house. Private sellers (not banks or corporate sellers) may care a lot about their wonderful family home, and may select a Buyer who is going to live in the house and take care of it, rather than an investor who will only rent it out.

But remember, Sellers: to get to CHOOSE the best offer, you must first have multiple offers! And "How to get Multiple Offers" is a topic for another blog!

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

	Enjoy my NEW Books:

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved

Scott Whaley, our host of the real estate investment seminar, Real Wealth Investor Expo, shared some excellent training. Starting with his Speed Learning tip:

Take action as quickly as possible, then get intense feedback immediately. This is SPEED Learning using the ultimate feedback model. When you get immediate feedback, your brain learns quicker. Kind of like touching a hot stove!

• We have 20,000 thoughts per day, and most of them are the same thoughts as the previous day.
• We have a pattern of focus, thinking, and behavior.
• Success is a habit and so is failure.
• We must use leverage to break a pattern & to install a new one.

Emotional mastery is putting yourself into active in the areas in which you're challenged. "Most of our society majors in minor things," Scott reflected.

ACTION is the practiced skill of making quick, strong decisions. Massive action will pay off. Action is perfected through conditioning, repetition, intensity, and speed.

Our vision must be compelling enough to push us over obstacles. The book "Who Moved My Cheese?" shows that most people are crawling through a maze, following the wrong map, and don't even want the cheese they're pursuing!

But what do we want? Goals must be measurable, specific, and achievable. For a personal assessment to help get what you want, Scott is offering a behavior assessment on September 12th, & 13th, see his web site http://www.realwealthinvestor.com/ for more info.

See the overview of this entire awesome seminar series at: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1090853/real-estate-investing-seminars-for-all-serious-real-estate-professionals

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, e-Pro
Author of eBook "Stop Foreclosure Fast: Solutions to Save your House"
Author of forthcoming book, "Virtual Office Guide for Business Professionals: Work & Profit from Home"
Join & post to my NEW ActiveRain group at http://activerain.com/groups/virtualoffice

	Enjoy my NEW Books:

Text copyright © 2009 R.P. Brown, All Rights Reserved