You may be aware of a recent policy put into effect by Freddie Mac called the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). Brought into being by an agreement between Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and the New York State Attorney General, the HVCC changed the nature of how appraisers are contracted in a transaction and how those appraisals are handled once complete. While the intention of the policy was a positive one, unfortunately in practice REALTORS® are finding that the new rules are inhibiting sales and causing great confusion during the transaction. To get an idea of how this policy is negatively affecting transactions across the country, check out this blog post from Oregon and this article from the NBC affiliate in Chicago.
We also know for a fact that this policy is directly affecting the home sales process in Virginia. The Virginia Association of Realtors is collecting war stories from the field. If you have had a bad experience with the new appraiser policies, take a minute to fill out their survey.
The link to the survey is below:
http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229C4JDNAYC
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced changes to the condominium approval process for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insured mortgages in their release of Mortgagee Letter 2009-19. These changes are made in accordance with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (HERA), which prescribes changes to FHA’s Section 203(b) Condominium Program. FHA will now allow lenders to determine project eligibility, review project determination, and certify to compliance of the National Housing Act. The lender is required to retail all the project legal documents, contracts, plans, insurance coverage, and other documentation in connection with their review and approval of the condominium project. HUD will continue to maintain a list of approved condominium projects. The requirements of the mortgagee letter are effective for all case numbers assigned on or after October 1, 2009.
Condominium hotels, sometimes referred to as “condotels”, timeshares or segmented ownership projects, houseboat projects, multi-dwelling unit condominiums are not eligible under the FHA Condominium Program. Manufactured housing condominium projects are now eligible for FHA mortgage insurance. Site Condominiums are considered as single family detached units encumbered by a declaration of condominium covenants so condominium approval is not required but the Condominium Rider must be included in FHA case binders submitted for insurance. The changes regarding site condominiums are effective immediately.
Mortgagee Letter 2009-19: Condominium Approval Process — Single Family Housing >
HUD List of Approved Condominiums >
No one is against clean water, but how much of our Constitutional Property Rights are we willing to (or need to) give up to achieve that goal. The National Association of Realtors is the leading property rights advocate in America and anytime they are opposed to a feel good bill with an appealing name like the “Clean Water Restoration Act,” we should all pay attention to what Congress is doing. Paying attention means reading more than the cute name of the bill and looking into the details. Here are some details of NAR’s concerns:
The Senate environment committee approved S. 787, the “Clean Water Restoration Act.” The bill would strike “navigable” from the federal definition of regulated waters and replace the term with the “waters of the United States” expanding — not restoring — the definition to “all… intrastate waters, including… all tributaries… and all impoundments of the forgoing.” NAR policy is opposed to federal government encroachments upon private property rights. Thanks to REALTORS®, before approving the bill, the committee made two important changes that while taking small steps in the right direction, did not resolve NAR concerns with the bill’s approach. As part of an amendment by Sens. Baucus (D-MT), Klobuchar (D-MN) and Boxer (D-CA), the bill now excludes prior converted cropland and waste treatment systems from the U.S. waters definition. While still expanding the Clean Water Act’s reach to non-navigable waters, the bill would not expand it to “the fullest extent that these waters, or activities affecting these waters, are subject to the legislation power of Congress” — i.e., the original language of the bill. Rather it expands the scope only to the EPA and Corps’ interpretation of regulated waters on January 9, 2001, which in effect would overturn two Supreme Court decisions that reigned in federal permitting authority.
It is still early in the process, and NAR will continue to oppose S. 787 as amended and seize every opportunity to educate members of Congress about the effects that the bill will have on property rights. Next step is consideration by the Senate but the timing of this is unclear, as at least one senator is expected to place a “hold” on the legislation, signaling an intent to filibuster. A companion bill has not been introduced in the House.
View NAR’s most recent letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee >
Every week, the CAAR Real Estate Weekly, Charlottesville’s #1 real estate publication, includes some great articles on our local community. These articles are informative to everyone who lives in the area and provide a rich documentation of all the Charlottesville area has to offer. Here are a few of the latest articles:
Charlottesville Area Community Foundation Encourages Local Philanthropy - 6/10/09
Waterfront Property Could Be Closer Than You Think - 6/3/09
Making an Offer on a Short Sale? What You Need to Know - 5/27/09
Subscribe to the Real Estate Weekly Online at www.caar.com/clickbook.
At the May 7th CAAR Membership Meeting, the featured speakers were Jack Stoner and Howard Pape from the Building Goodness Foundation. The presentation was very well received by CAAR members and the great work being done by the Foundation is amazing. The Building Goodness Foundation is another local treasure that may need to be added to the list of 50 Things to Enjoy About Charlottesville.
To listen to the presentation, Click Here!
According to a survey conducted for Trulia.com, more than 90% of potential home buyers plan to attend open houses, and they are increasingly looking online for open house information.
Specifically, the survey found that 62% find out about open houses through online sites, 53% use information provided by real estate professionals, 36% use neighborhood signs, and 31% use the newspaper or another print publication.
“The real estate section of the weekend newspaper is no longer the go-to resource for open houses,” said Sami Inkinen, co-founder and COO of Trulia. “We used to see home buyers walk into open houses with a newspaper in their hands,” said Aman Daro, VP of Integrated Marketing at McGuire Real Estate in San Francisco. “Now they walk in with printouts of their search on the Web.”
To assist both home buyers looking for open houses and REALTORS® hosting open houses, the CAAR Real Estate Weekly has launched the Real Estate Weekend Hotsheet, the most comprehensive and up-to-date list of open houses in the Charlottesville area. A downloadable and printable PDF file is posted at www.caar.com/REWeekendHotsheet by 4 p.m. each Friday. This electronic document features a list of all open houses, a color-coded map, and live links to MLS data for each property.
In addition, starting next week, the CAAR Real Estate Weekly will be printing a list of all area open houses designated in the MLS system as of Monday of each week. Open house ads in the publication will also be categorized by county.
The public can also search for open house information by going to www.mycaar.com and clicking on “open houses.”
S. 896, the “Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009″, which became law on May 20, 2009, included provisions to protect tenants from eviction as a consequence of a foreclosure affecting the property being rented. Many examples were seen of families living in rental housing throughout the United States who were evicted without any prior notice when the home where they had lived was foreclosed upon. Much of the time, the rental family had no idea the home was in delinquency or subject to foreclosure until their eviction. The new law requires tenants be given 90-days notice prior to having to vacate, and allows them to stay through the remainder of their lease, if the home will continue to be a rental property.
FHA-approved lenders received the go-ahead to develop bridge-loan products to help first-time buyers use the benefits of the federal first-time homebuyer tax credit upfront in HUD guidance released last week. In the HUD Mortgagee Letter (2009-15), which just applies to FHA-approved lenders for borrowers using FHA-backed financing, the loans can’t be used to cover the minimum 3.5 percent down payment but can be used to help cover closing costs, buy down the interest rate, or put down more than the minimum 3.5 percent. There remain other sources of assistance for buyers needing help with the 3.5 percent down payment, including many state and local government instrumentalities and nonprofit lenders. In addition, some state housing finance agencies have developed their own tax credit bridge-loan programs, so buyers in states whose HFAs offer such programs can monetize the tax credit upfront to cover all or part of their downpayment. These programs are separate from what HUD announced last week.