Varbuzz
Healthcare for Realtors in plain English from NAR
NAR has released a straightforward explanation of the recently-signed healthcare reform law for agents and brokers.
Some of the highlights:
Expanded Markets
Third, the law seeks to expand the individual and small-business insurance markets, which are the markets through which real estate brokers and sales associates principally shop for coverage.
Local governments pinched by declining revenue, climbing expenses
School and county Boards of Directors are struggling to balance budgets amid declining tax revenues, cuts in state funding, and rising expenses. What they choose to do could affect homeowners for years to come.
Read more in local news....
Call for Action: Ask Congress to Renew Nat'l Flood Insurance and Rural Housing 502 Programs
NAR has issued an all-member call for action urging Congress, as soon as it returns, to renew the National Flood Insurance Program and the Rural Housing 502 Program (both programs expired at the end of March without Congressional authorization). Please complete this call for action either through the e-mail you received from NAR or here.
NAR releases "Field Guide to NAR Field Guides"
In an effort to help Realtors get a handle on the ever-increasing number of field guides it offers, our friends at NAR have released the long-awaited (and much needed) Field Guide to NAR Field Guides.
"We realized that we had so much information out there, it not only wasn't easy for our members to find that information, it was hard for them to find where to find it," said Robert April, NAR's director of information knowledge.
NAR releases "Field Guide to NAR Field Guides"
In an effort to help Realtors get a handle on the ever-increasing number of field guides it offers, our friends at NAR have (finally!) released the long-awaited (and much needed) Field Guide to NAR Field Guides.
"We realized that we had so much information out there, it not only wasn't easy for our members to find that information, it was hard for them to find where to find it," said Robert April, NAR's director of information knowledge.
New short sales rules go into effect April 5: NAR has the 411
The federal government's standardized rules and forms for short sales take effect April 5. On that date, the servicing arms of lenders who are participating in the government's loan modification program, known as HAMP, have to participate in the standardized short sale procedures, because those procedures are considered a subset of the modification program.
Learn about the rules, including changes announced just two weeks ago, in a 14-minute video walk-through from NAR.
Joe Theismann completes VAR's REal Show
You remember Joe Theismann as the number one NFL quarterback of the 1980's. But the two-time Pro Bowl player and most productive Washington Redskins quarterback ever has shown tenacity both on and off the field. On November 19, 1985, the star suffered a compound leg fracture that shattered both his career and boyhood dream. But he refused to let it be the end of his success.
A new look at housing affordability in Virginia
The Center for Neighborhood Technology has released its Housing and Transportation Affordability Index, which factors in the cost of transportation when calculating the cost of living in greater metropolitan areas.
Good news for unemployed homeowners struggling to pay the mortgage
The Obama administration on Friday will announce changes to its Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that will provide financial aid for unemployed homeowners with emphasis on writing down the principal of troubled loans.
With the jobless rate still near 10%, more homeowners are falling behind on payments and risk falling into deliquency. The new measures would help by giving unemployed homeowners three months of forbearance, giving them much-needed breathing room. Reducing the principal of the loan, rather than simply reducing the mortgage interest rate, will also be considered.
Keeping people in their homes, and holding down foreclosures, is key to helping the housing market recover.
NAR President says another extension of the homebuyer tax credit is "unlikely"
Vicki Cox Golder, the 2010 NAR President, circulated this memo to association leaders yesterday indicating that the homebuyer tax credit will probably come to an end when the current deadline of April 30 rolls around.