Fine Homes

Kelly J. Kim asked:


In the process of attaining your Broker’s license, gain the knowledge you need to assist clients looking to improve on the energy efficiency of their homes.  

With green building issues becoming increasingly important to buyers and sellers as well as businesses, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) now offers a Green Designation to help its members meet this growing demand.  Real estate professionals who have earned this designation are prepared to provide valuable aide to their clients in the search for environmentally-friendly properties and work to incorporate green principles into their own practice.

The NAR’s Green Designation indicates knowledge of industry rating programs and standards, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, ENERGY STAR qualifications, and the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index.

During recent testimony before the Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, the NAR expressed support for the approach and overarching goals behind the Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods (GREEN) Act, H.R. 2336.

In addition to creating incentives to promote energy efficient building, rehabilitation and upgrades, the bill also provides a loan fund for states to put into action renewable energy projects and would encourage a number of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development demonstration and pilot programs to provide best practices for promoting energy efficiency.

“We know that many of today’s consumers want homes and communities that are sensitive to the larger environment, and we are pleased that the GREEN Act would offer resources and incentives to help them improve the efficiency of their homes,” said David Wluka, a member of NAR’s Global Climate Change Presidential Advisory Group.  “The consumer education efforts funded by this legislation would also increase public awareness of the availability of energy efficient mortgages and encourage movement toward green housing.”

Knowledge of our nation’s green initiatives and how they pertain to your buyers and sellers will provide your real estate career with a vital competitive edge.  Enhance your broker license education with a green real estate training course.  Choose a convenient, online program and obtain the solar training you need in your free time.

Bob Schwartz asked:


When one loses 30% or more home equity in one year, don’t buy the old cop-out line of “in the long run the housing prices will return to their old highs.” For San Diego residential real estate, this is the worst market since the great depression. Unlike a ‘normal’ correction or pull-back, this once in a lifetime evaporation of real estate values will not soon be forgotten. Partially because of the trauma inflicted on the public’s perception of ever-escalating real estate values, will the San Diego real estate market ‘snap back’ anytime soon.

First the decline has to bottom and then it will most probably take a few years of base building prior to any return of meaningful appreciation.

Naturally, at this New Year period, the glowing forecasts for a real estate recovery have already started. Will these pundits be right this time around? You’ll have to draw your own conclusions. Why not see how some of the prior forecasts really paned out:

On July 14, 2008 Barron’s magazine said: “Home prices are about to bottom.” Well, since than, the decline has only accelerated. In 2005 a local radio/TV commentator said: “If the media would just shut up, housing prices wouldn’t fall.”

“People think the market is down and the market will still go down. That’s not the truth. The market is down, but it’s not going down anymore,” said John Tuccillo, former chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. “I think it’s because consumers focus on national news and not enough on local news.”

Bob Schwartz, San Diego, Certified Residential Specialist on November 17, 2005 in a published article said: “Yes, we have started on the down leg of the typical ‘Bell Curve’ and the probability of surpassing our approximate 20 percent drop in San Diego home values experienced from 1990 through 1996, seems assured. Plus, as real estate trends seem to start in the West and then move east, any U.S. real estate market that experienced huge price appreciation the past five years, will experience the same depreciation in real estate residential values”.

Often when real estate values go south, it’s typical to hear the industry blame the media for making the situation seem worse than the reality. The truth is, for our current home equity bust, the reality, in many cases, is far worse than the local reporting.

It seems that finally the preponderance of evidence has caused the die-hard San Diego real estate bulls to admit the folly of their over optimism. Now a number of these same misguided forecasters are forecasting a 2009 turnaround. Perhaps that would have a faint possibility if this was a ‘regular’ correction. However, this huge erosion of San Diego home equity was is far from typical.

Realistically, I feel the best 2009 can bring to the San Diego housing market is some easing in the rate of depreciation with a possible beginning of a bottoming process starting late in the year or early 2010.

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Joe Cline – Austin Real Estate Broker asked:


What do the letters behind a real estate agent’s name stand for? Real estate agents, like doctors, lawyers, and other professionals can ear designations, certifications, and other credentials. These are usually shown by putting a series of initials after the agent’s name. The most common designations and certifications are: Broker, REALTOR, e-Pro, CHMS, GRI, ABR, and CRS.

What does an agent have to do to obtain the designation or certification?

e-Pro requires an agent take a class on basic computer skills. It has no real estate content, but ensures your agent can use email and the web. It should really be a bare minimum bar for the technology aptitude of your agent.

REALTOR is the one of the easier credentials to obtain (but one of the hardest to live up to). A REALTOR is a real estate agent that belongs to the National Association of REALTORS and agrees to follow the Realtor Code of Ethics. You can read about the code here http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/Code?OpenDocument

Broker is a bit harder to obtain than REALTOR. In Texas, for example, a broker license is required to be able to operate your own real estate company. An agent must have their license for 2 years and complete over 600 hours of real estate education prior to applying for a broker’s license. The broker’s license is granted upon completion of an exam administered by the state. Brokers are basically real estate agents with advanced educations.

GRI stands for Graduate Realtor Institute. Less than 50% of agents have this designation. The GRI requires 12 days of continuing education with passing grades on three exams. There are no production or time requirements so an agent can literally earn this designation by sitting in class for 12 days and passing the tests. This designation is in no way a measure of real estate sales experience.

ABR stands for Accredited Buyer’s Representative. Less than 30% of agents have this designation. This designation combines 2 days of classroom work and an exam with the requirement that the agent show proof of at least five buyer sales. This designation shows that the agent has had both formal classroom time and in the field experience.

CRS stands for Certified Residential Specialist. Less than 4% of all agents have this designation. This is the most difficult designation to obtain and is a measure of a high degree of formal education and real world transactional experience. To obtain a CRS, the agent must attend three 2-day classes, pass three exams, and provide proof of 25 closed transactions within the last 24 months. While the transaction experience isn’t a huge amount, it does weed out the inexperienced agents and the classes weed out those agents who aren’t dedicated to continuing education.

Other designations are out there, but for the most part they are issued by inconsequential groups and have no real bearing on the agent’s abilities and are used more for marketing purposes than anything else.

Real Estate Advisor asked:


Modest median price gains in new and existing homes, a stable interest rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage, decreased housing starts and a stable unemployment rate are some of the features of the 2007 housing forecast provided by major trade group economists as reported by The Inman News.

NAR chief economist David Lereah expects new-home sales to fall from 1.07 million units sold in 2006 to 975,000 units in 2007, which is an 8.7% decline. He cites decreased new home construction as a large contributing factor to this change. The median new home price of $238,400 in 2006 is expected to increase by 1.3 percent to $241,400 in 2007.

NAR also predicts that existing home sales figures for 2006 to end around 6.47 million units, which is an 8.6% decline from 2005. The 2007 forecast for existing home sales is 6.43 million units. The median price of existing homes in 2006 was $223,700 and is expected to increase 1.7% to $227,500 in 2007.

Doug Duncan, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association predicts the interest rates on 30-year fixed mortgages to stay around 6.5 percent, but mortgage originations to fall 14% to $2.1 trillion.

While Lereah predicts that the unemployment rate to stay at 4.7 percent, Duncan takes it higher and believes it may reach 5.2 percent by midyear 2007. However, he concurs with Lereah in predicting modest home price gains in new and existing homes for the coming year.

The housing forecast of The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is in line with NAR and the Mortgage Bankers Association. According to David Seiders, Chief Economist at NAHB, the year 2007 will see the housing market re-adjust itself once the housing demand stabilizes, leading to a healthy balance between supply and demand.

Looking at the state level, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) projects that the median price of California homes will end 2006 around $560,700, and will decline in 2007 to $550,000 — a 1.7% drop. The number of units sold in California will end 2006 around 481,200, and is projected to decrease 447,500 in 2007. CAR predicts that the unemployment rate will stay around 5.1 percent, although interest rates on the 30-year fixed mortgage may hover around 6.7 percent in 2007.

The overall housing forecast for 2007 made by these four major real estate trade groups is not at all bad. Home buyers and investors planning to go ahead with their real estate activities can fare better with the help of a good real estate agent.