Recite: “I don’t list houses for sale; I manage the sale and marketing of your property.”

Remember: SOLD (# sales in a geographical area over a period of time, divide by number of listings they had = success ratio)

Resources:

• Snagit ($25) www.tech-smith.com
• www.Expresscopy.com
• Google "Oklahoma GIS" (mapping system)
• www.realtor.org
• Google: AOL Radio (free Internet streaming music--use for open house, etc.)
• www.live.com (maps)
• Youtube: What is a blog?
• http://talk.realtor.com (free blog through realtor.com)
• www.realtownblogs.com (free blogs)
• www.archive.com
• www.godaddy.com
• www.realtor.org ("real estate facts")
• http://faq.fha.gov
• www.hud.gov
• www.NewBidSelect.com (marketing and management company) subcontractor for HUD
• http://www.livejournal.com/tools/textmessage.bml?mode=details
• www.realestateshows.com ($125/yr, unlimited shows) Use promo code ce9d89150583, and your first year is $99.
•  

Some students asked for a copy of instructor Scott Byrd's PowerPoint slides used in the Foreclosure Procedure class. You can download them here.

Here is a link to the NAR Field Guide to Short Sales on realtor.org.

You may not be aware of NAR's latest consumer mortgage education brochure, "Learn How to Avoid Foreclosure and Keep Your Home," available online. The brochure instructs consumers to call a nationwide, toll-free assistance number, 888/995-HOPE, to speak with a counselor, day or night, if they need help getting back on track financially. Download the brochure for free or order a supply.

Click here to download the Discussion Exercises assigned in Brokerage Management. You may fax (405.848.9947) or e-mail your responses. Deadline to receive C.E. and GRI credit is Monday, February 25, 2008.

Here are a couple new documents NAR sent out this week that we thought you might like to have.

• Brokerage Management - Risk Management & the Internet
• Brokerage Management - Sample Brokerage Internet Policy

Instructor Joyce Painter used a quiz from NAR titled Test Your RESPA Knowledge. You can find it here on realtor.org.

The Oklahoma GRI has undergone some dramatic changes for 2008 with new courses and new instructors. Working on an efficient schedule with out-of-state and in-state instructors meant moving some classes into different modules that where they were in 2007. Students who started the GRI last year will need to make some substitutions for completing the designation program in 2008.

Below is a table to show the differences. If this individual education plan applies to you, please contact us directly to register for the 2008 courses: 405.848.9944, 800.375.9944 or Blair@OklahomaRealtors.com.

Washington, DC - Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight Director James B. Lockhart today announced the maximum 2008 conforming loan limit for single-family mortgages purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the Enterprises) will remain at the 2007 level of $417,000 for one-unit properties for most of the U.S. Higher limits apply to Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as to properties with more than one unit.

The conforming loan limit determines the maximum size of a mortgage that an Enterprise can buy or guarantee. By law, the maximum conforming loan limit is based on the October-to-October change in the average house price in the Monthly Interest Rate Survey (MIRS) of the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB). The FHFB reported the decline in the average price was $10,685 or 3.49 percent, from $306,258 in October 2006 to $295,573 in October 2007. The combined two-year decline is now 3.65 percent.

"While the house price survey data used in determining the conforming loan limit show a decline over the past year, as previously announced and consistent with the proposed new conforming loan limit guidance, the level will remain at $417,000 for the third straight year," said Lockhart.

On October 22, 2007 OFHEO published in the Federal Register a revised Examination Guidance proposal for procedures relating to the calculation of the conforming loan limit and implementation of increases or decreases in the limit. OFHEO published the initial proposal for comment on June 20, 2007. The second comment period has now closed and OFHEO is reviewing comments received. At the time of the October publication, OFHEO announced that no decreases in the loan limit would be required for 2008, regardless of the price data in the MIRS report.

This is an interesting tool from the New York Times that shows subprime mortgages by county across the nation. Click on an area of the map to zoom in.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/11/03/weekinreview/20071103_SUBPRIME_GRAPHIC.html#

At GRI 202 in October, Mickey Shannon gave out information regarding the downpayment assistance being eliminated on FHA loans. Below is a message from FHA telling us that there is an injunction to stop the implementation by FHA.

• Oklahoma Landlord & Tenant Act - click here
• Video: A Girl Like Me - click here

We've added a short video to the GRI homepage. The product is from animoto.com, and the 30-second videos are free! Videos longer than 30 seconds cost only $3. The pace of the photos is matched to the speed of the music. Wouldn't your sellers be impressed?! Just upload photos, upload music or pick one from their library and let animoto do its thing. You get an e-mail when it's ready to view. You can post them to blogs or your Web site. Downloading and saving to CD are in the works.

Here's ours: