American Home Shield was gracious enough, for the fourth year in a row, to sponsor a legal update with Gov Hutchinson, Assistant General Counsel and Staff Vice President of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®.

All staff and agents from PMZ attended to hear about the latest laws and form updates.

Here is some interesting information:

Three year moratorium on Short Sale income tax reporting
The President has signed legislation implementing a law that eases the tax burden for homeowners who have had debt forgiven on a mortgage due to a foreclosure or short sale.

Previously, the tax code required a lender who forgives debt to provide a Form 1099 to the IRS stating the amount the borrower had been forgiven. Then, if the property was sold at foreclosure or was sold for less than what was borrowed, the difference was considered income and subject to be taxed. The new legislation provides a temporary, three-year change to the tax code to eliminate taxes homeowners might face when banks renegotiate the terms of a home loan and forgive a portion of the outstanding mortgage balance. The change in the tax law will cap untaxable forgiven debt at $2 million and apply only to principal residences.

Gov mentioned that similar legislation should pass through California State law.

For more information, view the White House fact sheet: Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007.

California’s anti-deficiency law saves short sale sellers
When you short sale a home in California, seller’s may be protected from paying the deficiency of the sale to the bank. California’s Code of Civil Procedure, Section 580(b) in plain English states that the bank cannot seek a deficiency judgment against the borrower if the loan was for purchase money on a residential one-four owner-occupied property. These loans are commonly referred to in the lending industry as “non-recourse” loans. The borrower has to live there—if it is an investment property or vacation home, then 580(b) may not save the borrower.

Full details of California CCP 580(b)

Laws regarding rentals
Immigration status - When screening tenants for rental eligibility, property owners can no longer ask the prospective tenant their immigration status. They will need to focus on other eligibility requirements such as income, employment, etc. More info on California Civil Code § 1940.3

Firearms - Similar to no tolerance procedures for drugs, property owners can evict tenants who own illegal firearms, un-permitted firearms, etc.

DRE Licensing Laws
The DRE can revoke or suspend a real estate license if an agent is convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, but only if it is Real Estate related.

There is a good chance that it will be required next year to include your DRE license number on your business cards, so consider jumping on board the bandwagon early or just ordering seven months worth of business cards if you are close to running out.

Those are just a few interesting facts I picked up today from the meeting. Thanks a lot for coming Gov!

Note: This article is not to be used or construed as tax or legal advice.  Please consult with a tax professional for tax related inquiries or a lawyer for legal counsel.

You missed it! The greatest send off in real estate training history!

After 7 weeks of training with the Floyd Wickman program, our SMART Realtor’s finalized their skills, were rewarded with some hard earned recognition, and sent their trainer, Steve Poscente, off in style. It started out with awards, moved on to a singing telegram, pushed through a testicle festival hat and ended with some music and a group photo.

Here’s Steve with the singing telegram we gave him. What a guy!

Check out more of these photos on our MySpace or Facebook!

Good job agents and thanks a lot Steve!

PMZ is pleased to offer the TrendGraphix tool to our Real Estate Professionals exclusively. TrendGraphix offers the most critical market data through a flexible yet user-friendly web-based interface.

Developed by real estate professionals specifically for real estate professionals, TrendGraphix uses MLS data to deliver reports that help agents:

• Measure company performance and outmaneuver competition
• Identify new opportunities for business growth
• Establish expertise with clients to win more business
• Guide clients with more effective pricing recommendations, resulting in earlier offers and fewer expired listings
• Manage seller expectations by explaining market dynamics in simple graphs.
• Negotiate listing terms with confidence and retain higher commissions, based on the added value the agent’s market-knowledge provides.

Just login to your Zagaris Online Solutions account and look for it under the Agent Tools menu. It’s really cool, so check it out!

I was reading the Realtor.org Newsletter and there was a piece on marketing ideas that will “get you noticed.” Here is one that I thought was especially helpful and very important:

Customers don’t care much about marketing that tells them you’re in the million dollar club, how long you’ve been in the business, and other “me” types of promotion, Watson said. They care about how you can help them. So statements like “I sold 200 units this year” would have more impact if you said “I helped 200 families move into new homes.” Also, use words to your advantage. For example, when you tell customers that they will be working with your “assistant,” it makes it sound like you are passing them off to someone insignificant, Watson said. Instead, call your assistant a “specialist” or “partner.” Also, use the word “bought” in replace of “sold” and “new price” instead of “price reduced.”

Paula Zagaris, president of Liberty Property Management and chief financial officer of PMZ Real Estate, was named Outstanding Business Leader for 2008 by the College of Business Administration at California State University, Stanislaus at their Eighth Annual Recognition and Awards Banquet this Thursday.

Congratulations Paula!

Here is a posting from the Future of Real Estate Technology blog that shows a GPS unit that a broker has started uploading listings to. Now when you drive around, you can check out the homes for sale and what homes are for sale around you.

Pretty cool huh?

Do you know anyone thinking of getting their Real Estate License?

All three classes and text books for only $285.00.

Classes are:

1. Real Estate Principles (Live Class) Tuesday nights from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
2. Real Estate Practice (Online Class)
3. Legal aspects of Real Estate (Online Class)

Start the online courses anytime, call Matt Keenan (209) 557-6267

Now that the market is ripe with foreclosures and other bank owned property, we want to take a moment just to clarify what a short sale really is.

What is a short sale?
To sum it up quickly and concisely, a short sale is a situation in which the lender allows a property to be sold for less than the amount owed on a mortgage and takes a loss.

How does it benefit the homeowner?
After submitting thorough documentation, including, but not limited to:

• W-2 and pay stubs to verify income
• Bank statements to assess assets and financial situation
• Hardship Letter to explain why the bank should consider your property for a short sale

the bank may consider a short sale. The process can help keep the homeowner out of bankruptcy and save their credit rating.

The house will be sold and the difference between what you owe the bank and what the bank received on the sale will either be written off or the seller will be responsible for it.

NOTE: It is important to understand that if the bank writes of the difference, they will more than likely report it as 1099 income for the seller. This could adversely effect the seller’s tax liability.  Speak to a tax professional.  Remember, just because they write it off, doesn’t mean it disappears.

For an even more thorough look at short sales, check out the resources below:

The Definitive Short Sale Article

Short Sale (Real Estate) - Wikipedia

If you are a real estate agent who is also a licensed insurance agent in the State of California, we’d like to talk to you.

Contact Duke Leffler today to find out how to take advantage of your unique situation and add value to your business with PMZ Insurance Services.

Duke’s Direct Line: (209) 491-3414
Duke’s Email: duke@pmz.com

Everyone loves the smell of fresh baked cookies.  How about replicating that smell for each of your open houses, without having to bake any?
Place a couple of drops of vanilla extract in the oven and crank it to low. Try it out!