Fannie Mae Short Sale Policy and Appeal Process

The following is some good information that was shared with me that I thought I'd pass along:

Fannie Mae Confirms Short Sales Commissions Policy and Establishes Appeals Process

In discussions between NAR and Fannie Mae, Fannie Mae has reconfirmed its short sale commission policy and established a process for REALTORS® to follow if issues arise. On February 24, 2009, Fannie Mae sent Announcement 09-03 to its servicers instructing them not to negotiate commissions on short sales below the amount negotiated by the listing agent, unless the commission exceeds 6 percent. The Announcement reminded servicers that third party approvals (i.e., private mortgage insurers) may be required and can affect commissions. In response to concerns raised by NAR that some servicers of Fannie Mae loans are unaware of this policy or believe it is not binding, Fannie Mae has established a process for NAR members when short sale commission issues arise.

Step 1: Determine whether the loan is owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae. Only the holder of the loan is allowed to do this, so do so in the presence of your client or after obtaining their written permission. Visit www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup, or If you don't have convenient internet access, call: 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 9pm Eastern Time)

Step 2: If the servicer is unaware of or disagrees with the policy, provide a copy of Announcement 09-03 to the servicer and negotiate an appropriate commission based on the listing agreement (up to 6 percent).

Step 3: Contact Fannie Mae if the dispute is not resolved directly with the servicer. Be prepared to provide the property address, name of owner, and Fannie Mae loan number (if available):

Call: 1-800-7FANNIE (8am to 9pm Eastern Time),
or Email: Resource_center@FannieMae.com.
Fannie Mae Announcement 09-03 (2/24/09)

Summer is Here

It's funny, while thoughts this time of year are clearly focused on sunshine, family, swimming, the beach, and probably 50 other things that trump real estate sales, CB Leesburg is quietly doing some good things.

I'm excited that our sales activity continues to outpace the market, as well as some of our key local competitors. Homes are selling quickly, with multiple contracts, and often above list price. We have seen some terrific activity in the past 4 months. Each month we have either filled or run out of room on our sales activity board. Talk about a fun problem to have.

In addition we have added some terrific new talent to our team. Our newest members have been a good mix of experienced local agents as well as some new comers that bring a wealth of experience in different arenas. We're also in the process of adding some Coldwell Banker agents from other areas of the country that have recently relocated to Loudoun County. Great to see the brand recognition throughout the US.

Time to go prepare for this morning's meeting. Happy Summer! -Brian

REO Buyer Warning

While I usually prefer to blog about good stuff, like how we ran out of room on our sales board again (which we did for the 3rd straight month). However, this time around I wanted to share a word of warning that I just heard this morning and can have significant impact to a buyer's bottom line.

The latest curve some banks are throwing us is that they are saying financing charges are not considered "closing costs" so they won't pay them even if they agreed to cover the total closing cost.

In one case they agreed to pay $9000 in closing costs but approved only $3500 of the cost as "real closing costs". It was up to the purchaser to come up with the difference of $5500 two days before settlement.

The BOTTOM LINE: Read the bank addendum very carefully to see if they limit what they call "closing costs".

We had one instance where the addendum said they would pay them and two pages later saying they won't.

As a buyer broker it is your responsibility to know what your purchaser is signing so don't assume they all say the same thing. -Brian

Market Leaders

If you've turned on the TV or surfed the internet lately, articles are finally being written about the recovering real estate market. Well no kidding, we began to see the first signs back in February (but we all know the media wants to let the news season a good 3 to 4 months before announcing anything positive or uplifiting).

Numbers have been great in our office as of late, lots of sales, a good mix of business sources, a balance of agents contributing to the overall team success. The past two months alone, we have run out of room on our sales boards.

While it would be nice, I know we are not some anomaly in the market place thriving while everyone else is struggling. But the question is, how do we compare to the marketplace? This past week I ran some numbers on CB Leesburg and 10 other local competitors in our marketplace to see how we were looking. Well how did we do? The short answer is that I have had a big smile all week.

Out of respect for other local organizations, I won't name names on this blog, but if you'd like the specific stats, give me a call or shoot me an email and I'd be happy to share.

Here are some of the highlights:

-The local competitor whose claim to fame is market share is down 27% in units sold through May for both their Sterling and Leesburg offices.
-CB Leesburg is one of only two offices to show an improvement each and every month YTD over last year.
-We are one of three to show triple digit improvement YTD vs. 2008.
-There were 6 local offices in the analysis that posted less than 10% improvement during this same time frame, 3 of which had declines.
-CB Leesburg's 106% improvement YTD was more than double the market average of 49%.
-We are one of only two offices in this analysis with less than 50 agents and more than 50 sales transactions YTD.

Here is to continued recovery in the market and outpacing the competition. -Brian

Busy, Busy

It has been very busy times here at CB Leesburg over the past several weeks. I'm not sure where to begin.

I guess I'll start with the return of the "new and improved" Joe Boddicker. We are delighted to welcome Joe Boddicker back to CB Leesburg. Joe is a true professional and among the most highly respected agents in Loudoun County. I say "new and improved" because joining Joe in the move to CB Leesburg is Sheri Gershen. Together they make up Strategic Real Estate Investments. Sheri's advanced technical skills, high level of organization, and direct & professional demeanor are a perfect compliment to Joe.

Next on my list, is a congratulations to Beth Barts and family. Beth welcomes her new daughter Emma Rose to the family. All of us at CB Leesburg are thrilled for Beth and family.

Speaking of family additions . . . recently we enjoyed a surprise baby shower for grandmothers to be, Rachael Remuzzi and Maureen Dabkowski.

In my last blog post we acknowledged our 2008 top producers. Well, this week we celebrated the accomplishment with a delicious lunch at Tuscarora Mill here in Leesburg. The consensus was that dessert was the best part of the meal and Carlos was the big winner in selecting the Bread Pudding. Trust me, it wasn't your average bread pudding.

When we aren't celebrating, we continue to stay busy. It looks like we have run out of room, once again on our May sales board. For those of you who are questioning whether buyers are back, THEY ARE! I recently pulled some data, and our settled business activity for CB Leesburg is up 358% from this time last year. Great Stuff! -Brian

Congratulations to All

This has been an exciting week at the office. This morning was the 2009 "Wake Up Call" event at the Marriott in Falls Church. We're nearing the half way point for 2009 and this event served as a great reminder to finish the year strong.

Speaking of finishing strong, recent sales activity in our office has been among the best we've seen in our office in recent months. For the month of April we actually ran out of space on our sales board. Listing activity was very strong as well.

Leading the charge in the month of April were our 3 in a Month Club members. The following agents had a minimum of three sales transactions or new listings in the month of April:

Listings:

Mike O'Hara

Shannon Lauterstein

Cathy Pascoe

Sales:

Shirley Bumgarner
Mike O'Hara
Donna Sammarco
Cathy Pascoe

Earlier this week we took time to reflect on some of our team accomplishments in 2008. Since it was Cinco De Mayo, we brought a Margarita Machine and Breakfast Burritos into the equation.

Congratulations to everyone on the CB Leesburg team for outperforming the market in 2008, but a special congratulations to the following individuals:

Rookie of the Year- Shannon Lauterstein

Home Team Award Winner- Carlos Myers

This award goes to the individual that exemplifies team work and community within our office.

Mike O'Hara- 2008 Presidents Club as well as #1 in Units and Volume for the Leesburg office in 2008

Patrick McCabe- 2008 Presidents Club as well as #1 in GCI for the Leesburg office in 2008

In addition to our CB Leesburg award winners, we had 3 agents honored with recognition by our local realtor associations.

Both Sandy Fletcher and Rachael Remuzzi were 2008 members of the DAAR Honor Society (based on a combination of production and community involvement).

And last, but not least . . . Shirley Bumgarner is once again a member of the NVAR Top Producer Club for 2008 (club members must complete over $6million in closed production for the year).

Party Time

On the theme of All Work and No Play . . . last week we took the opportunity to surprise Beth Barts with a baby shower. Beth recently turned her license over to referral status, as she prepares for the arrival of her second child and first daughter. I think all who attended would say it is safe to say that we thoroughly surprised Beth.

Town Hall Meeting

Well, spring is here and things are heating up. February and March have proved to be two of the most active months our office has seen in real estate over the last few years. I hope these are signs of good things to come.

It has also been exciting to see our parent company and franchise ownership in the news recently for good things. First, our franchise, NRT LLC was again ranked as No. 1 Residential Real Estate Brokerage Company by REAL Trends for the 12th Consecutive Year. NRT has earned the top spot nationwide for both closed sales volume and closed transaction sides. In 2008, NRT recorded $132 billion in closed sales volume and 275,640 transaction sides.

In spite of leading the real estate world in transactions our organization is subject to a great deal of speculation and rumor by our competitors. NRT's parent company Realogy, took the opportunity this past Friday to share a state of the company directly with our employees and agents through a Town Hall Webcast.

There was some very reassuring information shared during the Town Hall Meeting. First, to state the obvious, controlling costs in a declining market is vital to the success of a real estate organization. Realogy accomplished this by reducing fixed costs in 2008 by 12%. Also, while reworking some debt positions did not come to fruition in 2008, the decline in interest rates has resulted in reduced costs of about $150 million from '08 to '09. It was also refreshing to here directly from senior management that the organization has over $500 million of available credit to draw from and that current debt obligations do not come due until 2013.

While cost cutting and debt structures are defensive moves, it is good to hear that the company continues to play offense as well. Marc Becker, Sr. Partner with Apollo Management joined the webcast to reiterate the continued support of Apollo's investment in Realogy. It was also noted that Realogy brands were involved in one out of every four homes sold in the U.S. last year.

Finally, it was discussed that Fannie Mae is projecting a strong recovery for the real estate market between 2010 and 2013. I hope all this means we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. -Brian

Buyer Seminar April 4th

April 4th from 10am to 1pm, Shannon Lauterstein will be conducting a Home Buyer Seminar locally at the Parkside Club House in Ashburn. No RSVP necessary. Stop in at 43513 Amberly Terrace, Ashburn, VA 20147.

Questions contact Shannon directly at 703-869-6488.

CB Blue Goes Green Bags

Interesting thing happened to me this morning. I stopped in the Giant Food stores across the street from our office this morning to pick up a couple of frozen lunches to throw in the freezer at work. I was scanning away at the self check out register when a staff member came over to bag my groceries. I asked her to hang on a second as I had my reusable CB Blue Goes Green shopping bag.

Upon giving her the reusable bag to fill, she asked me if I knew how to get my discount. I did not. Wasn't quite sure what the discount was for, as I'd already entered my Giant card.

Apparently at Giant Food stores when you bring your own bag you get a discount. You simply select the produce/item look up button and select "bags." Now I'm not getting carried away since the savings was only 5 cents, or something like that, but I did make my morning. I simply thought I was following my wife's good influence to always remember to recycle and conserve, but it actually saved me something as well. -Brian

PS- If you want a "CB Blue Goes Green" bag for your grocery shopping, swing by our office. I still have plenty left.