By Dawn Miller, 2009 NAR Conference Blogger

Dawn Miller

In the real estate world where the average age of a REALTOR® is 52 years old, some may agree it's a challenge as a young professional, or YPNer.  I may have just added another challenge to the equation-trying to break into the international real estate world.

While myth has it that one should know another language besides English, travel around the globe, or live in California, Florida or Texas, this is not the case. Saturday I will be receiving my CIPS (Certified International Property Specialist) designation. I am here to diminish the myths and challenges of everything one thinks about getting involved in "international real estate," including a former broker who once said, "As if you'll ever use it!"

Serving in international real estate involves helping those in the your local area who were not born in the America purchase or sell in your own backyard, helping those in your area purchase or invest overseas, or helping someone living overseas purchase or invest in your local area.

We are living in a shrinking world. Gone are the elementary school days where one adopts a "pen pal" overseas, writes an actual letter and waits a month for a response back via mail. Here we are today, where I send a LinkedIn message to one of my international real estate groups looking for fellow colleagues attending the NAR Conference, and a day later am meeting Federico A. Marin-Schumacher, a builder/developer from Costa Rica at last night's International Welcome Reception. The ability to connect with people  in any part of world has exploded, and the amount of information available has as well.

Join me during the conference while I am recognized for obtaining my CIPS designation, and I'll tell you more about the possibilities of serving your "international" market in your own backyard and the opportunities this conference offers in the international market. Meanwhile, I am off to catch up with @GerryCarillo7 to learn more about a new Hispanic real estate organization, at Booth 3309.

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

In an effort to give condo lending a boost, FHA yesterday released a mortgagee letter (2009-46 A) that lets lenders make loans to condo buyers even if it means 100 percent of the project units would have FHA financing.

That's a level of market exposure far above what FHA is allowing in its baseline rules (which you'll find in another mortgagee letter: 2009-46 B), which limit FHA concentration to no more than 30 percent of units.

FHA is also easing its 50-percent owner-occupancy requirement-long an industry concern-by allowing lenders to exclude foreclosed properties in their calculation. That could go a long way in helping buyers in the hardest-hit areas tap FHA financing because it means none of a project's distressed units count against the owner-occupancy limit.

The agency's also allowing lenders to make spot loan approvals until February 1, 2010. If you're not familiar with spot approval, it's an authority given to lenders to finance one unit in a project that hasn't yet been approved by FHA for financing.

These and a few other changes that reflect a realistic assessment of today's market conditions take effect Dec. 7 and they last, with the exception of the spot approvals, until the end of 2010.

If you're going to San Diego for the 2009 REALTORS® Conference & Expo this week, make it a point to hear FHA Commissioner David Stevens in the An Hour with the FHA Commissioner session. He will almost surely cover these condo rule changes as well as FHA's recent guidance on appraiser selection. That guidance has been widely praised for helping to bring clarity to implementation issues that have plagued the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), the set of guidelines adopted by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier this year.

I had the privilege of interviewing Stevens a couple of weeks ago on FHA's appraisal guidance, condo rules, and financial health. If you're interested in what he has to say, you can listen to excerpts here.

By Brian Summerfield, Online Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

The next year or two may be a "test of survival" for anyone in the commercial real estate sector, but the upswing could be very lucrative for the ones who make it through that period. This was the overarching message coming from panelists and speakers at the Urban Land Institute's Fall 2009 meeting in San Francisco last week, as well as ULI's Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2010 report, which was released at the event.

Right now, the consensus among industry experts seems to be forming around a slower, "L-shaped" recovery in the commercial market, with employment repeatedly being cited as a key factor in determining exactly when that recovery may come. The discussion was well-timed, seeing as how the U.S. unemployment rate topped 10 percent last month, reaching levels we haven't seen in a quarter century. Predictions as to when we'd see real job creation again ranged from late 2010 to 2012.

Employment is just as critical an issue in commercial as it is in residential, if not more so, because it affects so many parts of this industry. Many of the millions who lost their job and have been unable to find a new one have had to move in with relatives, hurting both the housing and multi-family markets. It's safe to assume these people aren't shopping much either, which partly explains the slump in retail. And the office and industrial sectors obviously aren't benefitting from rising unemployment. So the "jobless recovery" is a real fear.

Other problems abound as well. Total office vacancies rates may peak close to 20 percent this year, according to Bret Wilkerson, CEO of Property and Portfolio Research. Commercial development is stagnant, and the glut in existing office and retail space ensures that it will remain so for a while, says Stephen Blank, senior resident fellow at ULI. And rents in the multifamily and office sectors aren't going anywhere.

With all of these negative forecasts, it might not seem like there's much to be hopeful about in commercial. But the companies that can survive might be able to take advantage of a turnaround in just a few short years, especially if the unemployment rate falls next year. "Whoever's left standing will be in a great position," Blank said. "2011 could be a great year for people with investment dollars."

The rebound of the real estate investment trusts (REITs) may also be a catalyst for a broad recovery in commercial, he added. "REITs have recapitalized and stabilized," Blank explained. "If they continue to have access to the capital markets, they'll help commercial recover."

A panel of experts that included representatives from the Hass School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and RREEF Alternative Investments predicted that the best places for commercial real estate over the next few years would include markets with thriving tech industries and large coastal cities (particularly New York). The worst locations for commercial would be anything in depressed Rust Belt cities such as Detroit and Cleveland and many Sun Belt cities in Florida and the Southwest (especially in the office sector).

What moves do you see for the commercial market in the next few years? Up, down, or sideways? Let us know.

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

But not in the way you might think.

A new financial regulator is in the works but it's one of those developments that's easily lost in the news while other federal initiatives command the headlines.

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), which passed the House Financial Services Committee just a few weeks ago, would represent a sweeping change in the way financial services companies are regulated. Right now, our alphabet soup of federal banking regulators-OCC, FDIC, NCUA, and so on-have two missions: 1) to oversee the safety and soundness of financial services companies, and 2) to protect consumers.

The logic behind CFPA is to split off the consumer-protection side of the regulators' portfolio so they can focus on bank safety and soundness. The new agency would focus on consumer protection.

What's key for real estate professionals is that CFPA will focus only on financial services companies. That seems obvious, but it wasn't always this way. As the language was originally drafted, any number of professional services that handle money in some way would have fallen under the definition of financial services. Thus, real estate professionals, who handle earnest-money deposits among other things, could have been subject to regulation under CFPA.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman, House Financial Services Committee

The fact that the House Financial Services Committee makes clear in its bill that real estate brokers and sales associates aren't regulated under CFPA is an advocacy victory for REALTORS®, who, through NAR, let lawmakers know that the original draft would lead to unforseen consequences if it wasn't changed. It was.

You should be aware that CFPA could still touch the real estate transaction in several ways, though. Assuming the bill passes in something close to its current form, the Real Estate Settlement Preocedures Act (RESPA), which today is overseen by HUD, would be placed under CFPA.

Aspects of the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA), which real estate professionals know mostly for its role in providing data on mortgage lending, would also fall to CFPA. But CRA-the Community Reinvestment Act-would not. CRA is the law requiring banks to make loans in all the areas from which they collect deposits. In other words, they can't collect deposits in a low-income area but not make loans there.

What's next for the CFPA bill? It must still be passed by the House and it has yet to be introduced in the Senate, but in the latter chamber, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), the chair of the Senate Banking Committee, has said he plans to introduce the bill soon. There's momentum on the side of CFPA getting passed.

I sat down with NAR financial services analyst Tony Hutchinson last week to learn exactly how CFPA could touch the real estate transaction. You can hear what he had to say in the brief video interview above.

The following is an excerpt from the book SuccessMapping: Achieve What You Want...Right Now! (Emerald Book Co., 2009) by Arlene Johnson. The book provides a step-by-step roadmap to achieving success and your personal goals.

Here's a very basic and universal truth: We all have far more potential than we will ever realize. Really, you are wired to experience success in all that matters to you. It's who you are. So, equipped with your belief in what might be possible and what you next want to accomplish, SuccessMapping will show you how!

The Eight Success Blockers

Even when we strongly believe that we are totally capable to achieve a specific goal, we can stall out and stop taking action before we accomplish what we set out to. What keeps preventing us from starting or completing our most important journeys toward life dreams and goals?

There are eight major reasons-"success blockers"-that can stop you from starting something you want to achieve or completing it once you've started.

The Eight Success Blockers are:

1. Neglecting your potential. Not believing that you can succeed with-or, because of multiple options, having no clarity about-what you really want to accomplish.

2. Lack of focus. When your thoughts, behaviors and actions are not "laser-focused" on what you want to achieve.

3. Choosing not to engage. Making decisions that Do Not Help you achieve what you want: When needing to change, choosing to wait and see and do nothing different. Or choosing to oppose or resist engaging in the change opportunity.

4. Ignoring your strengths. Not knowing, not utilizing or not leveraging your personal strengths to help you more easily achieve a goal.

5. Ignoring potential obstacles. Not being prepared to see, resolve or transform potential stumbling blocks.

6. Going it alone. Not using a collaborative approach to ask and get the specific support or resources you need to help you achieve your business or personal goal.

7. Decisions without foresight. Not weighing the benefits and consequences of important decisions and actions. Possible results? Decisions made with no commitment or that you later regret.

8. Not being change-ready. Allowing how you respond to change to sabotage having the life you want. Not recognizing and taking charge of the predictable dynamics of change.

Even with extraordinary capabilities and an abundance of resources, these Eight Success Blockers can delay you or stop you cold. Not knowing or not managing these success blockers can cause you to wait, start-stop, and become easily distracted or sidetracked with other life activities. Sound familiar?

Knowing is preventing.

So, if you are not pursuing an important business or personal goal, ask yourself: "Why not? Which block right now is causing me to delay accomplishing what I want?"

______________________________________________________

Whatever you put on those lines is self-knowledge that, alone, is a huge step toward overcoming a barrier between you and your life dream or goal.

This knowledge and the information and tools of each SuccessMapping Step will easily guide you through the Eight Success Blockers. The outcome? You will have a step-by-step Success Map that really works, regardless of what you want to accomplish.

Copyright © 2009 by Arlene Johnson. From SUCCESSMAPPING:  Achieve What You Want . . .Right Now! by Arlene Johnson (Emerald Book Company). Reprinted with permission of the author.  To order this book or receive more information, please visit www.successmapping.com.

By Katherine Tarbox, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

QUICK SKIM

For years, social scientists have been using certain demographics such as age, income, and education level to determine how people make purchasing decisions. Scott de Marchi and James Hamilton argue that six core traits determine every choice we make from how we purchase stock to how we work or date to even if we'll lie on our tax returns. In You Are What You Choose (Portfolio, 2009), the authors explain how by understanding these traits you can better market to your clients. The read is extremely insightful in understanding how different personalities make purchasing decisions, including homes.BUY THE BOOK

THE SIX CORE TRAITS

1. Time
Do you want things now are you willing to wait for a larger payoff later? The authors argue that those who regularly exercise and eat healthy will also look at the resale value of a car before purchasing it because they care about the value of something in the future before making a decision.

2. Risk
How much of a gambler are you? If you got a flu shot, most likely you don't like to play the slots in Vegas. Gamblers also usually smoke, drive fast, or become involved in extreme sports. They won't make a risky choice when it comes to purchases.

3. Altruism
These types are at community events, the blood drive, and are first to report a crime. For those that lack this trait, they deplore jury duty, usually don't recycle, and won't respond to call-for-action in communities. Those with a high altruistic score are willing to pay a premium to make lives better.

4. Information
People who fall into this category will spend their leisure time reading books, blogs, magazines, and newspapers trying to collect as much data before purchasing a computer, or for that matter a home. They won't buy on impulse or choose a stock based on a "gut feeling." They are also willing to change their mind when presented with new information.

5. meToo
If you tend to follow a crowd, buy a skirt because your friend bought one, and believe that certain brands portray a certain image. These are the types concerned with status and how they appear to others, and will buy accordingly.

6. Stickiness
This trait refers to how loyal you are to certain patterns in your life. Do you enjoy multiple cuisines or dine at the same restaurant every Friday? Will you always buy a BMW or change your real estate practitioner?

SNEAK PEAK

"The irony, however, is that economists have simplified reality even more than physicists have. Where physics have many different types of elementary particles-strange quarks, charmed quarks, muons, gluons-economists have only one. All humans, ration or not, are treated the same. Economists argue about whether this particle is rational or irrational, but there's little sense that there are different kinds of particles that choose differently. We will argue that people approach choice in different enough ways that the bestiary of particles must be expanded-different types of people exist, and their choices are not fully comprehensible unless you know what 'particle' they are."

By Robert Freedman, Senior Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

"Nobody has asked to come in and look at our balance sheet, to go through our finances, which I've offered to everybody."-FHA Commissioner David Stevens

News reports raising concerns that FHA might be the next major financial institution requiring a government infusion are based on misinformed comparisons with what happened in the subprime market, FHA Commissioner David Stevens said in an exclusive interview with REALTOR® Magazine this week.

At their peak, subprime lenders commanded 40 percent of the residential mortgage market by making low-downpayment, no-document, interest-only, and other types of exotic loans to high-risk borrowers, investors, and speculators, a market that FHA sat out entirely, says Stevens.

Today, it's FHA that commands 40 percent of the market, but that's where the comparison ends. The agency makes 30-year, fixed-rate, fully documented loans only for households buying their primary residence. For each loan, the agency maintains capital reserves for the full 30 years of the loan rather than for the 1-2 years required of banks.

Today, the agency has more than $30 billion in reserves, including a fully funded loan-loss reserve. All the talk in the media about reserves dipping below a 2-percent required threshold is about a secondary account that's above and beyond the agency's primary reserve. Those two accounts together represent more than 4 percent of insurance in force, he says.

An actuarial audit of FHA finances due out in a few weeks from a non-governmental auditor is expected to find that FHA has sufficient capital to cover all forecasted losses, even assuming further delines in home prices, says Stevens.

"What concerns me, and I think should concern all REALTORS®, is . . . non-fact-based [criticism] from people who jump to conclusions without looking at data [and] create an environment where we'll be forced to make corrections where they are not required and can hurt this housing recovery."

Stevens sat down with the magazine for a 30-minute interview that covered the agency's new appraisal policy and an upcoming mortgagee letter that's expected to make condo financing more attractive as well as the agency's credit health. He also talked abut the improvements to the agency's processing that makes it comparable to conventional lenders in terms of processing speed and paperwork requirements.

Listen to snippets of the conversation here:

1. FHA's credit health (5:51)

"We're the last financial services institution standing. We haven't needed any kind of government bailout. We're positively capitalized. As for risk, if we have some sort of double-dip recession, the impacts to FHA will be the same as to Chase Manhattan, Wells Fargo, the United States Treasury, and everybody else." Edited excerpt-not verbatim

2. FHA vs. subprime lenders (2:39)

"FHA is not for investment, it's not for speculation, everything is full-doc. During the boom years, with all those stated-income loans, a FICO score could have artificially gone higher simply because people were borrowing their way to good credit. So, if you didn't verify their income, and if you didn't verify their assets, you could have had a truly troubled borrower underneath that good credit picture." Edited excerpt-not verbatim

3. Appraisal policy (HVCC) changes (2:27)

"No where in the Home Valuation Code of Conduct does it say lenders have to use an appraisal management company. No where does it say you have to pay appraisers less or get the appraiser to drive from a remote location where they don't understand the market. I believe HVCC was founded on good principles, which is to keep an arm's-length distance between the people ordering the appraisal and anybody who could benefit on a commission basis from the outcome of that appraisal. Our policy goes a step further and says you're not required to use an appraisal management company, the appraiser should be from the local area and should understand the area (already required in USPAP), and the appraiser's income should not be impacted adversely." Edited excerpt-not verbatim

4. Condo financing (1:28)

"We will be introducing a new condo policy in the next couple of weeks that will make the terms easier than the terms that were originally planned to go in effect in our October 1 Mortgagee Letter (some aspects of which have been given a later effective date). People will applaud them as being an improvement, but we will continue to have risk controls in place for condos." Edited excerpt-not verbatim

5. FHA processing speed (3:04)

"FHA can be underwritten by any FHA-approved lender, which includes most of the major lenders in America. We have high loan limits just like the temporary high loan limits for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. You can buy a home with 3.5 percent down. You can get your loan scored for approval through a variety of underwriting engines including Fannie Mae's Desktop Underwriter and Freddie Mac's Loan Prospector. If you aren't familiar with FHA, the best you can do is sit down with a loan officer who does FHA mortgages and learn how easy it is today." Edited excerpt-not verbatim

By Mary Cook, Mary Cook & Associates

Now more than ever, model homes are key sales tools for developers. In the current housing market crisis, people are weighing every factor in their decision on buying a home.

Beyond the typical questions on the quality of the finishes, school districts, and mortgage rates, those who are looking to spend their life savings on a place are looking for deeper psychological reasons to sign on the dotted line.

Does this home speak to me? Can I imagine my lifestyle being a fit here?

That's why my firm spends so much time getting to know the prospective audience for which we design model homes. We design for specific people, often taking the time to create fictitious characters such as "John the Wall Streeter," who lets his girlfriend decorate his place.

For a residential development on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, an extra room was designed as a jewelry designer's workspace in one model. At one of our senior communities in central New Jersey, one model that featured bright pinks and greens (inspired by Lily Pulitzer) sparked a buzz among visitors.

By envisioning who might live at our clients' properties, it allows our designs to connect with prospects with the power of specificity.

Even if you don't have the same decorating taste as John the Wall Streeter or other characters, designing the model home for real people provides a lived-in authentic feel. Details help inspire - and ultimately show buyers that they can truly personalize a new home.

By Erica Christoffer, Contributing Editor, REALTOR® Magazine

Home modifications are an important step in getting buyers with disabilities into a new home. That's why it's important for real estate practitioners to be educated on the needs of their clients, where they can find specialized contractors, and the availability of financing programs.

According to the U.S. Census, 51.2 million people have some level of disability, which accounts for 18 percent of the population. Of those, an estimated 1.6 million Americans residing outside of institutions are wheelchair users.

Stephen Beard is a sales associate with Keller Williams Realty in Oakland/Piedmont, Calif. who specializes in accessible housing for people with disabilities. He has developed relationships with contractors who specialize in building wheelchair ramps and other types of home modifications and accessibility architecture. This is especially important in more established markets with older homes that typically do not easily lend themselves to modifications.

Beard understands the issues around mobility challenges as someone living with Cerebral Palsy who uses a cane.

"I saw an opportunity to specialize in real estate in a way that would allow me to serve this community that has not had many advocates in the real estate community in the past," Beard says. "I am always thinking, 'Are we going to be able to build a ramp here? Or is the bathroom big enough to do a 360-degree turn around in a wheelchair?' because there are so few properties that are accessible to begin with here [in the Bay area]."

According to Access Living, a Chicago-based non-profit advocacy group for people with disabilities, approximately 95 percent of new single-family homes and townhouses built with federal assistance fail to incorporate accessibility features.

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) introduced the Inclusive Home Design Act, H.R.1408, which would require that at least one entrance of a new home be built without stairs, all doorways in the home be at least 32 inches wide, light switches and climate controls be placed at a wheelchair-accessible level, and at least one bathroom on the main floor of the home be wheelchair accessible. However, the measure has not moved out of the Financial Services Committee since it was introduced in March 2009.

In addition to the universal design elements that are being encouraged in new homes, there are various custom modifications and adaptations that can meet the needs of buyers, such as adding grab-bars, installing wheel-in showers, and adding accessible counters and sinks.

"We have to find a home that is close enough so that we can modify it to meet each individual's needs," says Beard.

It is also particularly important to know if the home is going to be accessible enough to view before your client arrives. "I lose a lot of credibility if I take a client in a wheelchair to a home they can't get into," says Beard.

There are several Web sites that serve as educational resources or information clearinghouses for housing modifications and financing.

• Homeaccessprogram.org: Recommended by Beard, this site was created by Handi-Ramp, a manufacturer and distributor of handicap accessible ramps. It lists real estate practitioners who specialize in accessible homes, and directs users to resources, such as the Home Access Program's mortgage partnership and Homes 4 Angels.
• Homemods.org: created by the National Resource Center on Supportive Housing and Home Modification and run through the University of Southern California Andrus Gerontology Center, offers the Executive Certificate in Home Modification. Encouraged for anyone working with the supportive and/or adapted housing community, the program consists of five online courses that cover the ins and outs of home modifications, ethical issues, and community resources.
• Centers for independent living: These local, community-based non-profits are great places to find independent living resources for people with disabilities. The ILRU (Independent Living Research Utilization) has a directory of centers for independent living throughout the country.
• State and local programs: Many states, counties, and local non-profits have incentive programs encouraging home ownership for people with disabilities. Maryland's Department of Housing and Community Development is one example, along with Wisconsin-based Movin' Out, Inc.

Beard, who has worked in real estate since 2004, does not approach his job as a sales person, but rather as a consultant or a service provider. He learned as much as he could about the various subsections of the disabilities community during his first years on the job through networking and meeting with leaders of various advocacy groups. He also became more involved, joining the board of directors for the World Institute on Disability, a nonprofit promoting independence, as well as serving on the Alameda County Board of Developmental Disabilities Planning and Advisory Council.

Because Beard took the time to educate himself on the needs of the community he sought to serve, now 70-80 percent of Beard's clients are people who have physical handicaps, cognitive challenges, and learning disabilities. He has become a go-to real estate pro in his niche.

"One of my passions around this community is to broaden awareness. I want more REALTORS® to be aware of how to serve this community; I think it's so important," says Beard, who welcomes phone calls and inquires on his Web site.

In the spirit of October and Halloween, I think it's a perfect time to discuss the many superstitions, beliefs, and practices held by home buyers (and sellers). As I've implied before, the San Francisco Bay Area is a cauldron pot of ancestries, religions, family, and marital statuses. But with that diversity there is a cobweb of belief systems and practices.

Examples of Taboo Features:

Structural

• Home (or front door) faces North- doesn't encourage harmony, natural flow, warmth, protection, etc. as it would if it were facing other directions.
• Staircase (or backdoor) visible from front door - means any good fortune in the home will quickly flow out.

Conceptual

• Death in home - the person's spirit may still remain in the home.
• Numbers in address or purchase price are unlucky - 4 and 13 are unlucky, or any number ending with a downward stroke (1,4,7,9).

Determine the Root:

Ask your client to explain their reasoning

• Is it religious-based?
• Is it regarding luck, prosperity, feng shui, qi gong?
• Is it because Granny thinks so?

Assess their conviction

• If it is held with strong conviction, then you know that finding a home within their requests is imperative.
• If they express that it would be preferred (or 'because my grandmother told me to'), then you realize there is some flexibility.

Not Selling? Get Creative:

Enlist an Expert

• Arrange a meeting with a Feng Shui specialist to explain that a front door facing north can be countered by painting it blue, black or white to support and nourish the chi entering a home.
• Arrange for a general contractor to consider remodeling possibilities.
• Seek advice from a trusted resource who may also be familiar with your client's concerns, beliefs and/or background - helping lead to potential solutions.

Price Strategically

• Many people believe 6 and 8 are lucky numbers. Instead of pricing the home at $590,000 consider pricing it at $588,888 or offer an $888 credit at closing or a $60 gift card.

Bury St. Joseph

• Patron Saint of Home and Family - It has long been believed that burying St. Joseph upside down (with his head directed to the road in front of the house) near the "for sale" sign makes him work extra hard to get out of the ground and onto someone's mantle... So say a prayer and start digging!

By Heather Soldonia, is a Broker/REALTOR® in the San Francisco Bay area with Windermere Welcome Home. She can be found at www.heathersoldonia.mywindermere.com.