VARbuzz » Amanda Arwood

Update from HUD on FHA loan limits

Amanda Arwood — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:44:09 +0000

On November 18, President Obama signed a bill re-establishing higher loan limits on FHA loans. Below are some of the particulars about what-qualifies-for-what, straight from HUD:

Forward Mortgages:
Therefore, effective for all Forward mortgages with a case number assigned on, or after, November 18, 2011 through December 31, 2011, the loan limits referenced in Mortgagee letter 10-40 shall be in effect.

As a reminder, Mortgagee Letter 11-29 still applies to the time period 10/1/11 through 11/17/11:

Loans that did not have credit approval on, or before, 9/30/11 are subject to the lower limits that were in effect 10/1/11 through 11/17/11.

Loans that had credit approval on or before 9/30/11 and FHA to FHA refinances may be eligible for exceptions to those loan limits as defined in Mortgagee Letter 11-29.

The Department will be issuing a Mortgagee Letter by mid-next week that will include more detailed guidance and applicable updated loan limit tables for 2012. We expect supporting system changes to be completed within that same time frame.

HECM:
Lenders are reminded that the maximum claim amount for HECMs is not affected by HR 2112 and the maximum claim amount for HECM remains at $625,500 as stated in Mortgagee Letters 10-40 and 11-29. This loan limit will remain the same for 2012 and will be included in the pending Mortgagee Letter.

AUS Systems:
Be advised that Automated Underwriting Systems (AUS) that utilize Total Scorecard may not be updated with the new mortgage limits. Lenders are reminded that when a case file is scored that exceeds the statutory loan limits, the results of the scoring event may reflect “approve/ineligible” or “accept/ineligible” and a feedback message identifying that the “ineligible” result is due to the loan amount exceeding the statutory county loan limits. Case files that receive an “approve/ineligible or accept/ineligible” may be eligible for endorsement under the applicable loan limits for the time periods described above.

You and your clients can get FHA tech support and answers to many FAQs HERE.

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Thoughts on typos and what they relly mean (Get it?)

Amanda Arwood — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:27:49 +0000

Ran across this post on Agent Genius today about MLS bloopers, and it made me smile:

“Many privat school in neihborhood” (Have you considered enrolling?)
“Nice butt needs work”
“No shuwings until open”

We here at VAR are certainly not above typos, they happen to anyone and everyone. I am, personally, the queen of missing typos and hitting “Send”. It’s especially nerve-wracking when that “Send” is blasting out to more than 30,000 Realtor® members, hundreds of legislators, or even hundreds of thousands of homeowners across the state. In a professional setting, it is imperative to take the extra time to present your [news story, listing, advertisement] in the best possible light with your audience, which means, first and foremost, no typos or screaming grammatical errors.

But these mistakes are inevitable, which is the reason I rely on some great folks [Gini "Eagel Eye" Bonnell, Tracey "there's an a.m.–p.m. problem in this schedule" Floridia, Lili "you need loads more detail here" Paulk, among others] here at VAR to help me with my sub-optimal proofreading skills. These gals make themselves available to us here in the marketing department, and for that we salute you. You make us all look better.

So, with Thanksgiving before us, I want to take time to thank the people whose skills complement mine and help me end up with a better product, whose efforts make the whole of what we do here work. Because typos just mean we’re human, and that we need the support of our co-workers, our friends, and our family to get us to 100%. Happy Thanksgiving!

2011 Real Show photos are online

Amanda Arwood — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 15:27:19 +0000

If you attended and would like to browse photos from this year’s REal Show (or didn’t attend and want to see what you missed), check out VAR’s Smug Mug page to see lots of great candids.

If you took a minute in the expo to sit and have a new headshot taken, you can check out J. Ford Photography’s website (password is var2011) and order prints or digital copies.

Ah, memories!

Flood Insurance is on the radar at the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Amanda Arwood — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:05:09 +0000

“We can’t wait for flood insurance” is the driving message behind the Sunday op-ed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, penned by VAR CEO Scott Brunner. While VAR and NAR have been urging members to contact their legislators on this issue for months, Hurricane Irene has brought the issue into much sharper relief here in Virginia, and it’s starting to resonate with Virginia property owners.

Direct from the source:

“Let’s be clear: Federal flood insurance is not a questionable expenditure or pork-barrel politics. This is a longstanding and critical program used by more than 5 million American families in 29,000 communities nationwide — many of them here in Virginia — and one that covers $1.2 trillion in assets. (In fact, about 97 percent of the U.S. population lives in a county that has declared a major flood disaster in the last 20 years.)”

The concern, both for Realtors® and for the Virginia housing economy, is that if the National Flood Insurance Program expires, home sales will grind to a halt. Last year, when Congress allowed the NFIP to lapse briefly, 47,000 home sales across the nation were delayed or cancelled. In this economy, the last thing we need is to create that kind of roadblock again.

Read the full piece here, and be sure to “Like” and share on your Facebook page so more Realtors® and clients can become aware of this important issue.

Click here to take action through the NAR Realtor® Action Center on the NFIP.

Disclosures: Episode 2 of the Legal Hotline Q&A

Amanda Arwood — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 16:02:08 +0000

Now available: Episode 2 of the Legal Hotline Q&A with Blake Hegeman. The topic? Disclosures, which is another frequent topic of conversation on the VAR Broker Legal Hotline. In this second video, Blake addresses questions like

What are my disclosure obligations to clients and customers?
What is an emptors caveat?
What is a material adverse fact?
What about POAs, LBPs, RPDs and other mish mash?
and much more…

” src=”http://www.varealtor.com/sites/all/modules/wysiwyg/plugins/break/images/spacer.gif” alt=”<--break->” />Keep in mind that the video content is meant for VAR members only, so you’ll need to be logged into the VAR website to view them and all of the legal content on VAR’s website. CLICK HERE to watch Episode 2: Disclosures.

And stay tuned to the VAR Legal Videos page for updates, new additions, and more from VAR’s top-notch legal team.

Got rentals?

Amanda Arwood — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 18:49:52 +0000

In the wake of Hurricane Irene, some Virginians have been displaced and are seeking temporary shelter. The Governor’s office has reached out and asked that Virginia Realtors® help to identify rental properties to assist those displaced by Irene.

The Virginia Housing Development Authority runs a database/search site for rentals, VirginiaHousingSearch.com. If you have rental properties, we ask that you consider listing them there. Adding and monitoring your listings on this site is easy (register, add properties, access reports on searches and views). It’s good for business (listings are free), and it helps populate a public resource that can and will assist your fellow Virginians.

Although Hurricane Irene’s impact wasn’t as big as expected, there are still plenty of people in Virginia who have lost their homes. They’ll need a place to stay, and we want to make sure Virginia Realtors® are a source of housing for them and any homeowners displaced in future storms.

Click here to download a one-page PDF flyer about VirginiaHousingSearch.com.

VAR is back in business – website UP!

Amanda Arwood — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:59:59 +0000

Thank you all for your patience as we dealt with the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. VAR’s website is back up and available for log-in, so you can access all the great stuff we have to offer: legal articles, standard forms, Commonwealth magazine, and much more! We hope that all our members fared safely through the hurricane.

VAR offices are open, website log-in is down

Amanda Arwood — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:30:48 +0000

VAR’s power is back on and we are able to receive e-mail. However, log-in to the VAR website is currently unavailable. If you need immediate assistance or a resource from the members-only section of the VAR website, please call our main line (800) 755-8271. If you know the staffer you need, e-mail them at FirstName @ VARealtor dot com. (Click here to view the VAR staff directory.)

Additionally, online registration for The REal Show is unavailable. We have extended the early bird deadline until Friday, September 2nd. We will be honoring the online registration rates for paper registrations through Friday as well. So… if you’re planning to register and haven’t yet, this is the week to check it off your list.

VAR offices closed Monday, 8/29

Amanda Arwood — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:13:03 +0000

Due to power outages caused by Hurricane Irene, the VAR office will be closed Monday, August 29 while we wait for the power company to get us up and running. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you need assistance, please call (804) 264-5033 and leave a message and we’ll return your call as soon as we can. Or, if you know which staffer you need, e-mail us at FirstName @ VARealtor dot com. We hope all our members made it safely through the weather.

Clients in the path of Hurricane Irene?

Amanda Arwood — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:44:45 +0000

For those of you who may have clients in the path of Irene (or would just like to provide good information to your clients), House Logic has a number of great articles on hurricane and emergency preparedness that you can share with your clients. They’ll give you step-by step info on how to

These and many more resources are available at House Logic. While you’re there, check out the member area of House Logic, where you can access (FREE!) content for newsletters, create a House Logic widget for your website, and more. All you need to log in is your NRDS number. VERY cool.