Real Estate Broker

Welcome To North Carolina Real Estate Commission News Update Effective April 1, 2006 Gov. Easley Signs Historic Real Estate Licensing Bill On September 14, Governor Easley signed legislation making the most significant changes ever in the Real Estate License Law. Soon, salesperson licenses will be converted to (provisional) broker licenses, license applicants will be required to complete more real estate education, and persons wishing to become brokers-in-charge of real estate offices must have additional training and real estate experience. At its September meeting, the Real Estate Commission recognized the following persons and organizations who were instrumental in the passage of the legislation: • Representative Julia Howard who, with Representatives William Culpepper and Harold Brubaker, sponsored the legislation and who advocated for it on the House Floor and in committee; • Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand who sponsored a companion bill and spoke for the legislation on the Senate Floor; • North Carolina Association of REALTORS® which used its considerable resources to promote the legislation; and the Commission’s 2004 Broker-in-Charge Advisory Committee which conceived and recommended the legislation to the Commission. Commission Chairman Rick Watts concluded the proceedings by remarking that, as a result of this important legislation, “Real estate consumers will soon be served by more knowledgeable agents, and North Carolina’s real estate licensing program will be restructured to meet the needs and demands of the 21st century marketplace.” For more information about the changes in the North Carolina Real Estate License Law, please click on the following links: Summary of Changes to Real Estate License Law and Frequently Asked Questions Proposed Commission rules effective April 1, 2006 New Publications Two new publications from the Real Estate Commission are now available. Real estate licensees and interested persons may now purchase the Broker-in-Charge Guide a reference publication covering the administrative and supervisory responsibilities of brokers-in-charge of real estate offices. The 104-page volume, which serves as the text for the Broker-in-Charge course, is newly re-designed, will be updated as needed and may be purchased at a price of $10 either here on the Commission’s website or with publications order forms. Also now available is the latest addition to the Commission’s popular series of “questions and answers” brochures - Questions and Answers on: Real Estate Closings . Designed to answer many of the questions frequently asked by purchasers about residential real estate closings, the pocket-sized publication covers such topics as loan commitment letters, property inspections, title insurance, deeds, homeowner associations, and closing statements. Memo to Brokers-in-Charge The Commission has published a memorandum to all Brokers-in-Charge describing the advantages of an all broker office. To view the memo in its pdf form, click here . Trust Account Compliant Software Vendors List Now Available A list of vendors of software that the Commission has found to be "substantially" compliant with Commission rules and the Trust Account Guidelines can be found by clicking here .

Home Equity

Home Equity Loans: The Three-Day Cancellation Rule -- Search: FTC Consumer Alert PDF Version Home Equity Loans: The Three-Day Cancellation Rule If you’re considering applying for a personal loan and using your home to guarantee repayment, you should know that a federal credit law gives you three days to reconsider a signed credit agreement and cancel the deal without penalty. Your "right to rescind" or "right to cancel" is guaranteed by the Truth In Lending Act. You can rescind for any reason but only if you are using your principal residence—whether it is a condominium, mobile home, or house boat—as collateral, not a vacation or second home. Under the right to rescind, you have until midnight of the third business day to cancel the credit transaction. Day one begins after all three of the following occur: you sign the credit contract; you receive a Truth in Lending disclosure form containing certain key information about the credit contract, including the annual percentage rate; finance charge; amount financed; and payment schedule; and you receive two copies of a Truth in Lending notice explaining your right to rescind. For rescission purposes, business days include Saturdays but not Sundays or legal public holidays. For example, if the events listed above take place on a Friday, you have until midnight on the next Tuesday to rescind. During this waiting period, activity related to the contract cannot take place. The creditor may not deliver the money for the loan. If you’re dealing with a home improvement loan, the contractor may not deliver any materials or start work. If you decide to rescind, you must notify the creditor in writing. You may not rescind by telephone or in a face-to-face conversation with the creditor. Your written notice must be mailed, filed for telegraphic transmission, or delivered if by other written means, before midnight of the third business day. If you cancel the contract, the security interest in your home is also cancelled, and you are not liable for any amount, including the finance charge. The creditor has 20 days to return all money or property you paid as part of the transaction and release any security interest in your home. If you received money or property from the creditor, you may retain it until the creditor shows that your home is no longer being used as collateral and returns any money you have paid. Then, you must offer to return the creditor’s money or property. If the creditor does not claim the money or property within 20 days, you may keep it. If you have a bona fide personal financial emergency—such as damage to your home from a storm or other natural disaster—the law allows you to waive your right to rescind and eliminate the three-day period. To waive your right, you must give the creditor your own written statement describing the emergency and stating that you are waiving your right to rescind. The statement must be dated and signed by you and anyone else who shares in ownership of the home. But remember: if you waive your right to rescind, you must go ahead with the transaction. The right to rescind does not apply in all situations when you are using your home for collateral. Among the exceptions are: when you apply for a loan to buy or build your principal residence; when you refinance your loan with the same creditor who holds your loan and you don’t borrow any additional funds; or when a state agency is the creditor for a loan. In these situations, you may have other cancellation rights under state or local law. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues , visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel , a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. May 1998

Real Estate Prices Still

Agricultural Economist Newsletter: Winter 2001--Farm Real Estate Prices Still Rising in Minnesota Farm Real Estate Prices Still Rising in Minnesota Steven J. Taff Average Minnesota farm real estate sales prices just keep on climbing (figure 1). This despite low output prices, rising input costs, and continued uncertainty about the future of federal subsidies. Sales price increases were seen in all parts of the state except in the northwest. In this annual sales price summary, I can provide only an overview, some cursory analysis, and--as always--a few opinions. I'll not bore you with text that simply repeats what's already shown in the charts. Instead I'll spend some time discussing how land transaction data are recorded, adjusted, and employed. I think it's useful to go through some administrative and procedural details to further our understanding of what these data are and what they are not. If this prospect makes you say, "Just show me the data, Steve," then you can stop right after the sales summary section. Or, if your impatience knows no bounds, go straight to the Minnesota Land Economics (MLE) Web site at http://apec.umn.edu/faculty/sjtaff/landdata/index.html and start working the numbers yourself. Farm Land Sales in 2000 Assessors are required to report initial assessments in late fall, based on sales data to date. That's why the data are reported on a "record year" basis: these are the sales that were, presumably, available for assessor scrutiny at the time the initial estimated market-values are calculated. Final values are set by summer, to be used in the succeeding tax year. So, for example, sales made in late 1999 are used by assessors to set initial values for January 2001. These estimates are adjusted in spring 2001, finalized in summer 2001, and then used for tax purposes in 2002. The adjusted record year 2000 sales data were therefore not available until April of this year. Figure 2 shows the distribution of all farmland sales in 2000. The bulk of the sales lie between $500 and $2,000 per acre. I excluded a small number of sales that exceeded $5,000 per acre as well as those involving parcels of land less than 20 acres in size. Both were excluded as not being plausibly "agricultural"--despite their designation on the Certificate of Real Estate Value (CRV) as "agricultural" land. (Although excluded from figure 2, these data are included in the MLE Web site data.) Even though MAE readers and MLE Web site users can view the full distribution of sales prices, most still ask for a single number that somehow captures the story behind the figures. Obviously, for a set of sales that span such a wide range in prices, any single number fails completely to accomplish this end. Movements in averages, while arithmetically correct, usually fail to tell the entire story. The particular average I use in this article is a location- and size-weighted mean (table 1). In last year's farm real estate report ( agecon.lib.umn.edu/mn/mae699.pdf ), I discussed the usefulness of such weighting as well as the desirability of examining sales data at the smallest geographic scale possible. Table 1. Minnesota farm real estate sales summary Record year Number of sales Acres sold Average price* 1996 2,504 263,728 936 1997 2,641 296,803 1,039 1998 2,724 303,968 1,113 1999 2,212 235,359 1,196 2000 2,258 250,979 1,222 * Location- and size-weighted per-acre mean Figure 1 compares the movements of actual sales price averages with those two other estimates of land value--the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) annual state estimates (based on a farmer opinion survey) and the average assessor estimates (the location- and size-weighted mean estimated market value). The University of Minnesota sales prices averages are location- and size-weighted means. The fact that all three (somewhat) independent estimates of farmland real estate values shown in figure 1 move in lockstep adds credence, I believe, to the conclusion that, on average, farmland values really are increasing in Minnesota. Geographic variations in real estate values for the past 11 years are shown in the box-and-whisker plots of figure 3. (District boundaries are shown in figure 4.) The range of sales prices for each district for each year is shown by the endpoints of the vertical lines. The ends of each box show the prices at which 25 percent of the sales were higher (or lower). The median is indicated by the horizontal bar within each box. So, for example, the median Central district farmland sale was about $1,200 per acre, with 25 percent of the sales lower than $750 and 75 percent lower than $1,850 per acre. In previous years' reports, I've noted the wide variation in average price movements among districts. Such differences were accentuated in 2000 by the continued climb of values in the South East district combined with the continued stagnation in the North West district (figure 5) . Farm Sale Data When a Minnesota property is sold, the transaction details must be recorded at the county courthouse on a form called a CRV. On it, the seller attests that such-and-such a property was sold to so-and-so on a certain date for a specific price. Other information about the property (its size, soil characteristics, prior year's estimated market value) is often entered on the CRV as well. Frequently, the per-acre prices that underlie this article and are also shown in the MLE Web site are not the prices entered on the CRV. Long before a land sales figure enters the official data base, it has been passed through an array of filters and adjustments designed to make comparison among transactions more meaningful and more reliable. Recording the Transactions There are many possible slips between an ownership change and data analysis. Of course, there is always the chance that simple recording errors are made. For example, numbers may be miscopied from bills of sale onto the CRV, or into a computer file, or into a spreadsheet. There is also a chance of misrepresentation. The person who fills in the CRV might have a reason to understate or overstate the actual sales price--perhaps to avoid a tax. This, of course, is illegal, but, as any courthouse veteran can tell you, it occasionally happens. Not every sale receives further processing. Local or state officials remove from subsequent analysis any sale not deemed "arms-length," because it was sold, for example, to a member of the seller's immediate family. Or, a sale might be pulled because the new buyer intends to convert the land to a non-agricultural use. Adjusting the Prices After this filtering, sales prices are frequently adjusted to make comparison among sales more appropriate. First, to expunge the effects of inflation, sales prices are deflated by an officially reported rate to January 2 of the year in which they were recorded. This "adjustment for time" is fairly minor in years (like the past decade) where inflation has been low. The second adjustment is "for terms." Not all farm real estate sales are for the full property. Some are made through a contract for deed, an arrangement that allows the buyer to pay a certain amount now and other amounts at stated intervals. Until the final payment is made, the property remains in the possession of the seller--even though it has been "sold." Because the full payment schedule is entered on the CRV, the Department of Revenue can calculate a present value of the initial and subsequent payments at an official discount rate. This becomes the official sales price of the property, regardless of what the buyer and seller had in mind when they sealed the deal. Adjustments don't end with a time- and terms-adjusted sales price, honestly reported and accurately recorded. In most cases, users of the data are interested in per-acre prices, not per-parcel prices. That means some chosen total price must be divided by some total acreage. But which price? Which acres? Should we use the total price or should we first subtract out the value of buildings, personal property, ancillary property, or machinery to get closer to the "true" land price? In this article (and on the MLE Web site), I choose to follow conventions established years ago in Minnesota. I report the time- and terms-adjusted total sales price, minus the value of personal property, divided by the entire acreage of the parcel. That's why, when I'm being careful, I speak of the average price of farm real estate, not of farm land . Employing the Data The sales reported here are only those recorded between October 1, 1999, and September 30, 2000. These "record year 2000" sales are so bundled because of the way real estate transactions are used to help local assessors value land for property tax purposes. Strange as it may seem, the Department of Revenue does not collect sales data merely to satisfy the data cravings of University economists like me. No, statewide sales data are collected principally to create statistics that are used to "equalize" property tax valuations across county boundaries. Each year, county assessors are required to assign an estimated market value (EMV) to each of the thousands of real estate parcels in the county. The estimate is supposed to be based on an examination of similar properties that were actually sold recently. (The combined valuations for each township, city, or county are the source of the Land Values--in contrast to the Farmland Sales--data on the MLE Web site.) Because every county has its own assessor who uses largely independent valuation procedures, there are inevitably discontinuities across county lines--even for adjacent properties. Farmer Brown wonders why Farmer Olson's land, just across the fence line in the next county, carries an assessed value that is lower by $200 per acre. The state has created an equalization procedure that is supposed to smooth over such discontinuities. Assuming that nearby properties really would sell for similar prices, any observed difference in assessed values for otherwise similar properties is presumed to be evidence that one or both of the assessors is either undervaluing (that is, assigning an EMV that is too low) or overvaluing properties. To test this, the state calculates a sales ratio (the EMV divided by sales price) for every property sold in a particular area. If an assessor systematically undervalues properties (shown by sales ratios that are consistently lower than some threshold), the state might demand the EMVs in that jurisdiction be uniformly raised, to better accord with what is thought to be "true" market conditions. How Accurate Are the EMVs? We can see for ourselves how close the final assessor estimates are by comparing actual sales prices against the previous year's estimated market values for the same property (figure 2). Each point in the figure represents one sale. For example, the rightmost point is for a property that was estimated to have a value of $4,900 per acre, but actually sold for only $2,900 per acre. While some of the estimates are obviously way off (like this example), the bulk are pretty close. In most cases, the EMV was lower than the sale price, but in a neatly predictable manner. A simple one-variable regression model, shown as the straight line in the figure, accounts for nearly 75 percent of the observed variation in farm real estate sales prices. Parting Thoughts What accounts for the ever-onward-and-upward movement of average farm real estate prices in Minnesota? We need only to round up the usual suspects, most of which I have discussed at length in previous issues of MAE . These include 1) perennial farmer optimism about future crop and livestock prices, 2) expected extensions of federal farm subsidy programs, 3) continued favorable local property tax treatment for farmland, 4) the desire of some farmers to increase the size of their current operation by buying adjacent farmland, 5) the desire of some non-farm buyers to use land as a hedge against inflation, and 6) inflation itself. An additional suspect that we need to add is the increasing prominence of location even in rural land markets. We simply can't explain current price levels on the basis of income potential (including subsidies) and speculation potential alone. Clearly, where the land sits with respect to job centers and what it looks like is influencing the price buyers are willing to pay for a particular parcel of land. As always, I caution potential land buyers and sellers about reading too much into the average land prices reported here and elsewhere. If you've got land to sell or if you have a hankering to buy land--look before you leap. The financial stakes are too high for casual empiricism. Hire an appraiser. Talk with your spouse. Check your finances. Think about the children. Be careful out there! Steven J. Taff is an associate professor and extension economist with the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Minnesota. Return to Minnesota Ag Economist Newsletter Index Page University of Minnesota Extension Service HomePage

Las Vegas Real Estate

Las Vegas Real Estate - Las Vegas Homes Premier Home Welcome to Las Vegas Homes The Las Vegas Real Estate market for many years has been one of the hottest Real Estate markets in the world, with many Las Vegas Real Estate properties selling in less then 1 week. With a market like this it is important for your Las Vegas Real Estate website up to date with every Las Vegas Real Estate property available. With Las Vegas Homes .com you are GUARANTEED a response from one of our Realtors in 1 business day or less. With our State of the art Las Vegas Real Estate search engine you have access to all the Las Vegas Real Estate properties available in Las Vegas and surrounding areas 24 hours a day . Our website is constantly updated with all the Las Vegas Real Estate available to ensure you will find exactly what you are looking for. LAS VEGAS HOMES SEARCH Price Range: No Minimum ------------ $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000 $130,000 $140,000 $150,000 $160,000 $170,000 $180,000 $190,000 $200,000 $210,000 $220,000 $230,000 $240,000 $250,000 $260,000 $270,000 $280,000 $290,000 $300,000 $310,000 $320,000 $330,000 $340,000 $350,000 $360,000 $370,000 $380,000 $390,000 $400,000 $410,000 $420,000 $430,000 $440,000 $450,000 $460,000 $470,000 $480,000 $490,000 $500,000 $550,000 $600,000 $650,000 $700,000 $750,000 $800,000 $850,000 $900,000 $950,000 $1,000,000 $1,100,000 $1,200,000 $1,300,000 $1,400,000 $1,500,000 $1,600,000 $1,700,000 $1,800,000 $1,900,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 $6,000,000 $7,000,000 $8,000,000 $9,000,000 to No Maximum ------------ $10,000 $20,000 $30,000 $40,000 $50,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $90,000 $100,000 $110,000 $120,000 $130,000 $140,000 $150,000 $160,000 $170,000 $180,000 $190,000 $200,000 $210,000 $220,000 $230,000 $240,000 $250,000 $260,000 $270,000 $280,000 $290,000 $300,000 $310,000 $320,000 $330,000 $340,000 $350,000 $360,000 $370,000 $380,000 $390,000 $400,000 $410,000 $420,000 $430,000 $440,000 $450,000 $460,000 $470,000 $480,000 $490,000 $500,000 $550,000 $600,000 $650,000 $700,000 $750,000 $800,000 $850,000 $900,000 $950,000 $1,000,000 $1,100,000 $1,200,000 $1,300,000 $1,400,000 $1,500,000 $1,600,000 $1,700,000 $1,800,000 $1,900,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 $6,000,000 $7,000,000 $8,000,000 $9,000,000 Bed(s): Bath(s): No Minimum ------------ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + No Minimum ------------ 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9 + Square Footage: No Minimum ------------ 500 + 1000 + 1250 + 1500 + 1750 + 2000 + 2250 + 2500 + 2750 + 3000 + 3250 + 3500 + 3750 + 4000 + 5000 + 7500 + 10000 + 15000 + 20000 + LAS VEGAS HOMES MLS NUMBER SEARCH MLS Number: LAS VEGAS HOMES HOMEFACTS NUMBER SEARCH HomeFacts Number: Information Utility Connection Form Selling a Home Buying a Home Choosing a Realtor Relocate to Las Vegas Contact Us Las Vegas Homes 8290 W. Sahara Ave Suite 200 Las Vegas, NV 89117 (702) 939-5167 (800) 758-7071 Click here to Email Us Las Vegas Homes Property Data updated on Thursday, December 29 at 06:00:01 AM Home Page Real Estate for Sale ** Just Reduced ** ** New On Market ** Previews & Luxury Homes Property Watch Open Houses Relocation Services Real Estate Career? Master Planned Living High-Rise Living Mortgage Services Customer Services Search For a Realtor Our Offices Agent Login © 2005 Las Vegas Homes | Las Vegas Homes Site Map | Las Vegas Real Estate Links Las Vegas Homes by Zip Code | Las Vegas Real Estate by Community Real Estate Technology by Premier Technology Services

Florida Real Estate

Licensing Portal - Homepage Quick Topics Right Here. Right Now! DBPR Home Page Using This Site Activate My Account FAQs Technical Info Privacy & Security Term Glossary Site Map Contact Us Email Telephone Mail More information for... - Select - AB&T Boxing Commission Certified Public Accounting Hotels and Restaurants Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes Pari-Mutuel Wagering Professions Real Estate Service Operations Unlicensed Activity Renew a License Change License Status Maintain Account Change My Address Make a Payment -- View Messages My Continuing Education Search for a License, Permit, or Registration Search for Inspections File a Complaint Search Unlicensed Construction Complaints Search All Other Unlicensed Complaints AB&T Delinquent Invoice and Activity List View License Requirements -- Apply for a License View Application Status Apply to Retake Exam Find Exam Information Find a Continuing Education Course Request Public Information View CE Requirements File a Complaint [Coming Soon] -- Hot Topics DBPR Extends License Renewal for Hurricane-Impacted Cosmetologists Access to State of Florida Procurement Opportunities and Information If you are interested in learning about conducting business with the State of Florida, you may visit: www.myflorida.com/portal/Business Businesses interested in learning about vendor diversity programs and opportunities may contact the Office of Supplier Diversity, Department of Management Services, at 850.487.0915, or may visit: http://www.osd.dms.state.fl.us/ Architecture & Interior Design Continuing Education Information The 2005 Architecture and Interior Design renewal cycle ended February 28. View more information about continuing education requirements, provider course reporting and online CE history. Professional Engineers Renewal 2005-2007 / Online Payment Renewal notices for professional engineers and certificate of authorizations were mailed in early December 2004. View instructions and license renewal requirements for professional engineers. CAMs Continuing Education Rule Change Continuing Education Deficiency Letters DBPR's Online Services provide online access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to the public and to nearly one million licensees. For the first time in the history of state government, users can apply for and maintain their licenses, search license records, find exam information and file complaints in just one site. Under the leadership of Governor Jeb Bush, DBPR is changing the way you interact with state government. As we work towards revolutionizing state government, we welcome your input on any features that would be of value to you at communications@dbpr.state.fl.us. Para asistencia en Español, por favor llame a nuestro Centro Para Servicio Al Publico al 850-487-1395.