~Kahlil Gibran

I want to let you know as of yesterday we started to route appraisal assignments by zip code.  What this means is the appraiser must live within 15 miles of the property being appraised.  The only exception to this is outlying area such as Placer or Mono counties as an example.  We are trying to narrow it down as much as possible. We are also tracking quality of work and turn times. Please continue to let us know if you have an abnormal amount of conditions or you see appraisers turn times not as required.  Remember our appraisers are trained to speak to you at the property, so if you have comps or special circumstances they will be happy to take any info from you at the appraisal.  If you don’t get great service from a RPM appraiser let me know immediately.  My team and I have been able to save many purchases  lately by getting real appraisals, with real values, and local appraisers who actually know the market.  Remember we also have a rebuttal process that gets answers usually within 24 hours.  This is huge and will make your buyers and sellers happy. 

We can still close FHA and conventional loans in 20 days or less.   Let me know if we can help protect your seller by prequalifying the potential buyers?  Your sellers are insured they will get a local appraiser.  Your buyers also are insured to get a local area appraiser as well.  My team and I pride ourselves on being the number 1 FHA lender of 500 agents in all of RPM.  We understand FHA, we close FHA, and we can help you with your questions on potential properties, etc.  If the MLS says no FHA we can help.  We find many properties that can sell FHA and the listing agent was misinformed.   

If you would like us to set up a office meeting with your office to discuss how HVC is effecting your business and how to make sense of it all let me know.  I can set up a office visit with our very own Senior Appraiser.  The presentation has been very well received and it is information you have to know in today’s market place if you are working with buyers and sellers.  

      Market Commentary – Tue, Aug 04 – 10:49 AM ET

Auto makers are getting a boost from the recent “Cash for Clunkers” program from the government – you can turn in an old vehicle and receive up to $4,500 towards the purchase or lease on a new vehicle. Ford Motor Company said on Monday that car sales for the month of July rose 2.3%, for the first gain since 2007 fueled by the incentive program. GM and Chrysler saw sales decrease but were far less than the year ago period.

The Commerce Department reported this morning that Personal Incomes for June fell 1.3% reversing May’s 1.3% gain, marking the largest decline since January of 2005. May’s gain was attributed towards the recent stimulus plan. The drop was larger than estimates of -1.0%. The savings rate fell to 4.6% in June after a 6.2% increase in may. Spending edged up 0.4% in June after a 0.1% increase in May. Analysts had forecasted 0.3% rise.

Last November, the Federal Reserve announced its Mortgage Backed Security Purchase Program when it said it will buy up to $1.25 trillion in agency Mortgage Bonds in an effort to bring down home loan rates to kick start the battered housing market. Home loan rates were hovering around 6.5% for a 30 year fixed rate at the time, whereas today rates are slightly above 5%.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) has incurred some staggering losses lately prompting the closing of possibly 1,000 offices across the country. The Post Office could incur a loss of $7 billion this fiscal year.

Some more good news for the housing markets. Pending Home Sales for June rose 3.6%, well above the estimates of a 0.3% rise signaling that the housing market could be stabilizing. The increase was due in part to lower home loan rates and falling home prices. The rosy report comes after better than expected New and Existing home sales that were recently reported.