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Mar 03

Flood Insurance Increases and Legislation – Blaine Morris’ 2014 President of Marin Association of Realtors 03/03/14 Monday Memo

By Legislation, Marin Association of Realtors, Marin Real Estate News

Good morning MAR members,

Happy March, happy almost-spring!  In addition to our needed rain, as I had hoped, lots of new listings this past week.  One of our colleagues was quoted in the Marin IJ this past week characterizing Southern Marin as being in an “inventory crises”.  Let’s hope our sellers see this and get off the fence.

I’m hoping to see all of you at our MAR General Membership meeting next Tuesday.  It is at 11:30 at Embassy Suites in San Rafael.  It’s our MAR Annual Meeting, and our featured speaker is Gov Hutchinson, who is the Assistant General Counsel at the California Association of REALTORS.  Gov is on the front lines of the newest and timely risk management issues of selling real estate in California, and it’s always a popular meeting because he gives us this info with real world stories that we can apply to our business today.  Also presenting will be our colleague Steve Dickenson for his always-useful Marin Market Update.  Click here to register:

Thank you for all of your comments this past week about last week’s agent safety message.  Everywhere I went last week, people were sharing stories about unseemly experiences at open houses.  Many of us just stow these away, I’m glad we’re talking about it.  Be safe out there!

Last Thursday evening, I had the pleasure of attending meetings with two important REALTOR groups here in Marin, both of which are open to all.  The first was the Marin REALTORS Young Professionals Network.  This group is just getting off the ground, and they had their second monthly meeting at Wellington’s Wine Bar in Sausalito.  Our colleague CJ Nakagawa is the 2014 Chairman of the Marin REALTORS YPN group, and he and his advisory committee are doing a tremendous job launching this needed group that fosters the professional development of our newest members.  Plus, they have a lot of fun and network for the benefit of their individual businesses.

Patty Oxman was kind enough to share a presentation at YPN on how to create a repeat and referral business.  Patty is one of our busiest and most respected colleagues, and it always amazes me how giving she is to share her best practices with other agents.  I last heard this presentation nearly eleven years ago when I was just getting into the business, and the same fundamentals that Patty teaches apply today.  Service to our fellow agents is one of the most important things we have to share in our business, and I’m so thankful for top producers like Patty giving their valuable time to help others in the business get better.  Thank you Patty!

The second meeting on Thursday was with our colleagues at Womens Council of REALTORS.  This was a well-attended mixer and everyone had a great time!  WCR is hosting their monthly meeting this next Tuesday, March 4th, for a breakfast meeting.  The featured speaker will be Janice Niederhofer, who will be presenting “Top Secret Strategies of Business Success.”  Ms. Niederhofer is a “top secret” woman herself, who has taught interrogation techniques to the CIA, FBI and many other top agencies.  This sounds like super interesting material, and info that you can use in your business today since we all need to get creative on how we gather information.  Click here to register:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wcr-marin-presents-top-secret-strategies-turn-your-fear-into-an-advantage-tickets-9058158195?ref=enivtefor001&invite=NTI1MDMyOS9ibW9ycmlzQGZoYWxsZW4uY29tLzA%3D&utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inviteformalv2&utm_term=attend&ref=enivtefor001

Now, on to this week’s topic:  flood insurance.  I must admit, most of my listings are not in a flood zone, and I’ve paid attention to this topic only when in escrow.  We all have some brushing up to do, things are changing and we should all work to learn more about this subject.

Several weeks ago, I visited with Congressman Jared Huffman along with our MAR colleagues Kay Moore and Katie Beacock.  Kay is NAR’s “key contact” with Representative Huffman, and Katie is Chair of CAR’s Region 4, of which all of Marin is part.  Leading up to the meeting, I was asking agents if there was anything that should be brought to Rep Huffman’s attention.  We have to focus on things that have national oversight:  mortgage interest deduction, flood insurance, etc.  Boy, did I get an earful from everyone about flood insurance.  What a messy, in-between stage we find ourselves at right now!

I shared some real world stories with the congressman.  One local firefighter whose flood insurance on his recently purchased home just jumped from $1800 to $6000 per year.  Another escrow that fell apart in San Rafael because the flood insurance was going to increase from under $2k to over $14k.  These stories are everywhere, and Congressman Huffman listened with great interest.

Flood insurance is being legislated at the highest level of our government right now.  On January 30th, the US Senate passed a bill that will delay many of these sharp increases for up to four years.  The bill is now in the House, and I expressed to Congressman Huffman that these gigantic increases are proving very troublesome for many of his constituents.  Forget about someone trying to buy a new home, how about people on fixed incomes who are seeing these rates triple, or quadruple or more.

We’re hoping that the House is poised to pass this bill.  And President Obama will need to sign this bill as well.

A key new component in the listing and selling of flood-zone properties is the regularly-needed “elevation certificate”.  In the past, elevation certificates came up often if homeowners wanted to try to get a reduction or removal of flood insurance.  Now it seems that it’s become standard practice to require this report as part of getting flood insurance, unless you are willing to pay the very highest rate.

Because many rates have gone up so much, the elevation certificate could possibly help to get the cost of insurance back to a manageable level.  This may well become a new negotiable closing cost.  And an elevation certificate isn’t cheap, it can cost more than $1000, sometimes up to $2000.  Nor do you get one quickly.  And sometimes the insurance company will require modifications to the house itself, such as venting, before they will issue a policy…and they want it done before close of escrow.  Plan accordingly in your escrows.

MAR is going to continue to seek clarity on this matter to get you the timely info to conduct business, stay tuned.  I’m sure your brokers can help too.  Again, I’m not an expert, and I’m working to get educated.

Finally, again, lots of feedback on the emerging auction business for real estate in Marin.  Many of you have asked about BAREIS MLS’s policy on compensation in the MLS.  They are under the same requirements as MAR, we don’t get involved in compensation issues.  I invite all of you to review item 11.1 of the BAREIS MLS Rules and Regulations, it’s linked on this page on the BAREIS website:  http://bareis.com/rules.  It’s pretty clear.  Please keep your auction stories coming!

I wish you all a safe and prosperous week!

Blaine

Feb 25

Agent Safety, SB-407 & Short Sale Auctions – Blaine Morris’ 2014 President of Marin Association of Realtors 02/24/14 Monday Memo

By Marin Association of Realtors, Marin Real Estate News

Good morning MAR members!

Auctions and Faucets and Prowlers, Oh My!

With ski week behind us, I anticipate a big week ahead.  From the looks of my email inbox, everyone is desperate and looking for properties to sell buyers.  I’m hopeful that this week is the week that sellers start to cooperate!

As for SB-407, well, we got it on the front page of the Marin IJ this week:

www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_25173774/marin-homeowners-compelled-combine-water-conservation-renovation

So I’ll call my efforts to get the word out a success.  Notwithstanding the IJ’s error in calling it “SB-470”, the article was largely accurate.  Janis Mara of the IJ called me a few weeks back, after having a realtor tell her about the new law.  Janis was looking for answers, and I had to break it to her that so was I…

Anyway, the local building officials group DID have its monthly meeting last week, and my understanding was that pretty much the entire meeting was devoted to this subject.  They have formed a committee to address this, and the goal is to come back with a template either next month or the month after.  The spirit of the CALBO direction seems to be the direction our local officials are headed:  http://www.calbo.org/uploads/NoCal%20Policy%20Memo%20SB%20407%20%28Dec%202013%29.pdf

Net-net, most permitted repairs shouldn’t trigger a retrofit.

Interestingly, the building official I spoke with said that “typically, the legislature legislates intent, and leaves it up to the building officials to provide the details of the code.  This time, the legislature legislated a very vague code with all sorts of grey area, and the building officials are left picking up the pieces.”  I could not agree more.  For example, please define a low-flow bathtub faucet…

AUCTIONS

Moving on, everyone was commenting to me on the subject of auctions that I raised last week, but no one was offering specifics on how they were harmed or held liable as the result of an auction process…anyone?  CAR has asked for our help.  Most of the comments centered on the one aspect of this auction world that I can’t comment on, compensation.  MAR, CAR and NAR cannot get involved in that area, sorry.

AGENT SAFETY:  RECENT MARIN AGENT STORIES AND CRIME

Now, on to my Big Subject of the week:  agent safety.  I want to thank our friends at Alain Pinel for bringing some unsettling stories to my attention from this past week relating to brokers’ open and open house security.  Super-important stuff, and these real-world stories offer a useful safety refresher for all of us.

First of all, I was reminded about how we live in a different world…or that the world is getting smaller and some problems we’ve not typically worried about here in Marin are starting to come to our doorstep.  Home invasions, anyone?  I read this article in the IJ last month, and was reminded about it by a couple of agents this past week:   http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_24987169/greenbrae-robbers-lock-resident-closet-ransack-home?source=pkg

In that one, robbers pushed their way into a Greenbrae home, last month, bound him and locked him in a closet and ransacked the home.

Earlier this month, the IJ discussed this growing trend of burglaries and robberies where our residents come face-to-face with these criminals:  http://www.marinij.com/crimebeat/ci_25087123/lately-marin-residents-and-burglars-find-themselves-meeting?source=pkg

I don’t know if we’re in the midst of a new trend here in Marin, but I’m certainly hearing about this sort of thing much more lately.

Which brings me back to agent safety.  Many of these stories seem to be coming out of Novato, where several years ago we had a very brazen prescription drug bandit.  This past week, one agent had prescription drugs stolen at the house during the Sunday open.  She has filed a police report, and the cops were ADAMENT that we need to report these things, it’s an increasing problem.

Another agent’s story was relayed from last week:  “one of our agents last week had just opened up an open house when a fairly large man entered the home.  Agent felt that he was a bit nervous.  The first thing he asked her was where the master bedroom was; she answered that it was upstairs.  He then asked her to please show it to him.  She said that she was busy opening up the home, etc, but he could go ahead up; he did so, and then called down to her to please come up and show it to her.  She just kept telling him that she was still setting up the home, etc.  When she asked him questions about what he was looking for and where he currently lived, he fumbled his answers and appeared to be making answers up on the spot.  It was a very uncomfortable situation; while he was there, agent made sure that she stood by the front door of the home in case she needed to get out quickly or get help.”

And another from last Wednesday’s broker’s tour in Novato:  “A man came in.  Not an agent. Claimed no one sent him there to see the condo.  He went upstairs.  She clearly heard him opening drawers.  She was alone so she didn’t say a word and stayed near the front door. He came down a bit later.  When she quizzed him again on what he was looking for and/or where he currently lived he was very aloof.  She got a strange feeling from him.  She informed the homeowner. ”

Are these all related?  Who knows, these sorts of stories come up every year.  PLEASE pass them along to your broker and to MAR.

Another safety item we should all take to heart and was shared this week by Carol Munson:  There is a local Marin emergency dispatch number,  415-472-0911.  Who knew?  You save critical and valuable time rather than being routed through some regional 911 call center.  Minutes count, please put this number in your cell phone!

I’m up front with sellers when I take a listing, and emphasize again when we are going on the market:   secure your valuables, particularly jewelry and things that can get up and walk away.  AND secure your prescription medication…particularly any sort of pain or anxiety medication.

Several years ago, in my extended family one of my family members developed a very bad problem with prescription medication that led to all sorts of bad things, bad behavior and ultimately very bad outcomes.  It’s everywhere.  I read last week that heroin overdoses have more than doubled in the last five years.  Doubled!  Heroin?  Really?  Why?  Because it’s easier and cheaper to get than increasingly regulated prescription meds.  So if you’re someone with a problem, perhaps it’s a little easier to go tour pretty homes on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday to support your habit than it is to resort to pursuing the even harder stuff…

As a man, I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about my own safety beyond common sense and keeping an eye out.  But I’m also sensitive to the fact that our women colleagues view the issue of personal safety through a different lens.  I drove to a broker event last Thursday night in a big Suburban with seven of my women colleagues.  This issue was fresh in my mind, and I asked the women how many of them had felt uncomfortable in the past with someone in an open house.  All seven hands went up.  Then I asked how many had been fearful of her own safety to the point where she took active measures to secure her own safety.  Four of the seven hands went up.  “It’s a scary feeling and difficult to describe to a man” one of them said.

So let’s all be safe out there!  I’m not an expert on safety by any means, but don’t let unfamiliar visitors get between you and the front door or other safe exit.

NAR has a great agent safety website here:  http://www.realtor.org/topics/realtor-safety.  I’m also looking into an agent safety class at MAR.  Several years ago we had one of our members, who is a black belt, teach a well-attended safety class at MAR.  We’re going to look into something similar.  Another agent told me that they had the San Anselmo chief of police come in and give a safety and self-defense class at her gym that was well-attended.

MAR takes this matter very seriously.

I wish you all a safe and prosperous week ahead!

Blaine

 

 

Feb 22

Short Sale Auctions, SB-407 Water Conserving Fixtures Update – Blaine Morris’ 2014 President of Marin Association of Realtors 02/17/14 Monday Memo

By Legislation, Marin Association of Realtors, Marin Real Estate News, Regulations

Good morning MAR members!

Happy President’s Day…which in Marin means Happy Ski Week!  Everybody sure seemed to be going somewhere last Thursday night, as I was trying to get to a dinner meeting in downtown San Rafael (well after rush hour) and it was absolute gridlock with people trying to get on 101 North…so I hope those of you on your way to a family ski vacation are having a fantastic time!

For those of us still here this week, another week in Marin, another week of low inventory.  Buyers are out there, as we all know.  Increased inventory will be good for everyone, so let’s get our sellers off the fence!

My weekly SB-407 water conserving retrofit update is below, lots of new info, and some qualified good news.  This week, I’ve put it down at the end of the memo so people don’t think that’s all I talk about every week…

AUCTIONS

Oh my goodness, lots of feedback on auctions.  Several weeks ago, I shared that CAR is going to “SPONSOR” legislation to require an auction company to indemnify or “hold harmless” the listing broker in a transaction against liability that results from the auction company’s actions in a short sale transaction.

As I said, this was the big story that everyone at last month’s CAR meeting was talking about.

Here is the genesis of this issue:  it is becoming an increasing practice that as part of a short sale approval, some banks/servicers are requiring that before an approval is granted, the property needs to be put out on an auction site to “verify” the price.  There is one servicer in particular who is doing this a lot.  As part of this process, the original listing broker is asked (required?) to abrogate the listing agreement to the auction company…then the auction company runs with the auction and essentially the listing.

But the original listing broker still has agency with the seller, and also has an agency disclosure with the buyer.  What happens if, as part of all of this, mistakes are made by the auction company during the transaction?  I know of one of these auction companies that is legitimately licensed with the State of California as a licensed broker, and I’m sure there are more.  If something goes wrong, who is then liable?  Whose E&O pays?  This is the root of the above “SPONSOR” position on legislation to get indemnification of the original listing broker by the auction company.

But wait, there’s more.  What does all of this say about a broker’s legitimate listing contract with a seller?  Does the bank have the authority to demand that a listing broker abrogate its legitimate contract with a seller to proceed with this deal?  It becomes a larger question about the overall legitimacy of our listing contract.  CAR is looking into this as well, and I must say it’s a hot potato issue.

CAR is looking for specific anecdotes…war stories.  Here is what they are looking for:

“We are looking for any anecdotes where a licensee may have been sued due to the negligence of an auction company. We are also looking for stories, where to avoid legal action, a licensee has taken financial responsibility for the error of an auction company. And finally, we are looking for any instances where licensees have been informed by their E & O carrier that if an auction company were to make an error and the REALTOR® was held responsible for it, that the event wouldn’t be covered under the policy. It would also be helpful to know which E & O carrier was involved.”

Can any of you help with this?  If you have any of these stories personally, or if you know of someone else who does, please contact me here [mailto link].  It’s important that we communicate what is happening on the ground here in Marin to our statewide association.

SB-407 WATER CONSERVING FIXTURES UPDATE

I recently directed MAR staff to survey the various Marin municipalities about each town’s plan for implementation of SB-407.  The question is whether our building departments are planning to follow the California Building Officials (“CALBO”) recommendation that permits for repairs and maintenance of homes are EXEMPT from the retrofit requirements.  After surveying most of our towns, it does seem that they are going to follow that recommendation.  Here is a link to CALBO’s position (see second page):  http://www.calbo.org/uploads/NoCal%20Policy%20Memo%20SB%20407%20%28Dec%202013%29.pdf

In addition, another concern is whether unclosed permits from prior years will require a retrofit when they are closed after the fact…sometimes years later…often as part of a real estate transaction.  To my great relief, those that we have spoken with have said “no”, old unclosed permits should not trigger a retrofit requirement since the permit was pulled prior to the new code.

Each town kept pointing to a meeting this week among the building officials, the Code Advisory Board meeting.  Their plan is to coordinate a uniform policy county-wide.  There are some minor differences around the edges, but let’s await the results of this group’s meeting to confirm that those differences are smoothed out

The current RETDS does have some brief language mentioning this new code, but I’ve received a number of comments that this language is inadequate.  CAR is working on it, and MAR is monitoring the situation closely with our General Council to make sure that we can advise our clients correctly.

As I keep saying, stay tuned.

I wish you a safe and prosperous week ahead!

Blaine

 

Feb 19

More on SB-407, Housing Density AB-1537 Legislation and More – Blaine Morris’ 2014 President of Marin Association of Realtors 02/10/14 Monday Memo

By Legislation, Marin Association of Realtors, Marin Real Estate News

Good morning MAR members!

With the Super Bowl behind us, it was great to get out on tour this week to see the beginnings of our inventory for the spring home buying season.  Even though our winter rains finally seem to have rolled in, the daffodils  blooming (early) in my front yard point to spring right around the corner!  Buyers were out too, with agents reporting lots of activity.  Let’s all hope for more inventory to go along with more rain!

More on SB-407

My weekly updates on SB-407 will continue until we have clarity on the rollout.  This is the new water conserving fixtures legislation.  MAR is contacting the various municipalities to confirm local rollout plans.  I also spoke this week with one of the leaders of the local building official group, and he said that a consistent policy will be available after their next meeting a week from Wednesday on February 19th.  Stay tuned.

Speaking of SB-407, I received an email this week from MAR’s attorney, who reminded me about the “bill that no one is talking about, SB-407.”  After ensuring him that we are indeed talking about it, at least in Marin, he shared a couple of groups’ interesting interpretations of the law.  First is the California Contractors State License Board, which operates under the same Dept. of Consumer Affairs as our Bureau of Real Estate.  A bulletin from this group states, in part, that “Although not a legal opinion, the California Building Officials (CALBO) group has interpreted ‘alterations’ or ‘improvements’ to mean any construction to an existing structure that enhances or improves the structure. Construction that is related to repairs or maintenance of the structure is not considered to be an alteration or improvement.”

The bulletin goes on to say that items such as electrical service change out, HVAC change out, re-roofing, sewer line replacement, siding or stucco, retaining walls, fences, water heaters, windows should not trigger the retrofit requirement.  Near the end, the bulletin says “It is feared that property owners and licensed contractors who misunderstand the law may end up paying for new fixtures that are not required, or may avoid pulling building permits altogether to avoid the possible triggers to SB 407.”

You can read the full bulletin here:  http://www.cslb.ca.gov/GeneralInformation/Newsroom/IndustryBulletins/IndustryBulletins2014/IndustryBulletin20140117.asp

Again, this is not legal opinion, but since contractors look to be among the beneficiaries of this program, it’s refreshing to see their state board pull things back a bit.

The very comprehensive California Building Official’s group’s bulletin referenced above is here:  http://www.calbo.org/uploads/NoCal%20Policy%20Memo%20SB%20407%20%28Dec%202013%29.pdf

MAR will continue to advocate to our local building officials for clarity on this rollout.

A couple of odds and ends:

While scrambling up the mountain to see a new listing off of Panoramic Highway in Mill Valley on Wednesday’s broker tour, I was reminded of several emails I received from aggravated members last year.  This first broker’s open house was closing at 1:00, so in order to see it I needed to carve out a half-hour plus in the middle of tour to see this one property.  The members who contacted me last year identified a growing trend in our MAR community:  the shortened brokers’ open.  I wasn’t part of the “which hours on which days in which towns” discussion many years ago, but the convention that everyone agreed to was the following:  Wednesdays from 9:30-12:30 in Novato; Wednesdays from 10:30-2:00 in Southern Marin, and Thursdays from 10:30-2:00 in Central Marin.

Yes, it’s pretty simple, and yes I know we all know this.  I can understand the occasional 11:00 start times, I’m personally guilty of this sometimes, given that many of us have sales meetings on Thursday morning.  But why all the 1:00 close times…particularly on the first brokers’ open house?  I’m sure each of us can think of circumstances where you have to make some hard decisions about which houses you’re going to miss because you have to scramble across the county to see that ONE place you must see that closes at 1:00.  People grumble about this all the time.  Yes, I know sometimes we’re not worried about it, in this brisk market…yes, I know your listing is going to get multiple offers and you’re not worried.  But let’s be courteous to our fellow Realtors, and keep the house open until at least 2:00…at least the first week.

Correction

Thank you Colleen Frasco for identifying an error in last week’s Monday Memo.  I mentioned that on the recommendation of CAR’s Taxation and Government Finance Committee meeting, the CAR Board of Directors voted to “SUPPORT” legislation to study the impact of allowing homeowners to transfer their property tax basis to a home anywhere in the state.  This relates to Propositions 60 and 90, and I incorrectly stated the provision that over-age-50 homeowners can transfer their tax basis once per lifetime.  Colleen reminded me that it’s over-age-55, not 50.  That’s how rumors get started, and I wanted to clear that up.  Thank you Colleen!

Housing Density

On the legislative front, the MAR Board of Directors voted unanimously at our last meeting to support our Assemblyman Marc Levine’s AB-1537, which seeks to lower the state-mandated housing density from 30-units per acre to 20-units per acre.  Local officials have come to meetings at MAR since I got there bemoaning this Sacramento-sourced mandate, where Marin is classified as “urban” and lumped in with San Francisco and Oakland, rather than “suburban” like our neighbors to the north in Sonoma and Napa counties.  This is unfolding, but MAR will doing what we can to support this legislation.

I wish you a safe and prosperous week!

Blaine