Safety Tip of the Week:  Do not walk ahead of a stranger.  When showing a home, always have your prospect walk in front of you.  Do not lead them, but rather, direct them from a position slightly behind them.  You can gesture for them to go ahead of you and say, for example, “The master suite is in the back of the house.”

AB 2429 (Negrete McLeod) has been signed into law.  The bill eliminates the “conditional” real estate license.  Existing law provides two ways to qualify for a real estate salesperson license.  The first option requires an applicant to take three real estate classes and then pass the salesperson exam to receive a four-year license.  In the second option, an applicant takes only one class and then takes the exam.  Should the applicant pass, they obtain a “conditional” license and may finish the rest of the required course work during the next 18 months of licensure while they engage in real estate licensed activity.  AB 2429 will require all salesperson applicants, after September 30, 2007, to complete all three of their pre-license courses prior to taking the license examination.  The Department of Real Estate reports that 85 percent of new licensees came in under the conditional license option.  AB 2429 will increase the foundational knowledge of sales licensees entering the profession.

Changes in the market may lead to new legislative challenges:  A changing market changes the issues faced in the legislative arena.  For example, without steep appreciation to continuously increase equity, non-traditionally financed properties are more likely to end up in foreclosure.  Similarly, a market in transition means more marginal transactions will be attempted and without appreciation to buffer a loss, are more likely to lead to a lawsuit.  This means legislators or consumer advocates may call for legal restrictions on financing, or mandate new and more burdensome inspections and disclosures in each transaction.

As foreclosures occur in the new transitional market, REALTORS® are likely to be drawn into foreclosure-related issues (for example, the role of an agent in a “distress” sale), or the unworkable bonding requirement for agents of investment buyers that was imposed during a previous economic downturn.  There may also be additional legislation attempting to protect borrowers from themselves by restricting sub-prime loans or specialty financing – but with the end result of drying up credit availability for sub-prime buyers.  They may also be legislation to eliminate the tax penalty that imposes the so-called “double whammy” on a seller in a short sale. (C.A.R.)

Builder confidence has declined to its lowest level since February 1991:  The confidence level has declined for eight consecutive months in September and is a reflection of increased sales cancellations and rising inventories of unsold homes, according to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). 

U.S. housing starts declined 19.8 percent in August:  The seasonally adjusted annual rate for privately owned housing starts dropped for the fifth consecutive month in August, falling to a rate of 1.67 million units, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

A record number of Americans are turning to the internet for political news and information. According to a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, last month, 26 million adults, or nearly one-fifth of adult Internet-users went online each day in search of political news.  This is more than double the number of Americans who searched the Internet for political or campaign-related information on a typical day during a similar point in the 2002 mid-term election cycle.  Online users who relied on the Internet for political news in August were more likely to be male, college graduates, and have broadband access at home.

According to the study, the growing use of the Internet for political news and information is a notable trend because mid-term election campaigns generally attract less interest than those during the years for presidential elections.  During the last presidential election in November 2004, 21 million online users turned to the Internet for political news.  This is 5 million less than the number of adults who used the Internet during the August 2006 mid-terms elections.  (C.A.R.)

Richard Tegley is a Realtor® and President of the Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc., (MRMLS); State Director of the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and National Director of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Richard can be reached at (951) 533-9340 or email Tegley@surfcity.net