Date: Mar. 9, 2009
Tags: Travels, Realtorsr, Training, Courses, Appraisers

I’m in the San Antonio airport now, heading to Harrisburg, where I’ll do York, Harrisburg and York and then head home. At the end of the month, I head south to South Carolina, then on to Naples Florida for the RSPS Symposium. Here’s the great thing about my job: I get to meet awesome REALTORS® all over the country, travel and see new places and new people. Here’s the awful thing about my job: flying (no longer fun at all) and some hotels and restaurants along the way.

The other great thing is that when you train, you learn. My students are always giving me information, and things to think about and add to what I’m doing. In Nashville, I did the new Green Core Course from NAR, and then the one day Green Residential Elective. Nashville has great REALTORS® and wonderful staff—a special thanks to Judy Ransom at GNAR and her assistant Donna for all they did to make me so comfortable. Nashville also has some really cool green things going on in real estate, and REALTORS® who are eager to learn and adapt.

In San Antonio, I got to be at the ERA Annual Convention, teaching eBuyer. I love eBuyer; in part because my friend Amy Chorew and I re-wrote it for REBAC, so I think (immodestly, I guess) that it is a great course. My husband doesn’t always get to come with me, but he did come to San Antonio, because neither of us had ever been here and wanted to see the great city with the Riverwalk and the Alamo. It didn’t disappoint at all; we ate dinner our last night in town at the Chart House Restaurant, on top of the tower (it’s a rotating restaurant, very cool). We did the riverboat ride and it was a good trip. Students and ERA were awesome. Only negatives: Sigh! Why do hotels like the Hyatt, which charge an arm and a leg for the room, then add on an Internet access charge? Tacky, tacky, tacky! Plus, the hotel restaurant had terribly slow service and very high prices. We went once and didn’t go back.

The San Antonio airport is awesome; I’m seated on a little stool, in front of a counter, where I could plug in my computer and get free Internet. YESSSSSS! So, I can write a blog while waiting for my flight to take off. Sweet!

I’m doing appraisal classes back in PA—the appraiser in my state all have to renew their licenses by the end of June, 2009. One of the hot topics with appraisers is the new FNMA 1004MC form, which is a market conditions form. I’ve reviewed it; I’ll be teaching it; and I think it is more problematic than it may appear. I understand why FNMA wants better information; but I don’t think anyone is lining up to pay the appraiser more money for what will be significantly more work in some markets.

The end of the month, I’m off the South Carolina, again to teach appraisers. From there, I head to Naples Florida for the RSPS (Resorts and Second Property Specialists) Symposium. I’m teaching the core RSPS course, as well as offering opinions on trends in second home buying. This market has really been hit hard—on a number of fronts. First of all, second homes are totally a discretionary purchase—no one needs a second home. Second, buyers often pull their money out of the stock market to buy a second home. That’s not working real well either. Third, lenders are very tight, and nothing I’ve been able to find in any TARP money or economic stimulus plan has anything positive for this market. These are often the affluent; they will agree that they want to ‘pay their share’ but the buzz I’m hearing from other RSPS REALTORS® is that many of them feel that they are being asked to pay more than their fair share.

When (notice I said when, not if) the real estate market turns around, some of this will iron itself out. For now, I’m seeing fear and indecision on the part of many buyers. The smart REALTORS® are continuing to press on, gaining new knowledge, because they know we are also building some serious pent-up demand. Those in place who are ready when that happens will do, in my humble opinion, quite well.