Continental Title Company News & Events

  Mortgage lenders can sidestep new rules to prevent lowball estimates Kenneth R. Harney
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Washington Post

The federal government's efforts to eliminate settlement-cost surprises for home mortgage applicants may have opened the door to a new, and potentially costly, set of consumer problems.

Starting this year, mortgage lenders nationwide must issue new good-faith estimates to applicants, covering loan fees and settlement charges. Under the regulations set by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the estimates that lenders provide upfront must be accurate -- the same or nearly the same as the fees charged at closing.

The idea is to eliminate some of the most controversial practices in mortgage lending -- the intentional or inadvertent underestimation of fees. Under the old system, some lenders lowballed their estimates to lure applicants away from competitors. In the end, unwary consumers were hit with eleventh-hour surprises at closings -- fees sometimes thousands of dollars higher than the initial estimates.

In the past, no federal rule penalized lowballing. Loan officers and others who provided the estimates were not held responsible.

As of this year, all that was supposed to change. The reformed good-faith estimate, or GFE, requires lender-related fees to remain unchanged from application to closing and allows only up to a 10 percent difference for estimates in other areas such as title insurance and closing fees. Now when the charges at settlement exceed the estimates, the lender -- not the customer -- must eat the difference.

The GFE also is designed to facilitate rational comparison-shopping on fees and other loan terms. It contains boxes allowing consumers to compare up to four lenders' quotes and estimates, each essentially guaranteed to be accurate at closing.

Read more at www.washingtonpost.com

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  3:15 PM 0 Comments

  Changes In HUD-1 & GFE

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  12:47 PM 0 Comments

  Neighborhood Stabilization Program

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  11:37 AM 0 Comments

  Homebuyer Tax Credit Update

The Economic Stimulus Bill (The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, H.R. 1.) was signed into law on February 17. Many elements of NAR's housing agenda were included, including an $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit. Originally available only through November 30, 2009, Congress has voted to extend and expand the homebuyer tax credit to continue to stimulate housing and improve our economy.

Under the bill:

• the current $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers has been extended through April 30, 2010
• current homeowners are now eligible for a $6,500 tax credit through April 30, provided they've lived in their existing home as their principal residence for five consecutive years in the past eight years
• if potential homebuyers have a binding contract on or before April 30, 2010, they have until June 30, 2010 to close the transaction
• the annual income limits for full-credit eligibility are raised from $75,000 to $125,000 for singles and from $150,000 to $225,000 for married couples. Buyers with incomes $20,000 higher than these limits may qualify for a partial tax credit. These income limits apply for BOTH first-time buyers and current homeowners.

For more information about the extended and expanded tax credit, including a comparison chart and Frequently Asked Questions, go here for info posted on realtor.org.

The National Association of Home Builders has posted a list of FAQs here and this video which also addresses common questions:

Other key points of the legislation:

The $6,500 tax credit for eligible existing homebuyers went into effect immediately after the President signed the legislation earlier today. All closings taking place from November 7, 2009 until the deadlines above qualify for the tax credit.

Existing homeowners do not need to sell their current home to claim their credit, but they must occupy the new home as their principal residence. They can keep their current home as an investment property or second home.

To listen to a special podcast from NAR President Charles McMillan, go here.

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  11:37 AM 0 Comments

  Changes In HUD-1 & GFE

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  8:59 AM 0 Comments

  New, Lower Refinance Policy Pricing

Attention Kansas City Lenders...

Call your Marketing Representative or Escrow Closer today to find out about our new, lower Refinance Policy pricing!!!

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  8:57 AM 0 Comments

  CTC Holiday Open House Pleas join us for our Holiday Open Houses! Click on the image above to see the dates and times for each location.

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  Holiday Open House In Branson

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  8:58 AM 0 Comments

  Kansas City Plaza Office Opening Dec 1st!

We would like to introduce Demi Moulas as the Escrow Office Manager for the new Plaza Location! Come by and meet her at 606 W 52nd St across from Loose Park on November 17 from 2-6. We will be sponsoring an agent tour at this Sunset Hills home!

PLAZA OFFICE Opening December 1, 2009
1 Ward Parkway, Ste 145
Kansas City, MO 64112

We would also like to introduce Kansas City's new Commercial Division. We welcome Wayne Bennet, Director of Commercial Division and his Commercial Escrow Assistant, Sara Steele. Based out of the Overland Park location, they are excited to work on all of your commercial transactions!

Get ready for the Holiday season! Come by our KC Locations from 3-6pm on the following dates for food, drinks, friends, and holiday fun!

• Olathe... December 2
• Overland Park... December 10
• North Kansas City... December 8
• Lee's Summit... December 15
• Plaza... December 17

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  9:36 AM 0 Comments

  Stop Double Taxation On Homes (Columbia, Mo.) – A new Web site provides Missouri voters with information about a proposed state constitutional amendment barring politicians from imposing double taxation on sales of homes and other real estate.

Voters are encouraged to visit www.YesToSaveHomes.com to learn more about the proposal.

Petition signatures are now being gathered to place on the November 2010 ballot the proposal’s straightforward and simple language: “Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to prevent the state, counties, and other political subdivisions from imposing any new tax, including a sales tax, on the sale or transfer of homes or any other real estate?”

Transfer taxes on home sales are double taxation because Missourians already pay annual property taxes on real estate, often over many decades of ownership. Missouri is among just 13 states that do not impose a transfer tax on real estate sales, including all of Missouri’s neighboring states. As state, county and city revenues decline, politicians are tempted to impose new transfer taxes - just as Missouri citizens are struggling to make it.

“This unfair double taxation can happen in Missouri under current law. We are asking voters to keep politicians from penalizing Missourians with bad public policy that denies fairness and defies Missouri common sense,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, a REALTOR® from Columbia, Missouri, and spokesperson for the Vote Yes To Stop Double Taxation campaign committee.

“Many Missourians have lost jobs or had pay cuts. Some have been forced to sell their homes, many at a loss, because of drops in property values. This is particularly true for lower-income Missourians, who typically spend a larger percentage of income on their home,” added Mendenhall, who is also president-elect of the 22,000-member Missouri Association of Realtors. “Our fellow Missourians who are experiencing this severe financial strain shouldn’t be subjected to more taxes - especially the unfair double taxation of a real estate transfer tax.”

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  10:52 AM 0 Comments

  CTC On The Plaza - Coming Soon! Continental Title is proud to announce plans to open a 5th Kansas City area Escrow location. The office will be located at 50th & Main, just south of the Country Club Plaza. Scheduled to open December 1, 2009, this will be CTC’s 16th Escrow Location throughout Kansas and Missouri.

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  9:52 AM 0 Comments

  Continental Title’s 4th Annual Golf Classic Benefitting Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics

Click on photo below to view a slideshow.

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  10:13 AM 0 Comments

  REALTORS Core Health Insurance - Exclusively for NAR Members

According to NAR studies, nearly 30% of NAR members lack health insurance and many more are significantly underinsured. Ideally, everyone would have major medical insurance, but many people simply do not qualify due to pre-existing conditions or cannot afford the high cost of coverage.

Are you one of the thousands of NAR members who have requested a quote for Limited Medical Indemnity Insurance through NAR’s new REALTORS® Core Health Insurance (RCHI) Program? If not, maybe it’s time to look into the options and see if any of RCHI’s exclusively-designed plans fit your health insurance needs.

RCHI offers affordable, guaranteed-acceptance, Limited Medical Indemnity Insurance plans to NAR members under the age of 65. There are three plan options to choose from* and all are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company, rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best Company (2009 edition).

* Subject to state availability

WHO BENEFITS?

NAR Members who can benefit from an RCHI plan include those who:

• Do not have health insurance.
• Have applied for individual Major Medical health insurance and have been declined or quoted expensive insurance rates.
• Have a pre-existing condition that makes traditional insurance coverage expensive or difficult to obtain, but that may be covered by RCHI.**
• Have health insurance with high deductibles or out-of-pocket expenses. Members who have Major Medical insurance should contact an RCHI representative to see if one of the RCHI plans could supplement their existing coverage and decrease overall out of pocket expenses.

Highlights of REALTORS® Core Health Insurance***

Simply put, RCHI provides coverage for your healthcare needs – helping to provide basic benefits at an affordable cost.

• Guaranteed-acceptance – No medical questions/exams required
• Low cost – Plans start as low as $70.69 per month
• Freedom to choose any provider
• Benefits may include: doctor office visits, wellness visits, emergency room benefits, surgery benefits, and more!
• For those coping with an urgent need, next-day coverage**** is available.

** Coverage for Hospital Room & Board, ICU/CCU, Surgery and related Anesthesia under the RCHI plan has a 12 month pre-existing condition clause
***Subject to limitations and exclusions
****30-day waiting period for Sickness

How Do I Receive A Quote?

RCHI has trained benefits specialists on staff who are ready to help you decide if one of their valuable plans is right for you. Speak to a representative today by calling 1-877-267-3752 or visit www.RealtorsCoreHealthInsurance.com for more details.

Learn About New REALTOR Benefits® Program Offerings
Don’t forget about the benefits available to you through our two newest Program Partners, REALTORS® Federal Credit Union and Hewlett Packard (HP)! REALTORS® FCU is an independent and member-owned financial cooperative offering services designed to meet the unique financial and cash-flow needs of real estate professionals. Learn more at www.REALTORSFCU.org . HP offers members savings on computers, printers and imaging. Receive FREE U.S. ground shipping & special savings on HP business products and accessories. Access the customized site at www.hp.com/go/nar1 or call (800) 888-8177 and mention Code NAR1.

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  9:02 AM 0 Comments

  Obama Announces Short Sale Plan

U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Geithner announced details on the expansion of the Making Home Affordable program to include short sales under the new Foreclosure Alternatives Program. Financial incentives for servicers and borrowers include $1,000 to servicers "success fee" for a successful short sale, and borrowers may receive up to $1,500 to assist with relocation expenses.

Reasonable and customary real estate commissions and selling costs will be permitted and the servicer will agree not to negotiate a lower sales commission after an offer has been received.

Program 3648, a privately owned, nationwide initiative, originally based on HR 3648 the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, is leveraging this and other legislation to help as many homeowners as possible avoid foreclosure by completing a short sale.

Program 3648 certifies real estate professionals to service an exclusive territory, where they typically receive 200 Distressed Homeowner Leads per month to contact with Program 3648's help.

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  10:28 AM 0 Comments

  Top 10 Most Helpful Websites

LOOKING FOR SOME SHORTCUTS?
LOOKING FOR SOME QUICK HELP ON THE INTERNET?

Check out these great websites that can help your business and organize your life in a number of ways!

• What do you do when you are you away from your office and want to access your computer?
  Check out http://www.gotomypc.com/
• Need to back up your computer?
  Check out http://www.carbonite.com/
• Do you hate having to go through automated menu after automated menu on the telephone?
  Check out http://www.get2human.com/
• Do you ever have multiple photos to send people (perhaps pictures of their home) and it takes forever to upload and download?
  Check out http://www.photoleap.com/
• Would you like to know who reads you’re the emails you send and who just deletes them?
  Check out http://www.readnotify.com/
• Have you ever gotten a voicemail when you are in a place you can’t actually put the phone up to your ear? Wouldn’t it be nice if your voicemail could be transcribed and turned into a text message?
  Check out http://www.phonetag.com/
• Do you have multiple electronic devices to charge every night? Do you hate dealing with all the cords and finding outlets for all of them?
  Check out http://www.wildcharge.com/
• Do you travel? Have you ever noticed that some of the travel websites don’t pull up the same information or omit some of the airlines and or hotels?
  Check out http://www.kayak.com/
• Have you ever been driving down the road and thought of something but couldn’t write it down? Have you ever wished your voicemail could come through via email or text?
  Check out http://www.jott.com/
• Have you ever worked with a client and there was a language barrier? Need a personal translator?
  Check out www.google.com/language_tools?

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  1:19 PM 0 Comments

  Existing Home Sales Advance. Concerns Over HVCC Growing
Existing Home Sales Advance. Concerns Over HVCC Growing
by Patrick McGee on Jul 23 2009, 11:46 AM

First-time homebuyers and the sales of distressed properties helped drive the pace of Existing Home Sales up for the third consecutive month in June. Sales advanced 3.6% in the month, in line with estimates, to an annual rate of 4.89 million units.

“The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, who compile the data. He said sales should continue upwards “due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions.”

Key Data:

Single-family home sales rose 2.4% to a pace of 4.32 million in June. That's 0.2% below June 2008 levels.
The national average for a 30-year mortgage rose to 5.42% in June from 4.86% in May. In June 2008 the 30-year rate was 6.32%.
Total housing inventory June fell 0.7% in June to 3.82 million homes for sale ― a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace.
The median price for a home was $181,800 in June ― 15.4% down from June 2008.
First-time home buyers made up 29% of the sales.
Foreclosure-related sales accounted for 31% of sales in June.
“If we can keep the volume of sales above the level of new inventory, prices could stabilize in many areas around the end of the year,” Yun said.

Analysts from the forecasting firm RDQ said the report “provides further evidence that activity in the housing market is stabilizing and that price declines are slowing.”

They note that the 3-month advance in sales was the fastest pace in five years, in percentage terms. “This report, along with recent data on housing starts, building permits, and the survey from the NAHB, suggests that we may have seen the bottom in home sales and housing construction.”

TD strategist Millan Mulraine added, “it suggests that the recent momentum in U.S. housing activity may be gathering some traction as U.S. homebuyers take advantage of the very favorable mortgage rates and home prices.

However, analysts still aren’t expecting a quick recovery in the housing market, as unemployment rates are at a 26-year high. Even Fed chairman Ben Bernanke expects unemployment to remain high heading into 2001.



Poor Appraisals Still a Concern: Reiterating concerns that he spoke about last month, Yun said sales were being held back by poor appraisals.

In a press release the NAR added that a June survey of realtors found that 37% experienced “at least one lost sale as a result of the new Home Valuation Code of Conduct,” which was put into effect May 1, “with seven out of 10 reporting an increased use of out-of-area appraisers.

In addition, 70% of NAR appraiser members said consumers were paying higher fees, while 85% report a perceived reduction in appraisal quality.

“Clearly the process needs to be revised, but the most logical approach is to use appraisers with local expertise, industry designations and access to local data, who make a physical examination of the property and use apples-to-apples comparisons with nearby home sales,” Yun said.

“In many cases, normal homes are being compared with distressed homes sold at a discount, which often are in subpar condition – this is causing real harm to both buyers and sellers.”

Source: http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/07232009_existing_home_sales.asp

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  9:53 AM 0 Comments

  Realty Executives Golf Tournament Photos Take a look at photos from the recent Realty Executives Golf Tournament:

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  8:31 AM 0 Comments

  Welcome To The New Continental Title Company Website We have recently re-launched our website at http://www.ctitle.com/ and we look forward to creating a useful resource for you. If you have any suggestions for improvement, please email info@ctitle.com

We have also added two new locations to the CTC family. Check out our new offices in Branson and Forsyth!

Thank you for visiting.

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  8:35 AM 0 Comments