Seanee K. Virtue's Blog

Florida Real Estate Sales Associate Post Licensing Requirements

Seanee K. Virtue (Florida State Realty Group, Inc) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:58:19 -0700

During my time in real estate class as a real estate sale associate the teacher would regularly suggest that we all consider attending the FREC required 45 hour post licensing immediately after passing the state licensing exam. She suggested that it would be much easier and we would have put it behind us. Also, that should one fail to complete before licensing renewal there would not be any forgiveness by FREC and your license would be VOID.

What I discovered was how to kill 2 birds with one stone, make myself a better real estate professional and be on my way to earning a professional real estate designation. It's simple - GRI - Graduate of the REALTOR Institute. GRI-1 is an in-depth course that is considered by FREC to satisfy the real estate sales associate post licensing requirement. What make GRI better? Check it out NAR's GRI Course

Realtor Association of Greater Ft Lauderdale leads in sales for South Florida

Seanee K. Virtue (Florida State Realty Group, Inc) — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 06:47:10 -0700

Education + Professionalism = RAGFL members outsell all other SEF association members - Join the most productive Realtor association in South Florida.

SEF Realtor sales through July 7, 2007

RAGFL

8033 sale transactions - $2.959B

13,724 members / $215,607 average per member

Miami-Dade County

4869 sale transactions - $2.253B

15,912 members / $141,591 average per member

Miami and the Beaches

5723 sale transactions - $2.905B

15,967 members / $181,938 average per member

Numbers presented have been obtained through corrected SEF MLS data.

IRA Deeds of Trust & Mortgages

Seanee K. Virtue (Florida State Realty Group, Inc) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:35:27 -0700

Your self-directed Entrust account may invest in trust deeds, mortgage notes, and other interest-bearing notes. These notes may be either in first or subordinate positions, and may be purchased from brokers or private parties. Documents are recorded, as is customary, at a county recorder's offices, and title to the property is insured as you direct.

Your account may also purchase or sell portions of mortgages. In such cases, your account holds an undivided interest in that portion of the note and receives the proportionate amount of income due under its terms. In addition, your account may purchase discounted notes as well as real estate purchase options.

As with real estate purchases, these investments entail specific requirements that are critical to the smooth completion of the transaction:

Initiation
Purchasing a trust deed or mortgage requires you to complete either a buy or sell direction letter for real estate notes. It is important to closely follow the guidelines provided on these forms to ensure timely and efficient transactions.

Title and escrow companies
When title and/or escrow companies are involved, proper instructions will be provided to them for all documents for your account. Local title or escrow companies may have additional requirements other than those provided in our comprehensive package. It is important to follow these requirements closely.

Funding and service
We must receive all loan documentation before the funding of any loan. We cannot fund without a complete loan package. This package includes a trust deed and note, title insurance (when applicable), and appropriate vesting.

If you have selected a third-party servicer, a servicing agreement must be provided to Entrust describing the note in accordance with the documents we have received. The original note documents may be retained by your servicer.

While we are not licensed as a mortgage servicer, as record keeper we can receive payments directly from your payer, as well as process loan payments and other information for your loan. All original documents will be maintained in safekeeping and eventual reconveyance.

As part of your arrangement with a payer, you may receive all payments for your note(s) for personal inspection. However, such payments must be received intact by us. Entrust cannot apply personal checks from you as an account holder to pay for obligations of notes in your account, as this violates IRS rules.

In all cases, all note information is required before funding can take place. This information includes the name, address, and Social Security number of the payer. If the payer is different from the one described by other documents provided, such information needs to be supplied so that proper credit can be applied. All payments must contain your account and loan number. If this information is not supplied, there may be a delay in posting funds to your account.

Payments and collections
All payments are promptly deposited in an FDIC-insured account in a custodial bank.

If note payments are not made when due, and your note is being serviced by a third party, all collection activity becomes the responsibility of you and your servicer. Entrust does not provide any collection services for past-due notes other than those agreed to at the time of funding of the loan. In addition, any foreclosure options that may be required are your responsibility. Our role is solely to provide information to the outside foreclosure service of your choice. You may obtain transaction history on your account online at any time. You may also receive this history via fax or phone by calling your Entrust Group office.

Regulatory reporting
All regulatory reporting for mortgage income is made by the servicer. If Entrust provides mortgage record-keeping services, the 1098 forms will be sent to the payer, as required.

IRA as your downpayment

Seanee K. Virtue (Florida State Realty Group, Inc) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 22:29:14 -0700

Many people have been misguided in believing that if you want to use your IRA funds you must purchase the property within the IRA. Additionally, they believe there are many restrictions including the requirement that one use a non-recourse mortgage loan if there's not enough funds in the IRA.

Not so, the IRA may actually issue a mortgage note of which the owner will pay the IRA for these mortgage payments.

It's rather involved and you should always consult a CPA to see if it works for you or your customer. You may want to check further information about this out at one of the biggest IRA custodian's website. Their website specially for this information: http://www.theentrustgroup.com/investments-plans/deeds.aspx

I hope that you find this as helpful and profitable as I have.