Have you heard what FHA is up to?

New FHA Commissioner, David Stevens, announced that the agency will be changing their appraisal rules, and also including a 10% reduction in the amount of money senior home owners can receive from the reverse mortgage program.

The new guidelines, which will be instituted January 1, adopt some of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's "home valuation code of conduct"(HVCC). They also stipulate that FHA will not accept appraisals ordered by mortgage brokers, lenders, or anyone compensated on a commission tied to the completion of the loan. FHA regulations do differ from Fannie and Freddie, in that FHA wants appraisers to be paid fairly and in full.

Surprisingly, the commissioner states that the appraiser can disclose the amount of their fees, making this information available to the buyers and sellers in the appraisal report. This goes against traditional practice, where it is typically forbidden for appraisers to reveal their compensation.

This is informative for the consumer, as on average they are charged $400, when the appraiser, who works for the management company, is only paid $175-200.

Along with the disclosure of fees, Stevens is thankfully mandating what he refers to as "geographic competency." This requires appraisers have a familiarity with the local markets and access to data relevant to the home's sale.

This "Geographic Competency" is, in my opinion, imperative. Recently, I received an offer on a property and the buyer's mortgage company ordered an appraisal which came in under the contract price. It was revealed that the appraiser was not familiar with the area and resided and worked many hours away.

Does anyone else have a similar tale to tell?

Wild(Flower) Women on Wheels!

Grab a friend and join us for a shopping trip and leave the driving to us! Saturday, October 10th, we'll be meeting in the Highlands at 10 am for some shopping. After cruising the boutiques, we'll hop on the bus and make our way to two other unique neighborhoods.

There will be discounts, goodies and of course, great company.
Tickets are $15, which include bus transportation, tote bag and snacks.

To RSVP, please email info@wildflowergroup.net

Putting a Lid on It: Is Roof Replacement Neccessary?

Remember my client from last week who failed to get an inspection before purchasing her home in the divorce? She recently got an offer on her home.

During the inspection it was revealed that the roof was a Woodruff product, and there had been a class action law suit against Woodruff for their defective roof products.

We've been hearing conflicting reports that lenders are requesting 5 year certifications for the roof or will require the roof replacement. FHA is apparently more restrictive. My client has a roof inspector stating that the roof is in fine condition and he is willing to provide a one year warranty, to be renewed annually after inspection.

What's the best approach for successful negotiations and a smooth transaction? Your input would be appreciated!

What's Your Score?

Parking tickets, library fees, and other small fines used to have an impact on your credit score. But, thanks to new scoring system, these minor delinquencies can be overlooked when calculating your credit store.

Under the new system, FICO 08, for those with otherwise unblemished scores, fines that are under $100 will no longer count against your score. Also, a single delinquency two or more years ago, is less likely to impact your score. This means that there is a possibility more flexibility in missing a payment, as long as it does not become a habit.

FICO 08 also addresses the frequently adopted "Piggbacking" process, which allows credit-repair companies to use a person's account, and the account holder gets reimbursed for allowing them to use their account. This inaccurately represents a person's credit score and will not longer be an accepted practice under FICO 08.


The FICO 08 adjustment has been adopted within last month, so you might see a slight rise or decrease in your score. But overall, the new system was adopted in order to get a more accurate assessment of the borrowing risks for a candidate. The rationalization behind it is that one small fine is not an accurate method for detecting if a person would default a loan.


Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.


Taken from article by Amy Hoak for MarketWatch.

Taking an Interest in Interest Deduction

While the First Time Home Buyer tax credit has been in the news these days, another bill in Congress could be equally significant, only with negative ramifications. The Congressional Budget Office has been preparing a report that suggests Congress cut deductions for home owner mortgage interest from it's present 1.1 million dollars to $500,000. The deduction would be phased in by $100,000 annually, starting in 2013.
Over a 10 year period, this would increase the revenue by an estimated $41 Billion Dollars. In addition, there are two proposals which aim to replace the mortgage interest deductions with a flat tax credit of 15% of mortgage interest paid. The other proposal is for eliminating deductions for all state and local taxes, which is estimated to cost $862 billion by 2019.

What does this mean for property owners?

Currently, If you're paying $1000 a month for your mortgage, $900 might be interest payments and $100 is paying the actual principal. At the end of the year, you're allowed a $10,800 tax credit. ($900 per month interest x 12 months). However, if this suggestion is undertaken, these tax credits would be eliminated and property owners would no longer receive these write-offs.

Should this legislation pass, it would undoubtedly have a dramatic effect on our unstable housing market.


Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

Information and facts taken from Washington Post Writers Group, Kenneth R Harney.

Dilemma: Divorce and the Marital Home

The process of divorce is hard enough as it is, but one pivotal move can save you both stress and money. Recently, I had a client who purchased the marital home from her husband at an agreed to price, she did so without the customary inspection that occurs with any real estate purchase transaction; divorce should be no exception.
It wasn’t until my client put her property on the market and the buyer did an inspection, that vital information on the property history was revealed. Not only had a class action lawsuit been issued against the manufacturer of her roof, the property had also depreciated in value. This meant that she had overpaid her husband for the property and was facing costly roofing repairs.

My client believed that since she’d been living in the home prior to the divorce, there would be no inspection issues.

Should you be considering purchasing the martial home, inspections are a quick, relatively inexpensive, yet essential way to protect yourself and your investment.


Joan Rogliano has been practicing real estate for 25 years. She is a Certified Luxury Home Marketing Specialist and a Certified Real Estate Divorce Specialist.

A Home Is Not An Island...

The surrounding neighborhood is just as important because it can have a big impact on your lifestyle -- safety, available amenities, and convenience all play their part, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

NAR also says you can keep your home value buoyed if you find the right neighborhood. You can find the right neighborhood by getting information direct from the best sources -- rather than from second hand and often incomplete data bases professing to offer you one stop shopping for all your neighborhood checking needs.

• Make a list of the activities -- movies, health clubs, churches -- you engage in regularly and stores you visit frequently. See how far you would have to travel from each neighborhood you’re considering to engage in your most common activities.

• Check out the school district. The education department in your town can provide information on test scores, class size, percentage of students who attend college, and special enrichment programs. Even if you don’t have children, a house in a good school district will be easier to sell in the future.

• Check crime. Ask the police department for neighborhood crime statistics -- not only the level of crime, but also the type -- burglaries, armed robberies -- any trends of increasing or decreasing crime and the location of crime.

• Look for economic stability. Your local city or county economic development office can tell you if income and property values in a neighborhood are stable, rising or falling, the percentage of homes to apartments. Apartments don’t necessarily diminish value, but they can indicate transient populations. Check for vacant or blighted businesses or homes.

• Consider resale value. A local real estate agent or trade association can give you information about price trends, inventories, selling times and other information that can indicate how well your home's value will hold up.

• Hit the streets. Narrow your focus to several neighborhoods and do a "walk-through" of each. Pick a warm day when people are out and available for chatting. Look for tidy, well maintained homes, quiet streets and other indicators of neighborhood stability.

Need assistance determining which neighborhoods meet your families needs? Email joan@roglianorealestategroup.com for a consultation.

4,560 Mortgage Colorado Loan Originator Licenses Revoked!

These revocations are the result of the Colorado General Assembly House Bill 1085 that was passed in early 2009 and became effective August 5th, 2009. House Bill 1085 defines circumstances in which the Director of The Department of Regulatory Agencies, (DORA), may inactivate a mortgage loan originator license if they have failed to comply with the education and testing requirements.

As a result, the Director inactivated 4,560 licenses on August 31, 2009.

Individuals whose licenses are inactive are prohibited from practicing as a mortgage loan originator or in any other capacity which requires a license.

Individuals who continue to practice with an inactive license are subject to all forms of discipline prescribed in the Mortgage Loan Originator Licensing Act,
including permanent revocation and fines.

Direct managers of individuals with inactive licenses are also subject to disciplinary action if they allow such individuals to continue to practice.

In my opinion, this measure is a long overdue response to the blatant disregard for licensing education requirements that were put in place several years ago. At the time, Colorado was one of the only states that did not have any education requirements for its loan originators and the new rules were an effort to maintain a consistent level of professionalism in the industry.

In light of recent events in the mortgage industry these requirements seem more than reasonable. Now, almost 5 years after the changes there are still people out there choosing to ignore the law. The good news is they are not going to be able to hide the fact they are not licensed any longer.
When shopping for a home loan be sure you are working with a licensed professional.

If you would like to know how to find out if a mortgage originator is licensed or need more information about any area of the real estate industry feel free to email me: joan@roglianorealestategroup.com.