Written by:  Nathan Thomas

Your customers may be able to afford more house for less money if they consider buying one considered energy efficient. As housing costs continue to rise despite low interest rates, more and more lenders are offering energy efficient mortgages (EEMs), a loan program in which lenders estimate monthly energy savings resulting from energy efficient improvements to qualify borrowers for a larger mortgage. The EEM recognizes that energy-efficient homes cost homeowners less to operate on a monthly basis than standard homes, therefore, borrowers who choose such homes can afford to spend more on their housing expenses because they will likely spend less on their energy costs. In fact, in many cases, buyers can afford a home that would be otherwise would be out of reach. A recent study by the Environmental Protection Agency found that about 7 percent more families would qualify for home financing if the home were rated for an energy-efficient mortgage. How a home is rated Energy-efficient mortgage lenders require a home-energy rating to verify that the home meets certain minimum energy-savings standards. Home energy ratings involve an on-site inspection of a home by a residential energy efficiency professional.   Read more...

Do Fannie Mae's recent accounting misadventures suggest its appraisal policies need to be examined more closely? One analyst in the New York Times thinks so.   Read more...

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK -- As a broker, either you own your listing and the data advertising it, or you don't.   Read more...

Last week, we explained how to make sure your e-mails are compliant with the CAN SPAM Act. After verifying that they are, you may want to begin a savvy e-mail marketing plan to new prospects … but what about those customers and friends with whom you still keep in touch (and could be potential referral sources)? In a recent Jupiter Research (a Jupitermedia Corp. division) Webinar, analyst David Daniels reported that only 4 percent of marketers personalized messages. That's a small number for something that takes only a few minutes to do. And, the more you reach out to those customers with important information they can use, the better the odds are that they'll refer their friends and family to you. Here are a few ways to reach out to your prospects with a personalized message. Direct them to your website. Agent XSite users can choose from more than 60 pre-written content pages to put on their website - much of which is valuable to your customers even after they've settled into their new home. Eventually, they may want to refinance, as many Americans are doing during these dog days of low interest rates. They can figure out how much they'll save by using the refi breakeven calculator available on your XSite. You can provide information on living trusts, bi-weekly mortgages, Mello-Roos districts, how long it will take them to pay off their mortgage with the "Mortgage Payoff Calculator," tips on reducing their mortgage and Inman News. You can even create and customize your own "post-closing" pages for your customers. But more importantly for new business, your customers' friends may also be looking to buy a home and an Agent XSite can provide a wealth of information for first time homebuyers, who are often apprehensive and unacquainted with the process. Some good content pages for first time home buyers are "Mortgage Shopping," "The Home Buyer Check List," and "Nine Steps to Owning" Also, include links to tools like our rent vs. buy calculator. That "send to a friend" feature built into your XSite page will come in handy should your customer have a group of friends looking to buy. Be your customers' welcome wagon. Did your customer recently buy a home in a new city? Help them get acquainted with their new community by sending them website links to local newspapers and entertainment guides and Chambers of Commerce. And, help them get settled in their new home by providing them with contact information for local gas, telephone, electric and cable companies. News they can use. Send them articles on home improvement and decorating ideas to help them make their new home truly "theirs." Or, send them news happening in their area. You can even e-mail them articles you get in your weekly Agent e-newsletter from a la mode! The personal touch of "I read this and thought you would find it interesting" adds value, too. Tips to improve their quality of life. Send them information on area health clubs, salons, grocery stores, movie theaters and malls. For families with kids, why not send them information about area schools, daycare centers, children's sports teams, YMCAs or other types of kid-related information. It only takes a little time to maintain communication with your customers. And the results can be profitable.   Read more...

As an agent, either you own your listing and the data advertising it, or you don't.   Read more...

No, not WinTOTAL Aurora. Or Athena, or Dionysus, or Simon, or any other iteration of WinTOTAL. Don't be silly. But we find it interesting that Bradford Technologies has decided to buddy up to AVMs, despite public relations disasters that have befallen appraisal software companies before it that have done the same thing.   Read more...

Do you own your report?   Read more...

Last week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced action against 205 individuals in the takedown of the largest nationwide enforcement operation in FBI history directed at organized groups and individuals engaged in financial institution fraud, including mortgage fraud. The initiative, christened Operation Continued Action, "reflects the FBI's mission and effort to identify, target, disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations and individual operations engaged in fraud schemes that target our nation's financial institutions," said Assistant Director Chris Swecker, FBI Criminal Investigative Division.   Read more...

By now word of something called Windows XP SP2 is filtering around to computer and Internet users everywhere. We told you it was on its way in a previous e-Newsletter, including advice from Microsoft that XP SP2 be deployed by business users, especially on remote systems, as soon as practical. We also warned you about some bumps in the road you might expect and encouraged you to research further, while we did so, too.   Read more...

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Home Loans program has a new electronic appraisal delivery method instituted August 30. The new process replaces the former process of appraisals being sent directly to lenders and Regional Loan Centers (RLCs). Instead of e-mailing appraisals to the respective e-mail account for each local RLC and to each lender, under E-Appraisals, the name of the new initiative, VA fee appraisers now submit their appraisals to one centralized VA web site (direct URL: http://vip.vba.va.gov).   Read more...