Save A Life Today!

Watch and answer the questions with your mouse as you view the video.
WRONG answer and man dies!

We have all walked by the Red Cross sign in airports indicating where a
heart machine is located.  Do you know what is in them and how to use it?  I did not.
Try this video and see what you think.

If you pick the wrong choice----the man dies----choose wisely
May save a life.  I just watched this video and was impressed, so I'm
sending it to those on my mailing list with the hope that it'll save lives
(maybe mine, yours or someone you love!).

http://www.heartrescuenow.com/

Important Info about 2013!!!

While 2013 will still have a restricted listing inventory, you will see the market continue its momentum. The more news articles printed about the stabilized housing market and articles showing people that prices are now increasing (as they are nationally) the more demand you will see. Every listing you can obtain is so critical. Every listing should lead to another listing. Every listing in any market is going to sell for more than the most recent comps. Sometimes, way more. If you take your listing for enough time, there is almost no such thing as overpricing it. Be aggressive on price. If it sells the first day, you underpriced it. The fastest way for us as a firm to get more listings for you to sell if for YOU to get us an appointment with another agent. It will sure bring in listings you can sell and it just might give you the keys to a beautiful new Mercedes Benz E350!!!! Have an awesome and safe New Years Eve and your best professional year ever in 2013!     Rich Cosner

New Orange County and Inland Empire November 2012 Rankings

Click HERE to download the complete Orange County November 2012 Agent Rankings

Click HERE to download the complete Inland Empire November 2012 Agent Rankings

Understanding the FHA Pre-Foreclosure Short Sale Process

By Zoe Eisenberg, RisMedia.com

All short sales are not alike—especially when an FHA-insured mortgage is involved. FHA short sales must advance through a very exact and systemized process. Here’s what you need to know:

Before a Short Sale Can Be Initiated
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that the homeowner be reviewed for all home retention options (modification) before a short sale is pursued. This 30- to 90-day process seeks to determine whether a legitimate hardship exists and if a short sale is appropriate. The review also will certify that the home has not been rented for more than 18 months and is being maintained, that there is a marketable title and that the property has only one FHA-insured loan.
A listing agreement or offer is not required in order to be approved. Once the homeowner is approved to short sell their home, foreclosure is put on hold and the homeowner receives an Approval to Participate (ATP) letter. Bank of America does not begin negotiating the purchase contract until after the homeowner is approved to participate and has returned a signed “wet ink” copy of the ATP within seven days of the date of issuance. If the ATP is not returned within seven days, the agreement will be canceled.


Homeowner Involvement
FHA short sales must be initiated by the homeowner, not an agent. At Bank of America, homeowners are asked to contact their assigned Customer Relationship Manager (CRM). If no CRM is assigned, they should call 1.800.669.6650. Homeowners are also required to actively participate in the short sale process, including returning documents within the required time frames and maintaining contact with the mortgage servicer.


Agent Involvement
The seller’s agent needs to work with the homeowner to make sure the following items are organized and completed once the ATP has been executed and returned to Bank of America. First, thoroughly review the Welcome Package with the homeowner. Then, begin gathering the documents necessary for the process, being sure they are signed and dated where necessary. Those include:
- Pay stubs (dates, amounts, names, institutions)
- Hardship letter
- Marketable title
- Bank statements (all pages, accounts and borrowers)
- Occupancy certificate
Next, schedule a home appraisal with the homeowner (if the property is occupied) and the assigned appraiser. It is the agent’s responsibility to coordinate the appraiser’s access to the property and to inform the short sale specialist of any appraisal issues. The appraisal determines the listing price and allows you to execute a listing agreement. Provide the short sale specialist with the listing agreement, proof that the utilities are on and a current Multiple Listing Service (MLS) sheet. You must provide the short sale specialist with a MLS sheet every 30 days until the property is sold.
Take time to educate yourself by viewing the FHA Pre-Foreclosure Sales webinar replay when you visit bankofamerica.com/shortsaleagent and search the Short Sale Process section under Education and Resources. You will also find frequently asked questions, a convenient quick reference guide and helpful tips specifically about the FHA Pre-Foreclosure process.

For more information, visit www.bankofamerica.com.
Source: http://rismedia.com/2012-12-10/understanding-the-fha-pre-foreclosure-short-sale-process/

THE END OF SMARTPHONES: Here's A Computer Screen On A Contact Lens

by Nicholas Carlson, www.businessinsider.com

Over in Belgium, scientists have finally taken a crucial step toward building screens into contact lenses. Jelle De Smet and a team of researchers at Ghent University built an LCD screen in a curved contact lens.

To do it, they had to come up with new kinds of "conductive polymers" – and mold them into "a very thin, spherically-curved substrate [surface] with active layers." The Ghent contact lense is a primitive prototype of what's to come.

All the Ghent lense does is flash a dollar sign – a joke about what happens to the eyes of cartoon characters when they think of a money-making scheme.

Ghent researchers imagine that in the near future, lenses like they one they've built will be able to change the color of the wearer's eye, work as sunglasses, or serve a medical purpose like protecting a damaged iris from bright light.

Farther out in time, De Smet and his team believe the lenses could function as a head-up display, "superimposing an image onto the user’s normal view."  Eventually this kind of screen-on-the-eye technology could displace the smartphone as as the dominant way people access the Internet and connect to each other.

Computers have been getting smaller and closer to our eyeballs since their beginning. First they took up whole rooms. Then they moved to desks. Then they were in our laps. Now, they're in our palms.
Why would they stop there? They won't.Google, Microsoft, and Apple are currently developing computer screens that can be built into a pair of glasses.


You can already buy a pair from Google and have it early next year.  Just as there are millions of smartphone apps now, you can imagine millions of applications for a computer as close to our brains as a contact lens …

… on the road, providing turn-by-turn directions with unobtrusive coloration.
… stats hovering over the quarterback at a football game.
… virtual name tags affixed to everyone's shirt at a business networking event.
… lyrics floating above the stage at a concert.
… subtitles to a live conversation with the foreigner in front of you.
… voice-powered, hands free Google search and note-taking that expands your memory and information recall.
… new, immersive games, visual art, and narrative art that goes far beyond what 2D screens can offer.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/this-screen-that-fits-on-your-eye-foretells-the-end-of-the-smartphone-era-2012-12#ixzz2F2yrd3fl

DRE..HUD...IRS..form "Task Force" to root out "kick back" schemes

If you are even remotely involved with fee splitting /referral fees …….the government has you in its sights.

The Federal “SAFE Act” of 2010 empowered HUD and state regulatory agencies with both the mandate and the means to wipe out “fee splitting” (i.e. referral fees /kickbacks) between mortgage loan originators (MLO) and real estate licensees.

Beginning for tax year 2011, Federal and State agencies and local authorities will be sharing information on compliance audits of licensees …..when those audits reveal payment of compensation to any unlicensed individuals.

Audits can be initiated and data now can be shared between by a host of government agencies including:

IRS

State Franchise Tax Board

 HUD

 Ca. Dept of Corp California

 D.R.E.

Some audits may warrant criminal prosecution from state and local prosecutors.

The following is a typical example of how violators are detected:

MLO Smith agrees to pay a referral fee to Real Estate Broker Jones for buyer referrals. Upon “close of escrow” MLO Smith issues a check (or any form of compensation) to RE Broker Jones…and at a later date attempts to “write off” that compensation as a legitimate business expense on both Federal and State tax returns.

After all, is the MLO really going to split a commission while taking the entire “hit” on the taxes?


Later, during an audit...investigators demands MLO Smith provide a SAFE Act licensing number for the recipient of the paid compensation. (It’s just this simple.) “No Safe Act license number” you say….Congratulations!! You hit the “trifecta” of prosecution.

You just lost your professional license, your bank account and probably your freedom.And so will the recipient (i.e. RE Broker Jones) of the compensation.

Violators’ are subject to (up to) 1 year in federal prison and (up to) a $10,000 fine for each violation.

In all probability both co-conspirators will be “marked” for review of future tax returns audits as well.

Don't Follow Your Passion, Follow Your Effort

by Mark Cuban
 

I hear it all the time from people. "I'm passionate about it." "I'm not going to quit. It's my passion." Or I hear it as advice to students and others "Follow your passion".

What a bunch of malarkey. "Follow Your Passion" is easily the worst advice you could ever give or get.

Why? Because everyone is passionate about something. Usually more than 1 thing. We are born with it. There are always going to be things we love to do. That we dream about doing. That we really, really want to do with our lives. Those passions aren't worth a nickel.

Think about all the things you have been passionate about in your life. Think about all those passions that you considered making a career out of or building a company around. How many were/are there? Why did you bounce from one to another? Why were you not able to make a career or business out of any of those passions? Or if you have been able to have some success, what was the key to the success? Was it the passion or the effort you put in to your job or company?

If you really want to know where you destiny lies, look at where you apply your time.

Time is the most valuable asset you don't own. You may or may not realize it yet, but how you use or don't use your time is going to be the best indication of where your future is going to take you.

Let me make this as clear as possible

1. When you work hard at something you become good at it.

2. When you become good at doing something, you will enjoy it more.

3. When you enjoy doing something, there is a very good chance you will become passionate or more passionate about it

4. When you are good at something, passionate and work even harder to excel and be the best at it, good things happen.

Don't follow your passions, follow your effort. It will lead you to your passions and to success, however you define it.

Friday Feature: Ruben Hernandez

             
           With more than a decade of experience in the real estate industry, Prudential California Realty’s Ruben Hernandez and the EGA (Eagle, Globe, And Anchor) Team have consistently performed in the Top 1% in the business.  “It is amazing to see how an agent can take the best practices of their previous work experience and implement them into their daily routine as a Realtor and have fantastic results,” said Inland Empire Regional Manager James Monks.  “Ruben’s military experience has made him and his team one of the most efficient business models in the region.  He definitely leads by example…getting to the office early and always keeping a positive attitude.  He is a great example of just how much a daily dose of discipline can help our industry.”
              With an MBA from University California, Riverside, Ruben has an extensive business and military background before joining Prudential in 2003. His team works with clients not only in the Riverside area, but expanding to Orange, Los Angeles and San Diego counties and Ruben has positioned himself as a solid resource for Veteran buyers and sellers.
                The EGA team’s focus is on maintaining their position as a leading residential and commercial real estate operation.  How do Ruben and the EGA Team help meet the needs of clients? By developing key business and technology strategies for every client and taking a consultative approach to business. This includes honing in on the specific needs of the client rather than pushing an agenda.  “Once I understand the client’s needs, I tailor a specific response that meets and hopefully exceeds their expectations,” said Ruben.   “My goal is to impress the client to the point where they become ambassadors and promote me as a trusted, reliable and credible resource.”  His business also includes developing strong relationships with clients.  This approach has resulted in greater than 90% referral and retention rates.
           Ruben and Jennifer have lived in the Riverside area since 2003. When they are not working, they are involved with a number school and community events in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is a philosophy that was instilled in Ruben as a Marine that he carried over to his business. Ruben adds, “It's important to give back to the community and get involved not only from a Goodwill perspective but also to help bridge the gap between the needs of the community and the resources that the business community can provide in order to enhance the quality of life and build long-lasting relationships. EGA will continue to bridge that gap and do all It can to help others."