2014 NAR REALTOR Party Convention

May 12 – 17
Washington, D.C.

FRAR members in attendance: Jimmy Townsend, James Sherrill, Swayn Hamlet, Queen Wheeler, Zan Monroe, Jane Cannon, Debbie McFayden, Angie Hedgepeth

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Congressional Actions and the 2014 Midterm Election:  Federal Legislative & Political Forum

Two political strategist in the country, David Plouffe and Steve Schmidt provided perspectives on the issues and congressional races going on in Washington, DC.

What Was Said: (David Plouffe)

  • The Latino vote is very important
  • D.C. government is loced down until next election
  • GSE reform, tax reform, transportation program will some action in the lame duck session
  • The window will be small in 2015 to pass any legislation
  • You will see immigration reform

What Was Said: (Steve Schmidt)

  • Politicians pick voters now due to redistricting
  • Demographic groups are gaining democrats
  • Demographic groups are loosing republicans
  • Currently there are not enough white people to get you elected
  • The Asian vote is not voting republican, they are one of the fastest growing groups in America
  • Short term – billionaires are buying the White House
  • Real estate tax revisions are important to the next election

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FHA: 80 Years and Counting:  Regulatory Issues Forum

Speakers:  Shaun Donovan, HUD Secretary, Washington DC
Carol Galante, FHA Commissioner, Washington DC

What Was Said: (Shaun Donovan)

  • The partnership with REALTORS® has been strong and thank you for the work you’ve done
  • The National Association of REALTORS® represents a critical chapter.  We can’t afford to spend time in the rearview mirror
  • 2013 was the best year for new home sales since 2006
  • Obtaining credit is now difficult, we have created a blue print for credit access and that is housing counseling, which means less delinquency by 30%.  This is a good decision for the health of FHA
  • The new program is called “HAWK” – Homeowners Armed With Knowledge
  • HAWK will provide (discounts of annual premiums, FHA working with lenders, quality assurance programs for lenders)
  • HAWK is a winner for everyone…an example is a $180.000 loan will save around $10,000 during the life of the loan
  • Johnson Crepo Bill – housing reform, we have to do a better job with housing finance reform

What Was Said: (Carol Galante)

  • Our work together has changed the face of homeownership
  • The average credit score for a mortgage is 752, 33 million have a score between 580 – 680
  • The new HAWK handbook is published for comments
  • What does it mean for REALTORS®? It means broader availability, lending more confidently, homebuyer education with counseling
  • HAWK is a 4 year pilot program that is robust with real savings
  • 20 – 30% percent will take advantage of this program
  • We are receiving feedback during the next 30 – 45 days

Sidebar:  The following link below will take you to the HAWK porthole.

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=BlueprintAcess5_9_2014.pdf

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Heard on the Hill…..

Senator Richard Burr

“The average middle class income has dropped by $3,500”
“The highest poverty rate is with women”
“People with money are having no problems”
“GSE – not there yet…needs reform”
“The average American is struggling”

 

 

Cumberland County Commissioners May 19

The following rezonings were approved:

Acres: 10.26 from agricultural to residential
Location:  north side of SR 2245 (Thrower Road) and west of NC HWY 87

Acres:  20.85 from agricultural to residential
Location: both sides of SR 2233 (School Road) and southwest of NC HWY 87

Acres: .82 from residential to planned commercial
Location: northwest side of SR 2337 (Wilmington Hwy) and northeast side of SR 2266 (Manley Street)

Acres: .19 from rural residential to agricultural
Location: south of Running Fox Road and west of Carriage Crossing Road

Acres: .38 from planned local business to planned service and retail
Location: 3701 and 3713 Cumberland road

Contested rezoning case:

Acres: 20 from rural residential to residential
Location: northwest side of SR 1115 (Black Bridge Road) and southeast of Home Stakes Drive.
Developer: Watson Caviness
Lots: under R7.5 – 116 possible lots
Joint Planning Commission and staff recommend approval based on the 2030 Growth Vision Plan
Motion: PASSED (voting in opposition was councilman King)

What Was Said:

Nikki Torez (resident) – ” I work in the real estate community and I know the effects of what this is gonna do.  I love the stability of the neighborhood and the school system.  I’ve seen in 6 years my child’s classroom going from 18-19 to 24-25 students.  It takes you 20-30 minutes to get your child 2 miles up the road.  Adding more houses without any disrespect to Caviness..building more homes, that’s killing our property values.  We have 7 foreclosures in our area.  Sellers can’t sell their homes because their putting new houses on top of us.”

Other Business:

The Commission unanamoudly voted to demolition the following mobile homes near Shaw Road.  Shaw Heights mobile home park is surrounded on every side by the city.

1326 Davis Street (6 mobile homes)
1327 Davis Street  (1 mobile home)
5756 Peele Street (4 mobile homes)
5733 Peele Street (4 mobile homes)

 

Fayetteville City Council Update – April & May

 

Fayetteville City Council Meetings Update:

New Rezonings that were approved by Council:

  • Rezoning of property from single family/residential/neighborhood commercial to mixed residential.  The property is located at 8363 Cliffdale Road and is owned by Ethel Pate.  The site plan calls for a 96-unit housing complex.
  • Special Use permit approved on property zoned light industrial district for industrial use within 500 feet of a residential zoning.  The property is located at 914 North Street and is owned by DRA LLC.  The owners intent on this property is to build a cement distribution center.  A rail yard will need to be constructed for material to loaded and unloaded.  The property abuts residential property by 250 feet.
  • Rezoning of property from agricultural residential to mixed residential conditional.  The 6 acres of property is located at 2454 Gillis Hill Road and is owned by Janet and Jesse Kimball.  The developer (United Developer) will construct a 56 unit apartment complex.  Accessibility will be on Gillis Hill Road.  Two hundred residents from the gated subdivision of Lancaster signed a petition against the proposed development. Voting in opposition were councilmembers Bill Crisp and Ted Mohn.

Bill Owens (employee of United Developers) – “There has been a lot of development out there…but hasn’t been any affordable housing development.”

Faye Lockamy (resident) – “The traffic is terrible now, they need to do something about the roads before they approve anything like that.”

The following item was discussed at the May work session.

  • The council considered water options for the Bullard Circle neighborhood due to high arsenic levels found in their wells.  At the end of discussions, the council voted for option 2 in their city memo.  Voting in opposition were councilmembers Mitch Colvin, Chalmers McDougald, Jim Arp & Mayor Pro-Tem Kady Ann Davy.  Councilman Larry Wright was absent from the meeting.

Option 2 – Pursuant to Policy 150.2, set a date to consider exempting the Bullard Circle property owners from the requirement for annexation prior to receiving services.

Sidebar – Cumberland County suggestion was option 2.  Option 2, according to the county would be the most expedient way to provide water services.

What’s Next: The Council will take a formal vote on this item later this month.

What Was Said:

Ted Voorhees (City Manager) – “Annexation creates thoughts and memories of annexations carried out against your will.  This is within the MIA and an area that should be annexed.  I think we have a compelling story to be in the city.  Join the team and get the team discount or don’t join and the residents and county pay for it.”

Councilman Mohn – “The county and PWC should negotiate, there is no advantage to annex.”

Mayor Robertson – “What is the cost?”

Steve Blanchard (CEO PWC) – “$475,000.”

Robertson – “How much will the city absorb?”

Blanchard – “Up to 25% of main cost, PWC pays 25% and county is assessed 75%.”

Councilman Crisp – “There is no gain in annexing.  Everyone desearves God’s water.  Nothing is black and white.  They belong to the county.  Let the county deal with this.”

Councilwoman Jensen – “I’ve spoken with them and they really don’t care if they get water.  They’ve been living with it this long.  They do not want to be annexed.”

 

Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit with Governor Pat McCrory

Methodist College 2nd Annual Spring Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit
April 29, 2016

Background on the Summit:  The summit seeks to aid the Center for Entrepreneurship’s mission to create wealth producers and job creators.  The inaugural Spring Entrepreneurial Leadership Summit took place in 2013, replacing the CFE’s annual Spring Stock Market Symposium.

Keynote Speaker: Governor Pat McCrory

2014  award recipients:

American Business Ethics Award
Bobby Hurst – Hurst Annaho Supply

Silver Spoon Award
Keith Allison – Systel

Outstanding Woman Entrepreneu of the Year
Shelley Shamdasani Bhatia – Ultimate Storage

Small Business Excellence Award
W. Scott Weathington – Agri-Technologies

The following is a portion of the question and answer session with the governor.  To listen to the complete recording please contact the Association office.

Q – Tell us about your first month’s in office

It was an entrepreneurial experience.  I was a turn around Governor.  Unemployment was the fifth highest in the nation.  Businesses owed the federal government 2.5 billion dollars in  unemployment debt.  We borrowed all this money and didn’t know how to pay it back and then I found out that we had a 535 million dollar missed forecast with Medicaid spending..  I had to evaluate what is the current state and you surround yourself with people that are smarter than you.  Ive got brave people around me.

Q – In your opinion what has your administration done to promote entrepreneurship?

Current state of affairs that we resolved was that entrepreneurs were not flocking to North Carolina.  Corporations are coming to NC but entrepreneurs  have not been attracted to NC the way they should be and  there are two things hurting us.

1)  One thing is our coporate tax rate and our personal income tax rate were the highest in the southeast.  We were not competitive with our neighbors from South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
2) The second thing that I think is our biggest challenge is not converting enough of our federal grants for research at our major universities into commercialized patents….as other schools are doing in Texas, California and the Boston area.  That’s a major thing we are working on right now.
3) The third thing we are doing is that we have to attract more venture capital to NC and what we are finding out is 20 to 30 year olds who want to do business and even 50 to 60 year olds, many who are retired veterans by the way are natural entrepreneurs and actually have a base of money to start from.  They need to find more money and we need more mechanisms for them to have start up money and even from fifty to hundred thousand dollars…they are having difficulty finding that money.  We’ve got to find more venture capital money and maybe even revisit our tax system.

Q – What sectors do you believe will be leading the top growth in North Carolina?

I’m going to surprise some people and some of the older sectors have some of the greatest chance in the recovery to help North Carolina.  I think there are sectors that NC kinda gave up on because they aren’t sexy….but of these sectors one is manufacturing.  Manufacturing has seen an economic revival in NC and the nation.  Part of this is China and the cost of labor is going up and their products are going up and thus logistically the cost of getting those products close to the customer.  Technology is not relying on such a volume of labor in manufactoring but more skilled people who can work that job and that is what is attracting manufacturing closer and we are seeing a great renaisance and that is one reason we are changing our tax system and don’t punish that productivity.  The second interesting sector is agriculture.  I think there is great opportunity.  I’ve become an ag..suedo expert and I’m impressed with agriculture.  Right now agriculture is also coming back.  The average age of a farmer is 57 years of age.  There are a lot of farmers making a lot of money right now.  We also see a great connect with the biotech industry.   Those are two of the older industries but are two of the more high tech industries.

Q – Where do you see the role the state can play with veterans looking into positions or taking over companies?

It’s not just taking over companies, there is different levels that we are looking at.  First of all the biggest weakness our country has is mechanical/electrical jobs.  I’m going to step on some toes here.  The only successful track is not just a great four year college degree.  There is a limit to a four year college degree that the market place can sustain and there is a lot of competition.  I’m saying that with all do respect to Methodist.  There is a great need for technicians…mechanic, electrical, industrial, medical and the list goes on and on.  If we do not have that labor force in NC than we are going to have a tough time recruiting industry.  We are working with your commander here.  Sharon Decker is setting up a computer system which could tie in qualifications and skills of those soldiers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq and putting them through a network so the private sector can see these returning veterans coming in.

 

 

 

National Flood Insurance Rules Begin May 1

The following information is from the National Association of REALTORS®

 

Effective May 1, 2014, all buyers of older properties (“pre-FIRM”) will see a premium rate reduction under the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014. 

Instead of jumping to “full cost” for flood insurance, buyers will assume the seller’s Oct-2013 rate for a pre-FIRM property.

 

NAR prevailed upon FEMA to implement this provision seven months early.  FEMA also extended the rate relief so all pre-FIRM properties

(including the second homes and businesses) will begin paying Oct-2013 rates when they purchase or renew their flood insurance after May 1, including:

  • ALL buyers of a pre-FIRM property, not just those whose seller has an existing policy;
  • ALL recent owners who apply for a new flood insurance policy on a pre-FIRM property;
  • ALL recent owners who reinstate an old pre-FIRM policy that previously lapsed for any reason;
  • ALL recent owners who renew a policy on a pre-FIRM property bought or newly insured after the 2012 Biggert-Waters law.

 

While expediting the rate relief, FEMA must still issue refunds to all those who paid more than their Oct-2013 rate. 

NAR will continue working with FEMA and Congress to quickly issue these refunds to anyone overcharged for flood insurance under Biggert-Waters.

 

NAR Flood Insurance Resources on the Web

NAR Flood Insurance Webpage:

http://www.realtor.org/topics/national-flood-insurance-program-nfip

 

FEMA Bulletin W-14014 (dated April 15th): http://www.ksefocus.com/billdatabase/clientfiles/172/4/2003.pdf

 

FEMA Bulletin W-14016 (dated April 24th): http://www.ksefocus.com/billdatabase/clientfiles/172/4/2021.pdf

 

NAR Implementation Survey: https://survey.vovici.com/se.ashx?s=2D55F0781086FB83

 

NAR Frequently Asked Flood Insurance Questions:

http://www.realtor.org/topics/national-flood-insurance-program-nfip/homeowner-flood-insurance-affordability-act

 

NAR Legal Guidance on what to tell clients: http://www.ksefocus.com/billdatabase/clientfiles/172/4/1816.pdf

For Further Information Please Contact:

John DiBiase

Communications Director

Government Affairs

National Association of REALTORS®

jdibiase@realtors.org

Fayetteville City Council Meeting April 14

Red-Light Camera Program – The council passed a resolution that requests that the Fayetteville Cumberland County state legislative delegation support a local bill that revised the City’s current authorization to operate a traffic control photographic system.  Proceeds from the program will benefit the Cumberland County school districts.

Details:

Contractor will install, operate, maintain and administer the red-light program

The maximum civil citation amount will be set at $100.00

What’s Next:

The resolution will now move to the NC delegation in hopes that the delegation will approve the request during the 2014 state short session starting in May.

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The council passed the following rezoning.

The rezoning of property from SF-10/SF-6 single family residential to CC/CZ community commercial conditional zoning.  The property is located 600 Cordial Loop and is owned by Don Wellons.  Leisure Living trailer is currently located on this property and is located at the intersection of Skibo and Cliffdale Roads.

Proposed Plan:

The developer wishes to construct a mix of retail buildings, grocery store and restaurants.  A new multi-lane parkway will be constructed at the intersection of Skibo and Cliffdale Roads.

You can view the developers site plan following the link below.

wellons property