Keller Williams Realty Upgrading Associates to Google Apps for Business

 Provided By: KW.Com

AUSTIN, TEXAS (July 1, 2013) — Keller Williams Realty, the largest real estate franchise company in the
United States, announced today that it is adopting Google Apps for Business. The move includes transitioning
associates’ email and calendar systems to Google Apps, which will provide enhanced mobile access, increased
storage, and collaborative tools for teams.
“Consistent with Keller Williams Realty’s agent-centric philosophy, we’re excited to be able to provide our
associates with the powerful productivity and collaboration tools that comprise Google Apps for Business,” said
Executive Director of Digital Innovations Cary Sylvester. “We’re proud to be able to give our associates yet
another set of tools to enhance their businesses at no additional cost to them. Using Google’s familiar, intuitive
tools will simplify day-to-day work so associates can focus on the dollar-producing activities that lead to big
results.”
With Google Apps for Business, every Keller Williams Realty associate will be able to take advantage of:
 Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Calendar and more
 Access from any internet-connected device—including laptops, smartphones and tablets.
 Thirty GB of online storage.
 New communication and collaboration tools that allow them to connect instantly with Keller Williams
associates or any other contact through text, voice or video chat.
 Integrated training and support from the Keller Williams support teams.
“We are committed to putting our people and their best interests at the center of every decision we make,” CEO
Mark Willis said. “By providing leading-edge technology and training, we are helping all of our associates to
build great businesses and provide extraordinary service to their clients.”

About Keller Williams Realty, Inc.:
Keller Williams Realty Inc. is the largest real estate franchise company in the United States, with approximately
700 offices and 86,000 associates around the world. The company has grown exponentially since the opening
of the first Keller Williams Realty office in 1983, and continues to cultivate an agent-centric, education-based,
technology-driven culture that rewards associates as stakeholders. The company also provides specialized
agents in luxury homes and commercial real estate properties. For more information or to search for homes for
sale visit Keller Williams Realty online at (www.kw.com)  

Things not to do before closing escrow

You're about to buy a home, and are now "in escrow," the homestretch of the home-sale process. During this period, you as the buyer will provide the needed funds for the home (most likely from your lender and with your down payment), the owner will transfer ownership of the property and the sale will be finalized.

Which means that if everything goes right -- all contingencies are met, both the seller and the buyer meet their contractual obligations and your financing to purchase the home is in place -- the home you have been aiming to buy will soon be yours.

But even though closing day is just around the corner, you're not out of the woods yet. There are several missteps a home buyer can take that will put getting a loan, and finalizing the transaction, at risk. Read on to avoid these goofs:

1. Leaving town or falling off the planet

   Going on vacation or becoming hard to reach while in escrow is not a good idea, especially if your lender needs to get in touch with you to process your loan. Any glitches in that process can push back the closing date for your home. For the same reason, it's not a good idea to change your cell-phone number right now. It's best that you keep in touch with all necessary people while you are working to close on the property.

2. Changing jobs

   When you're looking to close escrow and take possession of a home, you don't want to make your lender uneasy. Changing jobs (or going solo/self-employed) during this time period could certainly make a lender queasy and lead that lender to question whether you'll be able to afford that home. Lenders prefer a steady and consistent job history. If you make a job switch just before closing on a home, it could put everything on hold while your lender re-evaluates your financial position.

3. Being a big spender

   You're about to get a new house, so why not whip out your credit cards and buy a new washer/dryer, dishwasher and refrigerator...or maybe, take out a loan for a new car for your new driveway?
   Because these big purchases (and taking on more debt) will throw off what's called your "debt to income ratio" (which measures how much of your monthly income goes toward debt obligations), a ratio lenders consider when evaluating a loan application. You don't want to end up buying items for a home you don't have -- one that you lost because you nixed your chances of securing that mortgage before it went through.
   You might even run into trouble if you pay for these items with cash -- lenders look at how much cash reserves you have when approving a mortgage. And don't think you're off the hook if you lease a car instead of purchasing one -- leasing a new car at this time could jeopardize your standing with your lender as well.
   Instead, try to keep the balances on your credit cards low and don't take on new debt (this includes co-signing on a loan) until after you close on your home.

4. Paying bills late

   If you're about to close on your home, stay current on your bills -- you don't want to wreck your credit score just before your loan goes through. Any changes to your credit status could affect the likelihood of closing on your new home, so you want to keep your credit good -- at least until you close on your home.

5. Opening/closing new credit card accounts

   Opening up new credit cards or closing old ones just before closing on your new home could negatively affect your credit status, so again, wait until making such moves until your mortgage is secure.

6. Moving big amounts of money

   Before that home is definitely yours, don't transfer large amounts into your checking or savings accounts -- check with your mortgage company before doing so. If they see large amounts of money moving around, they may wonder why and raise the red flag. (E.g., they may think you've secured another loan and have more debt obligations than you did when initially applying for the loan.) Again, you don't want anything to delay or hold up your closing.

Housing is going to lead the recovery. Not so fast, some experts say

Provided By: NBC NEWS.COM

Housing is going to propel the economic recovery, or so many experts have said. Some of them are warning, however, that the enthusiasm should be curbed despite all the upbeat data recently.

Robert Shiller, Karl Case and David Blitzer -- leading experts in the housing market -- believe several headwinds will keep a lid on housing gains, such as a low level of new home starts, an unexpectedly slow migration of so-called shadow inventory onto the market, and difficulty for buyers to secure financing.

"You've got a lot of breathless commentary in the media," Yale University economist Shiller said. He later added, "All this talk that we're in this great recovery—we probably are in the short run, the longer run doesn't look so terrific to me."

Those who keep close track of the ins and outs of the housing market know the names of Case and Shiller for the monthly home price index they release along with Standard & Poor's. Their most recent report showed a 9.3 percent price gain.

Blitzer is managing director of S&P's Index Committee and helps analyze the data as it comes through.

They spoke this week at a roundtable discussion with select media regarding their views of the housing market. Many Wall Street economists have cited the industry as the linchpin for economic recovery expectations.

Their reason? Indicators such as existing home sales, which have hit a three-year high and are up 9.7 percent over the past year.

And on Thursday, the Commerce Department showed sales of new homes rose in April to the second highest level since the summer of 2008 while the median price for a new home hit a record high. New home sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 454,000 in April, up 2.3 percent from March and just below January's 458,000. Both January and April had the fastest sales rates since July 2008.

The median price of a home sold in April was $271,600, the highest level on government records going back to 1993. The April price was 8.3 percent higher than in March and 13.1 percent higher than a year ago, the figures showed.

Thousands of borrowers to get mortgage payments reduced

Provided By:money CNN

Starting this week, hundreds of thousands of struggling borrowers could be in for a pleasant surprise: a quick and easy way to get their mortgage payments back on track -- and save considerable money.

Through a new effort called the Streamlined Modification Initiative, borrowers withmortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac who are at least 90 days behind on payments will start receiving offers from lenders to lower their mortgage payments.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which oversees Fannie and Freddie, won't say how many delinquent homeowners will receive the modifications, but the Mortgage Bankers Association reported in May that about 1.1 million borrowers are behind on their loans by three payments or more. Not all of those mortgage holders have Fannie or Freddie loans, however.

 

Related: How smart are you about mortgages?

FHFA claims to have helped 2.7 million borrowers keep their homes through its other foreclosure prevention efforts, such as the Home Affordable Modification Program which was launched in March, 2009.

Unlike those previous efforts, however, the Streamlined Modification Initiative won't require borrowers to file any financial paperwork. Instead, they just need to make the new payments for a trial period of three months and then the modification becomes permanent.

 

Home recovery spurs renovation boom

FHFA said the extensive paperwork and procedures that other foreclosure prevention initiatives require has been a major obstacle in getting people the help they need. Paperwork gets lost, borrowers are asked to provide documents over and over again, and evaluating a borrower's eligibility can be time consuming.

"This is a no-brainer and should have been done years ago," said David Berenbaum, who coordinates fair housing and fair lending compliance initiatives for the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, a non-profit focused on fighting foreclosures.

Related: 5 best markets to buy a home

Lenders will lower a borrower's monthly payments by either extending the term of the loan -- usually from 30 to 40 years -- and reducing the interest rate. The new program falls short of reducing the principal on the loan, a move FHFA acting director Edward DeMarco hasconsistently blocked.

Nevertheless, the changes could mean big savings for anyone with a high-rate loan who was unable to refinance to the historically low rates of the past couple of years.

Modifying a 30-year, $200,000 loan with a 5.5% rate to a 40-year term with a 4% rate will reduce the monthly payment to $835 from $1,135 -- a $300 difference.

Related: Bad at math? You're more likely to lose your home

The loans must be at least 12 months old, borrowers can't be more than 24 months behind on payments and their principal balances must be 80% or more of the value of their homes. The new program is scheduled to last through December 2015.