The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) reported that sales of existing homes rose 3.1 percent which is very good news because they were expected to rise only 1.6 percent. This is a national statistic but the report generally showed increased sales throughout most of of the country.

Some areas of the country with low sales have started to rebound as prices have stabilized and corrected themselves. Las Vegas saw home sales increase 96 percent and Los Angeles had an increase of 31 percent.

Inventory levels in Utah and across the country are still at an all time high which is making it a great time for buyers and sellers continue to be frustrated. Buyers have been picking up homes at record rates and great prices in most markets including Utah. Sellers have been forced to drop prices and make sure that their home has the improvements and upgrades needed to make it standout in a tough market.

There are still a lot of challenges for sellers in today’s real estate market and buyers are finding financing harder to obtain than ever before. With that said, there are signs of recovery that are good for sellers and that should be a signal to buyers to act quickly to get the best deal possible!

The Utah Division of Real Estate has indicated that the revised Real Estate Purchase Contract (REPC) should be approved and released by October of this year. They have implied that the changes will be significant and require major training of Utah real estate agents. I have seen the proposed REPC and attended the public hearing on the proposed changes.

Some of the proposed changes are VERY good. Others are not horrible but in my opinion are well intentioned but misguided. They create more complications and problems that they solve. There are a few proposed changes that I oppose (like removing the warranties in section 10.2)

There will be a few months of overlap when either contract can be used. That is what happened last time and it was really confusing and difficult for a lot of agents but we managed through it.

In the end we will have to accept the final changes and rest assured, I shall master the new contract VERY quickly. I pride myself on my contract knowledge and stuggle to be tolerant of REALTORS® who don’t know it. The REPC is the most important part of any real estate transaction.

I wrote recently about Provo’s proposal to require landlords to conduct criminal background checks. Apparently Provo has changed its plan to give incentives to landlords who conduct background checks on potential renters. This is of course a much better plan than the original. I believe a smart landlord would always conduct a criminal background check on all applicants but I don’t think it should be required.

Provo City has required a license for landlords to rent in Provo for some time. I do not agree with such a requirement and I am not aware of any other city in Utah with any similar law, but that is typical for Provo.

Apparently there are some landlords who either were unaware of the oppressive license requirement, or who just chose to ignore it. Those landlords are now being excluded from the incentive option I just mentioned.

In a recent article, The Daily Herald  quoted Taylor Oldroyd, CEO of the Utah County Association of REALTORS® (UCAR), who addressed this issue:

Taylor Oldroyd, CEO of the Utah County Association of Realtors, said he’s heard from several landlords concerned about being excluded from the program. He’s asking the Municipal Council, if it approves the program in the first place, to consider reopening the window for rental dwelling license applications for those who didn’t apply for one earlier.

“My hope is that the city would consider allowing people that didn’t come in to get the RDL for whatever reason — maybe they didn’t want to, or they didn’t understand it, or they missed the deadline and now they’re just laying low,” he said. “I’m hoping that they’ll word it in a way that people will be incentivized.”

Provo City is the most difficult city government in Utah County and perhaps the state. They seem to make it their purpose to make real estate business harder and more complicated. The result is that many investors, landlords and even REALTORS® prefer to not do business in Provo. I hope that they can wake up and realize that they need to be less restrictive and help Provo’s real estate market rather than hurting it.

Just last week I wrote about an appraiser pleading guilty to fraud, relating to a scheme right here in Utah County. I have also written several times in the past about mortgage and real estate fraud problems in Utah. Well there is even more news on the fraud schemes that are plaguing our market and I think the news is good.

In two unrelated cases, two different real estate agents are finding that there are consequences for committing or being a party to mortgage/real estate fraud. Former Eagle Mountain candidate for mayor and real estate agent, Richard Culbertson has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. His wife was found guilty of related misdemeanors.

In the infamous Provo Riverbottoms fraud case, there has been another step made toward justice and closure. Ron Clarke, a prominent REALTOR® who dealt mainly in high end luxury homes, pleaded guilty to charges of fraud. He faces up to 20 years in prison but we will have to wait for sentencing to know his fate.  Clarke was set to start a trial on Monday for multiple counts but pleaded guilty on Thursday.

Fraud negatively affects all of us and is rarely limited to those who are the direct victims. In the case of the Riverbottoms scheme, while only 20+ homes were directly targeted, it caused a ripple effect on over 550 homes in the area resulting in inflated tax assessments among other things. I have also reported in the past how some Utah Mortgage Fraud has been used to fund weapons in Iran.

While we have had a lot of fraud in our area, I want to say that I firmly believe that most of the REALTORS® in our market are not knowingly involved in such schemes. There are always a few bad guys mixed in with the good in any business, that is a fact of life. However I interact with other REALTORS® on a daily basis and while I find many of them have varying degrees of knowledge, skill and experience, I have seen that the large majority are honest and well intentioned.

I continue to be pleased to see the bad guys being caught and prosecuted and I firmly believe that the real estate/mortgage industries in Utah will only continue to be stronger as a result of the State’s renewed aggression at finding and stopping fraud in our market.

I have had several people contact me in the last few weeks about their property tax assessments. All of them felt that the value being given to their homes for tax puposes was too high and they wanted my opinion on the value. They wanted to be able to fight their property taxes and get them reduced. What is ironic is that I think most people had a slight reduction compared to last year.

I believe the reason for this belief that the values were too high is the prevailing belief that values are dropping like crazy because of the current real estate market. The reality of the situation is that every single person who contacted me, was getting a deal on the tax assessment. The homes in question were worth far more than the assessed value.

We had a major jump in property values in 2006 and even then the tax assessments were lower than the actual value (with rare exception). Last year despite the major increase in tax assessment, my home was undervalued by $40,000. I found this to be the case for most people who contacted me last year.

So far all of those who have contacted me, telling me their assessed values were way too high, were actaully getting a bargain! They all had an assessed value that was $30,000-$70,000 too LOW!.

I am not suggesting that mistakes in assessment are not made. Every year there are people who are charged too much because too much value is given to their homes. This year will be no exception. Those who feel they are being assessed too much should question it. With that said, I am finding that most home owners are incorrect in their beliefs about the value of their homes.