Land of the Sky Association of Realtors

This course is designed as a practical guide that will cover all facets of the law of agency. It will cover the history of agency law and common law and give an overview of the development of the agency arrangement throughout the years. The course will explain the key elements of fiduciary responsibility, as well as the consequences for failing to carry out those responsibilities. Participants will discuss the different ways an agency relationship may be formed and terminated. This course will go on to discuss the benefits and responsibilities surrounding a buyer’s agency relationship and will detail the various buyer relationships that exist. Finally, participants will be given a brief overview of the current trends within the real estate market today.

Many real estate agents do not feel comfortable working with investor clients. There are specific skillsets, terminology, and experience required to give these types of clients the reasonable skill and care that is to be expected of a real estate agent. This course is designed to guide students through the process of evaluating an investment property. Students will be filling out worksheets along with the instructor as he guides them through a case study that involves assisting an investor who is interested in purchasing an investment property.

This course is designed to give students a working knowledge of how to analyze a client’s investment property, determine a property’s return on equity and how to move that equity to increase rate of return.

There are mortgage programs for nearly every borrower and lenders who specialize in providing those loans. This course describes the current standard loan called a traditional mortgage and then discusses the various nontraditional loan products and alternative (creative) financing that are available to borrowers. Many borrowers will qualify for and obtain a conventional mortgage to close the transaction. However, some borrowers and even the type of property may not qualify for traditional financing.

This course provides a review of traditional mortgages, discusses nontraditional conventional, FHA, and VA mortgages, and describes various types of alternative financing products. The Freddie Mac Home Possible and Fannie Mae HomeReady mortgage products are explained. The North Carolina affordable and workforce housing programs are covered, and the programs offered in Raleigh and Charlotte are introduced. Because state agencies and municipalities often finance their programs with bonds, there is a discussion of how bonds are used to finance real estate.

It is intended to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of real estate licensees and is approved for 4 hours of continuing education.

This course is designed to show you how to complete a quality broker price opinion report. We’ll begin by comparing BPOs to appraisals and explain why the BPO has become a favored report in recent years for lenders. This course covers the entire BPO process including how to get registered, the different types of BPOs, the requirements of each and how to complete a BPO form. Proper inspections and data gathering are critical aspects of the BPO. We’ll show you how and where to find this information. Finally, as with all appraisers and agents, there are safety considerations to keep in mind when going to a property. We’ll review precautions you can take to stay safe in the field.

Real estate tax laws have changed significantly over the last few decades, and even though the current tax laws and exemptions have been in place for some time, many real estate agents do not fully understand them. This course takes a deep dive into the passive loss rules and explains them in simple terms, so that real estate agents can help their clients take full advantage of every benefit the law provides. 

Upon completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Recall the four possible financial benefits of an investment property.
• Recall the three pieces of information needed to determine a property’s potential investment value.
• Calculate cash flow, principal reduction, and income tax savings using the Investment Property Worksheet.
• Correlate different cost categories to the number of years the IRS allows for investment property depreciation.
• Calculate the actual dollar amount of first-year depreciation using the depreciation percentages provided by the IRS.
• Calculate the four financial benefits using the Investment Property Worksheet.
• Describe the purpose of the Passive Loss Rules.
• Explain how the Passive Loss Rules can impact taxable income related to investment properties.
• Calculate the depreciation amount gained by bifurcating.
• Calculate the depreciation amount and the resulting tax savings on land, the building, land improvements, and personal property.
• Explain the impact of depreciation for a buyer or seller of an investment property.
• Describe different methods used to value investment real estate, including the advantages and disadvantages of each method.
• Explain how to calculate capitalization rate.
• Describe why and how the “Float and Desire” method is used to arrive at the investment value of a property.
• Identify the purchase price that allows an investor to realize a desired return using the “Float and Desire” Worksheet.

COURSE INSTRUCTOR: Tom Lundstedt

Tom Lundstedt is known as the funniest investment and tax guy in America. His programs have entertained and enlightened more than 3,000 audiences from sea to shining sea. He's a former Major League baseball player whose striking combination of humor and real-world examples makes his subjects spring to life.

This course is a must for anyone interested in learning how to work more effectively with real estate investors. The focus is exclusively on how to buy, own and sell commercial-investment real estate for maximum profit. You’ll work with real-world case studies on easy-to-use worksheets. Whether you’re an investment rookie or a seasoned pro, you’ll profit from this lively and information-packed program.

Whenever buyers need a mortgage to buy a home, they’ve probably been told that they need an appraisal. This is an inevitable part of buying a home for anyone who needs a mortgage and, like it or not, it can make or break the transaction.

Because appraisals are a crucial part of the transaction, real estate agents should understand the appraisal process. Even though you may prepare a competitive market analysis (CMA) for your clients, CMAs are not as detailed, nor do they serve the same purpose as an appraisal. A home appraisal is an unbiased determination of the fair market value of the home by a professionally-trained third party. 

This course provides a review of the sales comparison, cost, and income approaches in appraising real estate. 

This course provides continuing education hours for licensed real estate licensees. It is intended to enhance the knowledge and effectiveness of licensees and is approved for 4 hours of continuing education.