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November 23
3pm ACAR Office Closes
November 24 & 25 Office Closed
November 30
9am-1pm Commission Core Class
December 8
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Did You Know? ACAR Buys Used Lock Boxes. |
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| Greetings!
Super Committee Goes Down in Flames...but Congress restores FHA Loan Limits
As the nation's leading advocate for homeownership, we applaud members of Congress for restoring FHA's previous loan limits, which will help reduce consumer cost burdens, stabilize local housing markets and allow qualified, creditworthy borrowers to access affordable mortgage financing," said NAR President Moe Veissi, broker-owner of Veissi & Associates Inc., in Miami. "The reinstated loan limits will help provide much needed liquidity and stability to communities nationwide as tight credit restrictions continue to prevent some qualified buyers from becoming home owners and the housing market recovery remains fragile."
The provision reinstates the FHA loan limits through 2013 at 125 percent of local area median home prices, up to a maximum of $729,750 in the highest cost markets. The floor will remain at $271,050.The loan limits for Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed mortgages will remain at 115 percent of local area median home prices, up to $625,500.
Read More...
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Time is Running Out to Sign up for Dues Payment Plan!
 November 30th is the last day to sign up to participate in the payment plan for the 2012 REALTORŪ Association dues. You can download the payment plan form here.
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Top Ten Turnaround Towns - Boise Made the List!
Yesterday, we shared part one of Realtor.com's Top 10 Turnaround Town Report-a group of markets showing the greatest promise for growth and price appreciation despite the national economic situation.
Though the list was dominated by six Florida markets, the Midwest and West also had a strong showing on the report. The four additional markets include Phoenix, Mesa, AZ, Boise City, ID, Fort Wayne, IN, and Ann Arbor, MI.
Why did these four metros make this list? Keep Reading
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Idaho Jobless Rates Fall
Idaho's jobless rate dropped two-tenths of a point in October. The seasonally adjusted rate was 8.8 percent, the lowest in nearly two years. It was the second consecutive month that Idaho's unemployment rate was below the nation's.
About 2,300 more Idahoans had jobs in October than in September - the second-largest one-month jump in five years, the department said.
Read More...
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Housing Affordability Hovers Near Record Levels 
Daily Real Estate News | Monday, November 21, 2011
Ultra-low interest rates mixed with stabilizing home prices continued to push housing affordability in the third quarter near its highest levels in more than two decades, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index.
For the third quarter, 72.9 percent of all homes sold were affordable to families earning the national median income of $64,200, according to the index. This marks the 11th consecutive quarter that the affordability measure was above 70 percent; prior to this it rarely was above 60 percent. Keep Reading
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Group Aims to Save Pets From Housing Crisis
Daily Real Estate News | Monday, November 21, 2011
A growing number of real estate professionals are finding pets left behind in vacant homes after families have moved on.
Pets are being increasingly left behind in homes for any number of reasons, not just in cases of foreclosure, agents say. For example, pets are sometimes found in homes when the home owner has passed away and the relatives didn't want to deal with the pet, or home owners who believe that by leaving their pets in a home they'll have saved the animal from being euthanized at a pound.
In any case, it's real estate professionals who are increasingly finding the abandoned pets when touring homes
Find out more |
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Save the Date!
2012 Circle of Excellence Banquet
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Boise Centre on the Grove
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How to Snap High Quality Photos With Your Phone
Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, November 17, 2011
You can use your phone to capture high-quality photos of your listings, and no one might ever even guess you snapped the photo from your phone too.
With the rise of "iPhoneography and "smartphonegraphy," a range of add-ons have debuted that can turn your phone's camera into a mini-professional camera. Several companies have recently released affordable smartphone attachments for phone photography, including extra lenses that allow you to zoom or capture wide-angle photos. Keep Reading |
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