The Inland Valleys Association of REALTORS®, Inc. (IVAR) is a non-profit mutual benefit corporation. The Association has 119 affiliates.
In its current composition, it is the result of a number of mergers between Associations in the region. The geographical area of the Association is broad, and the population served is ethnically and financially diverse. Included within the boundaries of the Association are two counties and nineteen cities. The Association's membership, including MLS participants, exceeds 6,000 members doing busine
06/05/2015
REAL ESTATE: Prosecutor confirms investigation of contractor behavior with HERO program Business: REAL ESTATE: Prosecutor confirms investigation of contractor behavior with HERO program | program, hero, ramirez, property, first, attorney, wrcog, company, contractors, know
The HERO Program (Home Energy Renovation Opportunity) https://www.heroprogram.com/ provides property owners in California a new way to finance a wide variety of home improvements to conserve water and save energy including: solar power, energy efficient HVAC, windows, roofing, water capture systems and artificial turf.
However, a HERO loan can create problems in real estate transactions. If you have experienced this, we’d like to know. Please contact Paul Herrera, Government Affairs Director, at 951-500-1222 or at [email protected]. Your examples help inform our work.
Are you currently dealing with a problem related to a home sale? HERO has created a hotline to address transaction issues. Call 855-CALHERO, or 855-225-4376 to see if they can help. In either case, we’d like to know if they were able to fix the issue, why or why not.
03/24/2015
Aerial Drones in Real Estate
In November 2014, NAR issues an official advisory to members to let them know that “the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for real estate marketing is currently prohibited by the Federal Aviation Administration. Such prohibited use of unmanned aerial vehicles
may lead to the assessment of substantial fines and penalties.”
That, however, is not the end of the story. NAR is working with the FAA to work out a compromise that can make this promising tool available to real estate marketing. So the cloud has a silver lining; and as long as you don’t get accept payment, you can fly a drone
up to photograph it.
For now, it’s possible to get permission from the FAA to fly drones for commercial purposes. It’s just not easy. In January, a Tucson, Ariz.- based REALTOR® became the first person to receive FAA permission to use drones to shoot marketing videos to sell real estate. That said, there’s a more practical option on the horizon.
By September of 2015, the FAA is expected to release updated rules that spell out how drones may be used for commercial purposes. NAR has been working with regulators to hopefully ensure common-sense rules that bring this tool into real estate without realizing the worst fears of those watching out for the skies above us.
If you’re interested in learning more about the topic, NAR has created a Field Guide to Drones and Real Estate. To find the resource page, use the shortened URL of http://goo.gl/ZDZU3b. Or go to www.realtor.org and look for the field guide under the Political Advocacy tab of the website.
Field Guide to Drones and Real Estate Stay abreast of the legal status of using drones, and learn about drones’ potential uses in the real estate industry.