Memory Tricks Archives - Demetree School of Real Estate

Who Makes The Florida Real Estate Laws?

If you didn’t like a real estate law and wanted it changed, how would you go about that? This isn’t just a theoretical question. It’s something you need to know for the Florida real estate sales associate exam.

First, let’s talk about laws vs. rules. We have to follow laws or statutes. These include state laws like Chapter 475 F.S., Chapter 455 F.S., and federal laws such as the Fair Housing Act or Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. If it’s a state law, it has to be passed by the Florida Legislature.

We also have to follow rules such as Chapter 61J2, FAC. For our purposes, we will say that a rule is easier to pass than laws, but the consequences are violating it aren’t as severe. That’s not 100% true in every case, but I think it’s true enough for our purposes. Rules are passed by the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC).

So, if you want a law changed, you need to talk to the Florida Legislature. If you want a rule changed, you talk to the FREC. You can remember that “law” and “legislature” both start with L. FREC has a “R” in it, so it goes with “rule”.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:30:14-04:00April 23rd, 2018|

If You Want To Pass The Florida Real Estate Exam, Be Sure You Know The Definition Of Situs, Situs, Situs

The Florida real estate sale associate exam tests your knowledge of the word situs. You probably learned in real estate school that situs is the economic quality of location that creates value. You might not have learned how to remember it and not get it confused with the other hundred new words you learned. I’ve got two short stories that might help you…

Almost fifteen years ago, I sold fixed-week timeshare. Part of the sales pitch was that Orlando had more trading power than other cities because of location, location, location. I tell my students that I never said, “location, location, location.” It is more accurate to say, “situs, situs, situs.” I might not have sold the most timeshare, but I used the appropriate terminology. (It wasn’t long before the timeshare company had me teaching real estate classes instead of selling timeshare.)

Society, however, is not always interested in accuracy. Sometimes we are interested in not offending anyone. I think we’ve gone overboard with some of this politically correct language. We no longer say that people are hungry. Now we say they are “food insecure”. Nobody lies anymore — we have “alternative facts”. It is now inappropriate to say that someone lives in the ghetto, slum, or bad part of town. A neighborhood where you might not want to live is one that has a “situs infection.”

A house that backs up to the train track is a house that has a “situs infection.”

There you have it — two ways to remember the definition of situs.

If this story helped you, check out my review class at Demetree School of Real Estate. I’ve got a lot of stories just like these that will help you pass the Florida real estate sales associate state exam.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:31:58-04:00April 2nd, 2018|

Watch This Video Before You Even Attempt The Florida Real Estate Sales Association Exam!

Some of the math questions that are on the state exam have been on the state exam since the cavemen where chiseling the exam on stone walls.

Photo of the first real estate class. Researchers believe the lesson was a commission math problem. Cash had not been invented, so commissions were paid with animals (food). Some less-learned historians doubt the authenticity of this story.

I just posted a video about one of those questions. You need to know how to figure the lots per acre on the state exam. That’s worth one point. You need to know how many square feet are in an acre. There are a few questions that require that information. Let’s say that’s worth about three points.

Click here for the video. When you are sitting at the Pearson Vue center in stressful circumstances, and you see a question asking about lots per acre, you will feel a great sense of relief and be glad you took the few minutes to watch it.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:33:14-04:00March 27th, 2018|

Live From the FREC Meeting – What Is An Escrow Disbursement Order?

I’m sitting in the FREC meeting listening to EDOs. What do all those acronyms mean? More importantly, what do we need to know for the Florida real estate exam?

Members of the Florida Real Estate Commission are meeting for their monthly meeting. Every month, they issue escrow disbursement orders on several cases.

So let’s say that Buyer Black gives a $5,000 deposit to Real Estate Agent Ron. Ron gives it to his broker by the end of the next business day. The broker deposits it in the bank by the end of the third business day. So far, so good.

Seller Sam accepts the offer. They are closing in two weeks.

Well, something happens between now and closing and the deal goes south. Buyer Black says, “Give me my deposit back.”

Seller Sam says, “You don’t get the deposit. I get the deposit.”

Real Estate Agent Ron is stuck in the middle with the $5,000. He has to give it to somebody but he’s not sure who. This is call conflicting demands. In this case, the first thing you should do is notify FREC within 15 days that we have a conflicting demand problem.

After that, you have to implement one of the four escape procedures or settlement procedures within 30 days. The four procedures are mediate, escrow disbursement order, arbitrate, litigate. I call this No Meal because if you have a conflicting demand problem, you are not getting your commission, which means you are getting No Meal.

NOtify FREC
Mediate
Escrow Disbursement Order
Arbitrate
Litigate

So let’s talk about each of the four escape procedures…

Mediate – This is where we hire a professional mediator. The mediator says, “Give the money to the buyer.” But this is non-binding so if the seller is not happy, he can sue.

Escrow Disbursement Order – This is where the Florida Real Estate Commission (FREC) decides. That’s what’s happening right now at the meeting. The members of the Commission heard from the buyers and sellers in each case, and they decide who gets the money.

Arbitrate – This is where we hire a professional arbitrator and the arbitrator decides. If the arbitrator says, “Give the money to the seller,” the buyer can’t sue. Why not? Because this is binding. We agreed beforehand that no one would sue anyone.

Litigate – This is where we go to court and let the judge decide.

The two parties can choose any of the four things. There is no hierarchy, so one is not better than the other. Whatever method the buyer and seller agree to is fine. Let’s say that they decide to go the EDO route. The broker requests an escrow disbursement order. The two parties realize that this is going to take a while, so one of them sues the other. At that point, the broker has 10 days to notify FREC, “Never mind. We don’t need your EDO anymore. We’ve got it covered.”

In summary, notify FREC within 15 days. Implement one of the for escape procedures within 30 days. If you request an EDO, then decide to go another route, notify FREC within 10 days that you don’t need the EDO.

If you want to see this in action, come on down to the FREC meeting. If you missed this one, they meet every month. This is almost as much fun as real estate school was.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:39:00-04:00January 17th, 2018|

What Influences The Supply Of Real Estate?

Recently, I wrote about the five factors that influence the demand of real estate. If there is a list for demand, you can bet your next commission check that there is a list for supply.

In the perfect real estate market, supply and demand are in equilibrium.

The variables that influences supply are land, labor, lumber, and loans. Let’s go through these one at a time:

Land – it is very difficult to build more house if there isn’t any land. You take a city like Key West. There is very little land left, so there isn’t a lot of building going on. (Well, there wasn’t before Hurricane Irma.)

Labor – this refers to skilled labor: carpenters, roofers, electricians, etc. Speaking of Hurricane Irma… Right after the hurricane, if you needed a roofer, you would get put on a list. The roofer would say, “Can you keep that blue tarp up there for six months because our list is pretty long?” You didn’t have a lot of choices because even the bad roofers were busy.

Lumber – Actually, it’s all material, but I’m saying lumber because it works better with my L list. If builders can’t get material, they can’t build houses. A few years ago, there was a glass houses. If you wanted to construct a building, you have to opt to have zero windows, pay more for the glass (sometimes prohibitively more), or wait until there was more glass. When the supply of buildings materials is low, the supply of new houses is also low.

Loans – This applies to construction loans. If builders can’t get loans (or if they cost too much), they aren’t building as many speculative homes. But as soon as the loans become more available, the builders start building away.

Be sure you know the four factors that influence the supply of real estate. This is something that’s been on the Florida real estate sales associate exam before.

And remember, when you have a list in the book like this, there is a good chance that the question will be phrased like:

Which factor does NOT influence the supply of real estate?

a. availability of land
b. availability of situs
c. availability of construction loans
d. availability of skilled labor

Of course, the answer is B because situs is not on our list of four items.

Be sure to get comfortable with this NOT type of question. It’s pretty common on the Florida state exam.

Please note that neither I, nor anyone in the Climer family, have any affiliation with Climer School of Real Estate. My father, Ron Climer, sold Climer School of Real Estate in 2014. You can find me at Demetree School of Real Estate.

By Karen Climer|2021-08-25T14:40:30-04:00January 8th, 2018|