By Jef Conn National Association of REALTORS® needs you. Yes, you! Committee applications to serve on NAR committees in 2020 are due May 1, 2019—that’s tomorrow! There will be other real estate professionals serving our industry on these committees; why not you? Take a look at the available committees and the process for selecting members… Continue Reading How to Apply for an NAR Committee
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Besides a good window cleaning, there’s another way to boost your curb appeal and get those windows shining: Remove the screens. Home stagers love this trick, and it’s taken straight from the film industry. Remove the outside screens on your windows in the front of your home prior to… Continue Reading Staging Tip: Remove the Window Screens Prior to a Photo Shoot
Submitted by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) Photo credit: OPEI 1. Declutter & Clean The first step to sprucing up the outdoor living room is to clear dirt and clutter from the space. Store lawn equipment, children’s toys, and pet play things in a shed or garage. Give the entire area a good scrub down,… Continue Reading 5 Steps to Creating the Perfect Outdoor Living Room
The REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI)[1] survey gathers monthly information from REALTORS® about local real estate market conditions, characteristics of buyers and sellers, and issues affecting homeownership and real estate transactions.[2] This report presents key results about market transactions from March 2019. View and download the full report here. Market Conditions and Expectations The REALTORS® Buyer… Continue Reading REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey: March 2019 Highlights
https://www.nar.realtor/law-and-ethics/cybersecurity-checklist-best-practices-for-real-estate-professionals Cybercrime can be devastating to real estate professionals and their clients. The following checklist offers some best practices to help you curb the risk of cybercrime. Because data protection and cybersecurity laws differ across the country, NAR recommends that you work with an attorney licensed in your state to help you develop cybersecurity-related programs,… Continue Reading Cyber Security NAR Checklist
The origins of Loch Ness, wi-fi, Pickleball, gorilla selfies, and much more, compiled by Anne-Marie Siudzinski, Senior Library Information Specialist. An airport with a garden AND a waterfall. Does “Wi-Fi” actually stand for anything? Nope. Beautiful fire poppies. What the heck is pickleball? Ron B/flickr/2017 Gorilla selfies. They sure have a lot of attitude. Dinosaurs… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: April 22-26
If you’ve been following the news you might have heard that FHA is putting up hurdles for higher-risk borrowers to get their home loan application approved. The Federal Housing Administration on March 14 said applicants with a credit score of 620 or lower or debt-to-income ratio of 43 percent would get their loan application reviewed… Continue Reading 43% Debt-to-Income? FHA Imposing Hurdles
The license law has long stated this name requirement for decades, but LLR enforcement has been almost zero until recently. This is not a new law. LLR states the accurate name is necessary so when the public is harmed, the licensee can be identified for LLR prosecution. (3) A licensee may not conduct real estate… Continue Reading Use Your License Name in All of Your Real Estate Business
NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this March, fell 4.9 percent from February 2019. Despite February’s gains, sales of existing-homes dropped 5.4 percent from March 2018. March’s existing-home sales reached a 5.21 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $259,400… Continue Reading March 2019 Existing-Home Sales
By Samantha Jones It’s no secret most of our markets rival the uncertainty of a roller coaster ride at an amusement park these days. Buyers expect to pay less; sellers don’t want to drop their prices. Pristine homes that should seemingly sell in hours, sit on the market stalled. Deals falling apart multiple times for… Continue Reading Heads or Tails? Making Sense of a Shifting Market