Michael Crist

The Echo Show — the long-rumored marriage of a touch/video screen and Amazon’s voice assistant Alexa — has been officially announced. It ships June 28; learn more at Amazon’s official Show site. If you’re skeptical of self-driving cars, consider this: research suggests it takes very few of them to drastically improve traffic flow (and make… Continue Reading Here Comes the Echo Show; How Many Self-Driving Cars Does It Take to Improve Traffic? More in Five for Wednesday

Did building permit activity rebound at your county?   How many new housing units should be added to the market? While tight housing inventory pushes home prices upward, we look at building permits to see how many new housing units are expected to come on the market. Building permits are an important leading indicator for developments… Continue Reading Building Permits and Inventory

In the wake of the housing crisis, vacation and investment buyers played an important role in sopping up excess inventory. As their participation wanes, the impact will vary around the country. Furthermore, deception and poor lending practices to some investors played a key role in fomenting the last crisis, so the robustness of their participation… Continue Reading Investor Soundness

Nearly 1 million residential properties utilize solar power to produce energy, reduce costs or even generate monthly income. That fact has led to questions from real estate professionals regarding how solar systems should be appraised, how they affect real estate transactions, and more. But Realtors® who have committed to learning the ins and outs of… Continue Reading VIDEO: Solar Energy, and What Realtors® Need to Know

Taking care of a home’s landscape in the summer heat can be a daunting task for many homeowners. However, if a homeowner is looking to sell his or her home in the warmer months, maintaining or creating a beautiful lawn can mean selling a home faster and for more money. According to the National Association… Continue Reading Story Idea: The Importance of Lawn Care

In the monthly REALTORS® Confidence Index Survey, the National Association of REALTORS® asks members “In the past three months, think of your most recent sales contract that was either settled/closed or terminated. Please explain how the deal concluded (settled, delayed, terminated, sale is pending, no contract signed).” An increasing share of contracts are settled on time,… Continue Reading REALTORS® Reported More Contracts Were Settled on Time from January—March 2017 Compared to Past Years

Field Guides are one-stop resource packages on dozens of subjects of interest to REALTORS®. On each page you’ll find links to articles, books, web sites, statistics, and other material on each subject. The list of the most-used field guides from Information Central for the month of April 2017 was released today: Field Guide to Quick Real… Continue Reading Top Field Guides for April 2017

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine “The home needs more storage!” It’s a common gripe heard from homeowners and buyers. A home can never have too many shelves or closets. Indeed, a majority of about 1,000 survey respondents said their number-one biggest annoyance about their home: “The lack of storage,” according to the 2015 HSH.com… Continue Reading Showcase Stylish Storage Solutions

Ryan Fitzgerald By Ryan Fitzgerald There are many great ways to build a real estate business. One way, is to start small and focus your efforts on hyperlocal neighborhoods or smaller cities. Here’s what I mean: Whether you’re just starting out in real estate or you’ve been an agent for a long time, a focus… Continue Reading The Best Way to Build a Real Estate Business

Cinco de Mayo recognizes the Mexican army’s triumph over France at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. While today gives us a chance to celebrate Mexican culture here in the U.S., many of our Mexican friends own property here. According to NAR’s 2016 Profile of International Activity in U.S. Residential Real Estate, Mexico ranked fifth… Continue Reading Looking at Mexican Buyers of U.S. Property on Cindo de Mayo