Professional appraisals are the foundation on which stable real estate markets are built, so ensuring appraisers are able to do their jobs to the best of their ability is vital to the industry. That’s why a report from the federal government on appraisal quality is welcomed. The Federal Housing Finance Agency found that appraisals ordered… Continue Reading What’s the Best Way to Ensure Appraiser Independence?
Home price appreciation is an important topic in today’s economy. Using data from the American Community Survey (ACS), we can analyze the gains and losses of property values over time. I estimated the median property values by state in 2017 using the FHFA index and the median property values from the (ACS). I then calculated… Continue Reading Property Values By State from 2005-2017
Existing-home sales and contract signings both saw modest gains in March, even as low supply and higher mortgage rates continued to affect overall affordability. Visit https://www.nar.realtor/videos/housing-minute to watch a 56-second, animated video from the National Association of Realtors® summarizing how the housing market performed in March, as well as a look at consumer optimism about… Continue Reading WATCH: Realtors® April Housing Minute
Keep in mind that the question about receipt of contract acceptance is going to be most important when parties have a contract dispute and hire lawyers and go to court. Example: One party is suing the other party for breaching the contract and the other party defends by arguing "I did not breach because we… Continue Reading SCR310 Requires Signed + Initials + Dates + Deliver + Received + Awareness of Receiving
(D)(1) A broker-in-charge or property manager-in-charge shall for a minimum of five years maintain and furnish to the commission upon request a written copy, when applicable, of a: (a) lease; (b) contract of sale and any addenda; (c) listing contract or buyer agency agreement; (d) transaction broker agreement; (e) option contract; (f) property management agreement;… Continue Reading License Law on Records (Storage/Time/Electronic/Copy/Backup)
The Pending Home Sales Index inched up 0.4 percent to 107.6 in March from a downwardly revised 107.2 in February. Even with last month’s increase in activity, the index declined year-over-year (3.0 percent) for the third straight month. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says that despite the strong job-creating economy, contract activity is not seeing an… Continue Reading Pending Home Sales Increase 0.4 Percent in March, Inventory Restraints Remain
By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine From rustic to modern to even the most luxurious interiors, homeowners are sprucing up their spaces with cowhide. Cowhide rugs have seen one of the biggest jumps in Google searches on home design trends over the last decade, according to Digital Third Coast’s latest design trends study, based on… Continue Reading Hot Home Trend: Stylish Cowhide
Erica Christoffer By Erica Christoffer Social media is likely a key part of your marketing and brand strategy. Many real estate professionals make it the crux of their lead generation, which is why social listening is so important. There’s a common misconception that social listening and social monitoring are the same thing, according to NetBase,… Continue Reading Understand the Value of Social Listening
Communication, design, leads, rentals, blockchain, and education. Elevate your communication game by avoiding the words on this list. We could get into this kind of team building and personal development. Finally, the snooze button migrates to more areas of life. Bob Bob/flickr/2010 These prefab designs keep getting cooler. You’d never know you were inside a… Continue Reading What We’re Reading: April 23-27
The following is NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun’s reaction to this morning’s U.S. Commerce Department report on Q1 GDP: “The continuing economic expansion assures further job creations and household formations. However, the latest GDP growth rate (of 2.3%) is short of what is possible. Residential investment spending showed zero growth because single-family and condominium construction have not… Continue Reading Instant Reaction: Q1 GDP