I attended a safety seminar at the National Association of REALTORS® building in Chicago on Monday, expecting to hear the same old thing: pay attention to your surroundings, keep your head out of your phone, watch people’s microexpressions, yadda yadda yadda. But self-defense instructor Joe Rosner actually made some interesting points that aren’t necessarily groundbreaking… Continue Reading 5 Safety Tips When an Attack Is Imminent
NAR Research produces a series of Local Market Reports (LMRs) which provide insights into the fundamentals and direction of the nation’s largest metropolitan housing markets. Each report evaluates a number of factors affecting home prices, including: The health of the local job market Foreclosure rates Housing inventory Debt-to-income and mortgage-servicing-costs-to-income ratios The reports for… Continue Reading Market Snapshot: Second Quarter 2016
Lee Davenport By Lee Davenport I am a planner; so much so that I’m already planning for the New Year. But, I get it. You may not be a planner, and my admission may have made you cringe. So, just for you, I have eight questions that will help you win business in the next… Continue Reading Turn End-of-the-Year Busyness into Business
Since 1997, respondents of the Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers have had the option to choose as many or as few options for how they racially and ethnically identify themselves. Using this data, the ethnic and racial diversity of home buyers and sellers can be seen on a trending basis. The initial tracking of… Continue Reading Home Buyer and Seller Race and Ethnicity Trends
Delays in the time-to-close, the time from when a listing goes under contract to settlement of the deal, rose for the second consecutive month. Delays are measured by comparing the time-to-close this year with the same time frame a year earlier so as to eliminate seasonality. The average delay in time-to-close rose from 3.0 days… Continue Reading Settlement Delays Edge Upward
DeSouza John DeSouza, president of Cressy & Everett Real Estate, a brokerage with more than 190 sales associates in 10 offices in Indiana and Michigan, will talk about how his company combines traditional and digital marketing methods to win listings and be a regional leader in a webinar his company is sponsoring on Tuesday, Oct.… Continue Reading Sponsor Webinar: Marketing That Wins Listings, Differentiates Brand
One problem with interpreting data over time is that many data exhibits movements which recur during the same period each year. This is why it is normal to report in the news seasonally adjusted data figures to reveal the underlying trend in the market. The visualization above shows both seasonally and not seasonally adjusted existing… Continue Reading Comparison of Seasonally and Not Seasonally Adjusted Existing-Home Sales
At the national level, housing affordability is up from a year ago for the first time since February of 2015 when it improved 2.0 percent. Mortgage rates are 3.77 this July, which is the lowest rate since June 2013 when rates fell to 3.67. Housing affordability increased from a year ago in July pushing the… Continue Reading July 2016 Housing Affordability Index
When you’re trying to pay your bills each month, it’s hard to think about retirement. But there are two things that can help you retire when the time comes. The first is owning your own home. It can be good advice for your clients and it can be good advice for you, because your home… Continue Reading Is Property Ownership In Your Retirement Plan?
Sherwin-Williams Poised Taupe (SW 6039) By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine Time to paint the house taupe. Sherwin-Williams revealed its 2017 Color of the Year: Poised Taupe (SW 6039). The company expects the brownish-gray hue to become the year’s go-to color for home interiors. Taupe marks a departure from the company’s mostly cool-toned neutrals it… Continue Reading Sneak Peek: The ‘It’ Paint Color for 2017