Misc

WASHINGTON (May 13, 2011) – The National Association of Realtors® has awarded four state and local Realtor® associations with $15,000 through its Diversity Initiative Grants Program. Award recipients were announced at the Realtors® Midyear Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., this week.

NAR’s Diversity Initiative Grants Program provides associations with grants up to $5,000 twice a year for activities that reinforce the role of Realtors® as leaders in our country’s increasingly diverse communities and that extend the benefits of ...

WASHINGTON (July 6, 2016) — Waning economic growth in many countries and higher home prices further enhanced by a strengthening U.S. dollar resulted in a slight decline in international sales dollar volume of U.S. property over the past year and a significant retreat in buying from non-resident foreigners.

This is according to an annual survey of residential purchases from international buyers released today by the National Association of Realtors®. The survey also amazingly revealed that the dollar volume of sales from ...

David McKey, 2016 Insurance Committee vice chair, testifies before the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee about flood insurance.

WASHINGTON (June 30, 2016) — Flood insurance costs continue to put small businesses and homeownership at risk, but the National Association of Realtors® told U.S. Senators today that a range of solutions are on the horizon.

David McKey, 2016 vice chair of NAR’s Insurance Committee, testified on NAR’s behalf before the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship committee. McKey told Senators in ...

WASHINGTON (July 21, 2016) — Boosted by a greater share of sales to first-time buyers not seen in nearly four years, existing-home sales maintained their upward trajectory in June and increased for the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only the Northeast saw a decline in closings in June, and sales to investors fell to their lowest overall share since July 2009.

Total existing-home sales¹, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and ...

WASHINGTON (July 14, 2016) — The U.S. Senate tonight passed H.R. 3700, the “Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act,” by unanimous consent. This legislation includes reforms to current Federal Housing Administration restrictions on condominium financing, among other provisions, and is long supported by the National Association of Realtors®.

Changes include efforts to make FHA’s recertification process “substantially less burdensome,” while lowering FHA’s current owner-occupancy requirement from 50 percent to 35 percent. The bill also requires FHA to replace existing policy on transfer ...

WASHINGTON (July 13, 2016) — Despite lackluster economic growth and stark home-price appreciation in several parts of the country in recent months, roughly three-quarters of surveyed households still believe now is a good time to buy a home, but there’s a considerable gap in morale between homeowners and renters, according to the latest installment of the National Association of Realtors® Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) survey¹. The survey also found that roughly half of young adults with student debt ...

As a real estate agent, it’s understandable that you’re swamped most of the year. Between home tours, open houses and preparing contracts and closings, it’s rare that you have a spare minute. However, it’s important for everyone to take time off, and we’ve reached that point in the year where agents should begin to think about their holiday vacation schedule.

While it’s still months away, the holiday season finds a way to sneak up on us, so it’s best to begin ...

Today’s buyer will search online at some point during the buying process. When they do, it’s crucial that your business and contact information show up at the top of the search results. Many people think that this can cost thousands of dollars, but you can do a lot of the work yourself through social media. Here are a few tips to get you started on the major social networks.

Facebook
Setting up a Facebook page for your business is an excellent ...

First-time buyer activity rose to a four-year high in June, furthering the rise in existing-home sales for the fourth consecutive month, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Only the Northeast saw a decline in closings in June, and sales to investors fell to their lowest overall share since July 2009.

Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, climbed 1.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million in June from ...

It’s not news among brokerage-based relocation directors that Relocation Management Companies (RMCs) have become the dominant aggregators of corporate real estate referrals. Opportunities for relocation directors to cultivate direct corporate relationships have diminished as the prevalent outsourcing of relocation programs has taken its toll among in-house corporate mobility specialists.

Corporate employers have largely delegated broker selection and management to their RMC partners. RMCs have always been an important segment in a relocation director’s marketing plan and business mix, but now they ...