Nothing disrupts consumer sentiment like uncertainty. And when it comes to real estate, nothing changes a market like unemployment. Right now, home owners in the Washington D.C. area who are uncertain about their job security are deciding if they should join the recently unemployed at put their homes on the market. A 56% increase in homes for sale, and mass terminations in the federal government employment ...
When we settle into our homes, we select paint colors because we like how they reflect the family members' personalities in that home, or maybe it's a current trend.You move into a house and make it your family's home, andyour friends "Love wha...
Last year, the multi-billion dollar commission lawsuit settlement the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) accepted triggered great expectations of commission relief for home sellers. That was until the REALTORS Association rolled out its pla...
Wednesday is the best day to make your home active on the multiple listing service (MLS). When your listing goes live on the MLS, the data is sent to buyers using a listing-search notification program. Buyers immediately schedule showings for t...
There was a day when buyers controlled the market, and sellers agreed to concessions and negotiated on price. I remember those days when the market started to change. In the summer of 2016, we saw more sellers getting the upper hand for good as...
The market is never just good or bad. It depends on which side of the transaction you're on. If you're buying this year and the trend continues, you will pay a premium to close in May and June. However, there might be some relief this year if t...
Zillow, Homes.com, Realtor.com and the bazillion of other third party real estate sites are useful for many things. I love the fact that these sites help consumers tour homes without leaving their home. I believe they provide helpful informatio...
Realtor associations needed to be at their best to prepare members to do business without an MLS-published offer of compensation. They had months to prepare members to alter their thinking to transition seamlessly. They chose to fritter and was...
The issue that brought the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to court was not about commission transparency but the detrimental impact of anti-competitive policies. These policies severely restricted competition among members, leading to h...
Use the New MLS Rules to Increase Your After-Sale Profit
Nothing eats more of our home equity than real estate commissions when we sell our homes. For 100 years, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has effectively insulated the real e...