RE/MAX – The most powerful name in real estate joins with the Associated Press to produce a critical housing report

Through an exclusive agreement with the Associated Press, the newly created “RE/MAX National Housing Report” for the U.S. is being distributed to the news media on a monthly basis. The report for August was released on September 24, 2008. With extensive national distribution, the monthly report is bringing tremendous exposure for the RE/MAX brand.

The report is designed to fill the need for an accurate and comprehensive gauge of today’s real estate market. It’s unique because it provides data for all types of residential properties (single-family homes, condos and townhomes) and covers a large sampling of 60 metropolitan areas, representing all 50 states.

“We want to give the most thorough representation of the marketplace possible.” says Dave Liniger, Chairman and Co-Founder of RE/MAX International. “By including entire metropolitan areas in all 50 states, we hope our report will become the most complete guide to the overall health of our national real estate marketplace.”

The Associated Press will prepare news stories and informational, interactive graphics based on the monthly updates for use by its extensive broadcast, print and Internet subscribers.

“It’s critical at this point in time to have the most reliable information available,” Liniger says. “The consumer is anxious to know what this market is doing and where it’s headed. The RE/MAX National Housing Report will provide sales, inventory and price information that can help homebuyers and sellers get through this market.”

THE TITUS WOMAN MINISTRY LAUNCHES NEW, UPDATED WEBSITE

The Titus Woman Ministry is a 501 (c)3 faith-based nonprofit organization dedicated to serve the community through the holistic development of women in need.

One of our primary goals is to construct and operate a homeless shelter for women and their children in the Waller area, with the intent of equipping the women to enter (or re-enter) mainstream society and become self-sustaining and providers for their children. This proposed shelter will be constructed in Waller County, Texas and will house families from all the surrounding communities.

We have opened a resale shop, name Grace & Mercy, on March 1, 2008. Funds obtained from sales of merchandise at the Grace & Mercy resale shop will help fund this project, we are asking for the support of your church and the community to make the vision a reality. Come out and buy our resale merchandise.

Any donations to this worthy cause will be appreciated.

The shop is called Grace & Mercy for it was God’s grace that gave us the vision and His mercy will allow us to carry it through. Can we count on you?

The resale shop wiill carry furniture, clothing (for the family), household goods, and much, much more. It is located at 71 Scroggins Lane Waller, Texas (off FM 1488 In the Held Store Mini Warehouses). The grand opening was March 1, 2008.

For further information and/or donations, contact Rosemary Butler @ 936-931-1726; 281-682-4177 or Carol O’Brien @) 281-302-S333 or Fern Poyser at 936.931.3344. Pass the word and support this God given vision. We thank you in advance for what you will do.

Fern Poyser UPDATE on Titus Woman Ministry

The Titus Woman Ministry is preparing to take Waller County for Jesus!

We have secured retail space in the Fieldstore area of northern Waller county to open the Grace & Mercy resale shop.  This will enable us to be open more often in an effort to generate the funds necessary to work towards the shelter for women and children in Waller county.

We praise God for this small stride and look forward to many, many more fruitful days and bountiful blessings as we reach out to the community.

FINGERPRINTING REQUIREMENTS FOR TEXAS REALTORS

A recently enacted law (HB 1530, 80th Legislature, Regular Session) requires any person applying for or renewing a broker or salesperson license on or after January 1, 2008 to provide their fingerprints, in a specified format, in order to enable an FBI criminal history check to be performed. These new fingerprint requirements apply only to brokers and salespersons. They do not apply to other TREC licensees, such as home inspectors. Once fingerprints are on file with DPS for a TREC license, a licensee will not need to be fingerprinted for subsequent renewals.

This new fingerprinting requirement for Texas realtors is very welcome.  This is good news for the real estate community.  It will give homeowners and property owners a greater sense of security knowing that the people responsible for selling or showing their homes are not wanted for any crimes.  Also, should any criminal activity occur within or on a property owner’s property, the law enforcement agencies can quickly and easily identify the perpetrator(s) through this new fingerprinting requirement.

The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) conducts background checks on ALL licensees.  This new fingerprinting requirement will NOT affect current licensees’ licensing status UNLESS that person has committed a new crime and is convicted of a felony offense within the state of Texas. 

If a licensee has committed new crimes and has new felony convictions which were not reported to TREC since he or she last applied for a real estate license, the new convictions resulting from a background check may or may not hinder the issuance of a real estate license.  TREC will decide if the licensee’s license should be renewed after conducting their own independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the new felony conviction.

Under no circumstances will TREC suspend or revoke a licensee’s license unless (1) they falsify or try to hide any new felony convictions (2) they willingly lie about having new felony convictions (3) they refuse to submit to fingerprinting and background checks and (4) they fail to pay their renewal fees or honor any delinquent debts owed to TREC.

 

Real Estate Outlook: Market is Stirring

Affordable mortgage money is the fuel that is going to pull the real estate market out of the woods. And there are some encouraging signs that may be happening right now.

Take a look at interest rates: They plunged last week by nearly a quarter of a point on 30-year fixed-rate money — down to 5.74 percent from 5.98 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America.

Then there was the big jump in new loan applications from people looking to buy houses. They were up by almost 11 percent for conventional conforming loans — those are the types funded by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — but up by an amazing 21.1 percent for government-backed mortgages, primarily FHA.

You can be the world’s grouchiest, grimmest housing market bear … . But you can’t deny that something is stirring out there in the market.

It may not be the end of the down cycle as a whole, but it’s certainly pointing to a more active spring season than the naysayers on Wall Street have projected.

There were some other positive signs that popped up last week as well: The total inventory of unsold houses dropped by 3 percent. New homes for sale dropped 2.1 percent. Those inventory numbers are critically important because they tend to be heavy drags on local markets — pushing prices down and making buyers pickier.

Even new home sales did better than most analysts had predicted: They dropped by 1.8 percent last month, which may not sound good, but that decline was measured off upward revisions of the two prior months’ sales.

In other words, there were more home sales going on than reported earlier in January and December, and overall sales are stabilizing.

Now, in fairness, not everything is cheery out there. Consumers are still rattled by the economy and the upheavals they see on Wall Street. The latest consumer confidence index from the Conference Board nosedived to levels usually associated with recessions.

People are worried. They’re spending less, and that is rippling throughout the economy. Continuing price declines in the once-booming housing bubble markets are also keeping consumers on the sidelines. Many of them don’t want to commit to a purchase until they are sure prices won’t go much lower.

So all in all: There are unmistakable glimpses of light out there. You can’t — and shouldn’t — ignore them.

But we’ve still got a way to go before we can officially pronounce the correction cycle done, down and out.

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