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Realtors make more — 25 percent more in 2012, says NAR

Posted by Andrew Kantor
May 14 2013 - 10:08am

Congrats on the raise.

According to NAR’s 2013 Member Profile, Realtors are doing much better this year — earning 24.6 percent more in 2012 than they did in 2011. (That’s two years in a row that Realtor’s income rose.)

Essentially, fewer Realtors + more total sales = more money for each Realtor.

Here are some specifics to mull over:

In 2012…

NY to real estate agents: No, you can’t have that title

Posted by Andrew Kantor
May 8 2013 - 11:28am

No matter how many time you've run Shado-pan Monastery, you can't have this on your business card.The New York Department of State recently told real estate agents there that — independent contractors or not — you can’t give yourself some highfaluti

Fed-induced housing bubble? Flip a coin

Posted by Andrew Kantor
May 8 2013 - 11:01am

You may notice that we don’t run certain types of stories very often here. For example, "Experts predict…" pieces. Why not? Because expert predictions about economic matters are nonsense.

Home ownership at lowest rate in 18 years

Posted by Andrew Kantor
May 1 2013 - 9:17am

Nothing more to say — this is all over the news. A new report from the Census Bureau found that home ownership in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level since mid-1995, as more people rent rather than buy.

Quoth Bloomberg:

New Realtor.com app adds local school info, boundaries

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 29 2013 - 4:12pm

2013_04_29_09.34.44Move, the company that runs Realtor.com, has added some interesting features to its Realtor.com Android app. It now gives information about school districts.

Immigrants key to housing (and economic) recovery

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 24 2013 - 1:00pm

Interesting story in the Financial Times about how immigrants to the U.S. have not only been key to the housing recovery, they will remain key to the market. It’s based in part on a report from Housing America and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Some key points:

Happy Earthday!

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 22 2013 - 3:22pm

solar side LHCEach year, EarthCraft Virginia presents awards in a variety of categories to builders, developers, and others throughout the region who demonstrate superior dedication to the advancement of sustainable housing.  The Single Family Project of the Year went to an efficient solar home in Alexandria, VA.  Patrick Fogarty, broker and co-owner of HomeFirst Realty was this year’s winner for building a new home with incredible energy saving qualities for about the same price as a typical new home.

Rejoice: Real estate agent rated happiest job in America

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 22 2013 - 2:46pm

Real estate agents have the happiest job in America, according to a new survey from CareerBliss. They — that is, you — beat out some sexy, sexy other careers such as “senior QA engineer,” “senior sales representative,” and “construction superintendent.”

The survey looked at more than 65,000 career reviews in which workers rated “several factors that contribute to job happiness, such as company culture, compensation and the work they do,” says the site.

And CareerBliss co-founder and CEO Heidi Golledge explains why:

Americans, especially young ones, are driving much less

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 22 2013 - 2:09pm

Here’s an interesting stat: Since mid-2005, Americans are driving less — much less, especially younger folks. You know, the next generation of home buyers?

What’s notable is that — unlike the last time there was a drop in driving, back in the 1980-84 recession — this time the drop appears to be much longer lasting. It’s been 92 months already.

According to the Frontier Group, which did the study, the trend is most noticeable among young people.

Senators hope to expand rural loan program

Posted by Andrew Kantor
Apr 22 2013 - 1:15pm

We’ve told you before about the USDA’s rural-housing loan program, which provides no-down-payment loan for rural homes.

Now two U.S. senators hope to expand the program’s definition of “rural” even further, so more people can take advantage of the program.