The EDGE Information and news that gives you an edge in the real estate business

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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business

• In This Weeks The EDGE

HAR Preferred for Agent Ratings Theres Still
Time to Act on Patent Trolls U.S. Housing
Markets Stabilize Houston Market Movements
Designate Yourself for Success
The Edge is a weekly tool for managers to use
to inform their agents and stay current and
up-to-date with important real estate industry
issues. Brought to you by the HAR Communications
Department.
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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business
HAR Preferred for Agent Ratings

• Are you putting the power of the HAR.com Consumer
  Research Panel to work for YOUR brokerage? If you
  are, then your agents are participating in the
  HAR Client Experience Rating program. Forty-two
  percent of brokers surveyed told us they prefer
  participating in HARs Client Experience Rating
  versus Zillows agent ratings, while 18 percent
  believe agents should participate in both
  programs.
• The HAR.com Consumer Research Panel was
  established in 2011 and is now 9,000 people
  strong. Check out all the helpful findings of the
  panels surveys at www.har.com/consumerresearch/.
  We are helping shape the future of real estate in
  Houston.

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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business
Theres Still Time to Act on Patent Trolls

• Attention Houston REALTORS We need you to
  answer this Call for Action! Its easy to do and
  takes just a minute of your time, but you need to
  act soon!
• REALTORS receive threatening demand letters and
  lawsuits alleging patent infringement based on
  the use of common business tools such as drop
  down menus or search alert functions on websites
  and the scanner function on a copier. These
  patent trolls buy vague patents and use them to
  turn everyday business practices into potential
  lawsuits.
• Tell your U.S. Representative to support H.R. 9,
  the Innovation Act, to stop patent trolls and
  protect the real estate industry from frivolous
  lawsuits.
• More information is available here
  http//bit.ly/1HYJt6i

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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business
U.S. Housing Markets Stabilize

• The U.S. housing market is teetering on the edge
  of becoming a stable market again, according to
  the latest Multi-Indicator Market Index (MiMi)
  from Freddie Mac.
• The national MiMi value increased to 80.3,
  indicating a housing market that is at the edge
  of stability, while showing an improvement of
  1.33 from May to June and a three-month
  improvement of 2.26.
• Twenty-eight of the 50 states, plus Washington,
  D.C., have MiMi values in a stable range, Freddie
  Mac said.
• Ranking in the top five are Washington, D.C.,
  North Dakota, Montana, Hawaii, and California and
  Utah, the latter of which are tied.
• Making Freddie Macs list of the most improved
  states are New Jersey, Florida, Washington, D.C.,
  Connecticut, Nevada and Rhode Island.
• In addition, 42 of the top 100 metropolitan areas
  have MiMi values in a stable range, Freddie Mac
  said. Ranking on that top-five list are Fresno,
  California Austin, Texas Honolulu Salt Lake
  City and Los Angeles.
• Housing markets are the strongest theyve been
  in years with the national MiMi above 80 for the
  first time since 2008, said Freddie Mac Deputy
  Chief Economist Len Kiefer.

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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business
Houston Market Movements

• In numerous markets across the country, the
  SP/CaseShiller Home Price Index has indicated
  that home prices have risen during summer,
  confirming the trends evident by examining MLS
  data. That's no surprise from month to month, but
  it's also true in year-over-year comparisons. As
  fall draws nearer, we will begin to see some
  seasonal relaxation, but the market should still
  look positive when compared to last year. It's
  been another good year for residential real
  estate, and that is expected to continue.
• In the Houston region, for the week ending August
  23
• New Listings increased 5.4 to 2,302
• Pending Sales increased 17.2 to 1,881
• Closed Sales decreased 0.7 to 1,781

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The EDGEInformation and news that gives you an
edge in the real estate business
Designate Yourself for Success
Graduate REALTOR Institute (GRI-3)
Brokerage The GRI designation is a powerful tool
to attract and build new business. You'll
increase your skill level across the entire
landscape of real estate with in-depth training
in professional standards, policies and
procedures, brokerage and agency relationships
and business development. GRI courses may be
taken in any order and satisfy your 9 hours of
non-legal MCE requirements. TREC rules mandate
that each student be on time. Please bring your
license number with you on the day of class. TAR
provides a one-time, 50 coupon for qualifying
students who register through HAR.com. Upon
entering a user name and password, HAR will
contact TAR to verify whether the coupon is
applicable and the credit will be applied
immediately. All other courses are at full price.
Date Sept. 10-11,
14-15 Location HAR Central / Bay Area via
video conference Time 815 a.m. to 5
p.m. Investment  295 Register at
www.har.com/edu Questions? Call 713.629.1900
ext. 6