The Billon-Dollar Industry Threatening Real Estate Transactions – How to Protect Yourself
by Cassandra Majors Pop Quiz: What industry grew by almost a billion dollars from 2016 to 2017? Hints: You wouldn’t want to invest in it, there are no publicly traded companies participating in it, but it’s still one of the fasting growing industries in the world. Give up? The answer may surprise you: it’s wire […]
Read More >> June 18, 2018Lumber Prices are Rising! Mark Sprague’s Texas Market Update
By Mark Sprague, Independence Title State Director of Information Capital The House / Apartment You Look at Today Will Be Gone Tomorrow! And it will certainly be more expensive. Not only is there not enough resale inventory, rates are increasing and the cost of building is up dramatically. Lumber prices have risen by roughly 22% […]
Read More >> May 16, 2018The Spring Education Menu is Here!-DFW
Spring is here and it’s time for the new Independence Title Education Menu! We have some exciting new classes and updates for you. UPDATED! Facebook for Real Estate | 1 HR CE | Course#31968 What is your main goal when using Facebook? Engaging with clients? Marketing listings? Our goal is to help you overcome the challenges […]
Read More >>The Spring Education Menu is Here!-San Antonio
Spring is here and it’s time for the new Independence Title Education Menu! We have some exciting new classes and updates for you. UPDATED! Facebook for Real Estate | 1 HR CE | Course#31968 What is your main goal when using Facebook? Engaging with clients? Marketing listings? Our goal is to help you overcome the challenges […]
Read More >>The Spring Education Menu is Here!-Austin
Spring is here and it’s time for the new Independence Title Education Menu! We have some exciting new classes and updates for you. UPDATED! Facebook for Real Estate | 1 HR CE | Course#31968 What is your main goal when using Facebook? Engaging with clients? Marketing listings? Our goal is to help you overcome the challenges […]
Read More >> April 2, 2018Carbon Monoxide Detectors: Now a City of Austin Requirement
By Cassandra Majors After I smoked my last cigarette five years ago, I quickly mutated into a twitchy, manic, raging lunatic for the next two weeks. I came up with 100 creative ways to murder most of the people who crossed my path during that time, mostly for minor infractions like taking too long at […]
Read More >> March 12, 2018How Many Changes Have You Seen? What You Need to Know About the TREC Contract Changes
If you’ve been a Realtor® for several years, you’ve probably seen a few iterations of the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) contract forms. TREC strives to listen to input from license holders and to continually improve the forms that are used for Texas real estate transactions. Improvement usually means change, and change means there are […]
Read More >> February 15, 2018Does Your Social Media Need A TREC Check Up?
Is it us or do the TREC requirements for posting the IABS and Consumer Protection Notice on social media seem a little confusing? “So what exactly DOES TREC want from me? Am I compliant?” These are questions we are asked often. We all know TREC is asking that the Information About Brokerage Service and Consumer […]
Read More >> January 16, 2018The MUD Mystery
There’s one sentence in one section of the contract that always ruffles everyone’s feathers whenever we teach our class Navigating the 1-to-4 Family Contract. The last sentence of section 6 E(3) Statutory Tax District states that the seller must deliver the buyer a statutory tax district notice, i.e. a MUD or WCID notice. This is […]
Read More >> January 4, 2018It’s a Weird, Weird World of Real Estate Out There
By Cassandra Majors Texas real estate can be pretty weird. In the rest of the country, for example, the idea of paying a seller a small fee in exchange for giving the potential buyers a window of time in which they can just change their fickle minds and walk away scot-free (the “option period”) sounds […]
Read More >> December 7, 2017TREC 3-Day Rule Update
At the TREC Commission meeting on November 13th, the Texas Association of Realtors, along with concerned real estate professionals around the state, sent in letters to express concerns about the proposed three-day requirement for delivery of earnest money (Paragraph 5). In the revised standard TREC contracts, the proposed language currently reads, “Within 3 days after […]
Read More >> November 30, 2017Has the Texas Real Estate Market Slowed?
by Mark Sprague I am frequently asked if the Texas real estate market has slowed. In this piece I’ll explain the state of the market and try to answer this question. First, some context. Austin real estate has been traveling at light speed with over 60% appreciation on residential real estate in the last ten […]
Read More >> November 20, 2017Rising Interest Rates Bring Challenges and Opportunities
The Federal Reserve announced on November 1st that interest rates will remain unchanged, for now. However, analysts are all but certain that the Federal Reserve will raise rates in December, and four more times in 2018. Economic growth remained at a robust 3% in the third quarter, even with the losses from Hurricanes Harvey and […]
Read More >> November 8, 2017You’re Killing Me, Sales!
By Cassandra Majors Whether or not you were the right age to see the cult classic coming-of-age movie The Sandlot, you’ve probably had this iconic line thrown at you whenever an 80s or 90s kid is annoyed with you: “You’re killing me, Smalls!” The most important plot-driver in the film is a lack of baseballs. […]
Read More >> October 2, 2017The Economic Impact of Hurricane Harvey
By Mark Sprague and Cassandra Majors Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and the Texas coast, and we’re only beginning to imagine the full economic impact for the region in the years of recovery ahead. 2017’s hurricane season is only the 17th deadliest since the death tolls were first tracked in the year 1900, but it’s already […]
Read More >> September 27, 2017[San Antonio] New Fall Education Menus!
As summer ends, we start getting excited about kids going back to school, leaves falling, pumpkin spice lattes, and most importantly, the new Independence Title Education Menu. Below are the new, exciting classes we now offer. If you’d like to order a printed copy of the menu or to schedule a class, please contact your […]
Read More >>[DFW] New Fall Education Menus!
As summer ends, we start getting excited about kids going back to school, leaves falling, pumpkin spice lattes, and most importantly, the new Independence Title Education Menu. Below are the new, exciting classes we now offer. If you’d like to order a printed copy of the menu or to schedule a class, please contact your […]
Read More >>[AUSTIN] New Fall Education Menus!
As summer ends, we start getting excited about kids going back to school, leaves falling, pumpkin spice lattes, and most importantly, the new Independence Title Education Menu. Below are the new, exciting classes we now offer. If you’d like to order a printed copy of the menu or to schedule a class, please contact your […]
Read More >> September 20, 2017Mommy, Where Do Buyers Come From?
By Cassandra Majors, Independence Title Well, honey, you see…when two people love each other very, very much, sometimes the Home-Buying Stork brings them their very own bundle of joy…along with a huge chunk out of their savings, a Russian novel’s worth of legal disclosures, and 30 years of debt. But how does the stork find […]
Read More >> September 12, 2017Why the Question “When Will Austin’s Bubble Burst?” Just Won’t Seem to Die
by Cassandra Majors, Independence Title Ever since the meteoric rise of Austin’s real estate market in the last two decades, I’ve heard the same question asked in many different ways, from many different people. It usually takes one of three forms: 1. Is Austin in a real estate bubble? 2. When will Austin’s real estate […]
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