How Tax Reforms Affect the Housing Market
By: Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The last time the U.S. underwent major tax reform was in 1986, and unintended consequences caused the 1987 “Texas Depression.” Two of the biggest Texas banks closed their doors, the Savings and Loan industry crashed, Texas real estate plummeted to 10 cents on the dollar, and the […]
Read More >>Spring Cleaning! Safeguarding Your Email
Mary was a hard-working broker at a medium-sized office, she answered her agents’ emails and provided all the tools of the trade. She wanted every agent in her brokerage to succeed and like all brokers, Mary charged her agents an office fee to cover their costs. In April, the start of the busy season, Mary […]
Read More >>How to Protect Yourself Against a Ransomware Attack
Dan, a Realtor®, was sitting down to his computer for a day at the office. He had two transactions in the works and needed to check on the lender’s progress for one of his buyers. When he logged onto his computer, he was shocked to see a pop-up box flashed on the screen with the […]
Read More >>The Latest and Greatest TREC Form Changes!
Did you hear about the form changes adopted in TREC’s November meeting? Me neither…it can be a challenge to sift through the crazy amount of emails we receive daily in this industry. Identifying which ones are important and which ones are a time suck isn’t easy. Oftentimes, I end up picking the time suck emails […]
Read More >>Love? Not Actually… Steps to Protect Yourself from Cybercrime
Welcome to the first article in a series from Independence Title on how to keep yourself, your devices, and your transactions safe from cybercrime. Check out the bottom of the article for more info on this series and how you can get involved. Can the most expensive date of your life lead to cybercrime? Jean […]
Read More >>[DFW] New Spring Education Menus!
The Independence Title Education Team has been working hard on developing new and improving existing classes for you! See a list below of all the brand new and updated classes we are offering this Spring. Check out our online menu for all classes offered by the Education Team. To schedule one of these great classes […]
Read More >>[San Antonio] New Spring Education Menus!
The Independence Title Education Team has been working hard on developing new and improving existing classes for you! See a list below of all the brand new and updated classes we are offering this Spring. Check out our online menu for all classes offered by the Education Team. To schedule one of these great classes […]
Read More >>[Austin] New Spring Education Menus!
The Independence Title Education Team has been working hard on developing new and improving existing classes for you! See a list below of all the brand new and updated classes we are offering this Spring. Check out our online menu for all classes offered by the Education Team. To schedule one of these great classes […]
Read More >>It’s the End of the (Paper) World As We Know It…and We Feel Fine!
As paper disappears more and more from our daily lives, the real estate industry sometimes seems like one of the last vestiges of ink-and-paper transactions. These days you can buy a car, enroll in college, start a new job, file your taxes, sign up for home and car insurance, and send money anywhere in the […]
Read More >>“If Only I Had Known …”
This is the refrain repeated by so many home buyers who lost or almost lost their savings from a wire fraud attempt during the process of buying a home: “If only I had known.” Those of us in the real estate industry are very aware of the potential risks of wiring money in an age […]
Read More >>The Sky Is Not Falling. Mark Sprague’s Texas Market Update
The unemployment rate has hit a new low — 3.7 percent — that was last seen in December of 1969. Of course, things were a little different in the late 1960s. Back then you could support a family on one income and still own a house and a car. These days? Not so much. In […]
Read More >>Is the Texas Market Still Booming? Mark Sprague’s Texas Market Update
The Texas metros housing markets have certainly been booming over the last several years. But as I’ve said before, the concern is when is the slowdown? Is it imminent, in a couple of years, when? Home sales across the U.S. have seen a slight drop for the fourth straight month in July of this year. This is […]
Read More >>Mark’s Monthly Texas Market Update
By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital at Independence Title Is the local housing market slowing? Locally, regionally, and nationally, that seems to be a common question / theme. Locally, I can tell you that most of the Texas metros have been on a sustained, positive run, with Austin’s being the longest at over […]
Read More >>Our New App is Here!!
Have you heard that we have a new app? IndependenceTitleAgent One is now available! Check out the video below on some of the new features! If you have questions, contact your Independence Title Business Development Representative.
Read More >>The Billion-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 >>Lumber 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 >>The 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 >>Carbon 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 […]
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