MLS Real Estate & Listings Blog

The Pacific West and Tri Counties Association of Realtors, a Realtor trade group in Southern California, has lost about 2,500 members since the end of 2006 with the decline in area home sales. But the group has a plan — lots of plans, in fact.  more…

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In a reversal of past policy, federal regulators say they won’t lower the $417,000 conforming loan limit to keep it in line with falling home prices.

Adopting a stance taken by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing downturn of the early 1990s, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight has ruled that the conforming loan limit will move in only one direction: up.  more…

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EPerks, a company that launched last year that seeks to build a consumer audience and a pool of subscribing real estate professionals during a challenging time in the U.S. real estate market, combines real estate lead generation, referrals, rebates, agent profiles and reviews, and map-based searches into one portal.

The Pleasanton, Calif.-based company has already stirred up controversy and riled some industry professionals for a pay-per-review marketing campaign and legal threats against a blogger.  more…

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Some brokers and MLSs are rushing to distribute property information for display on popular third-party real estate Web sites, and a paper released this week by a Minneapolis law firm encourages a thorough review and negotiation of terms to help ensure that the deals properly protect industry interests.

Brian Larson, a Minneapolis lawyer who works with dozens of Realtor associations and multiple listing services, said the paper was prompted by an industry trend to broaden online distribution channels for property information by working with a range of Web sites.  more…

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The National Association of Realtors has submitted its application for a Web-based credit union that could deliver a range of financial services to members, including mortgage, auto and business start-up loans, Realtor-branded debit cards, personal and business checking and savings accounts, and money market accounts, among other offerings.

This proposed credit union, which has a working title as the Realtors Federal Credit Union, would be open to the estimated 1.2 million members of the association, Realtor-affiliated staff members and their families.  more…

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California home sales decreased 28.5 percent in February compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 26.2 percent, the California Association of Realtors reported today.  more…

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Sales of previously owned homes hit an adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million in February, which was down 23.8 percent compared to the same month last year but was up slightly from January 2008, ending a six-month slide, the National Association of Realtors reported today.  more…

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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has finalized the settlement of an antitrust complaint against Multiple Listing Service Inc., a Realtor-operated multiple listing service based in Wauwatosa, Wis., despite objections by the National Association of Realtors trade group.  more…

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(This is Part 1 of a three-part series.)

Are you talking too much and closing too little? A simple shift in your strategy can yield huge returns for years to come.  more…

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A national real estate article published in a community newspaper in Elizabethtown, Ky., caught the eye and ire of several local real estate professionals, and brought home an age-old conflict between news coverage and industry interests.

The headline of the article, authored by Claes Bell, questioned, "Is this a good time to buy a home?"  more…

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Consumers appreciate public property-search Web sites set up by multiple listing services, though such sites remain a divisive issue for industry professionals, according to a report released today by WAV Group, a real estate consulting company.

The "MLS Consumer Website Effectiveness Study" highlighted HAR.com, a popular real estate search site created by the Houston Association of Realtors, and gathered consumer and Realtor input about public MLS sites.  more…

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A lawsuit filed against a New York City real estate trade association and several major brokerage companies is in the process of settling, according to court documents filed this week.  more…

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California members of the Women’s Council of Realtors are participating in a new blog network that combines content at a single Web site from bloggers throughout the state.

The new portal, at WCRblogs.com, is the latest in a series of aggregated blog sites planned by Domus Consulting Group and Realivent, a company that offers tools for collaboration and marketing.  more…

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Generating referrals is a key part of the real estate business. Are you ready to take this old standby and update it for 2008?

When most agents start the business, they normally make a list of the people they know who may send referrals to them. There are several reasons that this approach typically generates only one or two transactions:

• Friends and family know that the agent is new to the business.

• The agent may lack an adequate knowledge of the inventory or the ability to close buyers and sellers effectively.  more…

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A National Association of Realtors tech incubator company has acquired a commercial real estate data exchange company and plans to use its technology to launch a national commercial real estate listing and transaction platform in May.

Second Century Ventures LLC, a private equity fund established by the Realtors trade group supported by a membership dues increase this year, acquired Gig Harbor, Wash.-based ePropertyData.  more…

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The National Association of Realtors has a Code of Ethics that its 1.3 million members agree to abide by. The Association of Associates Representing Sellers (AARSTEAM), a new membership group created by the CEO of a New York real estate brokerage company, offers an alternative called the "Oath of Actions."

Realtor-affiliated for-sale property information databases are known as multiple listing services, or MLSs, and millions of Realtor-listed properties are displayed at NAR-affiliated Realtor.com.  more…

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