As they say, “Everything’s Bigger in Texas.” Well, except the recent economic recession. Texas has managed to avoid many of the most damaging effects of the mortgage crisis, which is why the state’s real estate market has flourished in its wake,

One of the greatest challenges facing real estate agents is the choice of working as a solo operator or joining with one or more agents to form a team. The question can lead to agonizing over the pros and

In the digital age, almost everyone scours online reviews before they make any kind of purchase. People won’t rent a hotel room or read a book until they know its online star rating and have insight from others who

The Internet has ushered in many changes to the U.S. economy, and one of the most pronounced has been the customer review. Though Consumer Reports, Consumer Digest and other publications have offered reviews of products and services for decades,

The delivery and role of customer reviews have evolved dramatically and handling feedback is no longer an internal process The Internet has become such a prominent cog in our world that no industry is quarantined from its relevance. Doctors,

Houston Agent analyzed Web traffic data from Alexa.com, a leading analytics firm, and collected its findings in the infographic below. The numbers were pulled the week of May 18, and the brokerages are ranked in alphabetical order. How does your brokerage rank

Houston Agent crunched the social media numbers on Facebook and Twitter, and collected the findings in the infographic below. The numbers were pulled the week of May 18 directly from the brokerages’ social media pages, and the brokerages are ranked in

Once upon a time, it took little work to convince young adults to enter the real estate market. They finished school and entered the workforce, and soon began thinking about starting families and purchasing a home as soon as

Loosening credit and more savvy consumers are helping to keep Houston’s housing market healthy and active entering 2015. Catherine Reilly, a partner and loan originator at DMR Mortgage, sees mortgages as easy to get for consumers who have the

President Obama and the FHA recently announced that it would reduce its mortgage insurance premium from 1.35 to 0.85, which makes FHA loans even more affordable. The FHA, which is overseen by HUD and insures mortgages with down payments

What would your advice be to your younger, rookie agent self, now that you’re a top producer? Diane Mireles, Better Homes and Gardens Gary Greene: “Take your clients seriously, and look at every transaction as a lifelong relationship. This means

When Karen Karapasha arrived in Houston from Louisiana with her family in 1991, she had no inkling that she would eventually become one of the city’s top real estate professionals, doing $83 million in transactions in 2014. She had

The fourth quarter of 2014 ended with oil prices at their lowest levels in several years, a fact that has not yet been reflected in Houston’s real estate market. Sissy Lappin of Lappin Properties has seen this happen before.

Anxious to find out what’s next for real estate in 2015? Trends have been slow to emerge and the market has been incrementally improving each year, 2013’s market was very similar to 2014’s market; it doesn’t feel like much

Getting a career going in real estate can be tough, and even established agents can have a hard time reaching their goals and maintaining their success. My Castle Realty owner and broker Gary Bisha has seen new agents and