Home sellers have been tiptoeing back into the housing market throughout 2013, and we’ve collected the most important traits of those sellers. We’ve been covering the National Association of Realtors’ Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends report pretty extensively

We keep hearing that mortgage lending standards are unfairly tight, but does the data support that meme? One of the more prevailing memes in the housing recovery has been the relative tightness of lending standards on residential mortgages, and

The downpayment remains the staple of most home financing; how are buyers, nowadays, funding their downpayments? Only 9 percent of homebuyers so far in 2013 have funded less than 50 percent of their home purchases with financing – which means that

Housing affordability has slipped a bit so far in 2013, but does Houston’s housing stock remain affordable relative to other major cities? Housing affordability slipped a bit from the first quarter to the second quarter in 2013, according to

This the third part in a 12-part series. Just as every person has areas to improve, every person has areas of strengths that come naturally to them. Behavioral science research has identified 12 areas of “call reluctance,” which means

Twitter is an integral part of Houston’s real estate market, but how can you harness it for your business? Alyssa Mattero shares three essential steps. A basic search on Twitter reveals that the Houston real estate industry has a strong

The rapid rise in home prices has been one of 2013’s major economic stories, but there’s mounting evidence that those increases will slow down – and soon. If there’s been a poster child for the housing recovery, it’s been

Clients have many reason to hire real estate agents, but what reasons have been the most prominent thus far in 2013? You’re a great listener. You’re a friend of the family. You came highly recommended. There are many reasons

You just took on a new client, and are assisting them in the homebuying process; what parts of the process will they most need you for? We recently reported on consumers’ initial expectations for real estate agents, and the

Between the Internet, referrals and advertisements, consumers have many options for finding agents; what options, though, ultimately win them over? We are living in an age of overwhelming choice, and real estate is no exception. From the Internet, to

Agents provide many services to their clients, but of those services, which ones are the most valuable to clients? Real estate agents are an invaluable source of information for their clients, and they offer numerous services during the buying

The second quarter was a spectacular one for Freddie and Freddie, but are such successes problematic for the government’s reform efforts? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had mighty good second quarters – not only did the GSEs post respective

President Obama devoted an entire speech yesterday to the housing market, specifically reforms he’d like to see made to our home financing system. President Obama called for reforms to both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in a policy speech

The latest numbers from the National Association of Realtors show that single women are owning on the homeownership front. Women may earn 77 cents of every dollar that men earn, but when it comes to homeownership, women are not

The housing market has grown in many interesting ways so far this year, and agents will have some interesting details to consider for 2013’s second half. The housing market has cut an encouraging path the last six months. What

The Internet is vast and the options for homebuyers are plenty, but certain sites command greater attention from buyers – regardless of age. We all know that 90 percent of homebuyers consult the Internet as some point in their