Houston Agent counts down its top 10 real estate films In 1982, iconic horror moviemaker Tobe Hooper (of Texas Chainsaw Massacre fame) married two of American’s most deep-seeded fears: real estate and structures built on unmarked graves. In what became

Federal Aviation Administration approves 400-plus commercial drone exemptions As of late May 2015, the Federal Aviation Administration had granted 434 section 333 exemption petitions, which allow for the commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, and among them,

Google has implemented several mobile-friendly guidelines to its search engine – is your real estate website following those guidelines? If your website isn’t mobile friendly, then Google may not want to be too friendly to it. And for a

States have tried to keep price appreciation in check, but some markets have stepped into overvalued territory Since 2007, when the economic downturn that sent the nation’s housing market into a smoking tailspin began, lawmakers and industry influencers have

Real estate agents should consider these pros and cons before building their own personal website. It’s a trifecta of statistics that perfectly reflects the modern real estate market’s relationship with the web: 92 percent of homebuyers use the Internet

New Freddie Mac research casts doubts on notion that rising rents push consumers toward homeownership It has been a common narrative in the post-boom housing market that rising rents would eventually push more consumers toward homeownership, but new research

RealtyTrac foreclosure report showed  increased activity In a market still reeling from an onslaught of foreclosures dating back early a half-decade, any news of foreclosures that approaches negative is likely to put the industry on edge, which is why RealtyTrac’s

Seven easy steps to building a real estate website The purpose of a good website should be to instill trust, amplify brand awareness and, ultimately, nurture prospects that will later turn into clients. Here are some “musts” for any

NAR documents 6 percent jump in existing-home sales Market indicators have detailed a continual progression towards normalcy since early 2014, but a hiccup in April’s existing-home sales could mark yet another slow down in the pace of progress, according

Houston’s top-selling suburbs for April 2015. The floundering oil market and resulting layoffs pose unique problems for big energy economies, like Houston, but in recent months, and in fact years, the Bayou City has emerged as one of the

After a strong series of months, builder confidence has been a bit bumpy thus far in 2015 Builder confidence has been one of the unqualified success stories of the housing recovery, but weak economic fundamentals could hamper its progress.

April new construction numbers excellent, but stats could be misleading On the surface, April was a fabulously positive month for new construction. Not only did housing starts jump 20.2 percent from March (the second largest jump ever recorded), but their

Making tax collection More of a Pain He must have had a lot of time on his hands: on Jan. 28, 2015, Timothy Andrew Norris, a 27-year-old Wichita Falls resident, decided to take his frustration out on the tax

A study from ULI found that while most people are happy with their living arrangements, many are lacking in some fundamental amenities, like healthy food Real estate supports a wide spectrum of standards, encompassing a plethora of lifestyles and preferences

Significant challenges remain on the homebuilding front, according to new NAHB research “Booming” is a word that has been associated with Houston’s housing market for some time, and no other adjective is more appropriate for the market’s new construction sector, where

Looser lending standards may not be the panacea for housing’s sideways growth For years, housing professionals have been holding their breath for looser lending standards to ride in and boost the market into a new era of prosperity, but