John Daugherty, Realtors Attends LeadingRE Conference in Vegas

Last week I attended the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Annual Conference and Luxury Portfolio Top Sales Associate Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.  It was a very proud time for John Daugherty, Realtors, as everyone there seemed to know that there were several of us in attendance from our company.  In fact, we were eight people strong.   I was accompanied by Steve Thistle, our General Sales Manager, and six of our sales associates:  Tania Amin, Moni Bohnisch, Laramie Driscoll, Dede Fike, Julianna Lind and Judy Mousa. 

The Luxury Portfolio Top Sales Associate Summit was a gathering of the finest luxury property specialists from around the world.  The focus of the Summit program was to further enhance the presence of these elite companies in their respective luxury markets.  This was a great time for our agents to network with other top sales associates from around the world, while attending several informative sessions and gaining some insight on how other luxury firms have adapted there business models to survive and even thrive in the downturns.

Naturally, there was a lot of talk about the current state of the real estate market, particularly in areas of the country that have been much harder hit that the Houston real estate market.  Fortunately, the real estate market is a local market and not a national market, which perhaps isn’t stressed enough.  It would have been nice to share the Texas perspective on the current state of the real estate market in contrast to states like California, Nevada and Florida.  For instance, Houston Relocation business has remained strong compared to other states.

The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Conference was equally informative, but for me was even more valuable due to my position as Director of Global Relocation Services at John Daugherty, Realtors.  The theme of the  Conference was “Leading the Revolution,” which reflects the network’s commitment to “Leading the Revolution” in real estate as we adapt to changes in the economy, in the housing market, in technology and in client needs and preferences.  I always gravitate to the sessions involving social networking, technology, relocation best practices and business development, as these are key components to my own business model and in the way I run our Relocation Department.

I was also invited to be a panelist for one of the conference sessions, which was entitled, “Raising the Bar on Your Relocation Training Program.”  This is a very important subject to me, since I am responsible for developing and implementing our comprehensive Relocation Training and Certification Program for the agents at John Daugherty, Realtors. 

In visiting with the other panelists, speakers and conference attendees, I have come back to work today with many new ideas and best practices, all of which are of benefit to my department and my company.  This is the best part of being a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®.  As a result, I have life-long friends, partners, and business coaches.  I can pick up the phone or fire off an email anytime and always expect to hear a friendly voice on the other end happy to share ideas and a little brain storming.  This has been invaluable to me, and I look forward to all that is yet to come as part of this group, whose members are the leaders in their respective real estate markets.

Tags | Houston Relocation, John Daugherty, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio, Michelle Sandlin, Realtors

In Agent Training
Global Relocation Services
Houston Real Estate Market
Houston Relocation
John Daugherty, Realtors
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
Real Estate
Relocation
Relocation Training
Socal Media
Texas

Houston Luxury Home Market Experiences Surge

I love reading great news about Houston.  And I especially love reading great news about the Houston real estate market.  HAR (Houston Association of Realtors) has just released its figures for January 2010, and it is very optimistic, particularly with regard to the luxury market.

According to HAR, single family home sales priced between $250,000 and $500,000 were up 21.6% in January, while home sales between $500,000 to the millions surged 40%.

Meanwhile, HAR reported that foreclosure property sales fell 30.1% in January compared to January a year ago.

As for the median price of a single-family home in January, that price was $144,500, which reflects an 11.9% increase from January 2009.  This also represents the ninth consecutive monthly increase in median price, as well as the highest median single family home sale reported for any January on record in Houston, Texas.  The average sales price of $194,154 also represents an increase of 18.4% from a year ago.

In an article appearing in today’s Houston Chronicle, John A. Daugherty, Jr., president and CEO of John Daugherty, Realtors says that, “there are plenty of positive signs that the luxury housing market is turning around.”  Daugherty spoke candidly with Chronicle reporter Nancy Sarnoff about the future of the luxury real estate market in Houston.

When asked when Houston’s real estate market is going to come back, Daugherty says:  “There are positive signs for the market as new home construction is on the rise and the upper end is getting stronger.  I would imagine other segments of the market will follow by the second half of this year.”

To read the entire article, please click on this link: John Daugherty Speaks on the Houston Luxury Market.

Tags | Houston Luxury Home Market

In Houston Real Estate Market
John Daugherty, Realtors
Real Estate

Houston Real Estate – Legal Update

Attorney Dick Hargis of Hargis & Harpold, LLP gave a presentation at yesterday’s sales meeting at John Daugherty, Realtors to address lease purchase transactions and other legal issues currently facing many of our sales associates.  Hargis & Harpold, L.L.P. is a law firm concentrating its practice in the areas of  Houston real estate, commercial litigation, insurance defense, trade associations, business transactions, employment and subrogation. We are always very glad to have Hargis share his legal insights with us, as it always leads to a very eye-opening discussion.

 

Watch what you say in emails!

Hargis began by reminding everyone how important it is to always make sure that you watch what you say every time you hit the send button on an email.  This is excellent advice, especially given how often an email can be misinterpreted.  Whenever in doubt about how your words or tone might be interpreted, it is a good idea to save the email as a draft and go back and read it, and if needed, edit it before sending.

Lease Purchase Transactions

Hargis says, “Just say no!”  This is the best advice, he says.  A lease purchase is actually a contract for deed.  It is a transaction in which statutory rules burden the seller (or Broker) with many of the following:

• Pre-contract disclosures
• Pre-contract documents
• Annual accounting

Not only that, but non-compliance can lead to DTPA violation, contract rescission and refund of all payments.  The list of pre-contract disclosures alone can be very daunting.  Real estate agents and brokers can’t write a lease purchase; it requires the use of an attorney for drawing up the agreement.  Hargis recommends telling the seller that he or she should call a lawyer to discuss if they are considering this type of transaction.  “Under no circumstances should an agent attempt to draw up a lease purchase contract,” says Hargis.  In general, a much better option might be owner financing.

From time-to-time I run across a transferee who is interested in discussing lease purchase options with me.  I can tell you that they have no idea what this entales.  Especially in today’s market, people relocating to Houston are often looking to explore all of their options and inquiring doing a lease purchase.  Fortunately, when they are relocating to Houston through a relocation company, they are often counseled about the necessity of using an attorney and discouraged from exploring this type of transaction. 

Buyer’s Rep Agreement & Information About Brokerage Services

Why are both needed?  Hargis says that the Information About Brokerage Services Form is a good introduction and a lead in to a Buyer’s Representation Agreement.  The IABS is informational, and is important because it addresses Intermediary.  The Buyer’s Rep Agreement is a sign of some sort of loyalty between the agent and the buyer.

 Who Should Hold Open Houses?

This is always an important consideration.  According to Hargis, an agent employed assistant who has a real estate license is fine to hold an open house; however, if the assistant is unlicensed, the assistant should not be allowed to hold and open house.  As for unlicensed persons, they can hold open houses, but Hargis does not recommend it.  He says that they are not supposed to say anything, but you can never be sure whether that person will give out information or say something that he or she shouldn’t. 

What legal issues or questions do you have?  It’s very important to have reliable legal resources whenever controversial issues or questions arise.

Tags | Houston Real Estate, Houston Relocation, Legal Update

In Houston Real Estate Market
Houston Relocation
John Daugherty, Realtors
Real Estate

2010 Economic Forecast

Mike Inselmann, president of metrostudy gave his annual economic forecast at John Daugherty, Realtors’ Sales Meeting on Tuesday.  Metrostudy is the nation’s leading provider of primary and secondary market information to the housing, retail and related industries nationwide.  As in years past, Inselmann presented to a standing room only crowd. 

Inselmann kicked things off on a positive note by saying that, “The housing recovery is going to come whether you believe it’s going to come or not.”  He says that it is in the works, and although it may happen slower than we want it to happen, it will happen nonetheless. 

According to Inselmann, almost everything is pointing towards an economic recovery.  He says that the media focuses a lot on employment and jobs, which is important, but that employment numbers are lag indicators rather than leading indicators.  He says that people are still slower to hire, even though things are starting to pick up a little bit, and that it is just going to take some time for the private sector to begin hiring again.

I think that most of us can related to Inselmann’s sentiments about living in Houston.  He says, “I’d still rather be in Houston, Texas than anyplace else.”  He says that we have held up surprisingly well in our market compared to just about anywhere else in the United States.

In our local market, says Inselmann, “our job figures are probably the key component for trying to gauge how quickly our housing market will really start to pick up.”

Inselmann calls Houston a city that is built on business and on jobs and on economic opportunity, which he says makes us a jobs-driven housing market as well.

“We have had a lot of transactions, even in a down market,” says Inselmann.  He says that the forecast for jobs in 2010 is for the recovery to begin sometime in midyear.  He says that we’ve already started to see the month over month job losses narrow compared to the same months a year ago.

He says that we have learned a bitter lesson in our business and personal lives about how we achieve prosperity, and the fact that it can’t be done through debt.  He thinks we will see a lot more innovation and more and more hard work needed to pull us out of the down cycle that we’ve been in.

As for Houston, he says that we are seeing some consolidation in the oil sector. As for the Houston relocation business, he says that this has been reasonably okay throughout the year.  Then he hinted to a big announcement that is expected to come in the next few days about a big relocation deal that he says “will trigger a fairly big surge of relocation business into Houston.”  Naturally, I will be watching and waiting for this announcement with baited breath!

With regards to foreclosures in the Houston area, Inselmann says that it’s not that we don’t have foreclosures, it’s just that the magnitude of the problem is not as bad as other U.S. real estate markets, which were hit really hard. 

Inselmann says that, “The shrinkage of new supply combined with the steady growth of our economy and market means that we are going to have more sales and fewer new housing starts, leaving us with the currently inventory that there is in the market place.  This will continue until the lending community gets repaired and new construction starts again.  So as the supply begins to shrink and demand begins to pick up with the economy, you are going to see some recovery in home prices in our market place.”

In many ways, Inselmann says, we are “getting back to normal.”  He says that the days on market for properties on MLS are averaging about 80-85, which is pretty good.  We have been somewhat spoiled during the boom when properties sold during the first week on the market. 

He says that you are going to see a number of people who could only survive during the boom times, get washed out of the real estate industry.  He says that this is good news for us, because it leaves the real estate industry to the real professionals and long standing brands that have established themselves and have proven that they can survive and even thrive in the down markets as well as in boom markets.

We are faced with more difficulties now as a result of the mistakes we made during the boom times.  For instance, says Inselmann, the loan approval process is more difficult; not everyone can get financing.  He says that we were living in a time when people who had no business buying homes were getting financing.  As a consequence, it is harder to convince people now that buying a home is a good idea.  We just went through a time when we were told that buying a house is a smart move for everyone and now we are suffering the repercussions, says Inselmann.

We saw vast numbers of domestic migrantion into Texas in 2009.  Inselmann said that for 2009, it is estimated that Texas gained 150,000 new residents.  This is not surprising given the increased job opportunities and better economy compared to other parts of the country.

Inselmann closed by encouraging us to attend public hearings and forums as often as possible in order to educate ourselves on the kinds of proposals and things that are happening on a local level.  He said that it is important to stay up-to-date about what is happening in Houston.  I think he is right on target!

Tags | Economic Forecast, Houston Economy, Houston Housing Market, Houston Relocation

In Foreclosures
Houston
Houston Real Estate Market
Houston Relocation
John Daugherty, Realtors
Relocation
Texas

Houston Real Estate – Have We Hit Bottom?

Has the Houston real estate market hit rock bottom?  It depends on who you ask, as opinions on this subject seem to vary, according to an article published in the Houston Business Journal on Friday.

According to the article, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) says that Houston’s median sales price for single-family homes rose for a fifth consecutive month in October.  According to HAR, the median sales price is $156,200, which is up 2 percent from the same period in 2008.  In the HBJ article, HAR chair Vicki Fullerton remarks that, the data may indicate that Houston area’s recovery has begun.

At John Daugherty, Realtors, we are certainly seeing an increase in sales.  In fact, in October we were fifty-two percent over our goal for sales and pending sales.  This achievement was the largest increase ever in one month as well the third best October for our company since the turn of the century.  We are also headed to higher than expected sales for the month of November.  As such, indications are favorable that we may in fact have hit the bottom in the Houston Real Estate market.

So, to what do we attribute this spike in sale?  As reported numerous times in my various blog posts this year, people are moving to Houston at a higher rate than the national average.  Whether it is due to a corporate based relocation to Houston, or because individuals seeking greater opportunities are choosing to move to Houston on their own, the fact remains that Houston is a very sought after city when it comes to relocation.

I would expect that as we approach 2010, that Houston will continue to draw people to our city in increased numbers.

How has your city faired compared to Houston relocation?  Are your numbers up or down?  Please let me know what you have seen in your areas of the country and to what you attribute your increases or decreases in terms of people relocating.

As for whether or not we have hit the bottom, in the Houston real estate market or elsewhere, I would be interested in hearing how you weigh in.  Let me hear from you.

Tags | Houston Real Estate, Houston Relocation, Moving to Houston

In Houston Real Estate Market
Houston Relocation
Real Estate