Houston Real Estate Blogosphere
Houston Real Estate Blogosphere brings together all the blog posts of REALTORS from the Houston area in one place
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Safety & Security
The most recently published posts in the Safety & Security category
Reports filed by banks flagging suspicious activity in mortgage loans
dropped for the first time in 16 years, falling nearly 30 percent last
year, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reports.
Beginning in 1996, mortgage loan fraud had been the only suspicious
activity report that saw rises each year. According to the Financial
Crimes Enforcement Network, nearly 46 percent of al...
Read Post [Posted on 05/16/2013 By John Askins]
The rise in natural disaster-related damage has many insurers reassessing their exposures, raising rates, and reducing coverage. In some cases, insurers have shifted greater financial burdens to home owners and even refused to pay claims. Michael Barry of the Insurance Information Institute (III) says, "The last two years were extraordinary for natural disasters. Insurers have taken a step ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/15/2013 By John Askins]
Rental costs have been on the rise, outpacing stagnant salaries and
widening the affordability gap, according to a new study by DePaul
University.
"After the housing crisis, households shifted to renting for a number
of reasons," says Geoff Smith, co-author of a study on the
affordability gap and executive director of DePaul University’s
Institute for Housing Studies. "The weak e...
Read Post [Posted on 05/07/2013 By John Askins]
The majority of home owners report know about flood insurance, yet
only a small percentage actually add the extra coverage to their
standard homeowner’s insurance policy, according to a new study by
Bankrate.com.
Eighty-one percent of Americans say they are aware that standard
homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover flood damage. But only 13
percent of home owners report having a fl...
Read Post [Posted on 05/06/2013 By John Askins]
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) has announced the reappointment by Governor Rick Perry of Avis Wukasch and Adrian Arriaga to the Commission.Ms. Wukasch was reappointed as the TREC Chair and Mr. Arriaga was reappointed to serve as a broker member of the Commission. In addition to these two reappointments, the Governor appointed Chart Westcott of Dallas to serve as a public member of the Com...
Read Post [Posted on 05/06/2013 By John Askins]
More home owners may be able to use solar panels to curb electricity bills without paying any upfront costs for installation. While home owners have shown a desire for “green” power, they may not be able to afford the $35,000 investment.That’s why a company in San Mateo, Calif., called SolarCity, as well as other solar companies, are introducing a new lease option to get more customers signed...
Read Post [Posted on 05/05/2013 By John Askins]
Homeowner insurance policies can vary greatly, and if home owners aren’t careful, they may find their claims denied when disaster strikes, according to a study by the University of Chicago Law Review.
While home insurers once used standard policy forms by the Insurance Services Office, now some are coming up with their own policies and a few tweaks in the wording can mean trouble for s...
Read Post [Posted on 05/04/2013 By John Askins]
Some people never throw tax records away. Others do not keep them long enough.Knowing what to hang on to, why certain records are needed and how long they should be saved can save storage space and prevent problems should you be audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).“There are tax and nontax reasons for keeping records,” says Dr. Jerrold Stern, professor of accounting in the Kelley School ...
Read Post [Posted on 05/04/2013 By John Askins]
Foreclosed homes are increasingly being purchased or rented by those who are turning the homes into sites of illegal activity: Indoor marijuana farms. According to law enforcement officials, many of these illegal marijuana farm foreclosures are blending right into suburbia. New owners or renters move into foreclosed properties in middle to upper-class neighborhoods, mowing the lawn, taking out the...
Read Post [Posted on 05/04/2013 By John Askins]
Home contractor scams are often on the rise in the spring, and home owners should take steps to make sure they aren’t duped.
The scams often target the elderly, with scammers offering to
complete yard or household work for money up-front and then never
completing the work after the payment is collected. Or, contractors may
complete the work but then attach a higher price than was originally...
Read Post [Posted on 05/03/2013 By John Askins]
Real estate transactions can be a gold mine for legal disputes. Inman News columnist and real estate coach Bernice Ross recently highlighted common sources of real estate litigation and behaviors you’ll want to avoid to keep yourself out of legal trouble. Here are three: 1. Don’t speculate on the property’s condition. Ross cautions real estate pros against or client diagnosing any ...
Read Post [Posted on 04/29/2013 By John Askins]
Mobile manners are getting worse, according to 81 percent of 2,000 Americans recently surveyed by Intel. Ninety-two percent of those surveyed said they wish the public would get more respectful with their mobile etiquette. Could you be one of the offenders? Forbes.com recently profiled some of the worst mobile manner offenses. Some of the offenses include: 1. Spending too much facetime with your p...
Read Post [Posted on 04/28/2013 By John Askins]
The parents of a woman who was married to Boston marathon bombing
suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev put their North Kingstown, R.I., home up for
sale the day after the suspect was killed in gunfire with police in
Massachusetts.
The family had been preparing the home to sell for several weeks, and
the listing went live last Friday. The listing was taken down Monday.
The couple’s real estat...
Read Post [Posted on 04/27/2013 By John Askins]
Between 2004 and 2012, student loan balances nearly tripled,
according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
What’s more, one-third of student loan borrowers are delinquent on their
debt, according to the Federal Reserve report. This will impact their
credit rating and possibly keep them out of the mortgage market much
longer.
"Short term, you see a decrease in the ...
Read Post [Posted on 04/24/2013 By John Askins]
Foreclosed homes left standing empty are increasingly becoming overtaken and turned into marijuana farms inside.
The problem has been particularly acute in and around Las Vegas. For example, at one foreclosed home in Las Vegas, police seized 878 marijuana plants worth about $2.6 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.
In Nevada -- which for the last few years has had one of the ...
Read Post [Posted on 04/23/2013 By John Askins]
