Open houses are not the best vehicles for selling homes. So why do Real Estate Agents bother with them? For the following reason: Open houses are a great means for prospecting.

Are we really poised for a recovery in the housing market? The latest encouraging words from the U.S. Conference Board’s Demand Institute Division are that we are heading for a rapidly accelerating rental market which will lead to a housing recovery.

In Freddie Mac’s results of its Primary Mortgage Market Survey®, average fixed mortgage rates again reached new record lows. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 3.79 percent continues to remain well below 4 percent and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages are also slightly down at 3.04 percent.

Today’s market has given us an opportunity that we have not seen in a long, long time, and many brokers are missing it! The current market has agents across the country contemplating staying in the business, changing offices or moving on.

Only one in three risk-averse lenders are participating in the HARP program to help homeowners refinance with today’s low rates. The voluntary program may be due for another upgrade.

It’s always good to have a map when you’re traveling unfamiliar roads. It’s easy to get lost or to make a wrong turn. Having a good map is doubly important when you are traversing the roads of real estate.

Nature is in full bloom across the nation. Many of today’s homeowners are unaware that Spring can be the ultimate time to list a home for sale. From beautiful lawns to temperate weather it’s prime time to lure in buyers.

ith the Euro-zone back in the news, it was inevitable that mortgage rates would fall again. Investors have become quite uncertain about austerity measures in Europe, especially with Greece, where opposition continues to grow. Here in the U.S., the Mortgage Banker’s Association reported that mortgage applications increased 1.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis for the week ending May 4th.

We have a complete board turnover coming at the upcoming Annual Meeting. Some owners want to self-manage because our management company is not performing. Does this group, assuming they are elected, have the right to fire the manager and just take over with self-managing our 64 units? Does this require the vote of the entire membership?

Are you ready for a garden that loves to take care of itself? PJ Wade examines qwerty in the garden, and asks, “What will you do with the time and money you don’t spend watering this summer?”