Pearland Real Estate Expert

How has the Internet changed our world? That’s an historic question with a constantly changing answer. We have instant access to huge amounts of information, with more being created every day. We can read the latest news headlines, collaborate and communicate with people around the world, conduct business, check stock prices, watch video, listen to music, play games, and research anything that comes to mind – at any time of the day and without leaving our desk!

Not your parents’ home search
The Internet is also largely responsible for dramatic changes in the real estate industry. What’s the most significant difference? Research shows that almost 80 percent of recent homebuyers relied heavily on the Internet to conduct their home search. This is a definitely not the way our parents and grandparents looked for a property. I see this as a positive thing. It saves everyone a great deal of time and makes the house-hunting experience much more efficient for the homebuyer.

Got a question?
http://www.HAR.com is one of the nation’s preeminent real estate Web sites, offering valuable, readily available data for the entire greater Houston area. I’m not just talking about searching homes for sale. You can estimate the value of a house, research demographics, assess schools, learn about communities, and even get satellite imagery of a neighborhood or a house. The best part is that these services are free.

If you’ve searched online for real estate information recently, you’ve probably noticed the proliferation of real estate-related blogs. Blogs are a great source of information—places where you can ask questions, interact with experts, and find data that’s already been deciphered and analyzed. And bloggers will engage almost anyone about almost anything. Want to know where the best hamburger or pizza in your new town is? How about the return on investment for stainless steel kitchen appliances when remodeling or selling a home?

Don’t believe everything you read
It’s not just trade-specific sites that affect the industry. National news media continue to be obsessed with doom-and-gloom real estate coverage. There’s certainly no shortage of negative publicity about the industry: stories about foreclosures and real estate’s ties to the national economy are widespread. Bad news sells, and the national outlets’ content reflects it. This is especially true on Web sites—there are no true space constraints, authors are not confined to traditional publication schedules and deadlines, and readers have the ability to post their comments on stories.

Know the source
With all these streams of information, there’s no question that anyone, especially someone who’s not in the real estate industry, could easily suffer from information overload. What’s the worst part of that? A lot of that information is extraneous, erroneous, or simply invalid in our market.

As a buyer, seller, or homeowner, you may find it hard to know who to trust. Much of the information on the Internet is written authoritatively and wrapped in a pretty package, which lends instant credibility, sometimes without good reason. So what’s true? What do you really need to know? As a trusted adviser, a Realtor can help you navigate the modern real estate transaction, sift through all the data and arrive at good decisions.

The industry has changed, but ultimately, the job of a Realtor is the same: to help you with the process of buying or selling a home. It’s what we do. The Internet has added a new dimension to the real estate world, and it’s made many aspects of the real estate transaction easier, quicker and more transparent. More data and solid research make for a more involved and informed buyer, which are positive consequences of today’s Internet-based real estate tools. Be aware, though, that all that available information has added a level of complexity to the process as well.

Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources: http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/ and for all of your Pearland TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at http://www.danfrankrealty.com//. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.

Danny Frank is a local Pearland TX Real Estate expert!

My column was also published in the 19April09 edition of the Galveston County Daily News

As recently as 1967, there were no laws that prohibited discrimination in the leasing, purchase and sale of real estate. That changed with the enactment of fair-housing laws as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. These laws guarantee the right to own, use, and transfer real estate and housing in a diverse, yet discrimination-free, marketplace. The laws are about not only providing equal opportunities, but ensuring that the housing industry, as a whole, supports these opportunities.

What’s the difference between fair and affordable?

Too often, we find that affordable housing and fair housing get lumped together. They’re not the same thing—not even close! Your rights under the Fair Housing Act can be violated whether you’re a student trying to rent a one-bedroom apartment, a retiree seeking to purchase a million-dollar property, or a buyer looking for your first affordable home.

Affordable housing, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is when a household spends no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing expenses, including basic utilities. Any household that spends in excess of 30 percent is considered “cost burdened” and may have trouble affording other necessities and establishing healthy long-term savings.

Seven protected classes

Fair-housing laws prohibit housing discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, disability, national origin, and familial status. The Fair Housing Act applies to most types of housing and shields the protected categories from discrimination such as:

• Refusing to rent or sell housing
• Refusing to negotiate for housing
• Making housing unavailable
• Denying a dwelling
• Setting different terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rental of a dwelling
• Providing different housing services or facilities
• Falsely denying that housing is available for inspection, sale or rental
• Denying anyone access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale or rental of housing

The Fair Housing Act applies to mortgage lending, as well, and prohibits using any of the protected categories as reasons for:

• Refusing to make a mortgage loan
• Refusing to provide information regarding loans
• Imposing different terms or conditions on a loan, such as different interest rates, points, or fees
• Discriminating in appraising property
• Refusing to purchase a loan
• Setting different terms or conditions for purchasing a loan

Bear in mind that fair-housing laws shield everyone in these protected groups—not just those that have been historical targets for discrimination. In other words, someone who is refused housing because he or she is white has as much protection as someone who is refused housing because he or she is disabled.

Under the fair-housing laws, it is also illegal for anyone to threaten, coerce, intimidate or interfere with anyone exercising a fair-housing right or assisting others who exercise that right.

Don’t be offended

If you’re in the market to buy a home, you’ll likely have a great deal of contact with your real estate agent. Because your agent is so knowledgeable and accessible, you may feel as though he or she has all the answers about the local market. It’s a logical, and usually correct, assumption. Agents—particularly Realtors—know their communities and the real estate industry very well.

Part of knowing the industry, though, is having a thorough understanding of fair-housing laws. As such, there are certain questions that a real estate professional simply can’t (or shouldn’t) answer.

If you ask your Realtor to eliminate or include certain areas or neighborhoods in your home search based on any of the protected classes, that Realtor legally cannot follow your instructions. Don’t be offended or angry. No matter how benign the request may seem, it would be a violation of fair housing laws and he or she would be risking a hefty fine, along with reputation and career.

An agent’s job is to match the client with properties based on factors such as available features and sales price—not on the demographics of the client or the area. Such action could be considered “steering,” which is the illegal act of funneling of homebuyers either to or away from a particular area based on demographics. For instance, showing a black family only homes which lie in predominately black neighborhoods is considered steering, as is refusing to show a family with three children a home in an area with mostly single residents.

Ethnically based and racially based steering are the most common, but any such practice is unacceptable and goes against fair-housing laws.

Forty years is just not that long ago, folks. It’s hard for many of us to believe that there were no laws on the books to protect the housing interests of every American until so recently. And, although we’ve made tremendous strides as a country, we’ve still got a long way to go. We must remain diligent in our pursuit of discrimination-free society.

If there's a problem

I hope that you have never been, and never will be, a victim of housing discrimination. But if you think your rights have been violated, you can contact HUD and complete a Housing Discrimination Complaint Form. It's available for download on HUD's Web site http://www.hud.gov , or you can contact the HUD office nearest you. You have one year after an alleged violation to file a complaint, but it's wise to file as soon as possible.

Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources: http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/ and for all of your Pearland TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at http://www.danfrankrealty.com/. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.

Danny Frank is a local Pearland TX Real Estate expert!

My column was also published in the 12April09 edition of the Galveston County Daily News

There’s something about the topic of real estate that turns everyone into an expert. Tell a group at a dinner party that you’re selling your home, and you’ll get advice to go along with every course of your meal. Perhaps that’s because many people have bought and sold homes, so they have experience with property transactions. But experience is not the same thing as expertise.

Your friends and family aren’t trying to steer you wrong, but they may be perpetuating a lot of myths regarding successful techniques to sell houses. Here are four common seller misconceptions.

Set your price high to leave room for negotiation

Homeowners fall into this trap all the time. They aim high so they can “come down” on the price when a buyer wants to haggle. And there’s always a chance someone will pay their inflated asking price, right?

A pricing strategy like this backfires more often than not. For starters, many potential buyers won’t even view your property if you value it above their price range. And if your home doesn’t compare favorably to others offered for the same price, you are just helping sell other people’s homes.

Even worse, when an overpriced home sits on the market, buyers wonder what’s wrong with it. Many times, sellers wind up lowering their price below the level that would have attracted a sale had it been priced properly from the start.

You’ll make more money if you sell it yourself

Maybe you will, or maybe you won’t. It’s true: Realtors don’t work for free. Keep in mind, however, that Realtors guide clients through the intricacies of property transactions every day. They know your housing market, and are required to be up-to-date on the latest forms and legal issues. Remember, too, that selling a home requires a great deal of time. You’ll need to hold open houses on weekends and be available to show your home whenever a prospective buyer wants to see it.

Without proper market analysis, you could set the price too low, costing you money. A bungled negotiation would cut into your bottom line, too. Be sure to weigh any hypothetical savings against the time, effort and risk you take by selling the property yourself.

Just paint the front door and plant some petunias

You may think that your house is ready for buyers, but there’s more to preparing your home for the market than beefing up the curb appeal. Houses that show the best allow potential buyers to envision themselves in the homes. The pool table and dart board in your third bedroom need to go, and the room should be reconfigured as a bedroom. You also will want to banish clutter and make repairs that would otherwise deter potential purchasers. Strive for a neutral environment that will appeal to the vast majority of homebuyers.

Not every offer is worth your time

Don’t be insulted if a potential buyer presents an offer way below your asking price. It’s nothing personal, and you’re not required to reduce your price. Some buyers use such offers as a way to start the negotiating process, and it doesn’t take much effort to see if the person genuinely wants to purchase your home.

One caveat about negotiating: When buyers and sellers get close on a sales price, often someone suggests splitting the difference. If a low-ball initial offer caused to you counter with a significant price reduction, meeting halfway later in the negotiations might not be in your best interest financially.

If you’re selling your home, I think you’ll benefit from hiring a Realtor as your advocate. Your Realtor can help you avoid these and other seller mistakes, so you achieve your best outcome.

Whether you're interested in buying your first home, your next home, or just want to know more about home-ownership in general, I encourage you to check out a couple of great online resources: http://www.texasrealestate.com/ or http://www.har.com/ and for all of your Pearland TX and Northern Brazoria and Galveston County real estate needs, please visit my site at http://www.danfrankrealty.com/. All of these sites offer tons of useful, real estate-related information geared specifically for Texans.

Danny Frank is a local Pearland TX Real Estate expert!

My column was also published in the 29March09 edition of the Galveston County Daily News