Real Estate, Updates, News & Tips - Thomas Becotte - iPro Real Estate

Driverless Cars May Open Options for Buyers

More autonomous, self-driving cars are expected on the roads over the next decade, which will likely have a big impact on residential construction, housing demand, and home design, notes Robert Dietz, chief economist of the National Association of Home Builders.Driverless cars could make more areas suitable for development of single-family communities, Dietz argues in an article for BUILDER Online. “More efficient roadways would reduce travel t

Read More

REALTORS: 3 Risky Behaviors in Email Communication

If you're not careful about how you respond to clients over email, you could risk losing contracts, damaging your reputation, and even being sued for breach of confidentiality. Forbes.com offers some of the following tips to avoid PR nightmares and liability offenses with your email behavior.Beware of hitting the “reply all” button. If you’re responding to multiple contacts, delete the email thread history in your message to avoid potential

Read More

Wannabe Buyers Aren’t Saving Enough

Though millennials express desire for homeownership, they aren’t saving anywhere near what they need for a down payment. About 80 percent of millennials recently surveyed by rental website Apartment List say they hope to one day buy a home, but 36 percent say they’ll likely need to wait more than five years before they can. Only 16 percent believe they’ll be able to buy within two years, according to the survey of 24,000 millennial renters

Read More

Rents are Rising in the Suburbs

Is there anywhere left for people looking to save money?Key Takeaways Rising affordability issues for would-be buyers impacts renters as well.Home prices have been consistently rising with Q1 2017 home prices surging 6.9 percent quarter-over-quarter and 5.9 percent year-over-year.Some aspiring buyers look to renting in the ‘burbs as a cheaper option, but Zillow’s latest rental study shows that rents in suburban and urban areas are facing affo

Read More

REALTORS: Being ‘in play’ with your leads

Gary Gold says “being in play” — having ongoing conversations — with leads is how you become their designated agent.If you’ve already started a dialogue with someone looking for a house, you’ll be the first one they call when they’re ready to move forward.But if you go MIA for several days, they’ll find another agent.It’s important to “be in play” with as many leads as possible. Always stay engaged with your book of leads v

Read More

REALTORS: 8 things your buyers should forget about in a hot market

Why CMAs, appraisals and listing prices aren't always importantKey Takeaways Many buyers mistakenly listen to the advice of friends and family before consulting an agent. A home is always worth what the highest bidder is willing to pay.With an extreme shortage of housing inventory plaguing many markets across the country, many homeowner wannabes are locked in an epic struggle to purchase a home.Unfortunately, some of these buyers are receiving ad

Read More

REALTORS: 7 characteristics of mega-producers

Key Takeaways Only 5 percent of the population has high drive and strong people skills, but almost all mega-producers share this combination. Mega-producers focus on what they love to do and delegate everything else.What characteristics separate mega-producers from all the rest? More importantly, what steps can you take to put yourself on the path to stellar production?Here are seven characteristics of mega-producers:1. They posses the behavioral

Read More

MUSIC: Enjoy this Tune "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood

In honor of Memorial Day and the soldiers that fight for what we truly stand for..."God Bless the USA" is an American patriotic song written and recorded by country music artist Lee Greenwood, and is considered to be his signature song. The first album it appears on is 1984's You've Got a Good Love Comin'. It reached No. 7 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart when originally released in the spring of 1984, and was played at the 198

Read More

The Fastest-Growing Cities Not on Your Radar

Not everyone is heading to a major metropolis. You may not have even heard of many of the metros topping the Census Bureau’s latest list of fastest-growing cities—but that may change as their populations surge.The nation’s fastest-growing city this year is Conroe, Texas. About 40 miles outside of Houston, Conroe saw its population increase 7.8 percent between July 1, 2015, and July 1, 2016, according to the Census report, which only include

Read More

Why Housing Is on Track for a Good Year

Low mortgage rates and strong job growth are giving the housing market one of its best years in decades—even as overall economic growth has weakened—according to Freddie Mac’s monthly Outlook report for May. The report’s optimism is a change from the mortgage giant’s previous predictions, when economists said the housing market likely would not perform as well as it did in 2016.New-home sales in March were better than expected, and exis

Read More

This website includes images sourced from third party websites including Adobe, Getty Images, and as otherwise noted.