Last chance to nominate someone you know, or yourself, for the highest awards given by HAR—the REALTOR of the Year and John E. Wolf Community Service Award. You may find the nomination forms here. You will also read what the qualifications are to receive each award. It’s been a memorable year as we have the continued effects of Hurricane Harvey, so I know there are many deserving people who could receive these awards.
Speaking of Hurricane Harvey, the July market statistics showed tremendous strength in terms of both sales and pricing. Note that next month will be an interesting one since the city essentially shut down the last week of August due to the hurricane, so the usual year-over-year comparisons will not really be valid. Take a look at the July figures on here though and especially note the increase in pending sales and that sales in the $150,000 and above price ranges all showed good increases.
Have you been tuning in to HAR’s weekly MemberFocusMonday sessions on Facebook? Every Monday at 9 a.m. HAR social media manager Cristina Schafer gives great information about HAR tools, Matrix tricks, how to effectively use social media in your business, or interviews with industry leaders. Make sure you “Like” HAR.com on Facebook, and then the process for viewing the Facebook Live sessions is easy. You may read more about it here.
Are you part of a team? The increase in the number of teams as members of HAR has not gone unnoticed. In response to that, HAR will now make it possible to display your team name on listings on HAR.com and in Matrix. You may read more about the process here. Get the recognition your team deserves by making sure that your team is displayed on your listings. There are also settings to allow for different permission levels that the team leader may set. You do have to register the team name with TREC, so make sure you read the article first.
Speaking of new things HAR is doing, there is a new directions feature. You may check it out at www.har.com/directions. It allows you to enter multiple addresses or MLS numbers and then optimize them on a map to take the best route possible. You may then share that with your clients, branded to you! You may read more here. We have also upgraded MarketInsight to have quicker access, an improved design and to be more mobile friendly. You may also read about these features on here. Our technology department is always working to make everything we do to support you even more beneficial.
Lastly, I would like to congratulate all of the winners from the 2019 HAR Board of Directors election. You may see a complete list here. These are the people who will make decisions on behalf of the real estate industry in the greater Houston area and beyond. We are one of the few REALTOR® associations in the country that doesn’t have a nominating committee and allows anyone to run for one of the open positions. I thank each of the candidates who took time campaigning and wanted to make our association even better. For everyone, look out for our Get Involved messages soon to join the advisory groups for 2019.
Until next month,
Kenya Burrell-VanWormer
HAR Chair of the Board
