It’s almost time to make your voices heard. It’s not the City of Houston election…yet. It’s the HAR Board of Directors election. Look for your ballot to be delivered to you via email on July 17. The ballot code is unique to each member and will be sent from an independent, third-party election firm named BigPulse. For more information about who is running in each race, you may read more here. You may also go to www.har.com/election to read more information about each candidate and their background.
The Houston real estate market continues to outpace 2018 levels, with increases in number of properties sold and sales price. You may see all the stats here. With the Months Inventory figure hitting 4.2 months in May 2019, we are slowly trending toward a more balanced market, which is considered 6.0 months. Single-family home sales prices increased in all price ranges at $150,000 and above. Only the homes priced below that level saw declines.
One of the greatest professional honors you may receive is to be named REALTOR® of the Year by your peers. If you know someone who you think rises to that level and is deserving, you may find a nomination form on here. It also includes the criteria that are considered. Additionally, REALTORS® are some of the most active people in the charitable realm, so if you know someone who should be considered for the John E. Wolf Community Service Award, you may also find a nomination form on the same page. Both awards will be presented at REALTOR® Celebration in December.
As I mentioned above, it’s not time for the City of Houston election just yet, but it’s great to know how the candidate screening process is conducted. You may read all about it here. With so many candidates running for all of the seats, it is a very time-consuming process that requires our volunteers to give up many hours in interviews. The HAR recommendation is one of the most sought after in Houston, so we take the integrity or the process very seriously. Look for a list of recommended candidates later this year.
What is your value? It sounds like something you would read in a self-help book or something your therapist would ask you. When we ask, we mean it in terms of your professional value. How would you describe what you bring to the table to a prospective client? How does that set you apart from the other 39,000 REALTORS® in the greater Houston area? To read more about it, please click here.
In 2006 Facebook was opened up so that anyone who was at least 13 years old could register for an account. Social media has become a part of almost everything we do now. That includes in real estate. Whether it is marketing your listings on Instagram or to market yourself on Twitter, social media is a useful tool for all REALTORS®. If you want to learn more about how you can benefit from the various platforms out there, you may read more here.
Until next month,
Shannon Cobb Evans
2019 HAR Chair
