I’m not professing or holding myself out to be a police of TREC violations. I am offering some friendly reminders to my colleagues and customers whom I know always want to do the right thing but sometimes we need a refresher on the basic "do not do" list.

When negotiating contracts that bind a sale, option, lease or rental of any real property, a licensee shall use only the promulgated TREC contract forms with the exceptions of an agent representing herself as a principal, not as an agent or prepared by an attorney.

It is estimated that over 30 million Americans face the day to day activities which take place in their homes in a wheelchair or walker. Veterans coming home from the service of our country are faced with disabilities they have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Silents and Boomers want to “age in place” and have a home that is accessible and sustainable. The problem with finding a solution to remedy these issues was the houses that were designed in the past, prior to current plans, were ugly and expensive.

The Realtors, do the terms organization, receipts, or taxes send a shutter through you amidst an already busy life? Needless to say you are not alone unless you have a staff member or bookkeeper that tends to the financial end of your business. If that is indeed the case then you have made a wise business decision.

For the other 80% or more of real estate agents, basic organization and management of receipts is an on going challenge. When realtors spend too much of their time managing the financial aspect of their business they leave less time for prospecting or simply refueling for the next day. Mind you it is imperative that real estate entrepreneurs maintain closely monitored expense and income reports as well as making their quarterly tax payments in a timely manner.

I ended up connecting the dots backwards. I tell our children the same thing. Daily you will go in a forward direction and then one day looking back you see how the dots connected in the correct order for your successful business adventure. This doesn’t mean there won’t be setbacks. There are always challenges but the challenges are the growing pains.

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Systems are the saving grace for keeping your broker, agent, manager, buyer, seller, title company, mortgage company, inspector, appraiser, surveyor out of trouble. Knowing that systems work why do we sometimes get sloppy in keeping systems in place?

Here are some definitive suggestions that have come across in conversation with long time pros that every office should consider to "stay out of trouble".

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Last fall the city council of Austin passed a mandatory energy audit on houses 10 years and older. The mandatory audit is to disclose the energy efficiency of the property. The effective date is July 2009 and the expense will be approximately $100 for the audit. This is the first of what we are told will be the norm of every city and community in the very near future.
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5- 10 years from now when the financial crisis has ended and housing prices are up once more, we will look in the rear view mirror and realize that we missed the golden age for buying the dream home or being the "first time home buyer".
Smart people say, that moment of knowing we have hit rock bottom is only indicated by the time when everyone is the most pessimistic. That moment is certainly getting closer.
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