Jorge (JAY) Verar, Commercial Real Estate Broker

As Real Estate Agents we tend to expose our information to everyone - the technology allows us to reach the world - unfortunately BAD GUYS are more creative than ever., they use all kinds of technique.

They usually plays on the emotion (we should know this right ). They use the numbers game, they prospect to millions of people around the world mostly to the friendly USA and they always use technology to their advantage. (sounds like a Real Estate Agent ?) I think they attended one of those selling/marketing seminars.

Recently in Houston there were Tenants who were conned by scammers into leasing a property way below the market rate, and presumed that the person they are talking to is the home owner, after 2 weeks and payments made in cash, the Realtor shows up in their door surprised to see them… for a similar incident (CLICK HERE for the news Video)

I got calls all the time from UK, Canada asking me for investment properties, and presumably they are buying in cash., if ever you have this kind of calls simply do the right thing… you really can’t distinguish the GOOD and BAD prospect based on conversation alone.

In our office few years back - we were approach by a couple pretending to be investors and would be buying several properties for their relatives moving in to Houston, presumable they would receive money from the government and would be releasing soon..a new agent jump into this opportunity and happily told me about them, (after showing 10 houses) and all I ask is : “SHOW ME THE MONEY” or any documentation about the presumably Government grant. Of course they can’t produce so I ask for proper documentation, passports visas etc… you should see their face change and immediately made an excuse to leave… weeks later we saw it in the news they manage to scam another Realtor.

The old sayings of our parents and grandparents always hold true – if it is too good to be true – beware” it must be that.. so fellow agents and brokers more than ever simply do the right thing before entertaining your prospect and spending time on them – the word is –PREQUALIFY : - Get answers on their Motivation to buy, Willingness and if they are Able : simply asking them the normal question you ask for the homebuyer should be enough to trigger suspicion – NO …do not do this at random – do this to all no matter how they appear to be., some of us tend not to bother asking if we see a guy pull out of an expensive car and immediately assume they have money… you never can be sure – crooks drive expensive cars …

To file a complain go to www.ic3.gov this is an FBI site specifically for Internet Crime Complaint Center. For local scammers simply complain with your local crime task force.

Saturday Morning at about 1 am , the wind blows like never before, I woke up my wife and 2 daughters we all move and stayed in a room with out windows, tried to sleep but the winds are just too noisy, then few hours later the lights are off-- no power we are in the dark., we have our flashlights and battery operated lamps and listen to the radio.

We listen in fear that Hurricane Ike will come on our doorstep... we are not in the mandatory evacuation order, we trusted the authority but at this moment I fear that my house would be blown away....

Hurricane IKE finally touchdown in Galveston Area, approximately 100 miles from where we are in Northwest Houston., Hours later ...finally the winds slowed down just right after the sun rises, I was amazed to see lots of tree limbs, debris scattered in my back yard, I immediately - complain "Oh I got too much to clean today" ... then my children walk up and looking for breakfast ., as I try to look at the fridge, for something to heat up and pop into the microwave.. opps no electricity, well let me make some coffee first --- oh no ! I forgot no electric again..

I felt so helpless - no food, no water... no TV and no internet... we finally just have a cold cereal for breakfast and my wife manage to brew coffee on our grill outside...have you notice that we are all at the mercy of electricity ? A day without electricity and internet - It just gets into my nerve...

To calm down I walk my subdivision and met neighbors, I suddenly realized that what I am experiencing is nothing compared to some of them, trees falling on roof, on cars and on the streets..I felt relief and thankful we were in a better situation than most people.

Early this morning our power was restored, the jubilation and joy of my children makes be more appreciative of what we have., as we watch the news and get the full view of the fury of Hurricane IKE, the devastation of League City about 50 miles from me and the destruction of lots o properties in Galveston., and the destruction of several buildings in downtown Houston seems just too much.

Houston we have a PROBLEM -airports are close, over 2,000,000 residence still not power, school will be close for a week, public offices and business will mostly be close. - as the day unfold I see countless tragedy in my City..families in need .. we tried to help as much as we can ... but it seems I can do nothing more.. people of Galveston - Houston needs help

Its unbelievalbe the hottest item to buy right now Here in Houston is 'ICE" people linning up to buy ICE or their food will be spoiled... no electricity no fridge...

What can I do ? How can I help ? I ask that if you are reading this please help families in Houston and other cities who suffered from this tragedy, in your own way, in your own charity simply do something., a simple prayer will also help.

Please extend your helping hand to our city ...

Thank You

Texas Realtors® are a valuable source of information for potential homebuyers who may need special assistance in buying a home. The Texas State Affordable Housing Corporation currently provides the Home Sweet Texas Loan, Homes for Texas Heroes and Professional Educators Home Loan Programs.

Did you know that - The State if Texas affordable Housing Corporation provide below market 30-year fixed rate mortgage loans to eligible first-time homebuyers through a network of participating lenders across the state. In addition to the incredibly low interest rate, our programs offer down payment and closing cost assistance, up to 5% of the loan amount, in the form of a grant.

This is an Ethics case study publish recently in our monthly Texas Realtors magazine. A case about a Seller have to decide betwen two offers presented by the listing agent - both full price contents more or less the same conditions.

Seller ask the Listing Agent for advice which offer to accept, listing agent's buyer or the the one with the other broker ? - The agent naturaly replied its up to the seller since both contracts offers the same net to the seller.

Seller comes back to the Listing agent after realizing that if he accepts the offer from the Listng Agent's buyer, full commission will then be paid to the Lisitng Agent - and negotiate to reduce the commision by 1% stating that if he reduced his commission seller would accept Listing Agent's buyer and pays less commission, he further reason out that this deal would still amount to more profit to the Listing agent but would benefit the Seller.

Listing agent agrees and transaction close.. later the other buyer manage to directly ask the seller why he did not accept his full offer and the seller tells the buyer the truth, next day the Buyer's Agent filed an ethics complain - Alleging that Lising agent's commission reduction had induced Seller to accept Listing Agent's buyer. citing that the commission reduction was in violation of Article 1 as interprested by Standard of Practice 1-6 - and that the Listing Agent failure to inform him of the change in the Listing Commission arrangement.

Hearing follows, both argued their cases - Listing agent defended his fiduciary duties, and that Seller is free to re-negotiate terms of their listing agrement at any time..

THE RESULT : The hearing panel agreed with the listing agent - and concluded that there's no violation of Article 1 or 3 ( View the code of Ethics in the Profe. Standards section of texasrealtors.com)

So what is your opinon if you are the Angry Buyer's Agent ? Is this the right thing to do ?

Houston Area Home Prices Soar In July As Property Sales Record Another Monthly Drop - The average price of a single-family home sees its biggest increase in more than two years; median single-family home pricing hits a record high.

This is what HAR announce today.. “As we approach the one-year mark from when property sales began to slow, we continue to note positive signs in the form of strong pricing and stabilizing inventory,” said Michael Levitin, HAR chairman and principal of HTownRealty.com. “Consumers from across the country and around the world are setting their sights on Houston, Texas as an extremely desirable place to buy a home during these challenging economic times.”

At $226,072, the average sales price for single-family homes reached the second highest level on record in July, increasing 8.0 percent from the same period last year when it was $209,264. That’s the biggest pricing increase since June 2006. The overall median price of single-family homes in July was $161,370 compared to the national single-family median price of $206,500 reported by the National Association of REALTORS?. These data continue to underscore the higher value and lower cost of living that prevail in the Houston market.

For more detailed Houston Association of Realtors Press release Click Here

Well this is a great indication of what the market in Houston are, we are still in a great situation compared to many other cities.

If you are a buyer still undecided to buy now or wait.. just look around you.. there's few buyers, more sellers - if you have been looking around you know that --in Houston today there are better deals we have not seen before. Do you think the prices are going to go down soon ? not likely - with drop in sales prices coninue to go up-- then what if demands increase ? I am sure prices will coninue to rise.. basic economics tells me that...

If you are a Realtor doing Residential in Houston, this year could be your best year ever. get out there grab those buyers, they simply need to know that its okey to buy now...

If you are an investor this is a great opportunity.. to buy rental properties, To Flip... buy and hold...

If you keep on doing what everyone else is doing you would end up like everyone, (complaining about bad market) time to get out of the group, refocus on your market and see why are you not part of the transaction that occurs every month - no matter what the market is there's always a Home being sold monthly - In Houston it is an average of 6,000 a month in slow market.. How many did you participate in ?