Local

HARRISBURG PA – The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors (PAR) endorsed a plan announced Wednesday (June 10, 2009) by Gov. Edward G. Rendell to use part of $380 million in federal economic recovery funds to help the state’s home buyers. Under Rendell’s proposal, the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA) will allocate $5 million for the Keystone […]

As social media applications like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Ning, Linked-In and others grow and become more prominently used, real estate licensees unfamiliar with those names or how their software works may feel left behind. Don’t. Take comfort in knowing it’s never to late to learn, and with learning usually comes revenue. To that end, it […]

HARRISBURG PA – The Big Switch starts next Saturday (June 13, 2009) for real estate licensees in Pennsylvania. That’s when a new Consumer Notice, required by the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission to be distributed by agents and brokers to their clients and potential clients, goes into effect. After that date, experts say, distributing any […]

HARRISBURG PA – Pennsylvania’s Department of Banking is taking a tougher line against mortgage brokers that either refuse to comply with regulations or are not licensed to practice in the state. Last week it took enforcement against seven different companies. On Friday (May 22, 2009) it issued a cease-and-desist order against U.S. Mortgage Group Inc., […]

WASHINGTON DC – One of the biggest drawbacks in years past of being an independently contracted real estate agent was a perceived lack of perks that sometime accompany other jobs. The National Assocition of Realtors® (NAR®) has been building its membership benefits package to overcome that hurdle, and last week (May 13, 2009; Wednesday) officially […]

VALLEY FORGE PA – Big players in real estate got bigger this week (Nov. 8-14, 2004), as LendingTree Inc. and Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates both announced new additions to their operations. They are following a familiar trend, which one observer says results from increased competition to grow while simultaneously cutting costs. LendingTree, the online lending […]