Category: Real Estate News

August 20, 2024

What is FinCEN and Why Does the Title Company Care About It?

By Karen Burnett, Senior Vice President, Escrow Manager FinCEN is part of the US Department of the Treasury that was created to help identify how some cash funds were being […]

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July 11, 2024

How Does Your Title Company Protect You and Your Clients from Cyber Threats and Fraud? Independence Title Uses CertifID

By Kara McGregor, Independence Title’s Sr. VP of Branding and Public Relations Real Estate transactions are a rich target for fraudsters and cyber criminals, with valuable assets and staggering amounts […]

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July 8, 2024

The Changing Real Estate Market: What You Need to Know

by Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital The real estate market is changing. For the last 10+ years, lending rates have been artificially low. That, in turn, with […]

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June 24, 2024

Brokers Have Some Decisions to Make … FAST …

by Kara McGregor, Senior Vice President; Roland Love, Attorney and Vice President; and Kaema Roberson, Vice President of Education June 24, 2024 – As the legal landscape on agent commissions […]

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June 13, 2024

So now what?

Real Estate Market Update from Mark Sprague Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital In real estate, the big question is:  “When will we return to normalcy?” Would anyone be surprised if […]

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May 3, 2024

Economic Update

by Mark Sprague, Independence Title’s Director of Information Capital DATELINE: May 3, 2024 The Federal Reserve will likely maintain higher interest rates for an extended period due to firmer-than-expected inflation […]

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March 21, 2024

Asking the Right Questions About the National Press on Austin

Per the Wall Street Journal: “Once America’s Hottest Housing Market, Austin is Running in Reverse” Rebuttal from Mark Sprague, Director of Information Capital, Independence Title The proposition by the media: […]

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December 22, 2023

Your Real Estate Business and Upcoming CTA Deadlines

Compliance update for the 2023 year-end and the 2024 new year By Roland Love, Independence Title Vice President, Attorney, and Educator The Corporate Transparency Act, which goes into effect in […]

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September 13, 2023

Has the Residential Real Estate Market Changed? Market Update with Mark Sprague

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital A question Realtors, economists, real estate analysts, and more have been getting for the past 18+ months: Has the residential real estate market changed? For […]

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July 11, 2023

Market Update with Mark Sprague Summer 2023

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The market had hoped that moderating inflation would have a positive impact on rates by the middle of this year. Not going to happen. Not […]

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November 4, 2022

Market Update with Mark Sprague

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The Federal Reserve Bank’s policy-making committee (FOMC) raised rates this week (at the November 1-2 meeting) by .75% and kept a hawkish tone given the […]

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September 23, 2022

How the Federal Reserve Impacts Mortgage Rates

Compiled by Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital The other day was the Federal Reserve meeting; their decision was another 75-basis point / ¾ point rate hike. Mortgage rates have surged […]

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July 19, 2022

The Long-Awaited Slowdown In the Pace of Economic Activity Nationally is Here, or Is It?

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Jobs nationally and locally continue to be created at a robust pace. (Job openings are twice the number of people out of work nationally and […]

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January 18, 2022

Tax Time in Texas – Homestead Exemption Q&A with Roland Love

By Roland Love, Vice President, Business Alliances & Field Operations Our recent note regarding the legislative change generally allowing a person to claim a homestead exemption anytime during the year […]

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December 21, 2021

2022 and Beyond! A Market Update from Mark Sprague

By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital As many of you look to 2022 and beyond, we all know it’s really anybody’s guess as to what the future holds. However, many of […]

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August 25, 2021

New PID Notice Requirements Q&A

By Kaema Roberson, VP – Director of Education If you haven’t already heard, beginning September 1, 2021, sellers will be required to provide notice to buyers when selling property located […]

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July 13, 2021

Mark Sprague’s Update to Lumber Futures

I keep getting these questions: “What are builders doing on purchasing lumber at these high prices?” “Any recommendations on when this will go down and how long?” and “Will prices […]

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April 23, 2020

Market Matters (DFW Metro Area)

  By Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital Here’s an update on some recent questions I’ve been considering, with input and feedback from much wiser analysts/economists whose seminars I […]

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July 8, 2019

Title Insurance Rates to Decrease in September

Yes, you read that correctly. Every few years, the Texas Department of Insurance (the state agency that regulates title insurance) looks at title industry data to see how we are doing, […]

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January 4, 2018

It’s a Weird, Weird World of Real Estate Out There

Texas real estate can be pretty weird. In the rest of the country, for example, the idea of paying a seller a small fee in exchange for giving the potential […]

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