December, 2009Archive

ARA offices closed for New Year’s

December 31st, 2009 | announcements | No comments

The offices of the Arkansas Realtors® Association are now closed for New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.
We’ll be back on Monday, Jan. 4 (naturally).
So, Happy New year to everyone. Let’s hope 2010 turns out to be a great year, huh?
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NAR extends ‘Right Tools, Right Now’ program into 2010

December 31st, 2009 | announcements | 1 comment

The ‘Right Tools, Right Now’ initiative is back in 2010 to help you and your business find continued success.
In the coming year, you’ll find even more great FREE or AT-COST offers, updates to existing National Association of Realtors® (NAR) products and resources, plus valuable tips on how to make the most of Right Tools, Right [...]

Sign up for email updates from ‘The Arkansas Realtor®’

December 29th, 2009 | Blog updates, announcements | No comments

We’ve gotten a question around here at the Arkansas Realtors® Association – is it possible to send email updates from the blog every so often so people can get the latest news on a regular basis?
Not only is it possible, we’ve put together a system to do just that. Want to sign up? Sure you [...]

CCOA to offer reverse mortgage counseling

December 29th, 2009 | announcements | No comments

A federal government grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will allow CCOA to provide free reverse mortgage/Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) counseling well into 2010.
Beginning Jan. 1, HUD’s grant will cover the cost – normally $125 per session – of the counseling. CCOA will offer the counseling free of charge [...]

Arkansas average/median list prices, inventories for Dec. 28

December 28th, 2009 | Housing Market Statistics | No comments

This week’s average/median list prices and inventories report from the Arkansas Realtors Association should surprise no one.
Why? This is the week following Christmas and people were generally out getting ready for the holiday rather than buying homes or putting them on the market. To see the latest report, click here for the Excel file and [...]

FHA loans up, but agency considering tightening requirements

December 28th, 2009 | House to House | 2 comments

According to a November survey from the National Association of Realtors, 39 percent of Americans purchasing homes this year took out mortgages backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The FHA, of course, insures certain mortgages written by conventional lenders. Those mortgages traditionally existed to make it easier for people having difficulty coming up with a [...]

Closed for the holidays

December 22nd, 2009 | announcements | No comments

It goes without saying that the Arkansas Realtors® Association (ARA) will be closed on Christmas.
But what about Christmas Eve? Oh, yeah — we’ll be closed then, too. So if you’ve got pressing business with the ARA, you’d better take care of it before Thursday or Friday.
And, by the way — merry Christmas to all. Let’s [...]

Great news today from Talk Business…

December 21st, 2009 | News you can use | No comments

Roby Brock over at Talk Business released some great news about our beloved state today.
You can either click here to read the latest Monday Morning Briefing from Talk Business  or have a look at the below summary of that news:
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Arkansas average/median list prices, inventories for Dec. 21

December 21st, 2009 | Housing Market Statistics | No comments

The current average/median list prices and inventories graphic from the Arkansas Realtors® Association pretty well reflect the “holiday market” in that few people are purchasing homes right before Christmas so inventory levels and average prices are fairly flat compared to last week.
At least inventories have declined somewhat compared to last in most of the markets [...]

Avoid credit repair scams

December 21st, 2009 | House to House | 1 comment

Over the past couple of years, bankers have tightened the lending requirements for taking out mortgages.
A good credit score is very important for anyone wanting to purchase home and it’s about to get even more critical – Federal Housing Administration (FHA) officials have indicated they are likely to tighten lending requirements. FHA loans are the [...]

Griffin merges with Weichert Realtors® – Clark, Long & Associates

December 17th, 2009 | News you can use, announcements | No comments

Well, here’s a fascinating bit of news — according to Arkansas Business, the Griffin Company and Weichert Realtors®- Clark, Long & Associates have merged.
The new company is Weichert Realtors – The Griffin Company and you can read all about the merger by clicking here. That, folks, is a major bit of news from northwest Arkansas.
Why? [...]

RSS feed, Twitter and an NAR update

December 16th, 2009 | announcements | No comments

This is what we call one of those “housekeeping posts.”
That might not sound exciting, but I’m here to tell you that it is. Oh, yes. Why? Because I’m going to mention a couple of tools that will make it easy for you fine folks to follow The Arkansas Realtor® through an RSS reader and/or Twitter [...]

Arkansas average/median list prices, inventories for Dec. 14

December 14th, 2009 | Housing Market Statistics | No comments

Yes, it’s another week and another average/median list prices and inventories report from the Arkansas Realtors® Association.
To get your copy of the latest report, click here for the Excel file and here for the PDF. For a copy of the above graphic, click here to download a PDF.
So, what does the report tell us this [...]

Insane bargains? Not really…

December 14th, 2009 | House to House | No comments

For the past couple of years, we’ve heard about homeowners who are so desperate that they’ll accept ridiculous offers just so they can sell their houses and get rid of them.
That notion has caused some buyers to believe they’ve got a good chance of finding that “perfect home” and getting it for a bargain. While [...]

University District News — December 2009

December 11th, 2009 | News you can use, announcements | No comments

As some of you may remember, Ron Copeland with the University District Partnership in Little Rock stopped by the Arkansas Realtors® Association office for a podcast about how that group is looking to improve the areas around the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
You can access the podcast by clicking here and take a look [...]