Today's Tip

Need Leads? $550 Billion in ARMs Are Due to Reset Now! Get in on the Big ARM Refinancing Opportunity! $550 Billion in ARMs are due to reset this year.* Another $1.35 Trillion will reset next year.* The average ARM homeowner faces a 26% increase* in monthly payments and needs a way out! DataQuick can help you identify and contact ARM homeowners. Call and find out how. Call DataQuick today! 1-888-604-DATA (3282) Better Data. Better Results. DataQuick *Boston based Property & Profile Research.

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DataQuick can help you grow your business.   DataQuick specializes in data solutions for mortgage companies, title companies, real estate agents, insurance agents, and many other property related professions.   Whether your company is large or small DataQuick can help it grow.   Call or visit our websites today for more information.   Sales: 1.888.604.DATA Support: 1.800.888.4492 www.dataquick.com www.dqnews.com

Southland Prices May Be Nearing Plateau

Southern California home sales for August continued at their slowest pace in nine years, but price levels appear to be nearing a plateau, according to DataQuick Analyst John Karevoll. A total of 25,628 new and resale homes sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 12.8% from 22,712 in July, and down 25.3 percent from 34,292 for August a year ago, according statistics compiled by DataQuick Information Systems. Sales have declined on a year-over-year basis for the last nine months. Sales last month were the lowest for any August since 1997, when 22,308 home sales were recorded. DataQuick sales statistics go back to 1988 when August sales 35,339. The lowest August sells occurred in 1992 when only 12,769 homes sold.The average number of homes sold in August since 1988 calculates to 25,845. "There's an awful lot of moaning going on right now. Potential buyers and sellers need to be careful what they believe and exercise common sense in their decision making," says DataQuick President Marshall Prentice. "The market is certainly off from its frenzy, but we have to remember that it takes much more downward pressure to push prices down than upward pressure to push them up. Prices have doubled the last four-and-a-half years. So does the market keep all of that gain, or only ninety percent?" Click here to read more on this topic.

For Insurance Agents Timing is Everything!

Insurance agents love renewal time and it's always renewal time when you use X-Dates List to generate leads. X-Dates List is now available in DataQuick's ProspectFinder FARM and it does something very special for insurance agents. It finds homeowners with insurance policies that are coming up for renewal. Let's start with the basics. With X-Dates List you can order prospect lists by the purchase month of the property, which is usually the insurance policy renewal month. But that's just the beginning. X-Dates can also cross reference purchase dates and property characteristics to generate a list that is highly qualified. For example, you can select properties by the number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, square footage, lot size, or whether there is a swimming pool. According to a recent survey, 32 million households in the U.S. are under insured.* For insurance agents, this presents a great opportunity to offer help in bringing their policies up to date. And what better time could there be to make contact with an under insured homeowner than just prior to their renewal date? To learn more about ProspectFinder FARM with X-Dates List, call DataQuick today at 1.888.604.DATA (3282) or click here. *Source: Trusted Choice® Survey, 2005

Congress is Investigating Real Estate Brokers, continued...

(Continued from column one above)   Comparing real estate brokers to stockbrokers, Oxley said both are allowed to set their own rules, but the Securities and Exchange Commission approves the stock market's rules.    "For residential real estate markets, there is no government regulator to protect the public interest," Oxley said. "There is only regulation of the brokers, by the brokers, for the brokers."   National Association of REALTORS®, President-Elect Pat Vredevoogd-Combs denied allegations that NAR sets pricing or is in any way anti-competitive.  Instead, she called America's residential real estate market a "model of efficiency" and said it accounts for 15 percent of the country's gross national product (GNP).   "It would be simply impossible to implement an agreement on prices among NAR's 1.3 million vigorously competitive members," Vredevoogd-Combs said. She added that NAR is careful not to conduct research on commission rates out of concern that the results could be perceived as setting a "going rate" or a benchmark for the industry.   The commission rates real estate brokers charge have remained the same for decades, despite soaring home prices, technological advances and increases in efficiency. The committee has an obligation to make sure real estate markets are fair and open, and to protect consumers, Oxley said.   From 2000 to 2004, fees paid for brokerage services grew 50 percent, and consumers paid $61 Billion in brokerage fees in 2004, according to an August 2005 Government Accounting Office (GAO) report.   In an effort to debunk charges that NAR limits consumer access to real estate listings on the Internet, Vredevoogd-Combs reminded the committee that NAR operates the largest real estate Internet website, Realtor.com, with over 2.2 million listings. According to a NAR member survey, the number of brokerage firms with websites has increase 129 percent in the last five years.   Since March of 2004 the GAO has been examining real estate practices with an eye towards barriers to electronic commerce and the lack of price competition. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission are also weighing in. Deputy Assistant Attorney General J. Bruce McDonald told the committee that a joint DOJ/FTC taskforce is holding workshops to discuss anti-competitive practices with state officials, economists, and brokers. The joint taskforce will report its findings later this year.   Over the last few years, McDonald said the DOJ has successfully advocated for greater competition in several states, including Oklahoma, Virginia and New Mexico. In 2005 the DOJ filed a lawsuits against the real estate commissions of Kentucky, West Virginia and South Dakota for imposing regulations that prohibited brokers from offering rebates to consumers. In each case the ban against rebates was rescinded.   Last September the DOJ brought an anti-trust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors (NAR) for adopting nationwide rules that allegedly limit competition by brokers marketing on the Internet. The NAR rules limit access to the Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and allow traditional brokers to withhold their listings from Internet brokers.   "Home sellers and home buyers are harmed when government or private restrictions on real estate broker competition prevent brokers from offering innovative services or adopting new, cost saving practices," McDonald said.   Click here to learn visit the House Financial Services Committee website.