<p>Just want to say that not all licensed real estate agents are brokers. You can find qualified real estate agents who can help you who do not have their broker’s license.</p>
<p>That’s how it works in my state, I should add. Most realtors are not brokers, but work for a broker. May be different in different states.</p>
<p>So what’s the difference between a realtor, a real estate agent, and a broker?</p>
<p>real estate agent - licensed to sell real estate. Must work under the supervision of a broker.</p>
<p>broker - licensed to sell real estate and supervise agents.</p>
<p>Realtor ™ - a trademark of an association of real estate agents and brokers.</p>
<p>On our property tax bill, the amount attributable to house vs. land is broken out on the invoice. The land is worth more than our house (.5 acre lot, an hour’s commute out of DC!).</p>
<p>Near my old office, all the 50s Cape Cods are being torn down and replaced with $1.5+ mini mansions.</p>
<p>Where I live, the tax appraisal has little to do with market value. We sold our home for far, far above tax appraisal.</p>
<p>notrichenough, is that the case in every state, or are those distinctions specific to your state??</p>
<p>Well, REALTOR® is a registered trademark of the National Association of REALTORS®, so it is national in scope. Don’t forget to capitalize it and put the little circle-R doohickey after it. :D</p>
<p>I don’t know if the agent/broker model used in my state (MA) is followed by other states, so you are right, I should have qualified it.</p>
<p>Most states follow the sales rep-broker protocol as nre described. I have not seen any other formats. Some states require longer periods between sales rep to broker tests some less. In ca, you need two years full time sales experience before qualified to take the broker test. But if you held a college degree with related classes, you can take the broker test on day one. I did. :)</p>
<p>I heard from my trader friend that sells real estate in NYC. He’s working 10-hour days selling real-estate and has no time for trading. Yeah, some people in NYC are probably saying only 10-hour days? $12m so far this year.</p>
<p>Wow…</p>
<p>That is nothing compares to top producers in commercial real estate. Kase of SV who sells single tenant investments such as Burger Kings or Walgreens the team probably closes more than a billion worth of RE in a year.</p>
<p>[The</a> Canadian takeover of U.S. real estate - Yahoo! Finance Canada](<a href=“http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canadian-takeover-u-real-estate-103000405.html]The”>The Canadian Takeover of U.S. Real Estate)</p>
<p>Watch out, we’re taking over! 
Seriously, though, an interesting article. Most of the Canadians I know who own/are buying U.S. property are not doing it as an investment so that they can flip the properties.</p>
<p>Thought I would pull up this older thread instead of starting a new one, so I could whine here… our son has been in Boston for 5 years and recently started his first real job. We thought we would help him buy an apartment (condo) since the way the numbers look, his monthly payment as an owner would be lower than rent. So he has been looking at condos, and they are getting snapped up very quickly at above asking price. He finally made an offer on a unit slightly below ask, then came up to the ask. It sold for $15k above the asking price. This is nuts! (Looking in Boston, Cambridge or Sommerville, studio or 1br)</p>
<p>Wow. Can’t say I’m that surprised-it’s Boston. But that would be frustrating, especially for someone like my DH. He’s just not the type that can make a snap decision and an offer on the spot like that. We just wouldn’t do well in a hot market like that.</p>
<p>Sorry to read that NJres. </p>
<p>Since this thread started, I would say lower priced condos near me are up 33 to 50 percent in price.</p>
<p>Its happening everywhere in the US… Real Estate has been depressed too many years, it bond to bounce back. It just happened.</p>
<p>It’s not happening everywhere.</p>
<p>It’s happening in places where there is strong employment. Boston, San Francisco, New York City, Austin (friend there told me things are doing great there) and I’m sure that there are many other cities doing well. But a lot of places are struggling in terms of jobs and subsequently, real estate.</p>
<p>So what happens going forward?</p>
<p>Well, I think that that’s dependent on how employment goes.</p>
<p>When you have a lot of jobs, you create a lot of jobs because people need stuff to live and construction people build more stuff which creates more jobs and you get a virtuous cycle that can sustain itself if things slow down.</p>
<p>There’s a nice unemployment tool at this link and it shows unemployment declining in MA, CA and NY.</p>
<p>[Unemployment</a> in the U.S. - Google Public Data Explorer](<a href=“Unemployment in the U.S. - Google Public Data Explorer”>Unemployment in the U.S. - Google Public Data Explorer)</p>
<p>I would like to see employment number charts too but I don’t know if those are easy to find on the web. (Actually the labor participation rate).</p>
<p>I find it interesting that there is a labor shortage in construction.</p>
<p>There are many articles about this. This is just one.</p>
<p>[NAHB:</a> Growing Labor Shortages Impeding Housing and Economic Recovery](<a href=“http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=15880]NAHB:”>http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=15880)</p>