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Eighteen years ago, Dr. Donald G. Mack of Shreveport, LA, proposed a raffle to raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The prize: a house. The idea seemed a bit far fetched, but the hospital board members were willing to give it a try and tentatively agreed to it. When it was a success, they continued with the raffle the next year and the year after that, garnering more and more attention with each drawing, until today when the raffle has stretched beyond citywide to nationwide.

Tickets for the 2008 drawing have been sold in Tennessee, New York and throughout the entire southern region of the United States. By the time the raffle ends, fund raisers expect to have accumulated more than $1.2 million dollars for St. Jude’s.

While much…

When the Apprentice first began and Donald Trump weeded through a handful of entrepreneurs in an attempt to find one who could serve his company well, you watched knowing that in a competition of realtors, you would undoubtedly win. You have skill, experience and know-how. You have a drive that compels you to sell. Papers are signed more often on your desk than on any other realtor’s in the office. You are the best, and you would love to prove it.           

Well, here’s your chance. 

The Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group is hosting its own Des Moines Apprentice in a search for the next real estate guru. The company will offer the winning realtor training, a $45,000 starting salary and reimbursement of all startup costs, including licensure fees. All…

In 1991, the Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corporation (AHMCC) was founded. It quickly became the largest privately owned mortgage company in the nation, funding nearly $12 billion in loans in 2004. AHMCC has offices in all 50 states and the United States Virgin Islands. Thirty of those offices are in Texas, and soon that number will be 31.

The AHMCC recently announced that it would be building a second office in Corpus Christi. The branch will be managed by Dante Miller, a broker with eight years’ experience. Miller previously worked as a mortgage broker for Jaz Real Estate and Loan Company. He has been a resident of Corpus Christi for 14 years and so knows the area and its people well.

There is no doubt that the AHMCC would invest in new offices if…

Recently the Daily Texan, the school paper for the University of Texas, reported on city council members and their proposals for improving the affordable housing market. Recently, the city council has taken a great deal of interest in developers who build luxury housing and condo's. Often this choice has been at the expense of working families who are tenants in the buildings these developers would like to eliminate or rebuild.

During a discussion with local residents, the city council members discussed a couple of methods of addressing the current situation. One option they talked about at length was project based housing aid. This is a method that has been examined by many economists in various markets around the country. To date there are only a…

Non-agricultural employment rates in the state of Texas rose more than twice that of the nation as a whole between March of 2007 and 2008 – 2 percent compared with the national average of less than .5 percent. The unemployment rate also fell slightly during the same period – from 4.4 to 4.3 percent.

Employment and housing figures continue to be strong in the state, a good indication of a very strong economy, and Texas continues to be a prime relocation destination. 

While higher oil prices mean higher prices at the gas pump and home heating bills, it has helped the Texas oil and natural gas industry grow. The Texas mining industry has created the most jobs during the past year, followed closely by the professional and business services industry,…

This question is not easy to answer as there are several factors to take into consideration when deciding on redoing the siding of your home.

First and foremost is how old is your present siding? Or, rather, how old does your present siding look? It’s fairly obvious that badly damaged or dingy siding that cannot be improved with a simple cleaning should be replaced before you put your home on the market. The largest part of the exterior of a home is the siding that, thus, is the biggest factor in curb appeal.

A second important question is what is the cost versus potential increase in value? This definitely should be taken into consideration as a $17,000 re-siding job is not likely to add the same or more amount to the asking price of your house. If the…

As home sales are starting to increase across all the markets, the town home and condo market is still on the decline. This aspect of the market has been on a steady decline for the last 7 consecutive months. March prices vs a year ago were down yet again. In Huston along the sales prices fell 8.5% in March alone with the median price going down another 6% to 126,950 based on numbers release by the Huston Association of Realtors. One common solution among the owners is leasing the properties.

Overall the market is down in the county and foreclosures are up 17%. The effect on the neighborhoods could be a prolonged and negative one. This would be due to the fact that many of the properties are becoming vacant and are not being maintained. This lack of…

The Solar Energy Technologies Program of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) have partner with may organizations interested in improving technologies that harness the bounty of energy provided by sun.

Photovoltaic or PV technology, delivers a system that is available to homeowners and builders who choose to go green, while simultaneously saving valuable resources.

There are several elements that comprise a PV system. There are solar cells that connect electrically to form a module which can measure two to four feet wide and four to six feet long. Some solar modules are designed to appear to be traditional roof shingles. Interconnected PV modules are known as an array. An array is often mounted on the roof of a building, facing south at an angle, to…