Real Estate News

On March 21, Florida entered in to a mutual recognition agreement with Connecticut, making Connecticut the 11th state to have such an agreement with Florida. The other states are Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Brokers and Sales Associates can qualify for an equivalent type license in Florida if they …

Florida has the dubious distinction in 2006 of having more mortgage fraud cases than any other state, passing the state of Georgia. (Georgia authorities made major strides in a fraud crackdown, even raiding title closing offices during closings.) The FBI has made mortgage fraud one of its top priorities in the last two years because …

The Department of Financial Services, which regulates title insurance companies, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which regulates real estate brokers and sales associates, have both noted an increase in recent months in the number of complaints regarding title insurance companies paying financial “kickbacks” to real estate brokerage firms, sales associates, or mortgage …

A new member survey from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) shows that only four percent of its members say real estate is their first career. Most come to the profession from management, business, or financial fields; about 20 percent were in sales or retail, six percent were teachers and five percent homemakers.

The field has …

The Florida real estate exam is still very difficult for would-be sales associates and brokers. In February, 2007, 4490 sales associate license candidates sat for the exam. Those who were taking the exam for the first time (1842) had a pass rate of 46 percent, a little higher than January’s pass rate of 44%. Retesting …