Specializations Flashcards
Leases
Leasing property is a specialty in Texas real estate, usually falling under the umbrella of property management.
Lease contracts are usually set up with terms of a year or more depending on the needs of the client and the availability of the location. The terms of the lease are contractual and as such require maintenance on both the parts of the lessor and the lessee.
You must be a member of the Texas Association of REALTORS® to earn the TRLS.
This statewide certification requires completion of four three-hour leasing education courses:
The Essentials of Residential Leasing The TAR Residential Lease Agreement Agency Issues Impacting Property Managers and Leasing Agents Marketing and Leasing Residential Properties
Property Management
Property management is the business of maintaining properties and the tenants of those properties. In order to act as a property manager, one must have a property manager’s license or a real estate broker’s license.
Certified Property Managers® (CPM®) are recognized as experts in real estate management, and they are at the top of the profession. 70% of those who hold the CPM® designation hold the highest management positions in their offices (owner/partner/officer/director).
Resorts
Resort properties are those defined as vacation ready and in unique locations that offer recreational activities, such as beaches or mountains or Hill Country. Often there is an abundance of properties available in these areas for rent and for sale and a specialty in real estate is handling the resort/second home/timesharing properties. A licensee in Texas does not need anything other than their real estate salesperson or broker’s license, but those who wish to specialize in this area will focus their training on investment properties, as well as financing, and they will certainly become an expert in the area they are selling.
Investment
Real estate investing is the purchase, ownership, management, rental and/or sale of real estate for profit for either an individual investor or a group of investors joined for that purpose.
Land
A specialty in Texas is land sales, which can range anywhere from a 10-acre homestead to a 20,000-acre working ranch. A regular real estate license qualifies a licensee to handle land transactions, but further training, such as that of agriculture, and in land sales, laws regarding hunting, gaming, and water and mineral rights can expand a broker’s expertise and, thereby, their potential service market as well.
Farm and Ranch
When people think Texas property, they often think farms and ranches. To sell these particular properties, a licensee does not need a specialty designation. However, the most successful licensees in farm and ranch properties will have knowledge in agriculture, crops, and timber production, as well as long-term government leasing, land developing, and animal products. Sales of farms and ranches may well depend on the knowledge of how the land will be used.
Real Estate Owned or ‘REO’
When a homeowner does not repay his or her mortgage, the bank starts taking steps to recover its investment.
Short Sale
A short sale is a situation where the mortgage lender allows the borrower to sell the property rapidly and for an amount that does not pay back what is still owed. If a borrower chooses to do a deed in lieu of foreclosure, the mortgage company allows the borrower to hand back the title, thereby transferring the ownership back to the lender.
Auction
In the final step of the foreclosure process, the property is sold through an auction organized by the local court or the sheriff’s office. In Texas this process generally takes place on the courthouse steps of the county courthouse where the property is located.
Foreclosure
Foreclosure is the legal proceeding where a property that has been pledged as a security for a mortgage or deed of trust is actually sold to satisfy that note.
Residential Real Estate
this category includes all properties used for housing and can be a house on a city lot all the way to a ranch on acreage, single-family and multi-family, and in all areas of the state, urban, suburban, and rural. Residential real estate is where most licensees start and end up, since about 80% of Texas Realtors® deal in residential transactions. A residential practice ends up being not so much a specialty as a default.
Commercial Real Estate
Licensees who specialize in the properties that we mentioned at the beginning of the course, including properties for businesses, such as office buildings, strip shopping malls, shopping centers, big box stores, hotels and motels, resorts, medical complexes, and public parking facilities, are considered commercial brokers and salespersons.
