The readers always write
Questions. We get our share. It’s not unusual to get several a day. It seems many people want help making better real estate decisions. A couple of letters recently, however, were a bit out of the norm.
A land planner-developer from Buda wrote to us about a book we published 30 years ago that’s no longer in print.
"I came across (Private Rights to Property) while . . . trying to find material to support my contention that many laws or regulations used by local governments to restrict the use of a person’s property are a violation of the property owner’s rights.
"Where and when I acquired it (the book) I do not know, but the gentleman that wrote it was a genius. I have not finished reading it, but it appears to be a fantastic discussion of the subject."
In response to the letter, the staff agreed with the writer that the book was as current today as it was when first published in 1986. A rare print version of the book in the archives was scanned, and within 48 hours of receiving the letter, the 60-page book had been republished on the Center website.
Private Rights to Property: The Foundation of Freedom, Prosperity and Harmony by John W. Allen is available here. The staff is reviewing hundreds of other titles no longer in print to see if other "golden oldies" need a second chance.
Some letters are from the public.
Recently, an inmate in the Maine State Prison wrote," I am interested in the multifamily sector . . . from A-Z." He was looking for information on "local" rents, operating expenses, and finding investment properties.
We advised the inmate where he could find some "local" Texas data but that we don’t do research on Maine real estate.
About the same time, a homebuyer wrote. "I am trying to find out if an unsolicited real estate offer is proper in that the real estate agent presented us with a sales contract offer on property, which provides we would pay him a 6 percent real estate commission based on the sale. The agent specifically told us over the phone that he would be representing the buyer. That sounds unfair to us because, as the buyer’s agent, he would not represent our best interest. Is this legal, is it wise? Any advice for us?
Legal questions go to our new research attorney Rusty Adams.
Many questions relate to our data warehouse. With the unveiling of our new cooperative efforts with the Texas Association of Realtors, and local Realtor associations there have been numerous data-related questions. Many writers want to drill down further into the data than the agreements with our partners allow. Data questions go to our Data Research Scientist Gerald Klassen.
We even handle questions you might not expect. Last month a writer inquired, "How many cows per acre is the standard for Benjamin, Texas, in Knox County? Our rural land expert Dr. Charles Gilliland used his agricultural economics background to handle that one.
Would-be real estate licensees have many questions. Among the most common are: How do I get started in real estate? What classes do I need or where can I take them?
Those folks are referred to the Texas Real Estate Commission website and to our free online publication Obtaining a Texas Real Estate License.
The takeaway for this post is that the Real Estate Center tries to help Texans make better real estate decisions. Send your questions to [email protected]. If we don’t know the answer, we will try to find you someone who does.
