Inside HAR

Congratulations on your choice to become a member of the Houston Association of REALTORS®. Join HAR.com and become a member of HAR, the largest individual membership trade association in Houston and the largest local real estate trade association in the nation with more than 50,000 Houston Real Estate Brokers, Houston Real Estate Agents, Houston REALTORS®, and Houston Service Providers comprising its membership.

Whether you are beginning an exciting career in real estate or have years of experience under your belt, now is the time to make your business the best it can be. At HAR, we believe one of the best ways to do this is through your HAR membership. We encourage you to take full advantage of the tools and products that HAR has to offer. They have been designed especially with you and your professional success in mind. Utilize these tools to help your business grow.

This is HAR’s state-of-the-art, web-based MLS system created specifically to meet your needs. This tool enables you to access more than 50,000 properties online, archived information on the thousands of properties sold in the past six years, and the current public records information for Harris and surrounding counties.

The HAR.com website is drawing an ever-increasing audience of Houston-area homebuyers. Consumers are generating an average more than 90 million page-views per month on the site to find information about you and your listings. Daily visitor sessions average 325,000 with potential homebuyers spending an average of 12 minutes reviewing your listings and personal REALTOR® websites.

To promote our website, we have incorporated billboards, ads in the Houston Chronicle, regular press releases and guest columns into our marketing plan. All REALTOR® listings are also advertised to the public at no cost to members on a growing number of licensee sites. read more

The public relations and promotional resources of HAR are impressive. Several times each month, HAR publishes articles, press releases and holds photo opportunities for its volunteer leadership. This PR effort has the sole focus of making consumers aware of the value that REALTOR® bring to a transaction. The association websites at HAR.com and Commgate.com are a principal venue for this promotion. These websites afford us a unique opportunity to showcase REALTORS® in conjunction with their listings.

Every single legislative session, lawmakers propose a tax on your hard-earned commissions. In other states, such policies have been passed, and real estate professionals forfeit a significant amount of their income to Uncle Sam. HAR represents you with a strong, powerful political voice at the local, state and national level and has consistently defeated such onerous proposals as a tax on commissions. To see HAR’s latest governmental affairs projects, click here.

The HAR Communications Department helps keep you informed about all the latest Association and industry news through a variety of products. Every week, members receive the Five Minute REALTOR® e-newsletter, which consists of more time-sensitive or late-breaking material. Each month, the department produces both online and print versions of HAR’s Houston REALTOR® magazine, containing articles and advice to assist REALTORS® with their business. The department also produces a PowerPoint presentation distributed each Monday called The Edge, with constantly changing content that sales managers and brokers may incorporate in their weekly sales meetings. Additionally, HAR engages in an extensive, award-winning public relations, marketing and advertising campaign to educate consumers about the value that using the services of a REALTOR® brings to the transaction. The HAR Communications Department is also the go-to source for local, regional and national media regarding all matters real estate.

HAR provides ample opportunities for its members to come together and learn, meet contemporaries with similar business interests and reconnect with long time friends. Three of HAR’s special events include Commercial Expo, REALTOR® Expo and REALTOR® Celebration. Commercial Expo is in April and allows real estate professionals in the commercial industry a chance to learn about the latest Houston area developments as well as network. REALTOR® Expo is in the fall and includes early afternoon educational sessions, tradeshow action from 4pm until 8pm, prizes and fun! REALTOR® Celebration is a celebration about the HAR member, providing a chance to congratulate the incoming leadership of HAR, honor two industry award recipients and enjoy a jovial holiday reception as well as a seated luncheon. A nationally known keynote speaker is the focus during the meal.

One of Commercial Gateway’s most prominent features is the Commercial Information Exchange (CIE) that is available online at Commgate.com. This facility makes participating firms more profitable by providing a shared information infrastructure that eliminates the wasteful duplication of effort between member firms. The CIE also identifies and promotes a set of “Best Practices” in the marketing of properties and has greatly reduced the wasteful and inefficient practice of broadcast faxes and spam e-mails. The CIE also is an excellent way for commercial brokers to monitor market conditions. Also, HAR will soon make a greater investment in research by hiring another research assistant and plans to include aerial photographic images on Commgate.com.

HAR.com Provides Over 80 Tools and Services to Members and Consumers. Click to View HAR Tools