Get the App - Voices of Real Estate - National Association of Realtors

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?By2013 NAR President?Gary Thomas

The Internet has changed everything, and home sales are certainly no exception.? A recent joint study by the National Association of REALTORS? and Google finds that real estate searches on Google.com have grown 253 percent over the past four years.

The report, The Digital House Hunt: Consumer and Market Trends in Real Estate, examines the connection between consumer Internet use and online home search and shopping patterns.? Google wanted to work with us, using NAR?s custom research and leveraging it against Google?s proprietary and third-party research.? The results reveal some interesting consumer trends.?

While REALTORS? may not be surprised by these results, it?s important for us to be aware of any and all consumer trends.? That way, we can reach home buyers where they are?online.? We can do this through paid searches, relevant websites, video environments and mobile applications.

We?ve found that buyers use specific online tools at different points during their home search process.? They tend to rely on search engines and general websites at the beginning of the search, then maps in the middle, and mobile applications toward the end.

Indeed, 48 percent of people who used a mobile device in their home search used the device to get directions to homes for sale, and 45 percent used it to request more information about specific home features or real estate services.

According to the 2012 NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, multiple listing service websites and REALTOR.com were the top two websites used in recent home searches.?? Realtor.com, NAR?s official property listing website, attracts an average of more than 20 million unique visitors per month.? Mirroring the Google/NAR study, search activity on REALTOR.com has picked up 31 percent between March and October of this year.?

This trend bodes well for the year ahead.? It shows that more people are regaining confidence to invest in their future though homeownership.? And rather than replacing real estate agents, the Internet is actually helping connect home buyers and REALTORS? in new ways.

?So come see me on Facebook, and check out the new NAR Leadership page.? Try it, you?ll ?like? it.

Source: http://voicesofrealestate.blogs.realtor.org/2013/01/18/get-the-app/

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Africa?s musical talent to be featured at Afcon 2013 Opening Ceremony

Featuring some of Africa?s most gifted artists, the opening ceremony, themed 'Celebrate Africa ? The Beat at Africa?s Feet!' commences at 16:00 on Saturday, 19 January. The event will feature a host of African talent.

The nine artists contracted to perform are The Songbird of Wassoulou Grammy Award winner, Oumou Sangare of Mali; South African vocalists Judith Sephuma, Lira, Siphokazi and Ayanda Nhlangothi; Kenya?s artist-activist Eric Wainana; South African Afurukan ? a spoken word artist; and South Africa?s very own musical treasures - Sipho ?Hotstix? Mabuse, and crooner, Ringo Madlingozi.

?Producing an opening ceremony for Africa?s largest soccer spectacular is nothing short of a thrill,? enthuses Hlubi Kwebulana, VWV event producer. ?And working with artists of this calibre is definitely a highlight. The commitment, focus and creativity each artist brought to the project, and the way they bought into our vision of the Opening Ceremony ? they?ve been a complete joy to work with! They?re definitely going to blow everyone away.?

Representing different parts of the African continent that ultimately come together in a show of African pride and unity, the artists are certainly excited about their participation.

?My music and artistry represents Africa ? everything I do musically is a reflection of my roots, and my reality as an African. That?s why I?m so proud to be a part of this ceremony ? the creative concept affirms my pride in being an African,? comments Sangare ?I?ve played on stages worldwide, and it feels so good to be part of an African celebration, performing in front of a huge African audience ? it?s going to be an unforgettable day.?

Afurakan is excited about the spoken-word flavor he?ll be bringing to the performance. ?A performance like this is a dream project,? he enthuses. ?A gathering of Africans, the best of our soccer talent, an incredible roster of African artists, and a mind-blowing show ? as the only spoken-word artist who?s a part of this collective of artists, it?s a real honour to be involved.?

Ringo?s excitement about performing right before the tournament?s kick-off is palpable. ?Like any self-respecting African, I?m a real soccer enthusiast, so being part of the Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 Opening Ceremony is a huge honour,? he exclaims. ?The creative treatment on this ceremony is fantastic, a beautiful representation of our continent?s many faces. I can?t wait for everyone to finally watch everything we?ve been working so hard on ? they?ll be amazed.?

Award-winning artist Lira, says, ?The year has only started, and already I?m having such an incredible time. This is my favourite kind of celebration, collaborating with an A-list roster of artists from around the continent, and being a part of Africa?s most prestigious soccer tournament. Watch out everyone ? Saturday, 19th of Jan is going to rock.?

Wainana, comments, ?The ceremony is definitely going to be Africa?s party of the year. All eyes are going to be on the National Stadium, and it feels great to be part of this spectacle. Being part of a production of this magnitude is an artists? dream ? and when it happens in front of a huge African audience, it?s priceless. Afcon represents a great opportunity for Africans to unite in their love for the beautiful game, as the ceremony will demonstrate. I can?t wait to everyone to see it.?

No less excited is vocalist Ayanda Nhlangothi. ?I love working on large productions that tell a great story ? and this one?s right up there with them,? she says. ?Being able to collaborate with artists I have so much respect for, in telling a quintessentially African story ? it?s been an amazing experience?

One of South Africa?s most beloved sons, Sipho ?Hotstix? Mabuse will also be part of the celebrations. ?Africa celebrates? it?s own ? proud and victorious,? he muses. "I am ? we are ? One in the name of this glorious, beautiful game ? it?s bound to be explosive, I can hardly wait.?

Vocalist Siphokazi is equally thrilled to be participating. ?Since my career began, I?ve been fortunate enough to travel to different countries on our beautiful continent, sharing the sounds of South Africa with them ? I can?t wait to play host to my fellow African artists here, as part of a show that?s all about African pride and unity.?

Sephuma comments; ?This is the best way to start the new year! The audience is going to love what the team?s put together for them in the Opening Ceremony ? a true African story! Definitely one for the books.?

A fitting kick-off to the highly anticipated tournament, the ceremony?s been mindful to include a mix of both established and emerging talent to form part of the celebration.

Source: http://www.mediaupdate.co.za/?IDStory=51252&utm_source=Media%20Update%20RSS%20Feed&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS%20Feed

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Jodie Foster Officially Comes Out At Golden Globes

Jodie Foster might have been awarded the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 70th Golden Globe Awards for her contributions to film, but her acceptance speech was about anything but. After making a funny Saturday Night Live reference, the 50-year-old actress went into a lengthy discussion about the need for actors like herself to have privacy -- and officially came out.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/jodie-foster-officially-comes-out-golden-globes/1-a-514947?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Ajodie-foster-officially-comes-out-golden-globes-514947

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Source: http://forums.androidcentral.com/rumored-devices/243745-os-will-run-facebook-phone-new-post.html

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Obama demands quick action to raise debt limit

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama demanded on Monday that lawmakers raise the nation's $16.4 trillion federal debt limit quickly, warning that "Social Security benefits and veterans' checks will be delayed" if they don't and cautioning Republicans not to insist on concessions in exchange.

"They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the economy," he said at the final news conference of his first term. "The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip. And they better decide quickly because time is running short."

"We are not a deadbeat nation," Obama declared, less than a week away from taking the oath of office for a second term.

The president also said he will soon ask Congress to enact new gun legislation in the wake of the shootings a month ago that left 20 elementary students dead in Newtown, Conn. Facing stiff opposition from the National Rifle Association, he conceded lawmakers may not approve everything he asks for.

Among the proposals under consideration are a ban on assault-style weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines. Obama said he would unveil his proposals next week. He was meeting after his news conference with Vice President Joe Biden, his point man in producing gun control measures to present to Congress.

Obama made his remarks as a new Congress was settling in for its own new term, Republicans in control of the House and Democrats in the Senate.

Lawmakers face three distinct deadlines before April 1. The debt limit must be raised to prevent a default, a series of across-the-board spending cuts is to kick in on March 1, and funding for most government programs will run out on March 27.

Obama virtually dared Republicans to let the government shut down rather than renew funding beyond March 27. "It will hurt the economy," he said emphatically.

The president opened his news conference with a statement by saying that a vote to increase the debt limit "does not authorize more spending. It simply allows the country to pay for spending that Congress has already agreed to. These are bills we've already racked up and we need to pay them."

Jabbing at Republicans, he quoted House Speaker John Boehner's remarks of two years ago that allowing a default on U.S. obligations - the practical effect of failing to raise the debt limit - would be a disaster.

Obama said he was willing to consider future deficit cuts, but only if they are done independently from a vote to raise the $16.4 trillion debt limit.

In a blunt rebuttal to Republicans who say they will not agree to any more tax increases, the president said taxes and spending both must be on the table.

He said he is "open to making modest adjustments to programs like Medicare to protect them for future generations," and wants to close tax loopholes at the same time.

Obama spoke less than a week before his inauguration for a second term, and several days after he signed legislation that narrowly averted a "fiscal cliff" of automatic spending cuts and across-the-board tax increases.

Combined with other bills he signed earlier in the term, he said he and Congress have reduced deficits by about $2.5 trillion over a decade, somewhat less than the $4 trillion he said is necessary to get them down to a manageable size.

"I'm happy to have a conversation about how we reduce our deficits in a sensible way," he said, but added repeatedly he wasn't willing to let congressional Republicans use the debt limit as leverage in negotiations over spending cuts.

Failure to raise the debt limit would put the United States into a first-ever default, a step that Obama said could "blow up the economy."

Congressional Democrats have recently urged the president to lift the debt limit unilaterally. He said - as he has before - that he won't do it, that Congress had voted for the spending that resulted in federal borrowing, and should now agree to pay the bill.

When it came to gun legislation, the president sought to reassure sportsmen and hunters that they have nothing for worry about.

"The issue here is not whether or not we believe in the 2nd Amendment. The issue is whether there are sensible steps we can take so that the individual in Newtown can't walk into a school and gun down a bunch of children in a shockingly rapid fashion. Certainly we can do something about that," he said.

Short of legislation, the president said there were administrative actions he could take. Asked to provide an example, he said, "How we are gathering data, for example, on guns that fall into the hands of criminals and how we track that more effectively."

Source: http://www.katu.com/news/national/Obama-demands-quick-action-to-raise-debt-limit-186805271.html

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Syrian warplanes bomb rebellious Damascus suburbs

BEIRUT (AP) ? Activists say Syrian fighter jets have bombed Damascus suburbs as part of a government offensive to dislodge rebels from strategic areas around the capital.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says warplanes carried out airstrikes Sunday on towns and villages around the capital, including Kfar Batna and Gesereen, while regime forces bombarded other neighborhoods with artillery and mortars.

The Observatory also says regime troops are battling rebels in the suburb of Daraya a day after government officials said the army had taken much of the strategic area, which lies on the edge of a major military air base just south of the capital. The group relies on reports from activists on the ground.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-01-13-Syria/id-5ff67b35a76a4d54b105ec16fd727315

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