Jerald Turboff is a Texas real estate executive and consultant. Jerald Turboff established Prime Capital Corporation, a company that brokers both residential and commercial real estate transactions in Texas.

Considered by many the hottest real estate market in the country, Texas has seen record growth in home prices and sales in recent years. The prices for homes in some areas have grown by up to 10 percent while the total number of homes sold in some areas has increased as much as 50 percent. Although exceptional in many ways, the growth is explainable.

In recent years, oil prices have steadily increased, resulting in high gas prices around the nation. As the chief domestic suppliers of oil, Texas oil companies and associated businesses have experienced increased production and revenues. According to the Railroad Commission of Texas, from 2009 to 2014, the amount of oil produced in Texas virtually tripled. At the same time that prices for crude oil swelled, the Texas economy experienced a surge, which enabled the growth of the real estate industry. 

For more than 25 years, Jerald Turboff has served as the president of Prime Capital Corporation, a real estate brokerage based in Houston. Jerald Turboff has primarily focused on commercial and residential transactions in Texas.

According to a report from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, recent data from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) indicates that home sales in Texas were 7 percent higher in August 2015 compared to the same month in 2014. The data also showed a more than 7 percent year-over-year increase in the median Texas home price.

In the September 2015 report, the Real Estate Center stated that 29,685 homes sold in Texas in August, which is nearly 1,900 more than the previous year. The report also showed that home sales and prices increased or remained steady year-over-year in all of the state’s major cities, with Dallas and Fort Worth displaying the most improvement.

While home sales in Texas declined from July 2015 to August 2015, the Real Estate Center noted that the decrease in sales is due to the normal seasonal slowdown. The Real Estate Center’s chief economist Dr. Jim Gaines explained that the Texas market remains strong overall, although demand has waned in areas impacted by the energy sector slowdown and low oil prices. 

Texas is home to some of the nation’s most affordable housing, according to new real estate research. The state ranked in the top 10 in housing affordability in a recent national survey that looked at home prices across the United States. Only eight states, Nebraska, Iowa, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, and Oklahoma, rated ahead of the Lone Star State. The state’s average list price for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home stands at $186,144.

Within Texas, several cities rated high in affordability, including Terrell, which ranked 17th. Six other communities—Garland, Alvarado, Kaufman, Hartland, Duncanville, and Lancaster—rated among the nation’s 100 most affordable. The large cities of Dallas and Houston ranked 585 and 613, respectively.

The national study compared the average price of four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes for sale in 2,500 markets in the United States.

About Jerald Turboff: The President of Prime Capital Corporation, Jerald Turboff has spent more than four decades in the Texas real estate industry.                             

A real estate professional of more than two decades, Jerald Turboff leads Houston-based Prime Capital Corporation. As the company’s president, Jerald Turboff brokers commercial and residential transactions throughout the state.

Similar to a real estate agent, a broker possesses expertise in property sales and contract negotiations. However, a broker has completed real estate education beyond what is required of an agent. This prepares him or her to take the broker’s license exam. Upon successful completion of the assessment, a broker can launch his or her own business and hire agents to work therein.

All Texas brokers must be at least 18 years old and possess four years of experience as a licensed sales agent. Each must have completed 270 hours of qualifying real estate courses pertaining to law of agency, principles of real estate, and promulgated contract forms, among others. Additionally, the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) requires 30 hours of real estate brokerage courses. Submission of an application and fingerprints are necessary to receive approval to take the exam through Pearson VUE. Applicants must pass the examination within one year of their application’s filing with TREC.                             

A real estate professional with more than two decades of experience, Jerald Turboff currently acts as President of the Primate Capital Corporation. The firm has clients active in the residential and commercial real estate markets of Texas.
In 2012, the North Texas region experienced a more than 15 percent increase in single-family residences sold. The news gets even better, with median prices rising 8 percent over 2011's number, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M as well as the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems. The increase, from the 2010 median of $130,000 to the current North Texas median of $162,000, means today's homeowners stand to earn tens of thousands of dollars more when they put their houses on the market.

At the lowest point of the housing collapse in 2010, North Texas posted sales of 63,832 units. In 2012, real estate professionals successfully sold more than 75,000 units, a drastic improvement in line with 2008's numbers but still below the 2006 apex of 85,000.

In trying to sell property in a competitive market, staging a house is something to consider. Making a space look more inviting can get more potential buyers interested.

1. Faster sell. The New York Village Voice reported that a staged house remains on the market for an average of 13.9 days, 17 fewer days than an un-staged house.

2. Higher price. The longer a property is on the market, the greater the chance that its value will fall below the list price. U.S. Housing and Urban Development revealed that, on average, a staged home sells 17 percent higher than a non-staged home.

3. Cost-free. Surveys of realtors indicate that sellers who spend money on staging tend to not only recover their costs but also profit from it.

4. More objective. It is difficult for sellers to see flaws in their homes because of emotional attachment. Bringing in a professional can turn the living space into something that buyers can envision themselves in.

About the Author
As the president of Prime Capital Corporation in Houston, Jerald Turboff primarily focuses on commercial and residential real estate in Texas. Working in real estate brokerage and investments, Turboff provides his clients with services such as consulting and asset management.                             

Economic projections early in 2012 estimated that the Houston metropolitan area would add more than 90,000 new jobs that year. Experts said the growth could contribute to a higher real estate occupancy rate and to further development of the commercial real estate market overall, particularly in the vicinity of the city’s Energy Corridor.

Population growth and residential home prices in Houston continued their upswing into the last months of the year. Sales of condominiums and townhouses late in 2012 rose by more than 40 percent over the same period in 2011, and closings on single-family homes also soared. In October of 2012, the median price for a Houston-area home stood at just over $160,000, a rise of nearly 9 percent. Real estate professionals began to define the business climate for the end of 2012 and into the new year as a seller’s market, particularly in upscale neighborhoods on the city’s west side.

In the closing weeks of 2012, as the “fiscal cliff” loomed with anticipated cuts in federal spending and increases in taxes, real estate professionals saw the Houston housing market emerging without a dramatic downturn. Even during the last few years of economic slowdowns elsewhere in the country, the city’s real estate industry stayed relatively robust, thanks to a strong-performing energy sector and the lack of overbuilding.

Jerald Turboff, President of real estate brokerage and investment company Prime Capital Corporation, provides a variety of consulting, developing, and financial management services to clients throughout the Houston area and beyond.