SANTA PAULA, CA - Manny Manzano, a high producing real estate broker with nearly 25 years of industry experience and special expertise on what it takes to qualify for a home loan today, has joined the Santa Paula/Fillmore offices of Troop Real Estate, Inc. as an agent, announces Scott Dunbar, manager of the offices.

Manzano launched his real estate brokerage career in 1988 in Santa Paula, followed by 18 years in the mortgage end of the business, including direct lending and brokerage. He operated his own brokerage firm in Oxnard from 2003 to 2011. Along with way, Manzano provided both brokerage and mortgage services.

“I believe it’s a tremendous advantage to have a mortgage background because I know exactly what it takes for buyers to qualify for a home loan in today’s challenging lending market. I feel I can quickly determine a client’s prospects. I chose to join Troop as an agent because of the firm’s name recognition, network of offices, and support,” Manzano said. He added that he expects to focus on the REO market at Troop.

A member of the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors®, Manzano grew up in Santa Paula, attending Santa Paula High School. He resides in Fillmore.
About Troop Real Estate, Inc.

Established in 1987, Troop Real Estate, Inc. is reportedly Ventura County’s largest brokerage and has perennially been a leader in the county’s residential market for the number and dollar volume of listings sold. The company, with approximately 650 seasoned sales professionals, provides the full range of residential, property management, REO, commercial, financial, new homes, escrow, estate homes and relocation services.

Troop offices are located in Simi Valley, Simi/Wood Ranch, Simi (Commercial), Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Moorpark, Camarillo, Channel Islands, Ventura, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ojai, San Diego and Santa Clarita.

VENTURA COUNTY, CA – Reporting that the majority of its 12 Ventura County offices experienced an average of a 30 per cent increase in sales during December of 2011 over a year earlier, the top official of the region’s largest residential real estate company declared that this clearly signals growing consumer confidence.

Brian Troop, president of Troop Real Estate, Inc., said that homebuyer confidence has risen dramatically during the last year and particularly during the past three to four months.

“Buyers realize that home values have bottomed and will start to move upward. This is bolstered by ongoing reports of new job creation, approximately 100,000 per month, according to the National Association of Realtors®. People are now more comfortable with their job situation,” Troop said.

SIMI VALLEY, CA – Responding to the increased needs of consumers in an ongoing challenging housing market, Troop Real Estate, Inc., announces the unveiling of a new “go to” website tailored to assist home buyers and sellers with current market news, along with refined traditional online features.

Jeff Jarrard, who heads up website development for Troop Real Estate, Ventura County’s largest real estate firm with offices in Santa Clarita and San Diego, reports that the totally revamped site, accessed via www.troop.com, features the core property information consumers are accustomed to viewing, enhanced by vital market data to help them make important decisions.

“We have re-created our website to be more valuable to consumers because we realize the need for more information in today’s market, including the latest mortgage rate updates and general real estate trend news,” Jarrard said.

He reported that among the new website features are:
• A powerful, state-of-the-art, easy to use Property Search System.
• The ability to find the right agent easily and quickly.
• Instant access to all Troop branch offices.
• A huge library consisting of hundreds of free real estate articles covering a vast range of information, including home buying and selling tips, homeowner and renter advice, borrower’s strategies and much more.
• Easy access to contact information about various Troop services.
• A dynamic home page with daily real estate news, mortgage rates and company announcements.
• A powerful mobile site designed to work on virtually any smart phone allowing users to search for listings, agent information and office locations with the touch of a button.

“The primary purpose of the new website is to reflect Troop Real Estate’s goal of achieving 100 percent client satisfaction. Our new site provides more than just what our business offers, but a “go-to” site designed for the consumer’s benefit. Daily real estate news updates, mortgage information, rate updates and a vast amount of general information are all in one place for our clients,” Jarrard said.

He added that the new site also features a custom “video stream”, a framed video page of current news and trends covering both national and local real estate markets. Videos are updated on a regular basis and cover a diversity of residential real estate information.

Visitors to the new site who had been accessing www.troop.com, Jarrard emphasized, are asked to simply re-register via an easy to use link at the upper right hand corner of the site. Registering is quick, allowing users to take full advantage of all of the site’s features, he said.

About Troop Real Estate, Inc.
Established in 1987, Troop Real Estate, Inc. is reportedly Ventura County’s largest brokerage and has perennially been a leader in the county’s residential market for the number and dollar volume of listings sold. The company, with approximately 650 seasoned sales professionals, provides the full range of residential, property management, REO, commercial, financial, new homes, escrow, estate homes and relocation services.

Troop offices are located in Simi Valley, Simi/Wood Ranch, Simi (Commercial), Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Moorpark, Camarillo, Channel Islands, Ventura, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ojai, San Diego and Santa Clarita.

“Don’t be a victim!” Ventura County Supervisor’s Kathy Long and John C. Zaragoza invite Ventura County residents to a Town Hall Meeting on Real Estate Fraud this Thursday, October 20, 2011, at 7:00PM in the South Oxnard Community Center located at 200 East Bard in the City of Oxnard.

Residents are encouraged to attend the Town Hall Meeting to learn how to prevent, detect, and report Real Estate Fraud.

Victims of Real Estate Fraud crimes should not stay silent, Supervisor Kathy Long urges residents, “If you think you have been a victim of fraud or approached by a scammer, take action and join us this Thursday to hear how you can help prevent this from happening to someone else in our community.”

The Town Hall Meeting will inform residents on the warning signs of fraud, what type of Real Estate scams exist, what type of assistance is available and how to protect yourself and your family from getting scammed.

Supervisor John C. Zaragoza states, “As we experience an increase of Real Estate Fraud scams, being informed in how to stay protected is critical especially if you or someone you know is facing foreclosure or have concerns about a home loan.”

Come hear experts from SurePath Financial Solutions, Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation, Ventura County Real Estate Fraud Advisory Team (REFAT) and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.

For questions regarding the Town Hall Meeting please contact Supervisor Long’s office at 805-654-2276, or Supervisor Zaragoza’s office at 805-654-2613.

Realtors® strive to preserve and expand housing opportunities for all Americans, and that’s particularly important for public and private sector workers. To address a nationwide shortage of workforce housing, the National Association of Realtors®, in partnership with the National Housing Conference, will host a forum today in Washington, D.C.

Bring Workers Home is part of a series of three regional forums hosted by NAR and NHC to develop solutions to the country’s workforce housing shortage. The D.C. forum will explore the nature of the workforce housing challenges in the Mid-Atlantic region and highlight some of the area’s successful housing programs and best practice efforts currently underway in D.C., Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

The forum will immediately follow the NHC and the Center for Housing Policy’s Solutions for Sustainable Communities:2011 Learning Conference on State and Local Housing Policy, and will continue the theme of building strong communities by showcasing effective workforce housing solutions designed to keep up with emerging challenges and to leverage collaboration among a variety of partners.

“Realtors® work hard to build stable communities, and with a lack of affordable housing opportunities, those communities suffer,” said NAR President Ron Phipps, broker-president of Phipps Realty in Warwick, R.I. “As home costs continue to outpace wages, many individuals and families can no longer afford homes near their workplaces. This leads to things such as longer commutes and traffic congestion, which ultimately lessens the quality of life for all residents. The Bring Workers Home forum gives Realtors® the chance to work with local employers, community organizations and officials to closely examine this crisis and work together to offer solutions.”

Today’s forum will feature remarks from D.C. Council Member Michael Brown about why workforce housing matters and strategies to address the housing needs of the community’s working families. Keynote speaker Dr. Hassan Minor from Howard University will offer an employer’s perspective, discussing the benefits that employer-assisted housing programs provide to employers, their employees and the community. In addition, two afternoon panels will share case studies of successful workforce housing programs and discuss strategies for advancing workforce housing through community partnerships.

“It’s encouraging to see employers recognize the value of workforce housing and how it affects their employees and ultimately their bottom line,” said Phipps. “Communities across the country are also beginning to realize the link between workforce housing and their communities’ economic and social well-being. However, there is still a lot of work to be done and this forum is one step toward addressing workforce housing needs.”

More than 100 attendees are expected at the forum, including Realtor® associations and Realtors®, employers and human resource professionals, urban and regional planners, housing and community development leaders, and local officials, as well as those involved in local housing issues.

The series of Bring Workers Home forums are taking place throughout 2011 in Boston; Washington, D.C.; and Portland, Ore. Visit www.realtor.org/housingforums for more information.

For 80 years, the nonprofit National Housing Conference has been the nation’s premier public policy and housing advocacy organization. To learn more about the National Housing Conference and its research affiliate, the Center for Housing Policy, go to www.nhc.org.

The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

National Association of Realtors

The National Association of Realtors®’ HouseLogic, a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership, today launched Operation Home Relief, a new Facebook Causes campaign. The campaign aims to increase awareness, rally support and raise funding for USA Cares, a nonprofit organization that provides counseling and financial foreclosure assistance to post-9/11 active duty U.S. military service personnel, veterans and their families.

HouseLogic will donate $1 to USA Cares every time someone “likes” the Operation Home Relief Cause page on Facebook and will match individual donations made to the cause, up to $20,000.

“Owning a home is part of the American dream, where we make memories, build our futures, and feel comfortable and secure; and any family who loses that dream to foreclosure is one family too many,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. “HouseLogic’s Operation Home Relief aims to help sustain homeownership for military families who have already given so much to support our country, and we hope others will join together with us to support this worthy cause.”

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It’s been five years since Hurricane Katrina came roaring into the Gulf Coast, dramatically changing New Orleans and the lives of those who called it home. While there is very little homeowners can do when facing a natural disaster of that magnitude, the anniversary – and the current threat from Hurricane Danielle – is an important reminder that with a little planning and preparation, homeowners can better protect their home and family from a disaster.

The experts at HouseLogic – a free, comprehensive consumer website about all aspects of homeownership – say that with research and a little work homeowners can quickly develop a plan that will help them reduce losses and recover faster following a natural disaster.

“Families build their futures through homeownership, and HouseLogic should be a homeowner’s first stop when it comes to increasing, maintaining, and protecting the value of his or her home,” said NAR President Vicki Cox Golder, owner of Vicki L. Cox & Associates in Tucson, Ariz. “Sometimes it’s unpleasant to think about disaster plans and preparing for the unknown but it’s an important thing for homeowners to do to ensure the continued safety of their family and homes.”

According to HouseLogic, homeowners should begin their natural disaster preparations by developing a plan. A good disaster plan includes not only an emergency preparedness kit, with important papers, food and water, and extra blankets and flashlights but also a well-thought out plan for how family members will evacuate and communicate – making sure that everyone in the family is familiar with the plan and knows what to do and where to go in case of an emergency.

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