By Sean Cawley
I may be a West Coast resident now, but I was born and raised in Omaha, NE.
Home to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. headquarters, Omaha is also home to me and I make it a point to return each year to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting with my brother, Brian Cawley.
By Adam Briley
To maintain a successful real estate business, it’s critically important to look back in order to move forward; a majority of my business over the last few years has come from past client referrals.
So, how do you connect with clients long after a transaction is through?
By Todd Waller
[phone rings]
Me: Hey, Kristin! What’s happening today? Do you and Brian have any questions about the listing docs I sent you for review?
Kristin: (laughing) Geez, Todd! That’s impressive, answering the phone by addressing me by name.
Me: Really? It’s an old habit of mine.
Kristin: Habit?
Me: Yeah! Any time I talk with a client or customer on the phone, I capture their number and add their name to my contact list. That way, when my peeps call, I know who I’m talking with and likely what they want to talk about.
Kristin: That is really impressive! That makes me feel even more important and comfortable working with you. Nice touch.
Me: Thanks! Now, how’s the house coming along?
By Carrie Foley
The other day, I received a call from clients looking for a new home.
Like so many conversations I have these days with my buyers, they had a list of homes they had sought out on the Internet that they wanted to see. Each home had been found, researched and carefully selected based on information gleaned from Google Maps, peer reviews of the neighborhoods or schools, and other detailed listing information found online. Much of their research was conducted either through my website, which links with the MLS or on popular real estate listing sites.
Today, there’s a limitless amount of information instantly accessible to the technology-savvy home shopper. It appears—on the surface, at least—that the role of the real estate agent is diminishing, especially for the younger generations of buyers. In fact, as millennials embrace every emerging social platform and application from Vine to SnapChat, expanding their ability to access an incredible wealth of real estate information and opinions generated by their peers and friends, what will become of agents?
We’ll stay right here. Why?
Because we bring to the table these three invaluable assets:
By Mark Brace
In my first-ever video for REthink Report, I’ll explain how to “Be the First.” Why is this practice so important for all real estate agents to understand? According to the National Association of REATLORS®’ latest profile of Homebuyers and Sellers, 66% of buyers and sellers worked with the first agent they interview.
But how can you be that first agent to get in front of potential clients? I’ve got some helpful tips and insight, so watch this video to find out more!
MARK BRACE is an agent with Grand Rapids, MI-based Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Michigan Real Estate. He is also a member of the REthink Council. To contact Mark, visit his website www.markbrace.com, find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MarkBraceRealEstate or follow him on Twitter, @GRRealtor.
By Nicolle Davis
You know what the hashtag is, right?
It’s this thing: #
I always knew it as a musical symbol, a tic-tac-toe or the pound sign on a phone. But over the past few years, this familiar symbol has taken on an entirely new significance in an entirely new space ─ online media.
By Kim Gellalty
Each year on this special day, I take time to recognize the hard work of my administrator and administrative team.
If you have an excellent administrative assistant, you know he or she is invaluable. Your administrative assistant is the one who holds down the office as you race across town to show a buyer a new listing that may have 10 offers on it already; he or she is the person you can count on to write that last-minute addendum to include the seller’s cat because you completely forgot that your buyers wanted little Fluffy. As life savers and organizers, administrative assistants are more than just extra help; they’re the backbone of your business, helping you build a successful real estate career now and well into the future.
By Carl Guild
Is the title for this blog post a little drastic? Maybe. But maybe not.
Let me break it down for you: Cloud computing has helped me increase my productivity exponentially and has completely changed my life. Because of cloud computing, I’m able to spend more time at home with my family. Everything is organized, efficient and simple. Cloud computing is always there when I need it to be, through the good times and the bad. Love is the only description that fits.
By Chuck MacPhee
It was 2005.
I was two years out of college, had a great consulting job, traveled the country, and got married. So what do you think the first thing this financially stable, 20-something newlywed did? Well, he fulfilled the all-American dream and purchased a home, of course.
By Player Murray
It wasn’t too long ago that many of us in the real estate business felt like we were heading toward a completely “mobile” business. Nowadays, we can do practically everything from our phones, tablets and laptops, and going “paperless” has become more and more common. Given how much business we can accomplish on the go, it would stand to reason that the physical office space is becoming less important to our agents, but I propose that just the opposite is true.
Thoughts on Leadership 