By Todd Waller
Current real estate buyers … this post is about you.
Don’t worry; we’re not going to talk badly about you. In fact, we are going to discuss the things you do when you find ‘The Home.’ We are also going to discuss those things that sellers should be aware of when they place their home on the market to attract you to write an offer. Heck, those sellers were once buyers, right?
By Carrie Foley
With summer in full swing, I like to spend my time off at the pool.
Recently, I was watching a timid child try to swim. I could only imagine how the depth and the vastness of the pool probably seemed frightening and overwhelming to a beginner. The child clung to the edge of the pool watching the others swim about. She spent more time sitting on the side than in the water.
She eventually got up the courage to jump in.
By Carl Guild
Want to succeed in real estate?
I’ve got two words for you: client retention.
Some of you may say that we don’t want to retain our clients. We want them in and out. Well, the truth is you want to retain your clients FOREVER. You want their inventory in and out, but the relationship must remain so you can represent them for every deal, every real estate milestone, and receive those all-important referrals. Don’t believe me? All right, have it your way.
Here are five surefire ways to make sure your client relationship doesn’t last:
By Melissa Kandel
A friend asked me yesterday if it was possible to sprain her thumbs from excessive text messaging.
“Of course you can’t,” I told her confidently, even though I had no idea. She shrugged, satisfied, and returned to her phone. We had met for a late afternoon coffee and these were our first words exchanged. For the better part of an hour, we sat in the corner of an almost-empty café, untouched lattes between us, phones in hand, silent except for the soft taps of fingertips on glass screens. Was this really the portrait of modern friendship?
By Jessica Botkin
There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to the question of old vs. new in real estate.
Ask yourself, do you enjoy a home with character and timeless style? Or, are you a fan of the starting-from-scratch approach, which begins from the ground up—literally—and creates something new, modern, sleek and, energy efficient?
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.
Thoughts on Leadership 