Improving Your Business

Stories, articles and advice aimed at improving your business

Real estate marketing 101, courtesy of Facebook

A guide from the social media giant offers insights on digital marketing strategies for agents.

Ready to ramp up? 7 key action items from the Accelerate Summit

At Houston Agent’s Accelerate Conference, Jack Markham, of Constellation Real Estate Group, asks the question: “How are you going to compete, not just with the other people in this room, but with large companies and their technology?”

How to stay relevant in the age of iBuyers

Like it or not, iBuyers are here to stay, say industry experts. Here’s how to get a seat at the table.

Three ways real estate is getting smarter

DLA Piper’s Global Real Estate Summit examines ways in which technology is disrupting the market.

The dos and don’ts of virtual staging

Virtual staging has become a popular tool for sellers and agents to drive buyer traffic, especially for vacant listings. But there are some very important best practices, ethics guidelines and technological caveats that will make this process smoother.

What your lawyer wishes you knew about real estate auctions

Auctions have changed a great deal in the last decade. Do you know what you need to know to represent your clients in this environment? Bob Floss II, real estate attorney at Floss Law, LLC in Northbrook, Illinois, has

This twist on 1031 exchanges opens opportunities

How many times have you had a client who would love to list their property with you, but they don’t because they know they will have to pay Uncle Sam a huge capital gains tax – sometimes upwards of

More existing homes include smart tech upgrades

The remodeling industry can expect major growth in incorporating devices into homes that enable remote control and the ability to monitor household systems, according to survey findings from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. That means

New lead-gen tools, Nextdoor features and faster commission checks

BoomTown introduces new lead-gen tech Real estate sales and marketing platform BoomTown announced two new tools in its platform this week. The first is Success Assurance, which was created to help agents generate, qualify, and manage leads that are

Agents support the rise of Hispanic homeowners

Hispanic and Latino-Americans comprise about 18 percent of the U.S. population, but have accounted for almost two-thirds of net growth in the U.S. homeownership rate since 2008. A recent report from the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals

Lone Wolf and Real Estate Webmasters join up; HomeLight announces digital mortgage acquisition

Transaction management and CRM companies join forces Lone Wolf and Real Estate Webmasters announced this week that they will be teaming up to expand what they offer agents and brokers.  Lone Wolf, which works with 700,000 real estate professionals

4 things agents can do to sell more investment properties

Most first-time homeowners follow the traditional home-buying cycle—they purchase a condo or house, and a few years later, they sell it and purchase a bigger home that they live in for decades. Even if they have a great experience

Most consumers would wait 3 months before cutting the price on their home

Home prices across the U.S. have been rising faster than inflation and average wages for several consecutive years, although in some cases, that trend is beginning to slow or even reverse. That may be due to homeowners getting more

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Zillow home value estimate adds new AI capabilities

Zillow’s trademark “Zestimate” feature, which lets homeowners and prospective buyers see the estimated value of almost any residence, has been upgraded to incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities that the company says will improve accuracy. According to a

How to avoid disasters after closing

There is a recipe for disaster involving agents, buyers and sellers that every agent aims to avoid. Chicago real estate attorney and first-time homebuyer instructor Ranj Mohip calls it “Post-Close Nightmares.” When the seller doesn’t disclose history, the buyer

5 unexpected ways real estate agents can use chatbots

Back when chatbots first gained traction in 2016, most people thought they’d never engage with a virtual assistant to get the information they needed, let alone try to use one in their own business. But now it’s 2019 and

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