By Anita Clark Moving scams are real and if you or your clients have ever been victimized, you know how difficult the frustration and struggle is to get your property. While real estate agents are typically not involved in the moving aspect of home relocation, they can provide advice or even provide a list of potential sources to make the …
Does Home Maintenance Deter Millennials?
By Barbara Ballinger Millennials are buying houses—many for the first time—and in doing so they’re learning that houses require maintenance, which can often be pricey. These days, repairs can also be a challenge if the homeowners are not handy since contractors can be as scarce as the houses in some communities. Puronics, a Livermore, Calif.-based company that develops pure water …
‘Automa-zation’ Tools to ‘Set It and Forget It’ in 2022
By Lee Davenport “It’s been a while” are words we should never hear or say to prospects. These words indicate that our follow-up system has a missing link (or may even be non-existent). However, if those simple yet alarming words seem to be on repeat for you, then I have some tools that may come in handy because real estate …
Is the Real Estate Market Finally Balancing Out?
By Hazel Emlen
The housing market was off to quite a competitive start at the beginning of 2021. For many buyers, the competition made purchasing a home quite challenging. Some buyers have given up on purchasing a home altogether. From the stress of competing with cash buyers and buyers who waive most or even all contingencies, many first-time home buyers …
Quiz: Is Your Follow-Up Broken?
By Lee Davenport Have you ever heard the saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”? Yet, have you noticed that you don’t know what you don’t know? Perhaps a method or strategy (or lack there of) is broken, yet because we don’t know it, we leave things as they are. Using the poll option in Instagram Stories (which is …
How I Almost Fell Victim to a Tax Scam
By Leanne Goff This is the time of year when everyone is planning for the big upcoming tax day. This is especially true for REALTORS® of whom the vast majority are independent contractors. It’s critically important that all records are maintained and reported accurately. If you’re like me, all of the information must be perfect. Expense receipts should be in …
Do We Need Real Estate Tax Incentives?
By Sam DeBord The U.S. tax code includes multiple incentives for buying and owning real estate. The mortgage interest deduction and property tax deduction are just a couple of the incentives that have come under fire in new “tax reform” plans for their purported special treatment of the real estate industry and home owners. Do we really need tax deductions …
Don’t Judge My Gen Y
By Brooke Wolford Over the last several years, real estate educators have really pushed that we, as an industry, need to do something special to deal with my generation. Most of these speakers are not part of Gen Y themselves, but they seem to think they know everything about us. And despite these teachings, I have rarely met someone who …
‘That’s Why We Are All Not Profitable!’
By Dave Robison Marilyn Wilson with the WAV Group has been visiting brokerages and state associations with data that her company compiled about our industry. While attending one of her recent presentations, I snapped a quick photo with my phone of one of her graphs. She said there are two different types of companies listed on the graph. The companies …