Sotto Voce: Broker Recruiting and Retention Lessons from the Streets of Brooklyn

One of my favorite people in real estate is John Reinhardt of Fillmore Real Estate based in Brooklyn, New York. I am not sure why, but everything competitive in the New York City area seems amplified. Like his peers, John is always building his business, one great agent at a time. Among John’s favorite recruiting lessons is the spot. In John’s case, his spot is Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. “It is the one place that agents cannot deny a free meal.” John is a recruiting machine – among the best in the business. The last time I sat down with John, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:15-07:00May 11th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Sotto Voce: Broker Recruiting and Retention Lessons from the Streets of Brooklyn
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Form Simplicity by Florida Realtors Upgrades NEFAR, Continues Growth

The subheadline on the news release issued during NAR Midyear tells the real story for Florida Realtors and its Form Simplicity transaction management software: NEFAR offers 6,500+ professionals Form Simplicity Ultimate Edition as member benefit Form Simplicity, built for Realtors by Realtors as Florida Realtors points as a key competitive advantage, continues to grow.  See for yourself why  at the NAR Midyear meetings this week. Check them out at Booth 818.       Washington DC – May 10, 2016 – The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors is helping its more than 6,500 members extend their paperless capabilities, signing a long-term [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:15-07:00May 10th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Form Simplicity by Florida Realtors Upgrades NEFAR, Continues Growth
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Clareity’s New Dashboard Review

Clareity Security is staging the release of their best Single Sign-On dashboard ever. As a quick primer, Clareity Security was born to prevent password sharing and other unauthorized access to the MLS system. The MLS has confidential fields that must be protected and Clareity’s software also prevents theft of service and provides revenue assurance to the MLS. Over the years, they extended the platform to ensure that valid MLS users could securely access other licensed solutions offered by the MLS. This “Single Sign-On” convenience not only manages authorized access, but also relieves the agent’s stress of remembering more usernames and [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:15-07:00May 10th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Clareity’s New Dashboard Review
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MLSListings Offers RatePlug’s New Mortgage Technology to California Brokers & Agents

Many real estate brokers have modified their strategy with their mortgage affiliations as banks have fled the JVs and other joint arrangements. This has opened the door to MLSs like MLS Listings to partner with RatePlug to display live mortgage rates from leading local lenders. Let’s face it, for most families, it’s not the price of the home but rather the monthly payment that triggers affordability. Agents who can secure the lowest interest rates for their clients can leverage that to put deals together. A great thing about RatePlug is that brokers can invite their mortgage partners to display their rates [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:15-07:00May 10th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MLSListings Offers RatePlug’s New Mortgage Technology to California Brokers & Agents
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America’s Top Real Estate Pro Becomes the First Billion-Dollar Agent

Addison, TX (May 4, 2016) – America’s number one Realtor® for the last four straight years – Ben Caballero, president of Texas-basedHomesUSA.com – has become the first billion-dollar producer in the world for total home sales last year. Caballero personally was responsible for 2,491 home sales, totaling $1,022,000,000 in 2015. Uniquely, nearly all of his transactions were new home sales for more than 40 homebuilder brands that he represents throughout the Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin metro areas. Caballero’s feat is the result of a highly inventive technology he developed: an online listing management platform that streamlines the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:16-07:00May 5th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on America’s Top Real Estate Pro Becomes the First Billion-Dollar Agent
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Tech Helpline Offers A Great Suggestion for Agents: Make Internet Explorer your old browser

Tricia Stamper is the Director of Technology Products at Florida Realtors and helps run both Form Simplicity, their popular paperless transaction management software, and Tech Helpline, the #1 help desk for real estate agents and brokers. Tech Helpline is really the “Genius Bar” for real estate if you look at a) how popular it is (600k+ Realtors reached in North America) and b) ask anyone who has had to use the service in a crisis to save a deal what great service they provide. Tricia posted a Blog the other day that is the dream of software developers — not [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:16-07:00May 4th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Tech Helpline Offers A Great Suggestion for Agents: Make Internet Explorer your old browser
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Drip Training

I love a morning call with a report of success. A broker that I am working with moved their chips around the board, renewing a core vendor agreement and adding five new services without any incremental costs. Bust out the champagne, right? Not so fast. The panic moment hits you when you understand that you will be launching five new products. A few of them are background products that support the operation of the brokerage – accounting type stuff. But a few of them are consumer launches and agent launches. Put the champagne away and start to whiteboard out the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:17-07:00April 28th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Drip Training
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Consumer Questions a Broker Website Must Answer

There are less than 2% of the homes for sale around the nation today. Typically, that number is 3.5%. Hence we are in a sellers’ market. So the consumer thinks – “Where am I in the market?” What Home Can I Buy? Over 90% of consumers looking to purchase a home have one to sell. The rest are currently renters or second home purchasers. Buying a home is never about buying what you want. It is always about buying what is right for you. The old story of Location, Location, Location is a bit lost on me today, unless it [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:17-07:00April 25th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Consumer Questions a Broker Website Must Answer
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A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish

A French writer wrote this line – “a goal without a plan is just a wish.” It often pops into my head when I read a trade story about a hot new real estate tech company that upon closer inspection, isn’t a company at all, but an idea in search of a business plan. I also find myself thinking about the same thing when I walk through a conference where startup firms are lined up. I pay a game in my head call “product or product feature.” It seems that so many tech startups in real estate are really just [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:17-07:00April 20th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on A Goal Without a Plan is Just a Wish
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Real Estate Around the Nation

Home building has been the last area of the real estate market to recover from the recession. Generally, it’s believed that builders were hit the hardest during the recession. Many builders use leverage to purchase land and take loans for home building. When the investment market for these loans dried up and the value of the land collapsed, many were forced to downsize, cease operations, or in some cases shutter everything. Coming out of the recession, builders have been slow to get started. It took a number of years for the market to work through the distressed and bank owned [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:18-07:00April 13th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Real Estate Around the Nation
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Is Real Estate Still in a Slump?

After the crash in the housing market, real estate was hit by the worst recession in our nation’s history. Frankly, brokers took a beating and operated at a loss for a number of years. Since the low point, things have been steadily been improving. There was a lot of speculation that the foreclosure volume in the hardest hit markets were clogging up the supply side. As we turned the corner, these distressed properties were slowly released into the marketplace and they are mostly absorbed. There was a two to three year heyday for brokers and agents who specialized in REO [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:20-07:00March 28th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Is Real Estate Still in a Slump?
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Northwood Realty Launches Training Website for Their Agents

About Northwood Northwood Realty is among the largest independent real estate companies in America. They cover multiple states and their 38 offices are focused mainly on the densely populated areas of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio. They are a full service firm with 974 agents, offering residential, finance, relocation, and insurance. Northwood is pioneering a program for agent training that introduces an effective model for other brokers to consider. It’s called Northwood Tech Trainers. About Northwood Trainers Northwood deploys five field trainers to support just under 1000 agents.  The ratio is effectively one trainer to every 200 agents. The field [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:20-07:00March 24th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on Northwood Realty Launches Training Website for Their Agents
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