Real Estate Magazine - Highlands Sotheby's International Realty - July 2021

CHANGING LIFESTYLES SPARK GROWTH FOR NORTH CAROLINA FIRM Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty Maximizes the New Migration - Page 56

Jody Lovell, Co-Owner, Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty

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Happening This Month @RISMEDIA INSIDE THE COVER “Everything I’ve done throughout my career has led to me sitting in this seat.”

Sue Yannaccone reflects on her new role as president and CEO of the Realogy Franchise Group, and shares how the company is better prepared than ever to reshape franchising for the future. Find the details on page 44.

TRENDING ON HOUSECALL

With over 450 million active users worldwide, Pinterest is an ideal social platform for real estate professionals. Find out how to make it part of your social media strategy in “What Makes Pinterest a Powerful Platform for Real Estate Marketing” at blog.rismedia.com.

IN THE NEWS

Rebound in Sight for Urban Rental Market, Experts Say The rental recovery appears to be a good sign for several urban markets that have weathered pandemic-induced migrations to the suburbs amid remote working conditions and national shutdowns. Read more on page 54.

TUNE IN:

Now available on RISMedia’s RealEdge Podcast, Lennox Scott shares strategies for staying competitive amid changing technology and an influx of iBuyers.

Catch the episode at rismedia.com/podcasts.

The U.S. median home price grew 15.2% in May to a new high of $380,000. Get more market intel on

page 11.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 1

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CONTENTS July 2021/Vol. 37, No. 7

ON THE COVER 56 Changing Lifestyles Spark Growth for North Carolina Firm

Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty Maximizes the New Migration

The widespread mandate to “stay home” forever redefined the meaning of home and created new opportunities for real estate success. No longer just a place to sleep after long days at the office, home became the center of the universe, where people worked, cooked, exercised, socialized and homeschooled their children.

In this month’s cover story, real estate broker Jody Lovell and her husband, Wood, owners of Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty, discuss how shifting consumer priorities are changing the real estate landscape in the idyllic resort area of Highlands, North Carolina.

HIGHLIGHTS

52

44 R eshaping Franchising for the

Future

Learn why being a Realogy brand may be more valuable than ever before.

50 T ranscending the Barriers Between

Real Estate and Mortgage

This month, learn how Propertybase is leveling the playing field in a competitive market.

52 P owerful Tech Tools That Give

REALTORS® a Competitive Edge Here, discover how the National Association of REALTORS®’ REALTOR Benefits® program helps members tap into the latest technology.

60 C ustomizing the Client Experience

From Beginning to End

In this exclusive feature, take a peek at MoveEasy 2.0.

HEADLINERS 11 Marketwatch 12 N AR Power Broker Roundtable:

Getting Our Arms Around the Inventory Shortage

14 W omen in Real Estate: Christy

Budnick Steps in as CEO of HSF Affiliates

17 Meet the Newsmakers: Nancy

Kennedy, Kit Fitzgerald, Dana Green

33

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 3

74 D an Steward – New

50

Technologies Place Home Inspectors Ahead of the Game

75 L aura Croll – Helping, Having

Fun, Growing and Making Money

76 R ealtor.com®: Listings Down, Inventory Up

79 E mployment Trends Index

Increases in May

BROKER STRATEGIES 80 V erl Workman – Empower 21 P olicy & Legal Matters:

The Indispensable Independent Contractor Classification

22 R EBAC Report: Boosting Your Agents’ Success With Buyers

COACHING 29 B uffini & Company – Building

Client Relationships Through Video Messaging

FEATURES 26 Power Broker Perspectives: Tommy Choi

54 Rebound in Sight for Urban

Rental Market, Experts Say

56 Changing Lifestyles Spark

Growth for North Carolina Firm

TRENDS & ISSUES

30 S herri Johnson – How to

63 D aniel Ramsey – The Current

31 D arryl Davis – When the Listing

64 S ue Yannaccone – Defining

Monetize Your Real Estate Brokerage’s Value Proposition

Appointment Doesn’t Go Your Way

32 T erri Murphy – Are You Winning or Losing?

33 V erl Workman – Are You

Struggling With Online Leads?

Analytics Is the Answer

35 T he Experts at McKissock

Learning – Drive More Traffic to

Your Website With These 5 Tips

BUSINESS BUILDERS 37 C inch Home Services: Going the Extra Mile for Clients

38 H omes.com: A Support System for Success

39 H SA

SM

Home Warranty:

Providing Certainty in an Unstable Market

42 R eal Estate Webmasters: Preparing for the Next Opportunity

4 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

State of Fatigue Among Real Estate Professionals

the Path to Leadership

65 A dam Long – Don’t Skip the Home Inspection!

66 D ave Karoly – The Most

Important Tech for a REALTOR® Is Their CRM

67 O livia Mariani – How to

Help Agents Solve for Inventory Shortages

Your Agents to Become Personal Branding Experts

81 M att Farrell, Corcoran Urban Real Estate

82 C ameron Keegan, RE/MAX Moves

83 K urt Schuler, Schuler Bauer Real Estate ERA Powered

84 C hristian Barnes, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes

85 C andace Adams, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties

86 S heryl Chinowth, Chinowth & Cohen REALTORS®

TEAM TALK 88 P ower Team Profile – HighTouch, High-Impact Distinguish Robinson Upshur Team

90 V erl Workman – Hey, Alexa:

Which Tech Tools Should I Adopt This Year?

69 M ichael Minard – Tech

Migrations Don’t Have to Cause Tech Migraines

70 A shley Bowers – Expect More, Stress Less: Demanding What You Need as an Agent

71 A llen Alishahi – Consumers Are Ready for More Digital Marketing Tools

72 F rank Chimento – Was Real Estate the Real Cause of the American Revolution?

EVERY ISSUE 1 H appening This Month @RISMedia

7 From the Publisher 19 Great Spaces 92 Service Profiles 100 Referrals

104 RE: Real Estate—The REACH Class of 2021: Propelling Proptech Into the Future

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

Leading in Unique Times

W

e started 2021 by honoring some of the industry’s most influential female leaders in our January Women in Real Estate issue, an extension of our ongoing online series. This year, we’ve also introduced our monthly Women in Real Estate magazine column as well as our Women in Real Estate panel discussions during our educational events.

The opportunity for women to excel in leadership positions is greater than ever, and our front cover this month demonstrates just that. When Sue Yannaccone took the helm at the Realogy Franchise Group in November 2020, it wasn’t a career goal she had necessarily set her sights on, yet it was one she was perfectly suited for. As she says, “Everything I’ve done throughout my career has led to me sitting in this seat.”

Sue stepped in as the head of Realogy at an incredibly challenging time—during the height of the pandemic and the subsequent market boom. But thanks to her leadership style, she couldn’t be better equipped to handle the unique dynamics of today’s real estate business. Sue and her leadership team share how they’re guiding Realogy forward in this month’s cover story on page 44.

We also salute another outstanding female leader this month—Christy Budnick, the new CEO of HSF Affiliates and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (page 14). We are excited to watch what Christy brings to the firm and look forward to sharing her journey in the months to come.

As we continue to bring you the stories of those making news in the real estate industry, don’t miss your chance to share the accomplishments of someone you know by nominating them to become an RISMedia 2022 Real Estate Newsmaker. Our annual Newsmakers program honors those from all walks of the industry for their achievements and contributions to the communities they serve. Nominations are now open at rismedia.com/newsmaker-nomination.

Many of our Newsmakers will be among the speakers and panelists at our Real Estate CEO & Agent Leadership Exchange on Sept. 14, where we’ll discuss changing success strategies for the future. Register for this full-day virtual event at ceo.rismedia.com. We also hope to see you back in person at our annual Power Broker Forum and Power Broker & Newsmakers Dinner during the NAR Conference on November 12th.

Until then, wishing you continued success,

John E. Featherston CEO & Publisher

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Broker/Owner, InTrust Realty Inc.

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• Automatically deliver exclusive consumerfocused real estate and lifestyle content, including articles, infographics and professionally produced videos, to your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.

• Showcase your MLS listings on your branded landing pages, complete with lead generation form.

• Measure your results, including engagement and impressions, with metrics and reporting tools.

Join ACESocial Today!

For more information, visit acesocial.rismedia.com

Where Real Estate’s Leaders Get Real Tune in to RISMedia’s RealEdge podcast each week to hear the behind-the-scenes stories of some of the most successful people in real estate. Find out how they’ve navigated ups and downs in their careers, and get their insider’s tips on how to build business in any market.

Kofi Nartey

Dan Forsman

Society Real Estate Sports and Celebrity Broker

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties President & CEO

Kendall E. Bonner, Esq.

Sherri Johnson

RE/MAX Capital Realty Broker/Owner

Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting Founder & CEO

Vanessa Bergmark

Nick Bailey

Red Oak Realty CEO & Owner

RE/MAX LLC Chief Customer Officer

Sue Yannaccone

Anthony Lamacchia

Realogy President & CEO

Lamacchia Realty Broker/ Owner and Lamacchia Companies CEO

Subscribe Today to Tune in to the Latest Episodes at

www.rismedia.com/podcasts/

Marki Lemons-Ryhal ReMarkiTable LLC Founder

Mike Miedler

Century 21 Real Estate President & CEO

RISMedia’s RealEdge podcast is hosted by the dynamic and engaging Daniel Ramsey, founder and CEO of MyOutDesk.

It’s our continued honor to be NAR’s Official Supplier of REALTOR® -logo branded products for the past 17+ years

CEO & Publisher John E. Featherston

EDITORIAL Executive Editor Maria Patterson Vice President, Online Editorial Beth McGuire Managing Editor Paige Tepping Content Director Caysey Welton Senior Online Editor Liz Dominguez Blog/Social Media Editor Jameson Doris Content Editor Paige Brown Associate Online Editor Jordan Grice Contributing Editors Lesley Grand; John Voket; Barbara Pronin; Keith Loria; Andrew King

CREATIVE SERVICES & MARKETING Senior Vice President Kelli McKenna Marketing Director Philip Lodato Email Marketing Specialist Brit Owen Production Manager Susanne Dwyer Junior Designer Janet Yung-Balbin Digital Content Specialists Liz Ruggiero; Aidan Whalen

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT Senior Vice President Jay Featherston

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Chief Information Officer Edward T. Kingston Senior Software Engineer Kal Salim Web Designer Kevin Kirwan Web Developers Hema Yemmireddy; Firas Abbas Director, Client Solutions Peter Di Salvo Information Technology Manager James Jones

CLIENT SERVICES & EVENTS MANAGEMENT Vice President, Client Experience Brett Johnson Senior Director, Client Services & Events Deborah Ryan Director, Client Services & Events Darcy Sledge

SALES

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M

Y

CM

MY

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CMY

K

Senior Vice Presidents Kara T. Stripay; Anne Kraft Directors, Business Development; Ryan M. Rindom; Colleen Featherston

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PUBLICATIONS & SERVICES Real Estate magazine Annual Power Broker Report & Survey ACESocial (Automated Content Engagement) www.rismedia.com (Daily e-News) blog.rismedia.com (Housecall) RISMedia’s Real Estate CEO Exchange Power Broker Forum, Reception & Dinner Real Estate Newsmakers Reception & Dinner Real Estate’s Rocking in the New Year Copyright® 2021 by The Relocation Information Service, Incorporated-RISMedia, Norwalk, Connecticut. All rights reserved. Editorial and executive offices at 69 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851. Telephone: (203) 855-1234. Magazine subscription rate $83.40 per year, including postage ($166.80 for two years); Canadian subscription rate $200.00 (U.S.) per year, including shipping and handling ($400.00 for two years). All subscription and advertising correspondence call 1-800-724-6000. Material in this publication may not be stored or reproduced in any form without permission. Requests for permission should be directed to Managing Editor, RISMedia, Inc., 69 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of specific authors and columnists and are not intended to or do not necessarily represent the opinion or views of the publisher, his staff, other authors, advertisers, or subscribers.

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MARKETWATCH

“In the past three months, the (May) Employment Trends Index grew much faster than any other three-month period in the history of the index prior to the pandemic.

This marked acceleration suggests historically strong job growth in the coming months.”

- Gad Levanon, Head of the Conference Board Labor Markets Institute

Americans who made out-of-town moves last year typically paid less money for larger houses, according to

a new Zillow® analysis of moving data from northAmerican® Van Lines. Movers went to zip codes where sold homes are 33 square feet larger on average than where they came from, a significant jump from the 9 21 square-foot step-up movers have taken in recent years.

As of the week ending June 5, median listing prices had increased 13.6% year-over-year, the 43rd straight week of double-digit growth. The U.S. median home price grew 15.2% in May to a new high of $380,000.

Source: realtor.com®

Rents continue to rise as the pandemic abates, increasing 2.3% from April to May. This represents the third straight month of record-setting growth, according to the June Apartment List National Rental Report. While

prices in a number of markets are still well below prepandemic levels, prices are rebounding rapidly. Even in San

Francisco, which saw a staggering 26.6% drop in rents from March 2020 through January 2021, rents have increased by 13.4% since the beginning of the year.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 11

NAR POWER BROKER ROUNDTABLE

Getting Our Arms Around the Inventory Shortage Cindy Ariosa, Senior Vice President, Regional Manager, Long & Foster Real Estate, Chantilly, Virginia; Liaison for Large Firms and Industry Relations, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR): Real estate brokers face a unique dilemma: too many eager buyers and too few properties. We are all aware of why this is so—a pandemic-fueled demand for upgraded living space supported by historically low interest rates and, at the same time, sellers deterred by the health crisis or loath to list for fear their home will sell before they can find a new home. What can we do to bring the buy/sell ratio into balance?

Leonard Steinberg, Broker/ Chief Evangelist, The Leonard Steinberg Team, Compass Realty, New York, New York: In Manhattan, the pandemic unlocked a stagnant market. The wealthy retreated to their weekend homes and there was a great migration from the city to the country. Now, as vaccines are pushing health fears aside, we are seeing a great rush back—and, as you might expect, the greatest shortage of inventory is at the lower end of the market.

Tracy Hutton, CEO, CENTURY 21 Scheetz Realty, Indianapolis, Indiana: It’s a challenging market across all price points in Indiana, with 10 or 15 buyers often competing for a single listing and willing to pay 5% to 10% over the listing price—with no contingencies. We’ve been focusing on buyer and seller education and setting the right expectations.

Mark C. Lowham, CEO/Managing Partner, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, Washington, D.C.: People are fulfilling their dreams right now. They crave space, they want to live on a horse farm, or in wine country, and they’re willing to pay whatever it takes to do that, even as demand pushes prices higher. I don’t see the demand slowing down until interest rates start rising.

12 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Sheila Ivary Marsh, REALTOR®, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury, Newport Beach, California: As a working agent, the key for me has been staying in touch with my sphere of influence. Prices have risen 14% year-over-year in pricey Newport Beach, but high-end homes are flying off the shelves, so it takes a lot of consultation and setting of expectations to help people navigate this market.

ML: Savvy agents have to be in-home therapists—able to help buyers through the stress and disappointment of the multiple-bid experience, presenting solutions that could work for them without exposing them to risk. At the same time, they need to counsel sellers, helping them understand why it might be the right time to sell or how to choose between 10 or 15 offers.

CA: Communication is key, especially as you develop new and better solutions for dealing with reluctant sellers.

There are new MLS platforms, for example, that provide the agent with data on property values, net equity, local demographics and more.

SM: We’re launching a pilot program for people who want to buy before they sell. We make a 45-day commitment to buy their home so they can offer cash on a new home and have time to sell the old home.

LS: Today’s waning COVID numbers are unlocking great opportunity for new listings—with sellers who didn’t want to sell for health reasons, with people who’ve been through divorce or a death in the family and with sellers who had overpriced their homes because there was no urgency to sell, but who may be ready to make a move now.

TH: I’m so proud of our agents for showing up throughout this challenging year. They’ve learned new ways to do things and chalked up some of the most incredible numbers of their careers.

CA: Amen to that—and here’s to ingenuity in a postCOVID world full of new and exciting prospects. RE The Power Broker Roundtable is brought to you by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) and Cindy Ariosa, NAR’s liaison for Large Firms & Industry Relations. Watch for this column each month, where we address broker issues, concerns and milestones.

For an expanded version of this article and other NAR Power Broker Roundtable topics, please visit www.rismedia.com.

WOMEN IN REAL ESTATE operators, and their teams of agents are among the most experienced, productive and talented in the business. With the guidance and support of Gino Blefari, I am looking forward to growing our brands and continuing to help position our affiliates for even greater success.”

Christy Budnick, CEO, HSF Affiliates

Christy Budnick Steps in as CEO of HSF Affiliates

H

by RISMedia Staff

omeServices of America announced last month that Christy Budnick, president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty, will now serve as chief executive officer of HSF Affiliates LLC, which operates and manages the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Real Living Real Estate brokerage franchise networks. Budnick is also now CEO of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network. ”I am pleased to welcome Christy as CEO of HSF Affiliates,” said Gino Blefari, chairman of HSF Affiliates and president and CEO of HomeServices of America, in a statement. “She is a strong, charismatic and decisive leader who has done an excellent job gaining the trust of both her agents and their buyers and sellers. She brings a tremendous amount of experience, integrity and innovation, and I am confident that she will take Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Real Living to new levels of success.”

As CEO of HSF Affiliates, Budnick will oversee both the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and the Real Living Real Estate franchise networks.

14 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices has more than 50,000 real estate professionals and nearly 1,500 offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Europe and the Middle East.

In 2020, the network associates facilitated more than $138 billion in real estate sales volume, according to the company.

Most recently, Budnick served as president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty. “I am honored and humbled by the opportunity to lead HSF Affiliates and its brands,” she said. “The Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Real Living owners and managers are extraordinary

“With the guidance and support of Gino Blefari, I am looking forward to growing our brands and continuing to help position our affiliates for even greater success.”

- Christy Budnick, CEO, HSF Affiliates

Following her time at Bank of America as its vice president of Sales and Leadership Training, Budnick joined Florida Network Realty in 2002 as manager of the Beaches branch office and was promoted to executive vice president of Residential Real Estate before transitioning to president and CEO in 2018. Under her leadership, the company has experienced year-over-year growth, and with a team of more than 475 real estate professionals in nine offices throughout Northeast Florida, the company achieved more than $1.44 billion in closed sales in 2020 and ranks as one of the Top 25 companies in the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network, according to the company.

“The future of HSF Affiliates couldn’t be brighter,” said Blefari. “Christy’s unmatched experience and fresh perspective combined with her outstanding leadership skills make her the perfect person to grow our networks and help our affiliates take their businesses to new heights.” RE

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MEET THE NEWSMAKERS

Headline-Making Teams Take the Spotlight

By RISMedia Staff

A

gent teams are playing an increasingly dominant role in today’s real estate market, innovating for clients and reaching new levels of business success. Many headline-making teams were selected as 2021 RISMedia Real Estate Newsmakers—meet just a few of them here.

“My primary goal is to work to educate and support my agents and brokers while growing our company.”

- KIT FITZGERALD

Associate Real Estate Broker The Nancy Kennedy Team, Houlihan Lawrence

• She was inducted into the REALTORS® Political Action Committee Tier II Hall of Fame in 2020 for $50,000+ donated.

“People matter much more than profits. From the first phone call until the closing day, my team does not stop working for our clients.”

- NANCY KENNEDY

Founder & CEO The Dana Green Team • Green has been recognized numerous times for professional accomplishments, and supports several charitable organizations that focus on youth, health and education.

• During the pandemic, Green introduced “Lamorinda Love Stories,” a social media campaign highlighting the contributions of local residents and businesses.

ACHIEVERS Nancy Kennedy

• In 2020, Kennedy achieved the career milestone of $1 billion in sales

TRENDSETTERS Dana Green

FUTURISTS Kit Fitzgerald

Regional Designated Broker/ Owner The Kit Fitzgerald Team, Equity Northwest Real Estate • Fitzgerald quickly adapted to the pandemic environment by implementing technology, resources, policies and procedures to keep agents safe and informed.

• She reconfigured the company’s educational platform to a fully virtual environment.

“We have created and successfully modeled a team of specialists. I am happy to lead this model in our industry as well as help others learn from us.”

- DANA GREEN To meet all 300 of RISMedia’s 2021 Newsmakers, please visit RISMedia.com/ 2021-Newsmakers.

Are you or someone you know making headlines this year? Go to rismedia.com/

newsmaker-nomination

to nominate a 2022 Real Estate Newsmaker today!

RISMedia’s Real Estate Newsmakers is brought to you by RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 17

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GREAT SPACES

Home Sweet Home in Los Feliz In this month’s edition of Great Spaces, take a peek at the $7.1 million home Leonardo DiCaprio recently added to his portfolio.

by Jameson Doris LEONARDO DICAPRIO BUYS $7.1 MILLION LOS FELIZ HOME FOR HIS MOTHER Leonardo DiCaprio has built an impressive career since the 1990s.

Over that time, he has also built an impressive real estate portfolio, with properties in Los Angeles, Malibu, Palm Springs, New York City and Belize.

Aside from his personal properties, he’s also purchased homes for his parents. His most recent investment, which he bought for $7.1 million from Jesse Tyler Ferguson, “Modern Family” star, is for his mother, Irmelin Indenbirken.

Built in 1928, the Spanish Colonial-style home clocks in at nearly 5,000 square feet, with four bedrooms and six baths. The property is gated and has plenty of outdoor spaces.

Features include formal living and dining rooms with soaring ceilings and Juliette balconies, arched doorways, a tiled roof and floors, stained-glass windows, multiple fireplaces and an eat-in kitchen.

Listed by: Jennifer Akbari, Compass, Beverly Hills Sold for: $7,100,000 Photos by: Todd Goodman RE

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 19

Growth, mentorship and culture matter, and NAHREP has allowed me to be a voice in my community while succeeding in the industry.

No other organization provides you with a platform to excel in your professional or personal life as NAHREP does.” OLIVIA CHAVEZ, SAN FERNANDO CHAPTER

KEY PLATINUM BENEFITS UNIVERSAL MEMBERSHIP Entrance to any NAHREP national, regional or chapter events at the discounted member rate, particularly popular with members in concentrated markets.

EXCLUSIVE REFERRALS Access to the NAHREP Platinum Referral Group, a special referral network for the best-connected people in Hispanic real estate.

N A H R E P 10 O N L I N E C O U R S E Complimentary access to the 3-part NAHREP 10 online course, covering the wealth disciplines, principles of financial management, and public speaking skills.

ACCESS TO THE LEADERSHIP ACADEMY Eligibility to register and attend NAHREP’s exclusive leadership training, and become a part of an elite group of professionals.

P R I V AT E N E T W O R K I N G O P P O R T U N I T I E S Admission to private receptions at all NAHREP National events.

I N D U ST R Y D I S R U P T I N G C O N T E N T Key workshops, educational sessions, and webinars presented by industry leaders.

UPGRADE TO PLATINUM FOR ONLY $199 nahrep.org/join platinum@nahrep.org

POLICY & LEGAL MATTERS

The Indispensable Independent Contractor Classification

O

By Christie DeSanctis

f the nearly 1.5 million members of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), approximately 87% are classified as independent contractors—a classification that is vital to practitioners and the real estate industry.

As independent contractors, real estate professionals are empowered to be entrepreneurs, with maximum flexibility to thrive in a dynamic and flourishing professional field. The enhanced freedom and autonomy allow real estate professionals to work independently and advance their health and financial futures in a manner that best fits their needs.

With the rise of gig economy workers in many different industries, the ability for workers to be classified as independent contractors has come under increased scrutiny, including for real estate professionals.

While those working as independent contractors are recognized and protected under many state and even some federal laws, ongoing litigation and new federal and state legislation continue to threaten this status for those in the real estate industry. Such action could result in classification as

employees, which raises significant liability and financial concerns for the real estate industry and for other businesses that depend on an independent contractor workforce. The loss of independence for real estate professionals could jeopardize the ability to serve clients’ real estate needs and, as a result, impact the currently healthy market that is vital to supporting the present economic recovery.

NAR has always advocated for the right of real estate salespeople to work as independent contractors and for brokers to choose to classify agents as independent contractors.

Since 1982, real estate professionals have enjoyed an explicit protection in the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.), 26 U.S.C. §3508, which provides the framework to be classified as statutory non-employees for federal tax purposes. This decade’s old fed-

eral law has also been mirrored in states, ranging from workers’ compensation laws to real estate specific statutes, where each are explicit in qualifying a licensed real estate agent (or salesperson or licensee) as an independent contractor based on certain criteria and/or are expressly permitting the ability of a real estate broker to treat their agents as independent contractors.

Recent pressure to adopt what is known as “the ABC Test” would make it more challenging to classify a real estate professional as an independent contractor. In response, NAR has been educating policymakers about the importance of the independent contractor status within the real estate industry to prevent “employee” reclassification. While none of the recent federal proposals directly impact the I.R.C. exemption, nor should they preempt existing state laws outlining real estate professionals’ status, it remains a concern that a new federal standard could influence other legislative or regulatory changes and encourage legal challenges to real estate professionals’ ability to be classified as independent contractors.

NAR will continue to remain vigilant and fight for clarity in favor of classifying real estate professionals as independent contractors. This advocacy is bolstered by the federal government’s and many states’ longstanding recognition of the unique nature of the real estate industry and, as such, the need to treat it differently than other industries. For more on NAR’s efforts to protect the ability of real estate professionals to be classified as independent contractors, visit nar.realtor. RE

Christie DeSanctis is the director of Business and Conventional Finance Policy for the National Association of REALTORS®.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 21

REBAC REPORT All of these “watch-and-learn” resources are posted in the Member Center at abr.realtor in formats that are easy to digest, such as a new flipbook option for “Today’s Buyer’s Rep,” with clickable links to related resources.

Boosting Your Agents’ Success With Buyers

By Marc D. Gould

B

rokers want their agents to excel at earning new and repeat business, regardless of whether it comes from buyers or sellers. Your in-house training may already assist agents on the listing side of the business, but when it comes to buyers, the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC) is helping ABR® designees move the needle.

At REBAC, we believe every buyer deserves the very best in representation services, and that every agent deserves access to resources that help them elevate their services.

One of our most recent achievements in carrying out this work is the launch of a new membership website at abr.realtor. The new site helps us support our members in several significant ways. Here are just a few: 1. Gain and give referrals.

Members routinely use our directory to identify ABR® designees for referral opportunities. Consumers also use it to find qualified buyer’s reps to assist them in purchasing a home.

Our new, upgraded directory includes enhanced agent profiles. Users can refine their search results with filters for additional designations and certifications.

22 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

In addition to referral opportunities via the membership directory, ABR® designees actively exchange referrals in the ABR® Referrals & Networking Community, an exclusive Facebook group of 9,000-plus members.

2. Stay current on important buyer representation topics.

The foundation of our ABR® designation is education. This does not end at the conclusion of the course. We feel it’s our responsibility to provide ongoing, informal training, which is accessible via our new site.

For example, our monthly membership newsletter, “Today’s Buyer’s Rep,” our instructor-led “Real Talk” events and various shared articles keep our members apprised of important topics impacting buyers and provide tips for raising the bar on their buyer representation services.

3. Receive effortless access to dozens of member resources.

The new Member Center at abr.realtor makes it extremely easy to find every resource at a glance with thumbnail images organized into intuitive sections.

Quickly locate what you want and discover new and valuable resources such as social media videos, consumer one-sheets, infographics, ABR® sample scripts and more.

In the REBAC Print Shop, ABR® designees can customize brochures, flyers, postcards and many other marketing materials, including the popular (and recently updated) “Homebuyer’s Toolkit,” a 10-step reference guide.

When customizing their marketing materials, ABR® designees can also modify some color schemes and companion photos, so the ABR® brand effectively supplements your brokerage’s brand.

Learn More Our new site does an excellent job of explaining the value of the ABR® designation and designation requirements. If your agents have not already earned their ABR® designation, please encourage them to explore all the ways we support their success with buyers at abr.realtor. RE Marc D. Gould is the senior vice president of Member Development and oversees the Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC), the largest association of professionals focused on representing buyers.

REBAC awards the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation. Learn more at abr.realtor.

PREPARING FOR OPPORTUN Real Estate Webmasters offers brokers some of the best lead generation and SEO advice in real estate, and we continue to raise the bar when it comes to helping our customers.

Earlier this year,we launched REW Academy, a premium service that addresses a huge weakness in the industry: converting leads into sales.

For more information, please visit

www.realestatewebmasters.com/academy

G

NITY

POWER BROKER PERSPECTIVES the Gold Coast, Streeterville and the South Loop. COVID has affected them significantly in the sense that at one point last summer, there was about 17 months of supply. Granted, some of that is new construction, but even without that, you had a year of inventory. During the height of COVID, amenities like swimming pools and gyms inside buildings were mostly closed. Those neighborhoods are the heart of the city’s culture—dining, shopping and nightlife—and none of that was open. A lot of those people wanted a change of scenery.

Willing to Learn, Ready to Adapt

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by Keith Loria

local Chicagoan, Tommy Choi’s first job out of college was in IT healthcare sales, where he made hundreds of cold calls a day. While he did well financially, he was miserable.

Born out of the desire to do something different and get “face to face” with people, Choi turned to real estate.

Drawing inspiration from his immigrant grandfather who taught him that one had to work hard to own their home, Choi saw real estate as a way to both honor his heritage and help others achieve this important life goal.

An RISMedia 2021 Newsmaker, Choi is owner and co-founder of the Weinberg Choi Residential team and owner of the Keller Williams ONEChicago network.

How has your market been impacted by the pandemic?

Tommy Choi: I primarily work in the downtown Chicago market and the more densely populated highrise neighborhoods, like River North,

Have there been any positive effects in the market?

TC: Yes—on the flip side, COVID positively impacted the detached, singlefamily luxury market in Chicago.

People wanted more space inside as well as more outdoor space, so that market really thrived.

“Don’t worry about who’s driving by you or who has passed you...just focus on your journey and where you’re going.”

Keller Williams ONEChicago Years in business: 14 Size: 3 offices, 450 agents Regions Served: Downtown Chicago 2020 Sales Volume: $84 million 2020 Transaction Volume: 151 units the market looks like and how it affects what they want to do.

What makes someone a good team member?

TC: Whether they are new to the industry or come with experience, team members need to be willing to learn and adapt. Even when we see success, we’re constantly asking ourselves why we do things the way we do. We look for better ways to do things to better ourselves.

-Tommy Choi, Owner and Co-Founder, Weinberg Choi Residential

How important is technology to your success?

TC: We look at tech as a way to help us be more efficient and more effective. We still have to pick up the hammer and know where that nail is and know where to strike. At the end of the day, tech is important to help you do what you do, but I never look at it as something to replace what I do.

How has all this affected your strategy for 2021 and beyond?

TC: Nothing has really changed. Even last year with shelter-in-place orders in effect, we were still a highly relationship-based business. We are continuing to provide more value for our clients. That means educating them on what the market looks like. We are in constant communication with our clients and are very transparent on what

Please share a great piece of advice someone has given you.

TC: One of my mentors owned the oldest T-shirt printing business on Chicago’s North Side, and one thing he told me was to put your blinders on and focus on your path. Don’t worry about who’s driving by you or who has passed you...just focus on your journey and where you’re going.

That’s a great piece of advice for this industry. RE

Power Broker Perspectives is brought to you by 26 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

VITALS:

Kotor, Montenegro — Home of LeadingRE member Golden Group Ltd.

Delivering the highest quality service to home buyers and sellers is what defines our invitation-only community. Our members are market leaders with distinctive personalities, deep local knowledge and the agility to address market-specific trends. They come together as Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® to leverage their inherent strength with global connections, industry-leading resources and international business opportunities.

LeadingRE.com/OurCompanies

COACHING the best results. You may consider sending a brief local market update, an invitation to an upcoming client appreciation party or a follow up after dropping off a client appreciation gift. Can’t decide whether something should be a video or text? If it’s a message you’d rather share face to face, go for video to add a more personal touch.

Building Client Relationships Through Video Messaging

By Buffini & Company

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ideo messaging is an extremely powerful tool for relationship building—and its influence continues to grow.

A report from video-sharing service BombBomb showed that compared to traditional email, messages with video earned tremendous amounts of engagement. Of the professionals who included videos in their business communications, 81% noticed an increase in replies, 68% saw more lead conversions and 56% reported more referrals. Not too shabby!

The success of video has to do with the personal element of the medium.

Videos humanize you and your business, giving the recipient a more complete picture of who you are. This will help you build lasting client relationships that will sustain your business for years to come.

Recording impactful videos is easier than you think, and it doesn’t require any special equipment or production skills. Use these three tips to guide your content creation.

Be Authentic Many people believe that videos need to be highly produced in order to make an impact, but this is not the case. When we start to overthink our video strategy, we get paralyzed and create nothing at all. Instead of fixating on making everything perfect, just try to be yourself. Your content matters more than the production. If your messaging demonstrates your competence and character, and puts the client first, how you made the video isn’t important.

Be Valuable Each video you send should provide clients with value in some way. Avoid using the time to talk about yourself, as most video viewers drop off around 30 seconds, so you’ll want to get to the good stuff early on. Keep it light, informative and intentional for

If it’s a message you’d rather share face to face, go for video to add a more personal touch.

Be Consistent Whether you send a video once a month or once a quarter, consistency is key to building trust with your clients. Figure out a video schedule that makes sense for your database and stick with it. Each video will add to the one before it to help the client get to know you as a person and establish trust. Aim for videos that are consistent, timely and relevant. Consider building out a video content calendar to help get you started.

In a crowded inbox, the power of video will help you stand out to your clients and colleagues. Use video messaging to build deeper professional relationships while demonstrating your competence, character and personality. Buffini & Company Referral Maker® CRM recently introduced a video messaging tool add-on that lets users embed video directly into email for easier viewing. Learn more about Referral Maker CRM at www.buffiniandcompany.com/videomessaging. RE For more information, please visit www.buffiniandcompany.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 29

COACHING Ad Hoc Fees: These are items that real estate professionals may regularly be charged as part of their business, but on an as-needed basis. Examples include admin support, lead generation, office/copy expenses, signs, etc.

In our ever-changing industry, how do you communicate your company’s value to attract new agents and retain the ones you have?

How to Monetize Your Real Estate Brokerage’s Value Proposition

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By Sherri Johnson

hat is it about a real estate company that makes an agent want to join or stay with a company? There are as many answers to that question as there are real estate agents.

Every office or company has its own pay structure, support systems, culture and other attributes that make it unique in its market. But in our ever-changing industry—with options ranging from fullservice brokerages to 100% commission companies—how do you communicate your company’s value to attract new agents and retain the ones you have?

Whatever your model, you need to be able to monetarily compare and contrast it to those of your competitors in order to show agents why affiliating with you is in their best financial interest. Some of the numbers (e.g., agent commissions on “x” amount of GCI or units) will be relatively easy to calculate, while others will require some estimating.

Consider including the following in any comparison of your model to other companies’ models: Total and Net Commissions: GCI can be based either on past perfor30 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

mance or anticipated future production. Net commissions to the agent or broker would be the amount they receive after franchise fees, company split or other adjustments to the topline number.

Transaction Fees: Include flat-fee charges that occur on a per-deal basis in this number.

Recurring Fees: These will include a wide variety of items that will happen monthly or on some other regular basis. They may include desk fees, technology fees, E&O insurance or other charges.

Non-Monetary Items: What is your brokerage firm worth to the agent’s business? How do they earn money?

What is their likelihood of generating more transactions with you versus another company? Use this to quantify the value of their affiliation with you and make it part of your discussion. Any holistic analysis of you versus anyone else would be incomplete without monetizing your value proposition.

After reviewing this with a potential or current agent, be sure to discuss the unquantifiable advantages of your company like your culture, your brand in the market, etc. While the comparison above is used to make the monetary case for your mutual affiliation, these “soft” advantages must still appeal to the agent and should be highlighted.

Use this method to show how being a part of your company is in an agent’s best financial interest, and you will attract and retain more agents as a result. RE Sherri Johnson is CEO and founder of Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting. Johnson offers individual and group real estate coaching, and is a preferred coach for multiple national brokerages.

She consults and speaks regularly for many leading industry organizations, including RISMedia, NAR, McKissock Learning and Homes.com.

COACHING bike. Do you stop trying once you fall? Of course not. You get back on and keep going. The same is true in real estate. Get back in the saddle and do whatever needs to be done to replace that lost business.

When the Listing Appointment Doesn’t Go Your Way

By Darryl Davis, CSP

T

he fact is, sometimes things don’t go the way we expect, especially in real estate. Have you ever been on a listing appointment that you thought went well, the potential client seemed to like you, and you were sure you had the listing in the bag? Next thing you know, you see the home listed on the MLS with another agent. To make matters worse, the pictures are low quality and the write-up doesn’t sound professional.

You’re left wondering, “What happened?” “Where did I go wrong?”

Turning Your Breakdown Into a Breakthrough I understand exactly how frustrating it can be to lose a piece of business you were sure you had. It can be tough to wrap your mind around it, and it’s easy to dwell on it.

Remember this: You’re building a career, one that is not defined by one listing or one failure. Your success as a professional is not solely built on one homeowner. You can turn every breakdown into a breakthrough when you look at every encounter as a learning experience.

One way to feel better about losing a listing is to focus on your skills

and look for ways to improve. How can you do better next time? What could you have done differently?

What objection did you not handle?

How could you have improved the conversation and rapport?

As I often tell our Power Agents® when they begin to focus too hard on a missed listing, there are very few real estate woes that can’t be cured by getting another listing.

Don’t focus on what’s behind you.

Make another call. Knock on another door. Move forward.

Keep Looking Forward Think of it like riding a horse or a

You can turn every breakdown into a breakthrough when you look at every encounter as a learning experience.

The next time a listing doesn’t go your way, give yourself five minutes to determine if there are any lessons to be learned or if there is something you can do differently.

Then dive in. Take action. Prospect.

Make your calls and find out what that other person’s commitment is.

How can you help them? How can you serve? Stay positive and in the present. When you persist, you’ll be rewarded.

Until then, we’re here for you. If there’s something we can do to help you grow your business or skill set— or make the mindset shift that makes the difference—let us know. RE

Darryl Davis has trained and coached more than 100,000 agents globally. He is the best-selling author of “How to Become a Power Agent® in Real Estate,” which tops Amazon’s charts for most-sold book to real estate agents. Davis hosts a weekly webinar to help agents succeed in changing times. Visit www.DarrylSpeaks.com/ Online-Training.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 31

COACHING you can connect on a more personalized level. You’ll also want to track birthdays, wedding and house anniversaries, information related to their children and pets, as well as hobbies and other special interests. When you connect more authentically, you open the door to building relationships that result in more referrals.

Are You Winning or Losing?

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By Terri Murphy

ow that we’re more than halfway through the year, it’s time to take a look at your business and ask yourself how you’re doing. Remember that detailed business plan you put together six months ago? What happened after that?

If your market is like most of the country, the whirlwind has hit with vigor!

Inventory lasts minutes, and buyers are everywhere. It’s tough to stay focused, let alone execute on the activities and initiatives you planned at the start of the year. The question is, how do you get your business plan back on track?

The good news is that you have plenty of time to change your course if you deploy some highly effective initiatives right now.

1. Stop chasing lower-level leads. Invest more time, attention and resources on the people who know you. This includes your MVPs (most valuable people), past clients, strategic partners and others in your sphere of influence.

2. Get face to face with your MVPs. Find ways to provide value and forget about “asking” for busi32 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

ness. Make a list of those you would refer to your family and friends should the opportunity arise. This is your target group. Focus on building relationships with those you really like and enjoy having in your life. You’ll also want to create fun ways to see them in person.

• Consider inviting five to 10 at a time to join you for breakfast or coffee.

• Arrange a wine and cheese event at a local art gallery and be sure to introduce your favorite people to one another.

• Host a hot dog and hamburger party or a BBQ that incorporates a community charity event.

3. Update contact information.

When you see your MVPs, ask for their updated contact information and add it to your CRM along with pertinent information about their lives so that

You have plenty of time to change your course if you deploy some highly effective initiatives right now.

4. Set up your calendar with quarterly MVP/client events.

Use each occasion to send a “Save the Date” invite for future get-togethers. For maximum impact, send a handwritten invitation, follow up with a video reminder and then send a text a few days prior to the event.

5. Rotate the type of connection you make with your MVPs monthly. While face-to-face meetings are most powerful, don’t skip out on events, direct mail and birthday cards. These will provide a more personal connection and make a positive impact.

When you deploy consistent nurturing with a concentrated effort with those who know the real you, the referrals will roll in. RE Terri Murphy is an author, TED Talk speaker and master coach with Workman Success Systems.

She is the author of five books and the founder of the Women’s Wisdom Network. Contact her at Terri@TerriMurphy.com.

COACHING In the real estate business, it’s essential to understand people. To convert leads, you need to build connections. Since so many leads are online now, analytics will help you understand who your leads are.

Without this tool, you won’t be fully effective in today’s digital world.

Are You Struggling With Online Leads? Analytics Is the Answer

By Verl Workman

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hat do you do when you’re focusing on all of the right dollarproductive activities and not seeing the return you want? If you’re working your sphere of influence, getting referrals, keeping in touch with past clients and still not seeing the growth you want, what’s next?

Your online presence might be the problem. Real estate professionals often let their online leads become a last priority because real estate has traditionally been a face-toface industry.

But it’s no longer possible to ignore online leads and still be successful.

Most homebuyers begin the search online. If you’re not finding and converting internet leads, it’s time to find out why. Luckily, this doesn’t have to be a mystery. When you become a master of analytics, you’ll quickly see how you can improve and bring in online leads.

Take a close look at what analytics can do for your business growth.

For example, teams who look at the data are able to determine where to spend money on paid ads, what’s deterring people from joining an email list and what types of people are drawn to working with them.

This information can transform the way you reach new leads. While you may have thought you wanted to specialize in luxury real estate, for example, the data may show you that tons of young, first-time buyers are reaching your page. This information could lead you to either rebrand in order to better reach those luxury clients or embrace the younger prospective sellers and buyers and focus on converting them into clients.

When you become a master of analytics, you’ll quickly see how you can improve and bring in online leads.

If you’re hesitant to look at or use analytics, it’s important to figure out why. Understand what’s behind your resistance so that you can see how you can benefit from this tool. You’ll begin to realize how your business stands to improve or how you can free up time and resources. Just like any tool, learning about analytics will help empower you to do more.

RE Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-2827112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com, or visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com to learn more.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 33

COACHING 4. Showcase your most recent articles. Just as with your homepage photos, you need to feature fresh content on a regular basis. Be sure to feature new blog posts on your homepage regularly. Visitors who return to your site after reading something a few weeks earlier will expect new content. If you aren’t providing them with regular articles, market updates and other compelling content, they’ll move on to find another agent who does.

Drive More Traffic to Your Website With These 5 Tips By the Experts at McKissock Learning

I

f you want your website to attract visitors and generate leads, you need to enhance it regularly. Here are five things you can work on now to improve search engine optimization (SEO) and increase traffic to your website.

1. Make your real estate website mobile-friendly. Now, more than ever, homebuyers are searching for real estate on their mobile devices. Moreover, Google changed its algorithm to rank mobile-friendly sites higher than those that aren’t designed for mobile. As a real estate agent today, you simply can’t afford to have a website that isn’t maximized for mobile use. Check your website on your phone regularly to make sure images and text are proportioned appropriately.

2. Target local keyword phrases.

Putting up the website is one thing, but you have to focus on keyword phrases if you want to capitalize on traffic opportunities. For instance, most home shoppers will begin their

research for homes with a local keyword phrase, such as “Springfield real estate agent.” Make sure your website is optimized for search terms such as “Springfield real estate,” “Springfield homes for sale,” “Springfield real estate listings,” “Springfield REALTOR®,” etc. These words should appear on pages throughout your site in order to help drive more traffic.

3. Blog regularly on your real estate website. If you want to stand out from other agents in your market, high-quality real estate blog content is one way to do it. You’ll be an SEO darling if you craft consistent, comprehensive and compelling content.

Plus, it will keep your readers coming back for more.

As a real estate agent today, you simply can’t afford to have a website that isn’t maximized for mobile use.

5. Include testimonials and reviews. Some 88% of consumers read online reviews and trust them as much as a personal recommendation. If you want to improve your real estate website traffic, make sure testimonials and reviews are visible components on your site. These could include written reviews and testimonials from your clients, case studies of those clients and even video interviews.

With an optimized website, not only do you make it easier for potential clients to find you, but you also increase the chances of getting—and keeping—their business. RE As part of the Colibri Real Estate family of premier education brands, McKissock Learning helps real estate professionals achieve sustainable success throughout each stage of their career via continuing education and professional development courses. Learn more at mckissock.com/ real-estate.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 35

THE VOICE OF THE AAPI COMMUNITY AREAA is dedicated to promoting sustainable homeownership opportunities in the AAPI communities by creating a powerful national voice for housing and real estate professionals that ser ve this dynamic market.

To find out more about AREAA visit areaa.org

Follow us around the web /areaa.national

/areaa

/areaanational

BUSINESS BUILDERS For sellers, Moore goes on to explain that Cinch’s home warranty products complement her company’s “No Surprises” program. A firm staple, the program takes many of the surprises—and much of the stress—out of the equation.

“Nobody likes surprises, so having the warranty in place means you’re not going to be caught off guard with expenses you weren’t anticipating.”

-LIZ MOORE President, Liz Moore & Associates

Going the Extra Mile for Clients CINCH HOME SERVICES HELPS BUYERS AND SELLERS AVOID UNFORESEEN EXPENSES WITH HOME WARRANTY PRODUCTS

By Jordan Grice

T

he real estate industry has undergone a lot of changes since Liz Moore began her career in 1984. One constant during that time, however, has been client demand for peace of mind during the home-buying or -selling process.

“Liz Moore & Associates is known as the local brokerage where we are going to go that extra mile to perform those extra services to make sure the client experience is a good one,” Moore says.

These services include conducting upfront home inspections and pre-listing appraisals for all of their listings.

Additionally, Moore’s team offers their clients listing coverage with the help of Cinch Home Services, a leading home services company that makes it easy for everyone to enjoy their home to the fullest.

“We wanted to get listing coverage to give our sellers peace of mind that while their house was on the market, and a dishwasher went out or something, [they were covered],” she says.

Since partnering with Cinch in 2016, Moore’s team has enjoyed having a competitive edge in the market by offering buyers and sellers an added level of comfort during the listing and transaction process with the help of Cinch’s home warranty products.

“Nobody likes surprises, so having the warranty in place means you’re not going to be caught off guard with expenses you weren’t anticipating,” Moore says.

The company’s products have also helped buyers—particularly first-time buyers—avoid financial pitfalls during and after the transaction. “[When they are] sinking a lot of cash into closing costs, they don’t necessarily have extra money lying around to be able to manage home repairs and unexpected things that might happen,” Moore says. “Being able to have that coverage is peace of mind for the buyer on the other side of Moore the equation; they are not going to be called on to use money they don’t have.”

From run-of-the-mill issues with air conditioning units to unforeseen repairs, Moore says it can be frustrating for people looking to get timely service. But her agents have avoided long wait times with the help of their Cinch representative, Trish Edwards.

“She is very responsive, and when there is a problem, she is a calming influence,” says Moore. “She knows how to run their back-end, so when problems need to get escalated to someone who can solve them, she is good at that.”

While the pandemic-induced frenzy in the housing market over the past year has made it easier for sellers to offload their homes, this has put a damper on seller demands for bells-and-whistles incentives to help listings stand out from the pack, according to Moore.

At the moment, she says that sellers haven’t had to offer incentives to sell their homes, but she is optimistic that things will begin to return to normal.

“I do think that as the market balances out, which it will inevitably do, there is no doubt that home warranties will become even more important from a marketing standpoint,” concludes Moore. RE To learn more about how you can partner with Cinch Home Services, please reach out to Doug Stein, chief growth officer, at dstein@cinchhs.com or visit www.cinchhomeservices.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 37

BUSINESS BUILDERS there at all,” he continues, “but Homes.com has live people to follow up with those leads, and I really enjoy that. I spend less time chasing down leads who were probably not that interested in the first place.”

“The Homes.com concierge team will follow up with leads and help me pick out the ones that are worth pursuing.”

A Support System for Success HOMES.COM HELPS ARIZONA REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL CONNECT WITH AND PURSUE QUALIFIED LEADS

By Paige Brown

A

fter returning home from the Army, where he worked as a helicopter mechanic, Brandon Goff—a REALTOR® with Red Door Realty Services in Bullhead City, Arizona—kicked off his real estate career. With little experience in the industry and diving into a heavy seller’s market, he needed a trusted resource for information and guidance.

“I was looking for alternatives to Zillow and realtor.com® that people from out of state knew about and that had a bigger market in areas that I’m not too accustomed to,” says Goff. Working in a market where there are many out-of-state buyers, he needed a tool to not only help generate leads, but also vet and confirm them.

That’s when the high-quality concierge service offered by Homes.com caught his eye.

“Their concierge team is actually live people who can call up on leads and vet them to ensure they are real, which some of these other lead generating companies sometimes lack,” says Goff.

“Sometimes it’s automated, and sometimes it’s not

38 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

-BRANDON GOFF REALTOR®, Red Door Realty Services

Since joining the industry in September 2020, Goff, like many other real estate professionals, has been navigating the lack of inventory that’s apparent throughout the country. “It’s a heavy, heavy seller’s market,” he explains. “Though some of our inventory has been bouncing back, we have a few market sections that are just depleted. It’s been very hard for buyers and a toothand-nail game to get them a home in the market.”

Despite low inventory and high demand, Goff recently received a listing request through his Homes.com advertising. “I received a listing request from a property in Topock, Goff Arizona, which was some vacant land the sellers bought a few years back. Since the market is hot, they want to try to sell it while they can,” he says.

From time management to collecting the right information, Homes.com’s Lead Concierge has many advantages. “I don’t have to spend all my time trying to confirm if a lead is actually valid, if they are working with another agent, or if they even provided the right phone number,” says Goff. “The Homes.com concierge team will follow up with leads and help me pick out the ones that are worth pursuing.”

Goff also points to the education and guidance he receives from the Homes.com team as a key benefit. “I

BUSINESS BUILDERS have been given information on their social media solutions and a few other products that I hope to take advantage of in the future,” he says, adding that his consultant also does monthly check-ins to ensure that the product and the concierge team are functioning correctly.

“It’s nice to be in a place other than Zillow or realtor.com®, like everybody expects, and to be recognized,” says Goff, who believes that agents should find what works best for them individually. “Zillow is not the end-all, be-all. There are many competitors to Zillow despite what they may want you to think,” concludes Goff.

“Homes.com has been a great team to work with.” RE For more information, please visit marketing.homes.com.

Simply put, home warranties are service contracts that typically last a year. They cover a variety of systems and appliances throughout a home that may break or malfunction over time due to normal wear and tear.

While home warranties are nothing new to the real estate industry, HSA continues to raise the bar by revolutionizing the way their products work—and the scope of what they offer.

“For my clients, the value of HSA’s services lies in the additional layer of protection they provide. This is especially true since some buyers are waiving inspections in order to secure a home.”

-SHARON SPADACCINI Agent, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS® - New Hope

Providing Certainty in an Unstable Market HSASM HOME WARRANTY GOES TO BAT FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS ALIKE

By Jameson Doris

I

n today’s incredibly hot, turbulent market, homes can be swept out of your clients’ grasp by cash offers and/or higher bids in bidding wars. With so much uncertainty today, it’s critical that real estate professionals provide their clients products and services they can rely on. This is where HSASM Home Warranty comes in.

Home warranty provider HSA has been a player in the space for decades, but their practices and services are anything but tired and dated. Founded in 1984, HSA has a strong reputation among buyers and sellers as a reliable company, which is why Spadaccini real estate industry veterans turn to them to provide services for their clients.

Sharon Spadaccini, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS® - New Hope, has been in the real estate industry for 35 years. She speaks passionately when discussing HSA. She tells us that home warranties are more important

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 39

BUSINESS BUILDERS

than ever before because of how turbulent real estate markets are all across the country.

“For my clients, the value of HSA’s services lies in the additional layer of protection they provide. This is especially true since some buyers are waiving inspections in order to secure a home.”

Spadaccini began working with HSA as soon as she joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices because, according to her, they provide her and her colleagues the support necessary to easily offer their services to buyers and sellers alike.

“I love the warranty covering the sellers during the term of the listing,” says Sharon Spadaccini. “That service is priceless. It is definitely a value-added program.”

Of course, some of HSA’s most popular products are the ones they provide for buyers. Today, many sellers do not provide the sort of protection that a company like HSA offers with the sale of their home.

“I would typically be able to have the sellers pay for [these services] for the buyers, but in this market, it is very different due to lack of inventory,” says Spadaccini. “However, it is highly suggested to all my buyers that they purchase a home warranty, especially in light of

this market. Regardless of what the seller does, though, I educate my clients on the benefits of a home warranty at all times.”

Sharon Spadaccini notes that there have been numerous times when HSA has gone above and beyond to provide reliable service and an added level of comfort to her clients. One recent example sticks out in her mind.

“When [my buyers’] HVAC system stopped working during a hot summer month, they were able to get ahold of HSA quickly and discovered—to great relief—that they were covered,” she says.

The fast and responsive customer service that HSA is known for is not limited to buyers and sellers though.

In fact, Spadaccini and her colleagues have come to expect the same level of service from HSA when they reach out to the company.

“When it comes to our HSA support team, not only are they fantastic, but they are also responsive, caring and willing to assist,” she explains. RE For more information, please visit www.onlinehsa.com.

COACHING

that takes you from where you are today to

WHERE YOU WANT TO BE (385) 282-7112

BUSINESS BUILDERS to the specific challenges they were facing.

“There’s a lack of good coaches available because there’s so much opportunity right now,” Carey says. “We wanted to give our customers access to these coaches in an affordable way and drive them toward the behaviors we know they need.”

“We want to help independent entrepreneurs and brokers succeed and build strong, recession-proof businesses.”

Morgan Carey, CEO, Real Estate Webmasters

Preparing for the Next Opportunity REW ACADEMY BY REAL ESTATE WEBMASTERS TAKES COACHING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL

R

By Keith Loria

eal Estate Webmasters offers brokers some of the best lead generation and SEO advice in real estate, and the company continues to raise the bar when it comes to helping its customers.

“We’re almost 20 years in this business, 17 as Real Estate Webmasters, and we’re the largest custom agency in the world when it comes to real estate technology and marketing,” says CEO Morgan Carey.

Earlier this year, the company—which is focused on building and/or working with the top 5%—launched REW Academy, a premium service that addresses what Carey felt was a huge weakness in the industry: converting leads into sales.

“Our customers are great at a lot of things, but the online lead-gen game is a piece that is often challenging,” he says. “So many of the industry’s top producers got that way because of who they are and their charisma, but those talents aren’t necessarily transferable as they try to grow out teams and brokerages.”

When Carey began thinking about where Real Estate Webmasters could add value as both a consultant and a partner, he immediately hatched a plan.

By bringing in some of the best real estate coaches in the country—including notable names like Jon Cheplak, AJ Hazzi and Dan Stewart—REW Academy was created so that customers could get the help they needed related 42 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

-MORGAN CAREY CEO, Real Estate Webmasters

To that end, the beauty of REW Academy is that members get access to live webinars conducted by the coaches. They also have a bank of seminars available to them complete with accompanying support materials and downloads via a customized academy portal.

During its first two months of operation, REW Academy has welcomed more than 1,000 customers to the platform, all of whom are taking advantage of the various classes available.

With topics such as “Profit Is in Your People,” “Words That Work” and “Conversion Mastery,” the weekly coaching sessions are informative and insightful.

“A lot of these can be used for training,” notes Carey.

New users can sign on for a free month so that they can get a feel for what REW Academy is all about and the value it brings. For $500 a month, brokers get complete access to all webinars, which would run them upwards of $3,000 if they looked to hire one of these coaches on their own.

“It’s a massive value for what they would be able to get directly,” Carey says. “The only difference is that it’s not specific to them; they have to share their Zoom screen with others across the country.”

But the benefits don’t end there.

Not only do the coaches benefit because they are paid, but Real Estate Webmasters also promotes their services, which helps them in the future. The coaches also get paid for referring customers to the program, providing a win-win for everyone involved.

“We’re ensuring that we’re supporting our position in the market,” concludes Carey. “We want to help independent entrepreneurs and brokers succeed and build strong, recession-proof businesses. Because of our connections and experience, we can help them be prepared for the next opportunity.” RE For more information, please visit https://realestatewebmasters.com/academy.

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COVER STORY

By Maria Patterson 44 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Why Being a Realogy Brand May Be More Valuable Than Ever

N

ever in a million years would Sue Yannaccone have imagined herself as the president and CEO of the Realogy Franchise Group, she jokes. But from an outsider’s perspective, she was destined for it.

With more than 20 years of handson industry experience, Yannaccone took the helm as the first female leader of the franchising giant in November 2020.

“Everything I’ve done throughout my career has led to me sitting in this seat,” she says, and Yannaccone has indeed done it all. She brings more than 15 years of franchise experience in both the commercial and residential sectors, followed by several years of senior franchise and owned brokerage leadership positions at Realogy, to the role.

Yannaccone’s background has given her an intimate understanding of the challenges brokers and agents confront, and her commitment to maintaining a direct connection to that frontline reality makes her a unique and powerful leader for five of Realogy’s six brands (Coldwell Banker owned and franchise operations are led by CEO Ryan Gorman, following a brand unification in 2019).

This servant-leadership mindset is the only lens Yannaccone’s ever looked through. “I like to connect that bootson-the-ground need with the company in a way that solves a real, tangible challenge,” she explains. “Really listening to what our customers, consumers, broker/owners and agents need to grow their business is very important to me.”

PUTTING THE VALUE PROP TO THE TEST Yannaccone’s hands-on approach was

never more valuable than during pandemic times. Her focus on constant connection combined with Realogy’s deep bench of tools and resources shone a light on the franchisor’s true value.

“We found that during 2020, the connection our brand leaders had to our entrepreneurs on the ground was invaluable,” Yannaccone explains.

“Our brokers and agents had access to thought leadership and expert distillation of what was going on in the macro environment as well as at the hyperlocal level so that they could adapt and evolve and continue to work.”

While many companies scrambled to pivot at the peak of the pandemic, Realogy was well prepared for it, quickly able to leverage its comprehensive technology to deliver virtual learning, showings and open houses, digital transactions and more.

“We’re very fortunate that Realogy had looked at the changing landscape and already planted the seeds,” says Yannaccone. “We were able to accelerate some things we were already looking at so that our agents were ahead of the curve.”

The value of the Realogy franchise wasn’t lost on consumers either, explains Realogy EVP of Worldwide Sales Rich Green. “We clearly saw an increase in our business and an increase in marketshare, and part of that was driven by consumer confidence in our ability to deliver and execute in uncertain times,” he explains. “The

consumer sought out trusted brands.”

While Realogy brands certainly enjoyed a pandemic-induced boost, the true measure of the company’s value in the past year and a half is the heightened level of connectivity that’s been created.

“We can certainly talk about the business side of things, and that’s been evident in our results, but the emotional support and the connection that relationships drove across the globe have been amazing—within the industry and among our brands,” Yannaccone explains. “That connection and that community are irreplaceable.”

“The emotional support and the connection that relationships drove across the globe have been amazing—within the industry and among our brands.

That connection and that community are irreplaceable.”

- Sue Yannaccone President and CEO, Realogy Franchise Group

THE SIZE ADVANTAGE Thanks to Realogy’s sheer size and scale, the level of community and information-sharing among brokers and agents is hard to match. Realogy’s six brands—CENTURY 21, ERA, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 45

“Products like RealSure and RealVitalize keep us at the center of the conversation so our franchisees and agents can win listings.”

- Rich Green EVP, Worldwide Sales, Realogy Realty, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate and Corcoran—cover the breadth of the real estate market and bring a distinctive personality, history and expertise to the table.

“Our iconic brands have something for everyone,” explains Green. “But in addition to what each of the brands offers, Realogy’s size and strength allows us to provide other benefits— leads through our Realogy Advantage Network, capital for franchisees to grow through mergers and acquisitions, expertise in terms of expansion and knowledge of competitive solutions. These are things that Realogy brings across each of our brands.”

Thanks to its multi-brand franchise model, Realogy affiliates are also able to capitalize on pandemicinduced consumer migration, adds Green. “The consumer has moved fairly dramatically over the past 12 months, and it’s going to continue,” he 46 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

explains. “Our size and scope is going to help us take advantage of that opportunity.”

Realogy’s size and scale has also given franchisees an unparalleled technology advantage in the form of an open technology ecosystem, which allows brokers and agents to choose from a plethora of Realogy solutions or seamlessly add their own.

“The open ecosystem not only has breadth of choice for agents and brokers, but it also gives them the ability to use some other solution that they may already love,” explains Realogy EVP of Product and Innovation Simon Chen. “It’s very awkward to say to a broker or agent, ‘hey, I know that you like using all these things you’ve been using, but if you join us, you can’t.’

We shouldn’t be so arrogant to think that just because we’re the biggest, we have all the best ideas. It’s been an epiphany for us and the pace of innovation has increased dramatically.”

Realogy’s most recent partner in its tech ecosystem is MoxiWorks, which was made widely available to the company’s affiliates in record time.

“We were able to roll out MoxiWorks to tens of thousands of agents in less than 45 days because of our open ecosystem,” says Chen. “Once we built the integration between Moxi and us, we could light up that entire suite of tools in one fell swoop. That’s how we were able to achieve that scale so quickly.”

Realogy’s size is a key factor in the success of its open ecosystem, Chen emphasizes. “Any system is subject to what it’s connected to and what it’s source data is, and ours by nature of our scale is better, cleaner and bigger than anyone out there.”

INVESTING IN BROKER AND AGENT SUCCESS Realogy’s impressive scope also gives its affiliates an important advantage in the ongoing quest for better lead generation and conversion.

“The scale of Realogy gives brokers and agents access to programs

and products they wouldn’t be able to invest in otherwise,” says Yannaccone. “We’re always looking to evolve our Realogy Leads Group to drive high-quality leads that benefit agents and consumers. We’re always exploring meaningful partnerships, which we’re uniquely positioned to do through the breadth and business acumen of Realogy.”

Among Realogy’s recent partnership programs are Realogy Military Rewards with PCSgrades, which allows active military, veterans and their

“Any system is subject to what it’s connected to and what it’s source data is, and ours by nature of our scale is better, cleaner and bigger than anyone out there.”

- Simon Chen EVP, Product and Innovation, Realogy families to earn cash back on their transactions, its cash-back rewards program for AARP’s 38 million members, partner rewards through Associa managed communities, and a referral program with U.S. Bank.

Realogy’s lead generation strategy is also evolving to help keep agents connected to consumers throughout

COVER STORY the entire homeownership lifecycle.

The company has invested in relationships with companies like MoveEasy, MooveGuru and Updater to help agents stay in front of clients as their local homeownership expert.

“The approach just makes good sense,” explains Chen. “It’s about keeping the agent engaged with the consumer over the entire homeownership lifecycle to generate higher quality leads from their sphere, which they spent all this time and energy to build out in the first place,” he says. “Anybody can generate leads, but building those relationships is the part that’s difficult.”

Realogy’s RealSure and RealVitalize programs are further strategies for connecting real estate professionals with the needs of today’s consumers. According to Yannaccone, RealSure—which provides a home seller with a guaranteed cash offer while they continue to market their home with an affiliated agent—has now expanded to 21 U.S. markets, and gives the consumer a way to be competitive in the buying and selling space.

Meanwhile, RealVitalize partners with Angi so that home sellers can get their property in prime listing condition.

Early results show that homes that use the program sell 25% faster than others on the market.

“With listings at an all-time low, products like RealSure and RealVitalize keep us at the center of the conversation so our franchisees and agents can win listings,” says Green. “If you’re controlling the listing inventory, you’re controlling the action.”

For Yannaccone, programs like this speak to her servant-leadership philosophy. “What does everyone in the lifecycle need, and how do we build and execute with that in mind?” she explains. “That’s using our data, that’s using our scale, that’s using our resources in a way that keeps agents close in the transaction.”

READY FOR THE FUTURE As the competitive landscape becomes

FAST-TRACKING FRANCHISE SUCCESS Even among the challenges of 2020, the Realogy Franchise Group leveraged its brand powerhouse to grow, launching the Corcoran franchise to great success.

Realogy Franchise Group President and CEO Sue Yannaccone says it’s the fastest growth of a franchise brand she’s ever seen, and Realogy EVP of Worldwide Sales Rich Green agrees.

“In an incredible year, Corcoran got off to an incredible start,” says Green. “We launched our first affiliate, Corcoran Global Living, back in February 2020, and had a remarkable streak of acquisitions. It quickly became one of the largest companies in California and Nevada, and then spread across the country in a very short period of time. We doubled our agent count from more than 2,000 agents when we started to well over 4,000 today.”

At press time, in addition to its flagship locations in New York City and the Hamptons, Corcoran now has franchisees in Hawaii, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Denver, Florida and Chicago, as well as its first international affiliate in the British Virgin Islands.

According to Green, Corcoran’s deep-seated infrastructure was a key factor in the franchise roll-out. “Corcoran has been the No. 1 firm in New York City for a long time, so it has great bones,” he says. “It’s known as a premium brand, led by industry icon Pam Liebman, but it’s also a brand that likes to have fun. It has resonated with people across the country and the world.”

The roll-out of the Corcoran brand also strengthens Realogy’s position in the luxury market, where it already has a stronghold thanks to its Sotheby’s International Realty and Coldwell Banker brands.

“The global referral networks that exist within our luxury space are unparalleled when you consider our breadth and reach and international connection,” says Yannaccone. “We’re continuing to invest in the growth of those organizations.” increasingly complicated, Realogy will continue to play to its strengths: size, scale and innovation.

“Everything we do is designed to help the local broker and their agents become more successful,” says Green.

“The disruptors in the industry aren’t endorsing entrepreneurs. We’re trying to make entrepreneurs better by helping them manage big decisions around technology and using our expertise to ensure they remain competitive at the local level.”

The strategy is especially salient when confronting the growing contingent of venture-capital backed and tech-centric real estate firms. But as

Chen says, you need to look beyond the marketing.

“Money doesn’t necessarily mean substance or results,” he explains. “A lot of folks out there say they’re a technology company, but once you dig under the covers, they’re really just a brokerage.”

That said, Chen also believes the crop of new competitors is good for business. “The money going into the space is helping drive innovation,” he says. “Our ability to take that innovation and translate it into something that is really valuable to our brokers and agents is where we hang our hat.”

As Yannaccone looks to the fuRISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 47

ture, she’ll continue to stay focused on meeting the needs of brokers, agents and consumers as the industry evolves. That means an increased commitment to diversity and inclusion as well. She’s determined to help change the current stats: 74% of white families own their own home, but only 49% of Hispanic families and 44% of Black families do.

“We are committed to overturning the disparity in the homeownership numbers,” says Yannaccone. “For me, it all starts with education and awareness and then meaningful action. Realogy is leading that conversation and having some significant results. It’s incumbent upon Realogy with our strength and our scale to lead in order to change the face of homeownership in our country. Realogy’s Inclusive Ownership program, for example, is an industry-first initiative. We’re investing in the success

“The significant value and strength of the Realogy Franchise Group is that real estate’s in our DNA. We spend significant time, money and resources on reading the tea leaves to figure out where the industry is going.”

- Sue Yannaccone President and CEO, Realogy Franchise Group of diverse franchise owners through incentives that support their growth and productivity.”

And while Realogy keeps evolving for the future, the team will stay focused on the day-to-day needs of its brokers and agents. As Green says,

GOING ‘FORWARD TO WORK’

While 2020 was filled with much hardship as COVID-19 swept the globe, it was also a year of invaluable lessons.

“I think of something my daughter said,” shares Realogy Franchise Group President and CEO Sue Yannaccone.

“She realized she was stronger than she thought, and I think as a society, we’ve learned that.”

Widespread technology adoption is clearly one of the greatest outcomes of the pandemic era. “We leapfrogged what we’ve been baby-stepping through for a lot of years in our industry,” says Yannaccone. “Our agents are closing record volumes of business by augmenting how they do things and leveraging technology in a way that they never have.”

48 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

“We get up every day and try to figure out ways that we can help them win more at the local level.”

“The significant value and strength of the Realogy Franchise Group is that real estate’s in our DNA,” adds Yannaccone. “We spend significant time, money and resources on reading the tea leaves to figure out where the industry is going. What does our spectrum of franchisees need? We’re a diverse industry, and we need to be able to service that spectrum.

That’s the next level of evolution in building and expanding the Realogy Franchise Group.” RE For more information, please visit www.realogy.com.

Maria Patterson is RISMedia’s executive editor.

That technology adoption will only accelerate moving forward, she adds. “Agents aren’t going to stop learning technology; they’re going to get better at it. And if there’s a compelling reason to do so, it’s that the consumer has learned to expect it.”

Realogy EVP of Product and Innovation Simon Chen agrees that technology usage will not dissipate as it has become essential to building better relationships. “Zoom provides folks the chance to connect with people in a more interactive way and on a much broader scale than would’ve been previously possible or socially acceptable,” he says.

This increased level of connectivity has helped to expand Realogy’s reach around the globe. “The adoption of Zoom and Microsoft Teams and our ability to unite the world overnight was incredible,” says Realogy EVP of Worldwide Sales Rich Green. “We have a closer connection to our international customers than ever before. Those lines of communication will be present forever and will continue to grow.”

“I think as entrepreneurs and as agents, we’ve realized we’re more agile than we thought and more resilient,” says Yannaccone. “As leaders, we became more empathetic, and we became more connected to the things we could do to serve our communities. For me, it all came down to connections. Those are some of the learnings we’re going to see carry forward. I’ve grown fond of the saying, ‘we’re going forward to work, not back to work.’”

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Transcending the Barriers Between Real Estate and Mortgage

gard,” says Fessenden. “But over the past year especially, we’ve come to see how important technology is in this space—and how it will be even more so going forward.”

To that end, Fessenden and his team are laser-focused on marrying what historically tend to be siloed efforts and operations within the PROPERTYBASE LEVELS THE PLAYING real estate transaction.

FIELD IN A COMPETITIVE MARKET Working toward this goal begins

By Paige Tepping with codifying relationships across the transaction.

“It’s not like real estate n a mission to transcend the barriers between professionals, mortgage proreal estate and mortgage, Propertybase—a fessionals and others in the transaction aren’t talking to global real estate and mortgage software each other,” says Fessenden. company—is working to bridge the gap among the “But their conversations are various players involved in a real estate transaction taking place outside of the in order to provide everyone involved, but especially systems, and it’s not someconsumers, a more streamlined experience. thing they’re utilizing software for.”

Fessenden Creating these relationships Leading the helm is Chief Product Opening the Lines of and finding ways for those involved Officer Tim Fessenden, who has Communication in the transaction to connect with the been in the software business for the “From a technology perspective, Propertybase network, which has past 25 years. real estate has always been a lag- close to 300,000 end users across

O

50 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

its various products, sets the stage for sharing opportunities that arise on both sides of the equation.

“We see this extending to all the personas, from mortgage and insurance all the way down the line to each and every ancillary service that occurs downstream,” says Fessenden.

But how will real estate professionals and the brokerages they work for benefit from Propertybase’s quest to blur the lines between real estate and mortgage?

“At the core, it will provide more at-bats and high-quality opportunities, which, at the end of the day, is exactly what real estate professionals are looking for,” says Fessenden.

Standing Out Among the Competition Leveling the playing field even further, Fessenden goes on to explain that Propertybase’s solution will allow independent brokerages—or franchisees that don’t get the support they need—the ability to compete.

“We believe that the portfolio we’re bringing to the market today, and what we’ll continue to bring to the market, will level the playing field,” says Fessenden.

In fact, since moving into the mortgage lending space just six short months ago (at press time) with the acquisition of Unify, there’s been an overwhelming demand from key players in the mortgage vertical who need help rebuilding their pipeline in order to generate a larger presence in their respective markets.

“We’re constantly being asked how we can help grow one’s pipeline so that they can compete against the Zillows of the world who have a large brand awareness,” says Fessenden, who goes on to say that the biggest takeaway centers around the fact that they’re empowering the independents to provide the same level of service that the

bigger guys provide.

This, in turn, will streamline the entire customer journey.

“As technology evolves, buyers and sellers are going to continue to look at the real estate professional as their quarterback,” says Fessenden.

“The real estate professional who can provide that help through the full lifecycle of the transaction will showcase their value-add and stick with the client for the long haul.”

“We believe that the portfolio we’re bringing to the market today, and what we’ll continue to bring to the market, will level the playing field.”

– TIM FESSENDEN, Chief Product Officer, Propertybase

Providing solutions for all who play a role in the real estate transaction so that they can, in turn, be offered to the consumer is the ultimate end goal.

“For example, we’re providing capabilities to the process that allow the key players within the transaction to collaborate via a virtual roundtable [available with Propertybase Back Office] in order to seamlessly pose questions to one another and ensure that the client’s documentation is clean and clear,” says Fessenden.

“Consumers love this piece of the puzzle because we maintain all of their documentation for seven years, making it easy for them to come back to the space should they need to after the transaction has been completed.”

Looking Toward the Future While real estate continues to be a relationship-driven business, Fessenden notes that Propertybase remains committed to leaning on both technology and partnerships to facilitate business growth as the future unfolds.

“First and foremost, we are a software company that’s not only providing software, but also, valueadded services,” says Fessenden.

“And we envision ourselves as always having software as a core tenant in terms of the value we’re providing.”

As we head toward the future, it’s looking brighter than ever for the company as its foray into the mortgage space continues to change the game.

With the resources and capabilities to tackle the end-to-end real estate transaction, Fessenden explains that he and his team will be focusing their energy in two specific areas in the weeks and months to come.

“We’re continuing to look at insurance as our next area of investment, but, at the same time, we’re also concentrating on implementing the consumer clearing house we’ve built across the real estate transaction lifecycle in a more meaningful way,” concludes Fessenden. RE For more information, please visit www.propertybase.com.

Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 51

Powerful Tech Tools That Give REALTORS® a Competitive Edge By the National Association of REALTORS®’ REALTOR Benefits® Program Team

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echnology increasingly impacts life on most every level— especially for REALTORS® and their businesses. Even before 2020, proptech was seeing accelerated growth, and now,

spurred by the pandemic, new and innovative tech tools are helping REALTORS® expand their businesses more effectively and efficiently.

According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), REALTORS® are connected on multiple technology platforms to perform their jobs. More than nine in 10 members use a smartphone with wireless email and internet capability, and a laptop or desktop computer. Nearly all—95%—use email, and 57% use social media apps daily. Many new technologies are

52 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

revolutionizing the work of REALTORS®, bringing significant benefit to the way they manage and grow their business. From innovative mobile technology solutions to transaction management platforms, being able to keep in touch with clients from anywhere at any time means more leads and more sales.

To help NAR members stay ahead of the latest real estate technology

advancements, the REALTOR Benefits® Program forged partnerships with industry leading technology providers to introduce essential tech tools at special, negotiated rates.

These solutions help members stay a step ahead of the competition with the latest transaction management tools, cutting-edge marketing technology and state-of-the-art devices.

The REALTOR Benefits® Program Helps Members Tap Into the Latest Technology, Take Business to New Heights Speeding Up Transactions Whether driving between showings or meeting with prospective sellers,

REALTORS® are always on the go.

Fortunately, eSignature and transaction management platforms make the process of finalizing contracts smoother, simpler and faster—from anywhere: • DocuSign transforms how REALTORS® prepare, sign, act on and manage their transactions, providing a fast, secure and automated platform for business.

Members receive 20% off electronic signature services and special plans from NAR’s exclusive eSignature provider. For individuals and offices of up to five users, visit nar.realtor/DocuSign. For offices of six or more users, call 1-877-720-2040.

Landing More Leads The real estate industry is rapidly evolving, and REALTORS® need new and more effective ways to connect with clients faster. Whether it’s increasing your social media presence, boosting online advertising or increasing e-prospecting, these tools help members grow their business: • Adwerx lets REALTORS® dive into digital advertising and build their brands through targeted campaigns locally and within their market sphere. Members receive 15% additional impressions on newly purchased and renewing campaigns, which can be combined with other eligible discounts. nar.realtor/Adwerx • Placester allows REALTORS® to design their own fully customized website quickly and easily.

NAR members receive 20% off professional real estate websites, which include IDX integration capability, advanced property search, multiple site designs, unlimited pages and more. nar.realtor/Placester

Pumping Up Productivity Much of the latest real estate technology enables members to be more productive on the go. These global technology leaders provide exclusive pricing on personal and professional computing needs for mobile tech—and home-computing products: • Dell offers members-only pricing on laptops, notebooks, desktops, electronics, accessories, servers and more to help members power their businesses. nar.realtor/Dell • Lenovo offers exclusive discounts for REALTORS® of up to 45% off select computing technologies, including the awardwinning ThinkPad® notebooks, the Yoga convertible laptops, Smart Displays, accessories and more. nar.realtor/Lenovo The REALTOR Benefits® Program makes it easier and more affordable for REALTORS® to access top real estate technology solutions so that members can focus on what matters most: growing their real estate business. RE

Even before 2020, proptech was seeing accelerated growth, and now, spurred by the pandemic, new and innovative tech tools are helping REALTORS® expand their businesses.

The REALTOR Benefits® Program is the exclusive member benefits program of the National Association of REALTORS®, bringing savings and special offers just for NAR members. In one year, over 800,000 REALTORS® gained an edge by leveraging at least one REALTOR Benefits® Program offering, saving $74 million on member benefits from industry-leading companies.

Program partners are carefully selected and understand the unique needs of real estate professionals. Learn more and save by visiting www.nar.realtor/RealtorBenefits.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 53

Rebound in Sight for Urban Rental Market, Experts Say

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By Jordan Grice he red-hot housing market has been the shining light in the nation’s post-pandemic recovery. But, real estate experts say it’s only a matter of time before the urban rental market follows suit.

”From what I’ve read, the apartment market is recovering,” says Gay Cororaton, senior economist and director of Housing & Commercial Research at the National Association of REALTORS®.

The rental recovery appears to be a good sign for several urban markets that have weathered pandemicinduced migrations to the suburbs amid remote working conditions and national shutdowns.

A recent report from realtor.com® found that rent prices in the 50 largest metro areas in the nation ticked up to 2.7% year-over-year in April—the fastest growth since March 2020— showing signs of a possible bounceback for cities as the pandemic wanes.

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As national vaccinations progress and a return to in-office work sits on the horizon, urban markets may be in for a boom in demand from renters.

While markets are already showing promising signs, Cororaton anticipates a complete rebound by the second half of 2022.

Tech Hubs Recovering Cities that tech companies have called home still have a ways to go before they return to their pre-COVID normalcy, but it looks like they are on the right track.

Rents in tech hubs dropped last year because of remote-work policies, but agents say that companies like Facebook announcing a return to

offices could change that.

“People are going to be heading back into their offices, so I’m seeing roommates coming back,” says San Francisco-based agent Dawn Cusulos at Corcoran Global Living in California.

In April, the median rent in San Francisco was $2,656, down 10.9% from the same period in 2020, based on reports from realtor.com®.

According to Cusulos, that appears to be driving leasing activity.

She says that she has closed nine leases in a single week, which is more than she’d traditionally expect in a month.

“There is a sense of urgency because they still want to get a deal because prices have come down,” Cusulos says. “Everybody is trying to get something for a good price before things go back up.”

Austin was among the top rental markets that saw rents rebound, according to reports. Rents climbed out of a decline in April, with median rent coming in at $1,370 in April—up 1.7%.

Job recovery and a coveted housing market could bode well for leasing activity, according to agent Jordan

Peters at JP & Associates REALTORS®.

“I think that there will be more leasing for sure,” Peters says. “With limited houses to buy, people are going to be forced to lease. I have been getting a lot more leases, and I feel like that might be a trend for 2022.”

Peters says razor-thin inventory and surging home prices may turn some aspiring buyers into renters.

Big City Living While renters may have fled from bigger cities amid pandemic-induced shutdowns, experts in the Northeast say they see a rebound in demand as metro areas return to their pre-pandemic bustle.

“You live in the city because of the entertainment value, the social aspects and so on,” says Gary Malin, chief operating officer at The Corcoran Group. “During the pandemic, clearly those things didn’t exist, so when all of a sudden you don’t need to work from the office as much and all the aspects of the city aren’t open

to you, it only stands to reason that people left the city.”

As the pandemic wanes and the city reopens, Malin says there has been an uptick of activity and renewed enthusiasm among renters, as the prices for units remain lower than their pre-COVID levels.

The median rent in New York City is $2,350, which was virtually unchanged over the past 12 months.

However, Malin says that rent concessions offered by landlords coupled with a return to social normalcy continue to make renting in the city appealing.

“I think people realize that the deals that currently exist will not be around for long as the city opens up and as more leasing continues,” Malin adds.

As far as the Boston rental market is concerned, things appear to have already turned back around, according to Nick Warren, founder and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Warren Residential.

“We had this glut of inventory that

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I thought was going to turn the rental market on its head completely, and it did for a little while,” Warren says.

“All of a sudden—roughly a month ago—we saw things completely change and, somehow, properties started getting absorbed quickly.”

There is still uncertainty surrounding a full-blown recovery of urban rental markets nationwide. While companies like Facebook and Uber are planning—and starting—office returns, other major employers like Google are opting for hybrid schedules or expanding their options for workers.

The rebound will rely heavily on how companies carry out return-tooffice policies in the coming months.

RE

Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jgrice@rismedia.com.

Jody Lovell, Co-Owner, Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty

Changing Lifestyles Spark Growth for North Carolina Firm Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty Maximizes the New Migration

By Barbara Pronin

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oaring real estate sales in 2020 will be viewed for just for more space or more amenigenerations as one of the most unexpected outcomes of ties, but for a home close to nature and far from city life. the pandemic that swept the nation.

The widespread mandate to “stay home” forever redefined the meaning of home and created new opportunities for real estate success.

No longer just a place to sleep after long days at the office, home became the center of the universe, where people worked, cooked, exercised, socialized and homeschooled their children.

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Real estate broker Jody Lovell and her husband, Wood, owners of Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty in the idyllic resort area of Highlands, North Carolina, were among the first to realize that months of solitude had shifted consumer priorities; that pandemicweary Americans, many of whom were working remotely, longed not

Idyllic vacation or second-home resort communities, like their pristine Highlands/Cashiers Plateau mountain area in western North Carolina—known by the locals as “Aspen of the East”—became a coveted long-term or year-round living destination. Buyers set their sights on this sparsely populated bit of mountain greenery in droves...and Jody Lovell was up for the challenge, shattering

state records in 2020 with $165 million in closed transactions.

“Social distancing was practiced here long before the pandemic,” Lovell says. “For more than a century, wealthy easterners like the Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers flocked to the Highlands/Cashiers Plateau for its cool summers and laissez-faire ambience.”

The Lovells found it more than two decades ago, relocating to the area in 2000 from Atlanta, Georgia, where Jody, an attorney with postgraduate law degrees from Oxford University and King’s College in London, was working for a busy law firm.

“When Wood and I moved to Highlands, I expected to become a female Perry Mason and help a lot of clients solve their problems,” she says. “But I realized after five days of working with a local attorney that there are few problems to solve in this idyllic little town. The only legal work for me was researching title and preparing closing statements for real estate.”

Meanwhile, she notes, Wood, who owned a property management company, was awarded the real estate office at the gate of their country club, Cullasaja, when the developer, Arvida, sold it to the membership.

“So, I asked him if he would hire me,” says Lovell. “That was 21 years ago, and he hasn’t fired me, yet!”

The real estate company the Lovells started at the gate of Cullasaja Club with two additional agents grew into Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty, officially launching in 2008. In a moment of foreshadowing, the Lovells originally named the firm Exurbia Sotheby’s, based on a book by David Brooks called “Bobos in Paradise,” describing the migration from large cities to high-quality small towns.

The trickle of Exurbia migration in 2008, however, has now become a stampede, and today, with 28 agents in two offices, the firm post-

The Highlander Mountain House is a boutique hotel located in the idyllic mountain town of Highlands, North Carolina.

ed sales of nearly $300 million last year, establishing themselves as the top-producing office in their MLS area and first in sales in Highlands for the last seven years.

“The genie is out of the bottle, and the additional exposure we received during the great COVIDbased migration will continue to help us grow here in the Highlands/ Cashiers Plateau.”

- JODY LOVELL Co-Owner, Highlands Sotheby’s International Realty

“When Sotheby’s International Realty invited us to be a member of the franchise in 2008, we were witnessing a real estate collapse that created much of the same uncertainty and fear that we experienced in 2020,” Lovell explains. “Both periods caused a lot of introspection about what is really important in life.

They also prompted consumers to flock to quality brands with a solid reputation and track record. We be-

lieve the Sotheby’s brand helped us gain and maintain clients during the recession, and once again in 2020.”

Lovell says that the brand provides a long history of quality and exposure as well as cutting-edge technology agents can utilize in their marketing and communications.

“Judicious use of the resources available to us helps the company outshine the competition year after year,” says Lovell. “Additionally, and as important as technology is, we do our best to provide what we call ‘touchology.’ Staying in touch and supporting our agents daily, especially during the challenges of the last year, has been just as important to our overall success as any other tools and resources.”

The firm’s achievements have not been lost on Jenny Pruitt, cofounder and owner of Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty, where Lovell holds her Georgia license. “One agent with our company in Atlanta, with its population of 6.5 million, sold $107 million of real estate last year, breaking the state of Georgia’s individual agent sales record,” Pruitt says. “The fact that an agent in a small area of North Carolina with 1,000 permanent residents surpassed that, closing $165 million in property sales, RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 57

The Highlands, North Carolina, region is known by many as the ‘Aspen of the East.’

“Resort markets are providing a welcome escape hatch in a world where everything can be turned upside down overnight.”

- JENNY PRUITT Co-founder/Owner, Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty

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is both a tribute to her and a signal that resort markets are providing a welcome escape hatch in a world where everything can be turned upside down overnight.

“As a matter of fact,” Pruitt adds, “I just purchased a home there.”

For her part, Lovell attributes her success to the three Rs: Reputation, Relationships and Referrals.

“My reputation as the top producer in our market for the last 20 years provides a track record that helps me close deals,” she says. “My relationships with both clients and fellow brokers provide the basis for structuring transactions—and referrals from past clients and the extensive network of Sotheby’s International Realty agents provides fuel for ongoing business.”

Referrals in the Sotheby’s International Realty network as a whole, she notes, rose 42% during last year’s period of global reshuffling.

Philip White, CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty, understands the demographic shift.

“What’s happening in Highlands is a microcosm of what is happening in popular small resort areas of the world,” he says. “It’s a testament to the power of our network to be able to help many clients navigate through so many lifestyle options.”

Indeed, the fact that people can work from second-home markets, perhaps indefinitely, has accelerated home purchases in less-populated areas that offer a strong sense of privacy and security.

“We are seeing buyers from feeder markets as far away as San Fran-

Philip White, CEO, Sotheby’s International Realty

“I chose Highlands because of its natural beauty, amazing history and the sense of real community. It’s the people who make it special. I feel lucky to be a part of this community and hope to make a meaningful contribution as it takes its place as a world-class lodging and dining mecca.”

Jason Reeves, owner of The Highlander Mountain House, poses with Jody and Wood Lovell.

cisco, Boston, Chicago and New York,” says Lovell. “One couple called me from San Francisco last August. They were confined in their expensive condo on Nob Hill overlooking the bay, afraid to walk outside. They had always used Sotheby’s International Realty for their real estate transactions, and they wanted to know more about our area. In the end, they arrived here in the fall and purchased a $6 million estate. It is so exciting to share this special spot on the planet with people seeking a beautiful sanctuary.”

Another client, Lovell says, told her that the vibrations being felt in Highlands today are the same vibrations that were felt in Aspen 30 years ago.

“This extraordinary area has been discovered,” she says, “and real estate here is still undervalued compared to other resort areas of this caliber.”

The flight to this small piece of North Carolina paradise, however, has not been without consequence.

Inventory has shrunk measurably and prices have risen to an average of $923,000. Yet, the growing desire to be at home with nature, and with reasonable access to culture and entertainment, continues to turn once seasonal markets into year-round destinations.

“The genie is out of the bottle,” says Lovell, “and the additional exposure we received during the great COVID-based migration will continue to help us grow here in the Highlands/Cashiers Plateau.”

Part of the reason for that, she explains, is that virtual meetings, Zoom calls and instant communication will be the norm of the future.

“In this competitive market, where timely communication can make or break a deal,” Lovell explains, “there

- JASON REEVES, Owner, Highlander Mountain House

is an escalating sense of urgency.

Clear and frequent communication between agents and their clients will likely be critical forever more.”

But being successful comes with responsibility, she maintains.

“We are bullish for the foreseeable future and grateful to have found our special spot on the planet,” says Lovell. “Our goal is to continue to serve our clients, our brokers and our brand with enthusiasm. At the same time, we are committed to being good stewards of this remarkable location.” RE For more information, please visit www.highlandssothebysrealty.com.

Barbara Pronin is a contributing editor to RISMedia.

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MoveEasy 2.0 focuses on a better user experience and brand visibility while placing the dedicated concierge front and center.

Customizing the Client Experience From Beginning to End MOVEEASY RELEASES MOVING CONCIERGE 2.0

By RISMedia Staff

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client for life. It’s what we all want. Yet client engagement and retention are two of the most overlooked aspects within the real estate industry. With an average span of five to seven years between transactions, the real estate industry faces a unique customer engagement challenge. That’s why many of the industry’s top brands (Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Century 21, Realty ONE Group) and several prominent brokerages, including Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS ®, HUNT ERA and CENTURY 21 Judge Fite, have turned to MoveEasy.

Free for you and your client, MoveEasy’s full-service conciergefor-life platform helps owners with every aspect of their move. It also provides meaningful client contact to engage and retain clients. “It’s not just a ‘nice to have.’ It’s the missing piece in customer engagement,” 60 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

says MoveEasy Co-Founder and CEO Venkatesh Ganapathy.

“We know that moving is one of the most exciting and most stressful times in a person’s life,” says Ganapathy. “Imagine giving your client the gift of a seamless move and a lifetime concierge on top of that.

You’re going to be the broker they remember and recommend to family and friends.”

Perhaps the company’s most unique feature is a dedicated lifetime concierge, which Ganapathy says is an essential part of client retention. Clients can choose to build a relationship with their own personal assistant who does the legwork for them. With one call, homeowners can outsource the mundane tasks associated with moving. This includes sitting on hold with utility and cable companies.

When a prominent broker in Florida gifted Andrew Hawthorne with the MoveEasy service for his in-state move, he not only took advantage of it, but, in his own words, was also “beyond happy!” “MoveEasy has taken an immense amount of stress from to-dos off my plate and even provided unexpected resources like adding security system upgrades,” says Hawthorne. Such experiences have led to over 95% of all homeowners who have used the service giving it a four- or five-star rating.

Version 2.0: New Features

Today, MoveEasy releases version 2.0. Upgrades include better user experiences for both you and your homeowners. MoveEasy will brand your custom email marketing campaigns with your company’s color scheme and logo. These customized emails remind clients about their moving and home management tasks for the week, such as when to switch utilities or when to replace the air filter.

The new version provides more prominent placement for your affiliated services, such as mortgage and title companies. Using smart contextual placements, the platform presents your services on a clickable card that appears when clients land

may impact homeowners, including better internet and cable pricing.

Since the service looks and feels like part of your brand, MoveEasy keeps your customer’s experience top of mind. Clients get assigned to one concierge for life and their contact information is prominent across the entire platform, making it easy to reach out for assistance. Unlike some customer service positions, MoveEasy prides itself on low employee attrition and ongoing training.

“When your clients connect with their lifetime concierge, they’re interacting with one of our employees—not an outsourced call center.

Our employees are 100% invested in creating a smooth moving experience for your clients,” says Ganapa-

The new look helps increase engagement for affiliated services, including mortgage, insurance and title.

on related pages. This makes it easier for clients to stay engaged and connected to your homegrown services as they navigate the tool.

Another new feature helps you add preferred vendors that homeowners can view live within minutes. If a preferred vendor isn’t listed, MoveEasy can show a HomeAdvisor vendor on the page. MoveEasy is also adding new services to help homeowners find money-saving deals on energy in deregulated markets as well as options for solar. The platform will continue to search for new deals that

thy. The new platform makes the dedicated concierge a more prominent feature across the site.

In addition to new features for real estate professionals, there are also new features for their clients. In fact, the 2.0 version uses a more consultative approach for homeowners. By answering a few questions, they’ll receive customized, needs-based results within seconds. For example, when recommending the best internet bundle, the platform will ask about the number of users in the home and the speed that will work

Newly designed emails create an engaging experience.

best. It then suggests several choices, highlighting the client’s best deal.

What’s Next?

These upgrades lay the groundwork for MoveEasy’s next big step: the post-move/homeownership market.

Coming this fall, MoveEasy plans to expand its services to include all homeowners. The platform will become the go-to place for any and all of a homeowner’s home-related needs, keeping clients engaged year-round.

Upcoming features include a document repository, storage for appliance data and ways to manage a household budget. An end-to-end home improvement and maintenance feature will let homeowners use tools for budgeting, financing and choosing vendors, especially ones shared by you. New features will also make agents’ jobs easier, as MoveEasy will contain all the home’s data—like the new roof’s installation date—when it’s time to sell.

“Our goal is to remain the No. 1 platform for brokers, agents and homeowners in the moving and homeownership space,” says Ganapathy. “We’ll continue to evolve with the market to help you create lifelong clients.” RE For more information, please visit www.moveeasy.com/realestate.

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Corner Your Market

We Nerd Out, So You Don’t Have To Innovation is constantly pushing forward, and keeping up can be a drain on your time—and your resources. With ERA®, you’ll always be in lock-step with the latest tech.

Visit TeamERA.com to learn more.

© 2021 ERA Franchise Systems LLC. ERA®, ERA Real Estate Powered®, and their respective logos are registered service marks of ERA Franchise Systems LLC. ERA Franchise Systems LLC fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Each franchise is independently owned and operated. This is not intended, and shall not be deemed to constitute, an offer to sell a franchise. Franchise offerings made only by a Franchise Disclosure Document. THESE FRANCHISES HAVE BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE FRANCHISE INVESTMENT LAW OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. SUCH REGISTRATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE APPROVAL, RECOMMENDATION OR ENDORSEMENT BY THE COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS NOR A FINDING BY THE COMMISSIONER THAT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN IS TRUE, COMPLETE AND NOT MISLEADING. This advertisement is not an offering. An offering can only be made by a prospectus filed first with the Department of Law of the State of New York. Such filing does not constitute approval by the Department of Law. The Minnesota registration number for this franchise system is #F3285. ERA Franchise Systems LLC, 175 Park Ave., Madison, NJ, 07940.

TRENDS & ISSUES Virtual assistants, often a fraction of the cost of new in-house hires, are individuals who perform administrative, sales and marketing tasks remotely.

These include tasks such as: • Research • Prospecting • Executive Assistance • Transaction Coordination • Client ‘Concierge’ Services • Data Entry • Scheduling • Marketing

The Current State of Fatigue Among Real Estate Professionals Commentary by Daniel Ramsey

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he busy summer season brings both success and fatigue for the professionals in our industry. This has created an increase in cases of burnout. To help alleviate stress and fatigue, many real estate professionals are looking for new ways to improve their education and careers.

There needs to be better business development resources for real estate professionals. Creating a better business development strategy for agents can set the stage for years of fruitful opportunities with high returns and benefits.

Insights on Real Estate Fatigue

The broker and agent workforce will continue to grow, with a higher potential of burnout. The combination of low regulation, high demand, high stress and low pay is a recipe for burnout.

In order to reduce these instances, we need to make it easier for agents to learn the skills they need, as well as deal with the issues they’re facing.

Today, we see more agents using technology in a more productive way.

This will make them more efficient and effective at what they do. With this level of efficiency, they can spend more time on the things that matter most to them and still make money doing so.

Taking On More Clients at Once

As brokers and agents hit their limits on time and capacity, they will look for innovative ways to take on more clients. There is a new approach to increase this capacity that is becoming a trending option—or maybe even a necessity: virtual assistants.

We need to make it easier for agents to learn the skills they need as well as deal with the issues they’re facing.

Due to the flexibility in recruiting for specialized roles, virtual assistants can help increase business capacity, an ideal solution for many real estate professionals who want to take on more clients without compromising their budget or profits.

Agents and brokers can better serve their clients, bringing more attention to detail and care for each client with the help of remote talent. RE Daniel Ramsey is founder and CEO of MyOutDesk, rated No. 1 virtual assistant service by TechRadar. With over 6,000 clients and 700-plus verified five-star reviews, he helps businesses gain indispensable leverage with real estate virtual professionals.

To learn more, visit www.myoutdesk.com/ services.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 63

TRENDS & ISSUES learned that the franchisee/franchisor relationship is much more than a contract; it is a commitment to teamwork, ensuring one is better off with us than without us.

Defining the Path to Leadership Commentary by Sue Yannaccone

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he path to leadership is never the same—and it is rarely straight. Some start out with their eye on the prize, growing up knowing they want to be a “CEO.” Not me. It wasn’t something I ever thought I would be. A hard worker, absolutely.

Someone with drive to accomplish a goal, sure. But a leader? A CEO leading the world’s largest real estate franchise organization?

Not a chance.

When I started out, I never bothered to look too far ahead. I focused on the task at hand and the role I was given. I was fueled by an intense fear of failure coupled with a competitive drive to “show up” for those who entrusted me with a job to do. I felt compelled to not let my leadership or my team down. I was comfortable saying “yes” to all opportunities, taking risks and figuring it out as I went.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that I was unknowingly defining my path to leadership the entire time through the fearless way in which I approached challenges, the can-do attitude with which I accepted oppor-

64 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

tunities and the unwavering desire to grow, learn and succeed.

These qualities empowered me to leave an early role as a commercial real estate agent that I wasn’t passionate about to take a corporate role where I was introduced to the world of real estate franchising. From there, I held numerous roles in contract administration, help desk, onboarding, learning and affiliate servicing, one of my all-time faves. Through these positions, I found my passion: to help entrepreneurs achieve their dreams, ensure that the promise we are making as a brand is delivered upon, and never, ever lose sight of our customers along the way. I

As I grew in the world of leadership, I learned to trust in those who showed up where I couldn’t.

To me, that same commitment to teamwork is the true path to leadership. It is a devotion to those you serve, a promise that allows a team to grow with you and be lifted by you, and a vow that you will never lose sight of their goals.

As I grew in the world of leadership, I learned to trust in those who showed up where I couldn’t. I learned that a team can take us much further than any one person ever could on their own. I learned to ensure that I am creating paths for others, making room for the next generation to find their way and extending a hand to help others achieve their dreams. And, as I continue to learn, the value lies in the journey, not the destination. RE As President and CEO of Realogy Franchise Group, Sue Yannaccone is responsible for managing leading real estate franchise brands Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, CENTURY 21®, Corcoran®, ERA® and Sotheby’s International Realty® as well as Corcoran and Sotheby’s International Realty company-owned businesses.

TRENDS & ISSUES looks at the age of the HVAC system and advises on how long it will likely last. You don’t want to wait until something breaks to fix or replace it,” says Lawler.

Although home inspections aren’t legally required for a sale to go through, they are highly advised.

Don’t Skip the Home Inspection!

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Commentary by Adam Long

s the housing market gets more and more competitive, some buyers are tempted to skip the home inspection to close faster and attempt to make themselves a more appealing candidate to the seller. With most buyers paying a premium due to high housing prices, taking on additional risk by waiving an inspection is a cause for concern. Skipping an inspection is never in the best interest of the buyer, but receiving one is a great way to protect your investment and understand the condition of the property being purchased.

Forgoing your inspection is risky and can lead to unexpected consequences. There could be a slew of problems, such as open circuits and improper ventilation. These issues may not even be known by the seller. Without a home inspection, it’s difficult to determine what needs to be fixed or replaced.

Owner Brad Lawler from HomeTeam Inspection Service of Louisville shares: “We recently heard from a buyer who was advised to skip the home inspection to close quickly on the home. When the buyer walked into their new home, they were met with serious electrical problems that

will cost thousands of dollars to repair. It doesn’t have to be that way.”

It’s better to spend the money upfront on an inspection than to find out the house requires extensive repairs after closing.

Aside from mitigating risks, there are additional benefits to receiving a home inspection. Even if there are no major issues with the house, the inspection report provides insight about safety hazards and home maintenance information. This knowledge is ideal for planning purposes, which can give you an idea about replacement timelines and budget. “For example, HomeTeam

A home inspection also gives more power to the buyer when negotiating with the seller. This allows them to point out items for the seller to repair or ask for a reduced price based on the findings of the inspection. An inspection can be leveraged in the home contingency, providing an out for the buyer if the house is in poor condition.

It’s also important to know that waiving the inspection contingency does not prevent you from scheduling a home inspection. It simply means you will not be able to use the inspection report to negotiate repairs or price.

Although home inspections aren’t legally required for a sale to go through, they are highly advised.

The absence of one can lead to potential disasters. “At HomeTeam, our goal is to help real estate agents and buyers reach the closing table with the knowledge that they’re making an informed decision. You can’t do that if you skip the inspection,” warns Lawler.

Be proactive in protecting your investment. For more information about HomeTeam Inspection Service, visit hometeam.com. RE Adam Long is president of HomeTeam Inspection Service and has actively been involved in the real estate industry for over 20 years.

For more information, visit www.hometeam.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 65

TRENDS & ISSUES having data and metrics in place, you’re always playing the guessing game.

Without tracking key metrics, you’re essentially buying a lottery ticket and hoping for a winner. Your CRM will allow you to answer questions such as, “What’s my ROI from each of my lead sources?” “What percentage of the people I meet do I sell a home to?” “How many seller leads do I get that I actually sell their listing?”

The Most Important Tech for a REALTOR® Is Their CRM Commentary by Dave Karoly

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n this business, there’s a lot of talk about the importance of a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM), but more often than not, we wait too long to decide which one to use— or worse, we have one that we don’t use to its full potential.

The longer you wait, the more likely you are to experience one (or both) of the following.

First, you get busy showing homes, prospecting your neighborhood and attending training sessions, which means that working on your database gets booted from your task list.

Second, folks within your sphere buy or sell a home and don’t use you. You want to blame them, but ultimately, you only have yourself to blame. They weren’t on your radar, so why would you be on theirs?

If you began putting just five people’s names on a spreadsheet every single day, you’d have over 1,000 contacts by the end of the year— even if you skipped the weekends.

66 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Don’t overlook these people. They are the folks you know or interact with on a daily basis.

Once you have a CRM, be sure to track every lead, every client, every property. It will make prospecting leads easier, track key dates throughout the transaction and set the appropriate follow up to keep in touch with the client after the sale.

Ultimately, the time you spend setting up your CRM will be paid back to you many times over.

When talking with top-performing agents or teams, more often than not, they will speak to the importance of having a CRM. In fact, Management Consultant Peter Drucker said: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Without

As the Pareto principle tells us, 80% of your referrals will come from 20% of your past clients.

Properly using your CRM will allow you to see where deals are falling off along the way. What percentage of buyers who contact you do you speak with on the phone?

What tools does your CRM offer, or allow you to partner with, to help you increase those numbers?

Once the sale is closed, the CRM’s work is not complete. This is the point at which it can ensure that the client will use you again. As the Pareto principle tells us, 80% of your referrals will come from 20% of your past clients. Keeping track of this data will allow you to focus your resources and time to maximize this source of business. RE Dave Karoly is vice president of sales at Lamacchia Realty and REAL Training and Systems, and has trained thousands of agents on how to grow their business. To learn more about Lamacchia Realty, visit www.LamacchiaRealty.com.

TRENDS & ISSUES the supply and demand of modern, move-in ready homes.

Updating Homes to Meet Demand

How to Help Agents Solve for Inventory Shortages

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Commentary by Olivia Mariani

e all know inventory is low. Unfortunately, the short supply of building materials and contractors is preventing the industry from breaking ground on enough homes to meet demand, which is particularly high due to millennials entering the market.

There’s a serious mismatch of supply and demand within residential real estate. Not only are there not enough new homes to fill the needs of millennials, but the condition of the homes in existence doesn’t meet consumer preferences.

Almost 80% of homes in the U.S. are at least 20 years old, and 40% are at least 50. The aging housing stock means we need contractors to build new homes, but also fix up the existing ones. This need is heightened due to the preference among buyers for move-in ready homes. So how do we bridge the gap as the construction industry builds back up?

The quickest way to address construction shortages is to make

the most of the goods and services available.

Changing Operations

Most home improvement work has been done the same way for decades by independent contractors who each have their own approach. These approaches are rooted in inefficient labor and manual processes, which results in waiting weeks just to start.

Once projects begin, they suffer from poor communication, frequent delays and added costs. This can present a lot of risk to agents who need to get their clients’ homes market-ready.

The industry needs technology to help streamline production and a solution that can bridge the gap in

There’s more demand than supply for new construction. It’s not an easy problem to solve, especially when we don’t have the goods and service providers necessary to ramp up construction. While the industry recovers, we can focus on updating homes to meet the needs of today’s buyers.

REALTORS® across the country are already finding their own solutions for pre-listing home improvement, and many brokerages have developed inhouse programs to attract and retain top agents (I think we’ve all heard of Compass Concierge). If you’re sick of losing your top agents to the competition, it’s time to introduce them to Curbio.

Curbio is readily available to provide an estimate within 24 hours and start projects immediately. Our project managers see to every detail and prevent problems from arising through careful coordination, all while keeping agents and their clients in the loop via the Curbio app. Finally, we’ve leveraged our relationships with national vendors to ensure the materials we offer are ready to ship immediately to prevent unnecessary delays.

Curbio works with agents and their clients to get homes ready for market or for move-in fast so that they can get to closing quickly. Interested in a partnership between Curbio and your brokerage? Email partnership@ curbio.com. RE Olivia Mariani is the director of Marketing at Curbio. To learn more about Curbio’s pre-listing home improvement solution and how it can help you grow your business, visit curbio.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 67

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TRENDS & ISSUES tailed scope of work and be held accountable. It’s also going to help you and your people stay accountable to keep the transition on track.

Step 3 – Implementation: While this will vary based on the scale of the project, it’s typically a three-to-fourmonth process. Everything is defined with timelines. Establishing a recurring cycle of communication is imperative.

Tech Migrations Don’t Have to Cause Tech Migraines

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Commentary by Michael Minard f you run a brokerage, you know that change is one of your biggest challenges. Changing a core technology provider especially is often fraught with fear and hesitation.

As a result, those decisions often get put on hold. Brokers worry that a major tech change will be way more hassle than it’s worth, and thereby neglect to make a necessary change.

Fortunately, tech migrations don’t have to cause tech migraines. The key is to plan your path by answering three questions: What actually goes into the transition? What will the partner provide? How do you know they are the right partner for your firm?

need to do to clear them.

Delta has adopted a series of best practices that help brokerages realize that making a move doesn’t have to be excruciating and will ultimately better your business. Two Delta superpowers—in-site content migration and SEO—protect brokerages and their hard-earned online equity.

We begin with a proven four-step process Delta built over our past 27 years in business.

Getting Started

Step 1 – Introduction: We’ll in-

It’s essential to understand how you are going to implement change within your business. As a 10-agent brokerage, you still have to get all 10 agents on board. Likewise, if you’re talking about a 1,500-agent brokerage, you understand that big ships can’t turn very quickly, and it’s going to take time. There are a lot of moving pieces you must take into account, including the hurdles ahead and what you

troduce you to Delta, learn more about your business and review our products to make sure you have a good understanding of what it is that we offer. Most importantly, we need to answer this question: “Are we the right fit for your business?”

Step 2 – Onboarding: An 11-

point checklist helps set expectations.

A tech partner must provide a de-

Making a move doesn’t have to be excruciating and will ultimately better your business.

Step 4 – Live: A rollout or imple-

mentation doesn’t end when we go live. This is when the Delta team takes all the heavy lifting off the brokerage.

Delta excels at offering brokerages customization and personalization, digging deep to perfect your system, be that single sign-on dashboard, systems functionality, quick links into other services, and more.

Finally, Delta backs all of this with three guarantees: • A launch guarantee to be on time and on budget • A transition guarantee that it will be smooth and reliable • A safe guarantee, which allows you to terminate your agreement with us without penalty Avoid transition headaches. Let’s connect at deltamediagroup.com/ contact. RE Michael Minard is CEO and owner of Delta Media, a leading and trusted technology partner for many of real estate’s top brands. Learn more at deltamediagroup.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 69

TRENDS & ISSUES Training Opportunities

Having opportunities to learn something new or brush up on skills is beneficial for agents. Access to educational classes that run the gamut from meeting the demands of hybrid live-work spaces to marketing best practices helps agents anticipate the needs of clients.

Expect More, Stress Less: Demanding What You Need as an Agent

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Commentary by Ashley Bowers

or potential homebuyers, the shortage of homes on the market combined with an unprecedented surge of competition from other buyers is spurring bidding wars, all-cash offers and imperviousness to sticker shock. In other words, the industry is hot.

For real estate agents, this means lots of pressure to make clients happy, and if they can’t make this happen, there goes the deal and future referrals.

Yes, the market is on fire, but the stress brought on by the inventory shortage and increasing expectations of buyers and sellers makes an even greater case for an agent’s need for top-notch brokerage support and service. At HomeSmart, we believe full-scale agent support should be the standard. It’s that simple.

Here’s how brokerages should be supporting their agents.

Agent Support

Providing tools, resources and administrative support keeps agents motivated because they know someone has their back: 70 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Marketing. From listing presentations to flyers and brochures to social posts, your brokerage should support you with marketing materials to build your business.

Staying in Touch. Top real estate agents might not need pointers on how to close a deal or help their clients, but they still need additional resources. Your brokerage should check in regularly and assist when needed.

Tech Tools. Day by day, the industry is becoming more dependent on technology. Having access to the latest technology that streamlines processes is key. At HomeSmart, we provide our agents with the user-friendly RealSmart Agent software and app, a management tool that lets agents control every step of the transaction from one place.

At HomeSmart, our secret sauce is the ability to support all agents, no matter their industry experience or goals.

Company Culture

Agents should be proud to work under their brokerage banner and be part of a culture of collaborative communication and support. A culture that empowers agents to feel in control, especially in a stressful market, is what should be expected.

This is what a brokerage should look like. Agents should be demanding this kind of support, service and experience. Brokerages should be supplying it. At HomeSmart, our secret sauce is the ability to support all agents, no matter their industry experience or goals.

Isn’t it time you get what you deserve from your brokerage? RE Ashley Bowers is president of HomeSmart International. She uses diagnostics and leadership interaction in order to build engagement and alignment throughout the organization. For more information about joining HomeSmart as an agent, visit homesmart.com/join, or visit HomeSmart.com/ Franchising for franchising opportunities.

TRENDS & ISSUES why the home would be a good fit for them, rather than having them quickly dismiss the property since other houses in the neighborhood were built up as far as could be.

Consumers Are Ready for More Digital Marketing Tools

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Commentary by Allen Alishahi

ne lasting benefit of the pandemic is the way it has made digital communication more commonplace when interacting with clients. Our buyers and sellers no longer see it as ancillary to the transaction process, but expect it as part of the way we do business. But instead of resting easy with what we do already, now is the time to bring more digital tools into our wheelhouse.

Agents used to worry that clients would get too overwhelmed if we gave them too much information all at once. But the past year has brought an increase in online interactions and has raised the threshold for what clients are used to receiving in digital formats—not just from real estate agents, but professionals in most other industries with whom they interact. That means we should take the opportunity to add more than just photos, video tours and a description of the home when we are interacting with serious buyers or their agents.

At DocuWalk, we built our platform so it would be easy to include everything from the property survey

to a home inspection report all in one package. This approach, which consists of providing more information, increases the opportunities for lines of communication since there is more room to highlight the specific features the buyer is interested in.

For example, I recently worked with a buyer who wanted a home where the neighbors wouldn’t be allowed to build right up against the property line. By including a survey in the initial marketing package, I was able to show them how the floodplain prevented neighbors from being able to do that. This created a way to continue the conversation with the buyer about the reasons

One lasting benefit of the pandemic is the way it has made digital communication more commonplace when interacting with clients.

On the selling side, I was recently able to sign a listing agreement with the sellers of a luxury property by showing them the extensive marketing package I put together with background information on the workmanship of the renovations they had completed. This appealed to their pride of ownership and demonstrated that I was invested in finding buyers who would treat the property with the care and attention it deserved.

Digital marketing and communication have become the norm thanks to the pandemic, but instead of sitting back and being happy with the tools we already use, we need to find more ways to show our value to clients. By expanding our digital marketing, we create more possibilities for gaining their attention as well as more openings for matching their specific wants and needs. Given the new digital normal, we don’t need to worry about digital overload. RE Allen Alishahi is president of ShelterZoom, the technology company behind DocuWalk. For more information, please visit www.docuwalk.com.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 71

TRENDS & ISSUES ideas around what America could and should be: a capitalist society with individual, inalienable rights. It was grandiose by any stretch of the imagination. So, what is the parallel now—and what can we learn from our nation’s humble beginnings?

1. It is unwise to underestimate the social experience connected to economic situations, whether booming or busting.

2. Great ideas are seldom comfortable, initially misunderstood and rarely considered “sensible.”

Was Real Estate the Real Cause of the American Revolution?

Commentary by Frank Chimento

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or centuries, historians have debated whether the American Revolution was driven more by ideas or economics. I’m fully in the “ideas” camp, but it would be disingenuous to believe that an economic crisis doesn’t lead to grandiose ideas.

Currently, real estate prices are climbing at unprecedented rates.

More companies are focusing on consumer experiences and behavior than ever before. We’re experiencing record-low mortgage rates and loose credit standards, but as was the case in 1762, something isn’t right. What happens if the other shoe drops? What are the grandiose ideas that will survive the times, win the day and lead the future, nevermind the revolution?

In 2008, Tim Arango wrote an article comparing the housing bubbles of that time with the American Revolution. He explains that Benjamin Franklin, upon returning to America after five years in London, was stunned by the 3x rise in real estate prices. The 72 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

argument was that some historians believe the Revolution was sparked by a boom-bust economic cycle not unlike what many are experiencing and/or predicting now. Understand that people were living lavishly after the French and Indian War. Shortly thereafter, credit tightened, money stopped flowing so freely, people lost their homes and land for failure to pay, the colonies’ population was growing much faster than in Britain, and housing that was once affordable was now inflating. Then, the British enacted the Stamp Act, which is widely considered the “trigger” for revolution.

Still, the prevailing thought was that “a confluence of nasty economic circumstances” gave way to grandiose

3. Americans are resilient and determined. Historically, every event that created economic instability or uncertainty gave rise to grandiose ideas, innovations, efficiencies, growth and progress.

As real estate professionals, there has never been a better time to engage with your relationships, spheres of influence, databases and people you can create a “fence” around for the purpose of future growth. Now is the time to plan for additional revenue stream opportunities by thinking beyond mortgage, title, warranty and insurance partnerships.

Learn more about how we at MooveGuru help agents and brokerages, absolutely free, maintain better relationships and create better social and transactional experiences while providing new revenue streams that serve a brokerage’s agents and customers. MooveGuru is proud to be an American company working toward innovative ideas to help agents help their customers achieve the American Dream. RE Frank Chimento is executive vice president of Revenue and Business Development at MooveGuru and has been helping agents and brokerages for more than 20 years.

TRENDS & ISSUES state used the measured floor plans to get quotes on new floor coverings, while another client used them for furniture placement. PTP360 is one of the best features I have added to the options offered in the different array of home inspection packages,” adds Presby.

New Technologies Place Home Inspectors Ahead of the Game Commentary by Dan Steward

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ne sees the expression “in the last (tough) year” everywhere.

For Pillar To Post Home Inspectors, North America’s No. 1 home inspection company, it’s time to move away from that line. After adding 40-plus franchisees and numerous state-of-theart technologies, Pillar To Post Home Inspectors is thriving—and its franchisees are benefitting from the new technologies.

According to Paul Holt, who heads up The Holt Group of Pillar To Post Home Inspectors of Fayetteville, “New technologies and partnerships with companies like DocuSketch and Centriq have helped us stay ahead of our competition by operating on the cutting edge of what’s available. Programs like Centriq and PTP360 have been instrumental in keeping our clients informed on the condition of their home well after the home inspection report is sent. They have something else that’s tangible that they can constantly refer back to. While Centriq keeps them updated on the status of their appliances, PTP360 offers a 360-degree photographic tour and representation of the home, allowing 74 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

clients to share their new home with family and friends as well as contractors performing work at the home.”

Larry Presby has inspected a variety of homes in Collin County in North Texas, a large area that includes parts of Dallas, Plano, McKinney, Frisco and many other small rural towns and cities. “Thanks to the PTP360 tour, our services were well-received and sought-after by clients who needed a home inspection while maintaining social distancing,” says Presby, who launched his Pillar To Post Home Inspectors location during the height of the pandemic. “Many have chosen to upgrade their inspection package to include our virtual tour and measured floor plans. One client from out of

“Our services were well-received and sought-after by clients who needed a home inspection while maintaining social distancing.”

- LARRY PRESBY, Pillar To Post Home Inspectors franchisee

The situation in Canada, where markets are experiencing the same challenges as the U.S., also calls for the quickest, most efficient home inspection package.

“PTP360 sets me apart from my competitors,” says Geoffrey Gonneau, who operates his Pillar To Post Home Inspectors in Toronto. “While some of my competitors still use paper checklists, PTP360 provides a visual of the area of concern, where we can note our findings and solutions. Clients who choose our Premium and/or Prestige package love the measured floor plan, which eliminates the need to get another service provider, saving them time and money.” RE Dan Steward is president and CEO of Pillar To Post Home Inspectors USA and has been lauded as a 2019, 2020 and 2021 RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker. Pillar To Post Home Inspectors has been named No. 1 in category for nine years in a row on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500® prestigious list ranking top franchise companies. Visit www.pillartopost.com.

TRENDS & ISSUES A collaborative culture is made easier when the team likes and respects one another. We want everyone to be successful, even among the branch leaders. Poaching, or anything along those lines, is not tolerated. Nobody should feel that they must watch their back when they come to the office. This is something I take very seriously. It’s a discussion I have when I’m interviewing people, and those are expectations I lay out ahead of anyone joining our office.

Helping, Having Fun, Growing and Making Money Commentary by Laura Croll

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n my two-plus decades of experience as a real estate investor, sales professional and now managing broker of CENTURY 21 North Homes Realty, I’ve learned that within moments of great transition, there are also moments of great opportunity. So, as the world works together to thrive in a post-COVID normalcy, I feel that this time in history is an opportunity. And our goal moving forward will be to elevate and give 121% in providing real estate consumers with the best experience possible, have fun doing it, grow marketshare and make more money than ever before. The way I see it, doing so equates to happier brokers, better local, state and national economies, stronger communities and personalized outcomes for homebuyers, sellers and investors.

Granted, it’s a unique leadership style, but an extraordinary offshoot of an office culture like this has been the collaboration among our team, from the office admin to sales to operations to the industry professionals we partner with. I have worked and talked with peers from other offices, and the stories I hear and read are very different from what we have built here.

In the last office I worked in, there was a hierarchy of desks and a class

system that presented itself in many other ways. At CENTURY 21 North Homes Realty, I make it very clear that there are no lines like that. Everything is fluid. I don’t want people writing things down with their elbow over a piece of paper or feeling that there’s jealousy and that they can’t help one another, because there’s enough out there for everyone. Collaboration is a must if we are to hit our aggressive growth goals.

I’ve learned that within moments of great transition, there are also moments of great opportunity.

Looking ahead at our plans and goals for 2021 and 2022, I’m diving deep and having a lot of conversations about our economy, media and how workplaces and the ways we communicate and engage with each other are changing, and the impact on consumer perceptions and expectations. We are all media creators and communicators who demand (and deserve) positive experiences from our chosen product and service providers.

To deliver on that promise, I take pride in leading a team that enjoys helping people get to their desired real estate outcomes, having fun throughout the client relationship and growing marketshare all while helping our brokers make more money than ever before.

Laura Croll is managing broker at CENTURY 21 North Homes Realty in Portland, Oregon. For more information, please visit www.century21northhomes.com/portland.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 75

Realtor.com : Listings Down, Inventory Up ®

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he U.S. housing market saw more houses for sale despite a pullback by sellers during the week ended June 5, likely due to the holiday weekend, according to realtor.com®’s Weekly Housing Trends Report.

“Memorial Day Weekend marks both a time for remembrance and the start of the summer—also when home-buying season is in full swing.

This year’s holiday fell almost a week later than usual, which is likely behind sellers adding fewer listings to the market this week,” said realtor.com® Chief Economist Danielle Hale. “With home prices at record highs, seller confidence up and more homeowners planning to make a move, we expect that we’ll see more

new sellers in the weeks ahead, making this dip a temporary one.”

Key Takeaways According to the realtor.com® analysis for the week ended June 5: - Median listing prices increased 13.6% year-over-year, the 43rd straight week of double-digit growth.

The U.S. median home price grew 15.2% in May to a new high of $380,000. Despite this week’s up-

tick, home price growth has generally tapered in recent weeks.

- New listings—a measure of seller activity—were down 1% yearover-year, following eight weeks of growth, likely due to the Memorial Day holiday weekend.

- Total active inventory—the number of homes available for sale on realtor.com® without a contract—was 46% lower than last year, marking the third consecutive week of declines, under half of last year’s levels.

- Time on market was down 35 days year-over-year, following the trend seen in May of homes selling more than a month faster than last year.

Homebuyers will likely continue to act quickly as competition increases during the typically busy summer season. RE For more information, please visit www.realtor.com.

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Making good agents great

TRENDS & ISSUES

Employment Trends Index Increases in May

F

ollowing an increase in April, The Conference Board Employment Trends Index™ (ETI) significantly increased in May. The index now stands at 107.35, up from 104.31 (a downward revision) in the previous month. The index is currently up 39.4% from a year ago.

The takeaway: According to Gad Levanon, head of The Conference Board Labor Markets Institute, “In the past three months, the Employment Trends Index grew much faster than any other three-month period in the history of the index prior to the pandemic. This marked acceleration suggests historically strong job growth in the coming months.”

May’s increase was driven by positive contributions from all eight indicators used to compile the index.

From the largest positive contributor to the smallest, the indicators were:

The index is currently up 39.4% from a year ago.

Initial Claims for Unemployment Insurance; Percentage of Respondents Who Say They Find “Jobs Hard to Get”; Industrial Production; Percentage of Firms With Positions Not Able to Fill Right Now; Job Openings; Real Manufacturing and Trade Sales; Number of Temporary Employees;

and Ratio of Involuntarily Part-Time to All Part-Time Workers.

What it means: The current data also reinforces the trend toward growing labor shortages. “Forty-eight percent of firms reported an inability to fill positions in May’s NFIB survey—an all-time record,” says Levanon. “The labor shortages are causing wage growth to surge. Average hourly earnings in the past two months rose by 7.4% (annual rate), which is two to three times the typical growth rate in recent decades. If the current rate of wage growth continues for several more months, it could significantly impact inflation and monetary policy. Toward the end of 2021, labor shortages are likely to ease as some of the labor supply constraints moderate.” RE For more information, please visit www.conference-board.org.

TAKE YOUR EVENT TO THE NEXT LEVEL WITH

VERL WORKMAN Help your teams and agents see a future much brighter than their past.

“In 2019 I went to the RE/MAX teams event and R4 Conference held in Las Vegas. At the teams event, I first saw a presentation by Verl Workman. My wife and I watched intently as Verl called up someone from the audience and was interviewing them about their business. He then started identifying things that could improve and also established the agent’s mindset. We were just floored by how quickly Verl was able to identify and give advice to correct some of the obstacles this particular agent was facing.”

—Jason Crosslin, Keller Williams – Mt. Juliet, TN

(385) 282-7112

BROKER STRATEGIES ensure your agents feel truly empowered, be sure to encourage continuous learning.

Another valuable resource to offer your team members is to bring in a professional photographer.

High-quality photos go a long way in helping agents build a personal brand that radiates professionalism.

When you offer this to your agents, you ensure that every member of your team is making your company look professional.

Empower Your Agents to Become Personal Branding Experts

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By Verl Workman

our agents are the face of your company. The stronger their personal brand is, the more your business will thrive. Many agents get into the business because they’re outgoing and good with people; however, this doesn’t mean they’ll have the skills they need to connect with people online. It’s your job to help them gain those skills.

Every agent out there is hoping to win the attention of online leads. If your agents aren’t masters of digital marketing and personal branding, your brokerage could miss out on countless opportunities. When your agents are equipped with the tools they need to build their online presence, your business will thrive.

The first step toward empowering your agents is to help them build their personal brands. Some brokerages worry about their agents having such strong brands that it overshadows the brand of the company, but smart brokerages know that an agent’s success is the brokerage’s success, so it benefits everyone to help your team 80 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

members with their personal brands.

There are many tools you can offer your team to help them build their brands. The first is education. This doesn’t mean that you offer a onetime crash course in digital marketing when an agent first joins the team.

While you should offer educational resources such as mentoring, online courses or training events to new employees, these services should continue throughout the time the agent is a part of your team. The digital landscape is constantly changing. Without ongoing education, your agents could fall behind in the most cuttingedge strategies for spreading brand awareness and attracting clients. To

Your agents are the face of your company.

The stronger their personal brand is, the more your business will thrive.

In addition to photography, there are many tools your agents will need to build their brand and nurture their leads. Tools for email marketing, design and analytics are all essential for becoming master digital marketers, but the cost of these tools can add up for each individual agent. The more tools you provide your team, the better equipped they’ll be to succeed without cutting into the money they’re taking home.

A strong team is made up of empowered agents. As your agents’ online presence grows and they become personal branding experts, you’ll see your business grow to its full potential.

RE Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-2827112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com, or visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com to learn more.

BROKER STRATEGIES see what was on the market. While this is more normalized today, it wasn’t the case 18 years ago. Technology is just a tool, and whether you’re doing virtual tours or drone tours or anything in between, at the heart of the transaction is an individual who is trying to buy the most expensive thing they’ve ever purchased, so make sure you’re using technology to help them understand the process.

“At the heart of the transaction is an individual who is trying to buy the most expensive thing they’ve ever purchased, so make sure you’re using technology to help them understand the process.”

Farrell

Using Technology to Your Advantage Matt Farrell

Managing Broker Corcoran Urban Real Estate Chicago, Illinois |www.urbanrealestate.com Region served: Chicago and the surrounding suburbs Years in real estate: 18 Number of offices: 1 Number of agents: 40

What is one piece of technology that you can’t live without? Anyone who doesn’t say their mobile phone is lying. For us, though, the answer extends even further to any tool that empowers us to get things done while offering a cohesive experience that eliminates redundancy.

While Corcoran offers a lot of tech tools that tie everything together, my favorite is Corcoran’s Presentations tool. Rich with data, this tool allows us to quickly compile all the necessary information we need to paint an accurate picture of the market.

In what ways has your technology background proven beneficial to your real estate career? My business wouldn’t have existed without my technology background. In fact, I was doing some work for real estate clients who wanted a website that would give the consumer everything they needed while empowering them to

-MATT FARRELL Managing Broker, Corcoran Urban Real Estate

You affiliated with Corcoran in 2020. What does it mean to be a part of Corcoran? I’ve long been a fan of the marketing work done by Corcoran, so when we were looking to shore up our own marketing, there was never any question as to who we should affiliate with. Even though we dominated our market with the technology we brought to the table, Corcoran had so much more to offer, from the network they were building to their marketing and brand power. Corcoran was already doing the things I wanted to do, so there was no need to reinvent the wheel. I want my agents to be empowered with tech tools, so it was mission critical that we align with a company that looks at technology in the same way we do.

Please describe some of your technology best practices that have shaped Corcoran Urban Real Estate’s forward-thinking culture. One of our best practices is ensuring that our agents can access all of the applications, tools and everything else we offer via a single sign-on experience. In addition, it’s critical that the data our agents can access through various APIs is all being pulled from one data pool—so that when they log into a product such as DocuSign and begin to write an offer or a contract to purchase, it’s simply a matter of pulling the information in rather than having to input it into the database. We’re committed to using technology to do things smarter and faster so that we can work smarter, not harder.

How has being part of Corcoran helped you navigate these challenging times? We were very fortunate to have launched with Corcoran days before the city of Chicago shut down because of the pandemic. At the RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 81

BROKER STRATEGIES time, we didn’t know much about COVID, and our agents very quickly found themselves in a position where they couldn’t conduct business the way they normally do. But Corcoran’s investment in building out virtual training classes and sessions allowed us to simply flip a switch. Our agents were able to jump into business planning and learn from top producers throughout the network regarding challenges they were experiencing and what they were doing to successfully pivot. RE For more information, please visit www.corcoranaffiliate.com.

-Paige Tepping

app by RE/MAX. It helps agents avoid the typical mistake of not staying engaged with their sphere.

Key to staying profitable: Have a budget and stick to it.

No. 1 tip for running a successful meeting: Don’t make it a sales pitch. Agents don’t want to be sold the next tool or idea at a meeting. They want to be educated on something that will help their business.

How has being affiliated with a large brand like RE/MAX benefited your business? It was night and day compared to my previous brokerage, which is still the largest in our area to this day. The international presence and brand identity of RE/MAX instantly yielded business compared to only receiving two leads in 10 years with my former brokerage.

Talk about the support you receive from RE/MAX headquarters that has helped you grow your business. RE/MAX headquarters is constantly releasing and improving tools that have helped my business and my agents’ businesses. The websites and mobile apps we have access to due to the brand’s acquisition of booj are phenomenal compared to what I see from other companies.

Keegan

Keeping Agents Consistent Cameron Keegan

Broker/Owner RE/MAX Moves Simpsonville, South Carolina www.GreenvilleMoves.com Region served: Greenville, Spartanburg and Anderson, South Carolina Years in real estate: 18 Number of offices: 3 Number of agents: 32 Best time management tip: Time-blocking is crucial. It keeps an agent consistent in their business activities to help avoid a sales rollercoaster.

Can’t-live-without tech tool: I truly love the First 82 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

“Time-blocking is crucial. It keeps an agent consistent in their business activities to help avoid a sales rollercoaster.”

-CAMERON KEEGAN Broker/Owner, RE/MAX Moves

Where do you find inspiration for new business strategies? RE/MAX agents and owners from around the world are incredibly collaborative. Our Facebook groups are extremely interactive and beneficial. Outside of RE/MAX though, I watch. I see what other agents and owners around the country are doing. Sometimes I’ll see a great idea and put my own spin on it.

Since real estate is local, given current market conditions, what do you see happening in your area? Greenville, South Carolina, is an interesting town.

We have become a destination in the South for visitors, but our economy doesn’t rely heavily on tourism. Our economy is very diverse, and that helped us weather the last market shift. While prices are rising pretty quickly in

BROKER STRATEGIES our market, our cost of living is still very low compared to other markets around the country, so we have room for the increases to an extent. RE For more information, please visit www.remax-franchise.com.

-John Voket

a strong focus on our agents’ education, supporting our local communities and providing the best opportunities for our agents. In this fast-paced environment, we have to be quick to adopt new ways of thinking as well as technologies and tactics in order to provide our clients the service they deserve.

“With our ERA affiliation, I’m able to collaborate with brokers across the country to hear what they’re experiencing before it hits our market.”

-KURT SCHULER Managing Broker/Owner, Schuler Bauer Real Estate ERA Powered

Schuler

Finding Success Through Collaboration Kurt Schuler

Managing Broker/Owner Schuler Bauer Real Estate ERA Powered New Albany, Indiana |www.schulerbauer.com Region served: Southern Indiana, Louisville and Kentucky Years in real estate: 7.5 Number of offices: 5 Number of agents: 250

What is your top tip for keeping in touch with agents? We’ve increased our usage of our company’s private Facebook page for virtual meetings and training.

Also, our company uses a text service that allows us to send quick reminders or updates to all our agents.

In today’s ever-changing real estate landscape, how are you staying relevant? We continue to put

What are you doing to prepare for what’s sure to be a hot summer market? We’ve been living in a hot market for the past few years, so it’s become our new normal. Personally, I continue to remind myself to keep a positive mindset and remain patient in order to best serve our agents, their clients and our staff. The extreme market imbalance continues to create challenges for buyers and agents as prices increase due to bidding wars. The environment we’re in right now isn’t going away anytime soon.

How have you helped your agents cope with the challenges associated with the pandemic? Every challenge is an opportunity. Over the last year and a half, we’ve increased our levels of communication with our agents and improved our outreach to them. When we work through difficult situations with one agent, we share the story with the rest of our agents. Our collaborative culture creates a safe place for agents to ask questions and receive advice or constructive criticism without feeling belittled or threatened.

How do you attract the top agents in your area?

While attracting top agents is not one of our main points of focus, we’ve been able to do so due to the fact that we provided them with an opportunity that their broker at the time could not provide them. We attract agents who want or need more support, opportunities and guidance from the brokerage.

What’s your advice to buyers who may be trying to move to your area right now? Like most areas in the country, we’re experiencing bidding wars on almost RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 83

BROKER STRATEGIES every home that goes up for sale. Fortunately, we service areas where the median price point is still below the national average. It’s incredibly important to make sure you are fully pre-approved with a trusted lender before you begin your search. If you have a home to sell and can move into temporary housing, you’ll be able to write a stronger offer with fewer contingencies. We want to minimize the number of reasons why a seller wouldn’t pick our offer over another while protecting a client’s best interests.

Where do you see your business in five years?

There will continue to be disruption in the marketplace from outside forces that are out of our control. Internally, we strive to disrupt our own business model before someone else does it for us. With our ERA affiliation, I’m able to collaborate with brokers across the country to hear what they’re experiencing before it hits our market. That kind of intel helps me plan for what our company may look like as we expand into new markets. RE For more information, please visit www.era.com.

-Jameson Doris

Helping Agents Build Business Christian Barnes

President and CEO Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes Overland Parks, Kansas www.kansascityhomes.com Region served: Greater Kansas City Metro Years in real estate: 14 Number of offices: 8 Number of agents: 450 Best advice for new agents: Align yourself with a company that offers the support you need.

What made you choose to work with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) Kansas City Homes, and how did you get to where you are today? Culture and values are really important to me, and the alignment and synergy with those at BHGRE Kansas City Homes is a perfect match. I saw the potential of having an impact within the industry as a whole and with our agents to help them grow from a leadership capacity. As I started training, mentoring and coaching agents, I quickly realized that’s where my passion lies. I 84 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Barnes

love the company, I love the agents, I love what we have here—I can’t imagine being anywhere else.

How have you helped your agents build business throughout the pandemic, and how are you incorporating these new strategies into your business moving forward? We provided an outlet, every day, offering a place for them to come to gather virtually and feel connected. Being able to offer a platform for them to connect across offices and throughout the entire city was a silver lining of the shift we made during the pandemic.

You can’t replace the face-to-face communication, but being able to have that as a resource in our back pocket is something that will carry us into the future.

“I’m always looking to open agents’ eyes to other resources and tools that are out there that they’ve not yet seen.”

-CHRISTIAN BARNES President and CEO, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Kansas City Homes

When it comes to training, specifically, how do you help your agents? Whether you are new to the business or have been in it for 10 years, we tend to get our blinders on and try to find the repeatable things in real estate. I’m always looking to open agents’ eyes to other resources and tools that are out there that they’ve not yet seen, or things they’ve heard about but haven’t taken the time to learn, and see how it can have a posi-

BROKER STRATEGIES tive impact on their productivity and profitability. The ultimate goal is to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Why is it so important to support and develop your agents and be dedicated to their success? As president and CEO of a company, we have nothing if we don’t have agents—agents who are valued, productive and achieving the goals they set for themselves. Helping support that is at the core of what I do as a leader of this company.

What is one of the challenges your market is currently facing, and what are you doing to overcome it? Like every market across the country, inventory shortages right now are incredibly challenging. To combat this, we’re going back to training and looking at things from a different perspective. We’re also offering our agents tools and focusing on what I call the “Hunt vs. Hope” method with inventory and listings, which is doing things differently than how we’ve done them in the past in regard to procuring listings. We are getting really creative with how our agents are finding inventory for buyers.

What would you point to as your greatest achievement with BHGRE? I think it comes down to the support and value we are able to offer our agents in their own growth through training and professional development.

There is nothing greater than seeing the lightbulbs go off, and having an impact in that way has been a humbling experience. That’s what drives me—the success of others and being able to see that I can have even a small impact. RE For more information, please visit www.bhgre.com.

-Paige Brown

The Gold Standard Candace Adams

Adams

Tell us about the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties strategy. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England Properties/ New York Properties/Westchester Properties has a strong foundation built on core values that leverage the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand, our people and our resources. In addition to the proprietary systems we’ve built that enable our agents and clients to seamlessly transact business, our strong education and training give our agents an advantage over the competition.

“In addition to the proprietary systems we’ve built, our strong education and training give our agents an advantage over the competition.”

President and CEO Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties Wallingford, Connecticut |www.bhhsneproperties.com

-CANDACE ADAMS President and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices New England, New York and Westchester Properties

Region served: 4 states from Rhode Island to New York Years in real estate: 30-plus Number of offices: 52 Number of agents: 1,850

What programs do you offer that differentiate the brand? Our Agent Advantage program is a gamechanger in the industry. We also offer affordable plans for disability, vision and dental, which can really make a difference in an agent’s life. Years ago, these types of benefits would have been unthinkable.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 85

BROKER STRATEGIES Describe your management style. I empower people and foster team spirit and respect. We work with a flat business model, which is to say I do not like bureaucracies or any type of hierarchy. As members of the management team, we aren’t afraid to roll up our sleeves and do whatever is needed.

We also have a marvelous culture. Our core values incorporate growth, relationships and authenticity—and our values are very important to us. Since we strive for authenticity, when an agent or broker goes on a listing call, we tell the sellers the true value of their home rather than inflating the number to get the listing. Because we are authentic, we build relationships. And we always want to know how we’re doing, so we survey all of our clients. We take their comments regarding their experience very seriously, and we learn from them.

My biggest frustration is that I do not have enough time to talk to everyone. Prior to the pandemic, I went to as many office meetings as possible. Reaching out is the most important part of my job, so I’m committed to being on Zoom meetings, and I consider myself very hands-on.

What is your best advice for agent retention? It is extremely important that our agents know that we see them as individuals. The education we offer is specific to them. We also make sure they have the most innovative technology and automation to make their jobs easier. And, most importantly, our agents know they have a very experienced, caring team behind them. Not only do they have our full support, but we also provide a platform for people to grow at their own pace.

Where do you see the industry in five years? Will there still be a role for traditional brokerages?

Absolutely. This is a relationship business. Agents do not have the time to develop systems, so they need a company to stand behind them and provide them with the systems and services they need to do their jobs. I believe the traditional model will be even more important as we head toward the future. On a personal level, being in real estate will continue to be all about enjoying the relationships I build while watching my agents and sellers work with each other and grow.

As pandemic restrictions ease, what do you see going forward? We’re in a place where we’re opening up again. We’re doing open houses and allowing inperson viewings again. That being said, we listen to our sellers and do what is important to them. If they want lots of open houses and in-person viewings, we do that. If they are uncomfortable with in-person interactions, we utilize Zoom and do online viewings. RE For more information, please visit www.bhhs.com.

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-Lesley Grand

L to R: Sheryl’s son Leland Chinowth, president; Sheryl Chinowth; Lee Cohen, CFO and co-founder, commercial division; and son Taylor Chinowth, title company president.

Setting Agents on the Path to Success Sheryl Chinowth

CEO/Co-Founder Chinowth & Cohen REALTORS®, a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Tulsa, Oklahoma | www.cctulsa.com Region served: Tulsa and Northeast Oklahoma Years in real estate: 43 Number of offices: 15 Number of agents: 850-plus Best time management tip: Lists, lists and more lists. Also, delegation is key. Make sure you are doing the jobs that fall within your pay grade.

Top tip for getting buyers and sellers to work together: My father taught me that contracts are only as good as the people involved in them. And the REALTOR® must always be the calmest, kindest one in the transaction.

Key to staying profitable: Never live beyond your means. Set aside tax money from every check and plan way ahead on expenses.

No. 1 tip for motivating agents: Bring them knowledge and show them the path to success. Keep awareness of market changes—and how to deal with those changes—ever-present.

As the world continues to reopen, what trends are you seeing across your markets? As is the case in most of the country, inventory is our largest challenge. Our agents are also eager to get back together personally.

Most of our REALTORS® are true “people-people” and have missed the face-to-face connections they had with their colleagues. Chinowth & Cohen began conducting inperson sales meetings last month, with a virtual option for

BROKER STRATEGIES those who still aren’t comfortable being in front of others.

Real estate classes also resumed the same way in June.

You’ve increased your salesforce from nearly two dozen in 2004 to over 800 today. How do you successfully manage and inspire your team?

Great tools. Whether it be education, marketing, technology or support of any kind, we work hard to keep our people inspired with the latest and greatest. We have support teams to help with social media, websites and design work. We also have agent assistants to help with showings, inspections, etc., for when agents are doublebooked or on overload. Knowing they have support people to do many of the things they may not be the best at keeps them in front of buyers and sellers, which is what they love most.

What are some of the biggest benefits associated with being part of the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) network? LeadingRE leads the pack in sales volume in comparison to any other real estate network, franchise or brokerage brand among the top 500 U.S. firms, so just being affiliated with something as large and prestigious as LeadingRE is a huge benefit in and of itself. The online training has also been

great for our agents. In addition, Luxury Portfolio for our luxury agents—and access to the website for their luxury clients—has been a huge benefit. Chinowth & Cohen takes a lot of pride in its luxury brand and status.

“Whether it be education, marketing, technology or support of any kind, we work hard to keep our people inspired.”

-SHERYL CHINOWTH CEO/Co-Founder, Chinowth & Cohen REALTORS®

How is LeadingRE supporting you when it comes to connecting with luxury buyers and sellers?

LeadingRE has a great network of agents and relocation directors who trust one another and send us clients from across the nation and across the world. The national/ global referrals we receive through LeadingRE give us a significant advantage in our markets. RE For more information, please visit www.leadingre.com.

-John Voket

E G A R E K O R B R BUILD YOU WITH TEAMS! STOP recruiting one agent at a time and START attracting and retaining teams of 2-6 agents using the industry’s most impactful training and development systems.

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YOUR COMPANY BRANDING HERE!

(385) 282-7112

TEAM TALK

lene Marshall—who have the same drive and commitment to excellence that Alan and I share. Our goal is to provide high-impact marketing, cutting-edge technology and truly personalized service to every client.

The Robinson Upshur Team: Top L to R: Cory Hudson, Alan Upshur, Leon Robinson; Bottom L to R: Arlene Marshall, Nancy Hargrove

High-Touch, High-Impact Distinguish Robinson Upshur Team

By Barbara Pronin

R

eal estate was a natural calling for Baltimore native Leon Robinson, who knew, from the day he graduated from the city’s Western School of Technology, that he wanted a career in a business that offered a flexible lifestyle and unlimited opportunity.

Licensed just four years ago in both residential and commercial real estate, Robinson quickly partnered with varsity teammate Alan Upshur and today leads the five-person Robinson Upshur Team, under the auspices of Coldwell Banker Realty, serving greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Between them, the two entrepreneurs have racked up significant honors. Robinson has twice received the Coldwell Banker® International Diamond Society Award, placing him in the top 10% of the brand’s agents worldwide, and has been recognized as a Greater Baltimore Board of REALTORS® Rising Star.

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An Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®), Upshur is a licensed mortgage loan officer named a Rising Star by Real Producers and Agent of the Year by Black Wall Street Baltimore.

“But accolades are the icing on the cake,” said Robinson. “The real satisfaction comes from leading a team that helps more buyers, sellers and investors realize their American Dream.”

Barbara Pronin: Leon, who are the other members of the Robinson Upshur team?

Leon Robinson: We are fortunate to have three agents—Cory Hudson, Nancy Hargrove and Ar-

BP: What do you see as the best part about teaming?

LR: You can only go so far by yourself. There is power in uniting. With a team, you have accountability and trust—not to mention mentorship, greater flexibility and the ability to scale your brand.

“Our goal is to provide highimpact marketing, cutting-edge technology and truly personalized service to every client.”

-LEON ROBINSON, Team Leader, Robinson Upshur Team

BP: How do you make sure you are functioning well as a team?

LR: For one thing, we have a real sense of camaraderie. We each have areas of specialization, but we are always pulling for each other, celebrating one another’s successes and sharing ideas—and we meet every Saturday at noon, like clockwork, so that we are all on the same page and can step in to cover for one another if we need to. We also work with visiting coaches and presenters at these Saturday meetings, so we’re always learning and growing, both as individuals and as a team.

TEAM TALK

BP: Lots to keep track of. Do you have administrative help?

LR: We do. We have our own executive assistant, Trinere Robinson, plus the administrative support of the Coldwell Banker team.

BP: How do you differentiate yourselves from other teams and agents?

LR: We are very competitive, we have extensive knowledge about every inch of the communities we serve and we have a proven track record of providing value. When we say we offer concierge-like service, we mean it.

Every client is special to us and gets a full complement of care and attention, plus our full suite of cutting-edge technology and targeted marketing to ensure they have a productive and satisfying real estate experience.

BP: You’re also active on the commercial side...

LR: Right—and I’m fully versed in zoning regulations, taxation and financial analysis so that I can help investors make smart decisions based on the most current data.

BP: What, if any, are the issues you are facing right now?

LR: Painfully low inventory. People want to move. They want to invest.

But there are just more buyers than we have properties available to show them.

BP: How are you dealing with that?

LR: We are expanding our networking on social media and staying close to past clients, trying to stay in touch with as many potential sellers as we can—and we are experimenting with some new tools to help get listings. The business is out there. We just have to stay competitive and make use of every tool and resource we can to make things happen for as many people as possible.

Baltimore Area

“The business is out there.

We just have to stay competitive and make use of every tool and resource we can to make things happen for as many people as possible.”

-LEON ROBINSON, Team Leader, Robinson Upshur Team

BP: What are the goals you want to reach by the end of 2021?

LR: Our goal is to sell 100 units and/or do $10 million in sales volume by the end of the year. It’s an uphill battle, but we’re doing our best to stay on target. Also, we’d like to grow the team by three agents, if we can find people who are a good fit with our competitive and hardworking team culture.

BP: Do you have a personal goal?

LR: I do. In many ways, this is an underserved community, but it is

not without resources. My personal goal is to provide the kind of real estate education and assistance that helps more people grow their personal wealth through the strategic buying and selling of property. RE For more information, please visit www.robinsonupshurteam.com.

Barbara Pronin is a contributing editor to RISMedia.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 89

TEAM TALK to effectively and efficiently follow up. From the moment a contact goes in, you can manage their experience all the way up until the end of the process. Make it easier for yourself by categorizing each lead, labeling them A, B or C. In addition, be sure to work your Top 50 program and automate your follow-up touches to make the whole process smooth and effective.

Hey, Alexa: Which Tech Tools Should I Adopt This Year?

By Verl Workman

T

here is an overwhelming number of tech resources an agent team can use to support their business; however, when every tool claims to be essential, it’s hard to know which ones to use. Luckily, we’re here to tell you that choosing the right technology is about these fundamental functions: online presence, customer relationship management and email marketing. If your tech is not taking care of these three needs, you’re wasting too much of your own time and leaving money on the table.

In this day and age, technology is a key contributor to maintaining great relationships. Clients should be able to find you and your team online, and when they do, they need to know that you are true experts in real estate. How you present yourself is important, so at the very least, you should have a picture of yourself as well as a bio. Your bio should highlight who you are and separate you from the competition. If you don’t have an online presence, or you’re simply not happy with it, it’s well worth taking a look and updating it accordingly.

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Now let’s talk about CRMs. The right CRM will take care of both customer management and high-touch follow up. This is perhaps a real estate team’s most advanced and most-used tool, so choose wisely.

We suggest looking at the various options available today, each of which has its own unique features and price points.

If you’re using a CRM and not getting a 6x return, then it’s probably not the tool you’re using, but rather, the application of its powerful features.

If used properly, the right CRM will handle client tracking, allowing you

When used correctly, technology creates leverage, which will allow you to grow your business with less effort.

Remember to save critical information about the client, their needs and their progress through the sales funnel in your CRM. While real estate professionals often spend thousands of dollars on pay-per-click advertising and paying for leads, if you were to focus on conversion (and applying the right technology to your sphere of influence and past clients), you would see your profitability increase as your cost per sale goes down.

The amount of technology you need to run your real estate business does not have to be overwhelming.

When used correctly, technology creates leverage, which will allow you to grow your business with less effort. RE Verl Workman is the founder and CEO of Workman Success Systems (385-2827112), an international speaking, consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and building successful power agents and teams. Contact him at Verl@WorkmanSuccessSystems.com, or visit www.WorkmanSuccess.com to learn more.

SERVICE PROFILES

Index of Preferred Providers

The leading companies providing services to the real estate and relocation industries

ABR®.................................................................................... 93

Lone Wolf Technologies...................................................... 95

Amarki................................................................................. 93

MyOutDesk Virtual Assistants............................................ 95

American Home Shield ..................................................... 93 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices................................... 93

NAGLREP (National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals)........................................................... 95

BoomTown.......................................................................... 93

National Association of REALTORS®................................. 95

Broker Public Portal with Homesnap.................................. 93

Pillar To Post Home Inspectors®.......................................... 95

Buffini & Company.............................................................. 93

Propertybase......................................................................96

Buyside................................................................................ 93

Quicken Loans....................................................................96

The CE Shop........................................................................ 93

Real Estate Webmasters.....................................................96

Century 21 Real Estate LLC................................................. 93

Real Living Real Estate........................................................96

Cole Information Realty Resource...................................... 94

Realogy Holdings Corp......................................................96

Constellation1..................................................................... 94

REALTOR Team Store®........................................................96

The Corcoran Group........................................................... 94

Realtors Property Resource®..............................................96

CRS Data............................................................................. 94

Realty ONE Group.............................................................96

Curbio................................................................................. 94

REBAC.................................................................................96

Darryl Davis Seminars........................................................ 94

REeBroker Group................................................................96

Earnnest.............................................................................. 94

RE/MAX, LLC..................................................................... 97

eXp Realty........................................................................... 94

Residential Real Estate Council.......................................... 97

Fathom Realty..................................................................... 94

Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting.............................. 97

Homes.com......................................................................... 94

United Real Estate............................................................... 97

HomeSmart International................................................... 95

Updater............................................................................... 97

HomeVisit by CoreLogic..................................................... 95

Weichert Family of Companies.......................................... 97

Home Warranty...................................................... 95

Workman Success Systems................................................. 97

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®.................. 95

zavvie.................................................................................. 97

®

HSA

SM

RREIN Service Providers Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate.......................................................................... 98

Kinlin Grover Real Estate....................................................99

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty........... 98

Lusk & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty..............99

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties.......98

McCOLLY Real Estate.........................................................99

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties.......98

Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate..........................................99

CENTURY 21 Award........................................................... 98

Randall, REALTORS®.................................................................99

CENTURY 21 New Millennium........................................... 98

RE/MAX 440 and RE/MAX Central................................99

Coldwell Banker Kappel Gateway Realty......................... 98

RE/MAX Gateway.............................................................99

Jordan Baris, Inc., REALTORS® Real Living........................99

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Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc............................................99

SERVICE PROFILES ABR® (800) 648-6224 • www.rebac.net • Chicago, Illinois • Marc Gould, Executive Director

Brokers are busy with many competing priorities. They should feel comfortable with their salespeople who have earned the ABR® designation when working with buyer-clients. Real estate professionals can hone their skills in representing the needs of homebuyers in real estate transactions and earn the coveted Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation, giving agents knowledge and confidence to navigate the market.

AMARKI (877) 405-0040 • www.amarki.com •Grass Valley, California • Ian Francis, CEO

Amarki was purposely built by real estate experts for brokerages and agents based on years of industry experience and firsthand REALTOR® feedback. We have developed a marketing tool accessible to anyone, no matter your experience or marketing budget.

By providing an intuitive tool that works “for” the agent, Amarki is able to remove the complexity of marketing tasks such as email, social media, text messaging and search and display ads. With Amarki, any digital marketing campaign can be created and deployed with three easy steps in under two minutes.

facing websites, CRM technology, lead management services, and more, come in flexible packages that scale with success. Our mission is to make real estate agents successful, and our service offerings extend far beyond technology: peer coaching support, lead concierge services to contact, qualify and nurture leads, and dedicated advisors offer personalized support at every step.

BROKER PUBLIC PORTAL WITH HOMESNAP (202) 996-2921 • www.brokerpublicportal.com Bethesda, Maryland • Gayle Weiswasser, SVP, Communications & Business Development, gweiswasser@homesnap.com

Broker Public Portal (BPP) is a collaborative venture between real estate brokerages and MLSs to create a national consumer home search experience that connects home searchers directly with the agent who best knows the home they are interested in. Homesnap is the public-facing brand of the BPP, the only national home search platform powered by real-time MLS data and following Fair Display Guidelines. The goal of BPP with Homesnap is to provide an industry-friendly home search alternative that provides interested leads, for free, to the listing agent or broker and that delivers accurate, real-time MLS information to home searchers.

BUFFINI & COMPANY

AMERICAN HOME SHIELD®

(800) 945-3485 • www.buffiniandcompany.com

(800) 735-4663 • www.ahs.com/realestate

Headquartered in Carlsbad, California, Buffini & Company is the largest real estate coaching and training company in North America. Founded by real estate expert and master motivator Brian Buffini, the company provides a unique and highly effective lead-generation system and comprehensive business coaching and training programs, which have helped entrepreneurs in 37 countries improve their business, increase net profit and enhance their quality of life.

American Home Shield® founded the home warranty industry more than 45 years ago and remains the industry leader, with more than 1.8 million customers who depend on us every day. We offer not only home warranty plans that help protect against unexpected covered breakdowns of home systems, but we offer services that buyers can take advantage of day one of their contract. Current additional services offered are: rekey service, electronics plan, TV mounting service and pre-season HVAC tune-up service. We’re also leveraging our network of more than 15,000 licensed and qualified contractors to test even more services, like: pest control coverage, house cleaning services, garage door tune-ups, electrician services, and more.

Discover the shield difference—contact your local AHS® Account Manager today by visiting ahs.com/find-rep.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES (800) 666-6634 • www.berkshirehathawayhs.com

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, based in Irvine, California, is a real estate brokerage franchise network built for a new era in residential real estate. The network, among the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name, now counts more than 50,000 agents and nearly 1,500 offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East. It is known as the FOREVER Brand with FOREVER Agents aspiring to work with clients over time through all phases of real estate. Network members also embrace the community and have contributed over $30 million to the Sunshine Kids Foundation supporting kids with cancer.

BOOMTOWN (866) 430-1408 • www.BoomTownROI.com Charleston, South Carolina

BoomTown has all the tools, technology and teams you need for real estate success. It’s the only solution that generates and manages your leads, with 300-plus experts at your back. Lead generation, consumer-

BUYSIDE (855) 928-9743, 855-9-BUYSIDE • getbuyside.com Brentwood, Tennessee • sales@getbuyside.com

Buyside is a data analytics and marketing company on a mission to help real estate brokers and lenders profit from their largest untapped asset: data. Buyside aggregates behavior signals generated online, using it to power actionable insights and intelligent marketing tools that help brokers, lenders and other ancillary services capture more homeowners. Our team brings decades of real estate and technology industry expertise. We understand the unique challenges real estate brokers face, and we wake up each day excited to help you conquer them.

THE CE SHOP (888) 827-0777 • www.theceshop.com Greenwood Village, Colorado

Founded in 2005, The CE Shop has become the leading provider of online real estate education through an encyclopedic knowledge of the real estate industry. Our ever-expanding course catalog of pre-licensing, exam prep, post-licensing and continuing education products are trusted throughout the industry and offer agents across the country the education they rely on.

CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE LLC (877) 221-2765 • www.century21.com • Madison, New Jersey • Michael Miedler, President & CEO

The approximately 139,000 independent sales professionals in over

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SERVICE PROFILES 11,600 offices spanning 83 countries/territories in the CENTURY 21® System live their mission everyday: to defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences. By consistently chasing excellence, giving 121% and always elevating, the CENTURY 21 brand is helping its affiliated brokers/agents be the first choice for real estate consumers and industry professionals.

COLE INFORMATION REALTY RESOURCE (888) 231-0732 • www.colerealtyresource.com Omaha, Nebraska

Cole Information Realty Resource helps thousands of agents and brokers find success. Agents are staying top of mind by connecting with the neighborhood by promoting open houses or just listed/sold properties, while brokers recruit, retain and support new agents, allowing for confident prospecting. All of this can be achieved through a combination of innovative technology, industry knowledge of end-user practices and comprehensive data providers.

CONSTELLATION1 (800) 503-5163 • constellation-1.com • Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Markham, Ontario • sales@constellationreg.com

Constellation1 is an all-in-one brand of award-winning front office, back office and data services for brokerages, franchises and MLSs. Constellation1 simplifies the process of finding and implementing the right real estate technology by providing a portfolio of solutions tailored to the real estate industry. Regardless of a brokerage’s, franchise’s or MLS’ technology needs, Constellation1 is of service, providing industry leading front office sales and marketing tools, including lead generation and relocation management; back office software like accounting, eSignature and transaction management; and extensive IDX feeds and datasets. For more information, visit constellation-1.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

THE CORCORAN GROUP

CURBIO (844) 944-2629 • https://curbio.com• Potomac, Maryland

Curbio partners with real estate agents and homeowners to deliver a smart and hassle-free home improvement experience designed to get every home on the market and sold fast. Curbio’s turnkey approach, trusted team and all-in-one app allow REALTORS® to confidently take on home improvement projects of all sizes. Trusted by more than 800 brokerages nationwide, Curbio is making real estate move by redefining what the home improvement industry represents: transparency, reliability and speed.

DARRYL DAVIS SEMINARS (800) 395-3905 • www.ThePowerProgram.com

Darryl Davis Seminars was founded by real estate expert, coach and international speaker Darryl Davis, CSP. For more than 30 years, Davis has been helping agents double their production by learning the listing and sales skills of real estate. These money-making skillsets are vital when agents are working with buyers and sellers to move their career to their Next Level™. His fast-growing membership platform, www.ThePowerProgram.com, helps real estate sales professionals design lives and careers worth smiling about. He is the best-selling author of three books with McGraw-Hill Publishers, one of which, “How to Become a Power Agent® in Real Estate,” is the No. 1 book sold to REALTORS® on Amazon.

EARNNEST (888) 870-2336 • www.earnnest.com • Greenville, South Carolina • Melissa Kandel, Chief Marketing Officer

One hundred-percent digital earnest money, no checks required. Earnnest is the largest digital earnest money service in the United States, allowing buyers to securely and electronically deposit funds directly to an escrow holder. Earnnest keeps agents, buyers and escrow holders in the loop with automated emails and tracking information.

(800) 544-4055 • www.corcoran.com • info@corcoran.com

EXP REALTY

The Corcoran Group has been a leading residential real estate brand for nearly 50 years. Through its New York City, Hamptons and South Florida brokerages, along with its rapidly growing affiliate network, the firm is home to more than 100 offices and 4,200 independent salespersons in key urban, suburban and resort markets nationwide. Corcoran agents earn and keep their clients’ trust with an unwavering commitment to white-glove service, expertise and integrity. In every market served, Corcoran helps you find the home that’s just right for you. Live who you are®. The Corcoran® brand comprises both offices owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices, which are independently owned and operated.

https://join.exprealty.com/ • Bellingham, Washington

CRS DATA

Fathom Realty is a national, cloud-based real estate brokerage powered by a proprietary technology platform called IntelliAgent. Agents enjoy a higher net income through Fathom’s 100%-commission, transaction-fee compensation model, allowing them to invest more money into growing their business. Fathom agents also earn stock grants based on their contribution to revenue and company growth. For more information, visit www.fathomcareers.com.

(800) 374-7488 • www.crsdata.com

For more than 30 years, CRS Data has provided a wealth of property tax data through the MLS Tax Suite. This beautiful system integrates seamlessly into your MLS system, offering REALTORS® current tax data, detailed map layers and robust features that are accessible on all browsers and mobile devices. Consistent product enhancements help ensure that the MLS Tax Suite performs as the industry’s leading and most innovative service. We’re proud to provide a personalized customer experience that is unmatched. Learn more by visiting www.crsdata.com.

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eXp World Holdings and its global brokerage, eXp Realty, is one of the fastest-growing real estate tech companies in the world with more than 55,000 agents globally and continues to scale internationally. eXp Realty provides real estate professionals the unique opportunity for generous compensation and community all within its cloud-based brokerage. eXp World Holdings and its businesses offer a full suite of brokerage and real estate tech solutions, including its innovative residential and commercial brokerage model, professional services, collaborative tools and personal development.

FATHOM REALTY (888) 455-6040 • www.FathomRealty.com • Cary, North Carolina

HOMES.COM (866) 697-3308 • http://marketing.homes.com

Homes.com offers brand advertising, lead generation, online repu-

SERVICE PROFILES tation and marketing solutions to connect you with over 12.5 million consumers monthly. With a high average visit time, consumers visiting Homes.com are more engaged and more likely to buy when compared to visitors of other national real estate websites. Connect with these motivated homebuyers and sellers with the most powerful suite of tools for your real estate business—and convert more leads to closed transactions.

HOMESMART INTERNATIONAL (800) 865-9025 • www.homesmart.com • Scottsdale, Arizona • Tori Sokol, Director of Marketing and Communications

Founded in 2000, HomeSmart International is one of the fastest-growing real estate franchisors in the nation, with a mission to lead the industry by providing the highest level of service, support, technology and value to our customers. The company offers franchisees efficiency and innovation coupled with the systems and technologies necessary to succeed in today’s evolving real estate industry.

Its low-fee, high-value 100%-commission brokerage model keeps costs down for its nearly 19,000 agents across 31 states.

provide agents and brokerages with everything they need to lead in real estate, all in one place—so they can amaze their clients, manage their business and improve their profits.

MYOUTDESK VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS (800) 583-9950 • www.myoutdesk.com www.myoutdesk.com/contact-us

MyOutDesk is the largest, most trusted and reputable provider of virtual staffing in real estate—having served more than 6,000-plus clients, including corporate giants such as Keller Williams, Coldwell Banker and RE/MAX. MyOutDesk virtual assistants (VAs) allow real estate teams the ability to focus on core activities that drive income and sales—saving our clients over $55 million a year. Focus on dollar-productive tasks without sacrificing your quality of service. Hire a Real Estate VA for up to 70% less than the cost of a traditional, full-time employee.

NAGLREP (NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF GAY & LESBIAN REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS)

HOMEVISIT BY CORELOGIC

(561) 865-6117 • naglrep.com • Jupiter, Florida • Jeff Berger, Founder

(833) 643-0445 • www.homevisit.com • Chantilly, Virginia • service@homevisit.com

NAGLREP is the No. 1 forum for LGBT homebuyers, sellers and LGBT and allied real estate professionals.

Real estate marketing services spanning photography, video, image editing, Matterport 3D models and floor plan renderings, aerial imaging, print materials, direct mail and property websites. HomeVisit provides a single workflow that enables real estate professionals to significantly expand the scope and range of the marketing services they offer to homebuyers and sellers.

HSASM HOME WARRANTY (800) 367-1448 • www.onlinehsa.com HSASM Home Warranty has provided outstanding products and ser-

vice to real estate professionals and homeowners for more than 35 years. The home warranty helps sellers and buyers protect their budget from the cost of repairing or replacing the covered home system components and appliances in their home. HSASM also offers additional services to help buyers maintain their homes, including rekey service, an electronics plan and pre-season HVAC tune-up service. With HSA Home Warranty, your clients get reliable budget protection backed by exceptional service, and you get a provider who works hard to better serve you. Contact your local HSA Account Manager today by visiting onlinehsa.com.

LEADING REAL ESTATE COMPANIES OF THE WORLD® (312) 424-0400 • www.LeadingRE.com

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® is a selective global community of the highest-quality independent real estate companies. We exist to make our members better by connecting them to opportunities and people around the globe, supporting them with a global referral network, professional development programs, and unique events. For more information on our more than 550 firms that span over 70 countries with 135,000 sales professionals, visit LeadingRE.com.

LONE WOLF TECHNOLOGIES (866) CRY-WOLF • https://www.lwolf.com

Lone Wolf Technologies is the leader in real estate technology, from back office, accounting and insights to transaction management. We

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (800) 874-6500 • www.NAR.realtor • Chicago, Illinois • Bob Goldberg, CEO • Victoria Gillespie, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer • Katie Johnson, General Counsel, Chief Member Experience Officer • Mark Birschbach, SVP, Strategic Business Innovation and Technology • Marc Gould, SVP, Member Development

The term REALTOR® identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice. NAR members have access to the REALTOR Benefits® Program, NAR’s official member benefits resource, providing savings and special offers on products and services just for REALTORS®. Program partners are industry leaders who understand the unique needs of real estate professionals. Visit NAR.realtor/RealtorBenefits. NAR is also proud to offer the .realtor™ and .realestate top-level domains to members. Visit get.realtor. NAR offers a number of designations, certifications and opportunities for continuing education that support member development. Visit OnlineLearning.realtor. NAR empowers REALTORS® to evaluate, enhance and showcase their highest level of professionalism with the Commitment to Excellence program. Visit C2EX.realtor. The REALTOR® Store features publications, webinars and research reports, including the top-selling 2018 NAR Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers. Visit Store. realtor. Additionally, NAR’s venture capital arm, Second Century Ventures, has invested in companies that push forward innovation while benefitting NAR members. Visit secondcenturyventures.com.

PILLAR TO POST HOME INSPECTORS® (800) 294-5591 • www.pillartopost.com • Tampa, Florida • Stephanie Bowling, Director of Marketing (416) 620-3572

Founded in 1994, Pillar To Post is the No. 1 home inspection brand in North America with over 550 franchisees located in 49 states and nine Canadian provinces. The Pillar To Post difference includes a printed on-site report allowing for faster closings, each inspector carrying

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SERVICE PROFILES $1 million in E&O insurance to cover both the agent and the broker, and convenient scheduling options to meet every client’s needs.

PROPERTYBASE (855) 390-2273 • www.propertybase.com • John Voigt, Director of Marketing Communications

Propertybase is the leading global real estate and mortgage software provider with lead generation, CRM, websites, compliance-driven transaction management, mortgage business growth platform and more. Over 4,500 brands trust Propertybase to deliver innovative technology to scale their business. The Propertybase family of brands includes Propertybase, BoldLeads, BoldMortgage and Unify.

QUICKEN LOANS (866) 718-9842 • AgentRelations@QuickenLoans.com

For more than 30 years, Quicken Loans has been celebrated for providing an amazing mortgage experience. In fact, J.D. Power ranked Quicken Loans highest in client satisfaction for mortgage origination the last nine years. Along with being the largest mortgage lender, Quicken Loans leads the industry in technology with Rocket Mortgage, the first-ever completely online mortgage experience. Whether applying for a mortgage online or with a mortgage banker, Quicken Loans is committed to client experience.

REAL ESTATE WEBMASTERS (877) 753-9893 • www.rew.com • Nanaimo, British Columbia • Morgan Carey, CEO • morgan@rew.com

Real Estate Webmasters (REW) is the leading technology provider for the top 1% of real estate professionals in the world. Since 2004, we have helped shape real estate technology to grow with your professional needs. We are the secret weapon behind many of the names you already know and love, creating cutting-edge websites that generate leads, maximize efficiency and help ensure unrivaled success. If you can dream it, we can build it!

REAL LIVING REAL ESTATE (866) 373-6228 • www.realliving.com

Real Living Real Estate is a full-service real estate brokerage franchise network with a comprehensive and integrated suite of resources for franchisees and their sales professionals, as well as for consumers who work with them. Real Living Real Estate earned a record 98% customer satisfaction rating for 2019, according to independent rating service Quality Service Certification, Inc., Additionally, the Real Living brand and its innovative concepts were recognized

by Entrepreneur magazine. Real Living Real Estate is a network brand of HSF Affiliates LLC, which is owned by HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate.

REALOGY HOLDINGS CORP. (973) 407-2162 • www.realogy.com • Madison, New Jersey • Trey Sarten, VP, External Communications

Realogy Holdings Corp. (NYSE: RLGY) is a global leader in residential real estate franchising with company-owned real estate brokerage operations doing business under its franchise systems, as well as relocation and title services. Realogy’s brands and business units include Better Homes and Gardens® Real Estate, CENTURY 21®, Climb Real Estate®, Coldwell Banker®, Coldwell Banker Commercial®, The Corcoran Group®, ERA®, Sotheby’s International Realty®, ZipRealty®, Realogy Brokerage Group (Formerly NRT

96 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

LLC), Cartus, Title Resource Group and ZapLabs LLC. Collectively, Realogy’s franchise system members operate over 16,300 offices with approximately 300,000 independent sales associates doing business in 113 countries and territories worldwide.

REALTOR TEAM STORE® (847) 991-4010 • www.NarTeamStore.realtor • Palatine, Illinois • Jordan Dunne

We are a promotional products distributor selling logo products, and we have been the official supplier for the National Association of REALTORS® for 17-plus years. We sell logo items; if you have seen an item with a logo, we can get it. We stock over 300 items with the REALTOR® logo. They can be ordered on our website at www.NarTeamStore.realtor. We can custom-produce 10,000-plus items with any logo. We have considerable buying leverage in our industry; our factories are very interested in working with 1.4 million REALTORS®.

REALTORS PROPERTY RESOURCE® (877) 977-7576 • www.narrpr.com • Chicago, Illinois • Jeff Young, Chief Operating Officer/General Manager

Realtors Property Resource® (RPR) is a national, parcel-centric database that is a free, exclusive benefit for REALTOR® members of the National Association of REALTORS®. The database provides REALTORS® with all available information about every parcel of residential and commercial property in the United States, giving brokers and agents valuable tools and features to make them better informed in order to increase their efficiency in the marketplace.

REALTY ONE GROUP (949) 297-2020 • www.RealtyONEGroup.com Laguna Niguel, California • Eddie Sturgeon, EVP, Global Growth

Founded in 2005, Realty ONE Group is an industry disruptor, radically changing the face of real estate franchising with its unique business model, fun coolture, technology infrastructure and superior support for its real estate professionals. Realty ONE Group has been recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as a Top 5 Real Estate Franchise and has been on Inc. 500’s list of the Fastest-Growing Companies for seven consecutive years. Realty ONE Group is surging ahead, opening doors, not only for its clients, but for real estate professionals and franchise owners.

REBAC (800) 648-6224 • www.REBAC.net • Chicago, Illinois • rebac@nar.realtor

The Real Estate Buyer’s Agent Council (REBAC) provides training and support that help buyer’s representatives be successful in their business—and educates consumers about the benefits of buyer representation and the ABR® designation in order to improve their home-buying experience.

REeBROKER GROUP (760) 722-3222 • www.reebroker.com • Carlsbad, California • Vgandas Anthony Razhas, Broker & CEO • info@reebrokerca.com

REeBroker Group is the original and largest of virtual brokers in California, having handled 31,580 real estate transactions for a total sales volume of more than $10 billion since its inception in 2005. The Carlsbad-based, flat-fee brokerage partners with more than 2,000 real estate agents throughout the state and began its Loan Division in spring

SERVICE PROFILES 2020. The company’s mission is to expand its technology platform, innovative agent tools, and outstanding support and mentoring programs to bring extensive opportunities for its agents to find success as real estate professionals while paying out the industry’s most competitive commission splits.

RE/MAX, LLC (303) 770-5531 • www.remax.com • Denver, Colorado

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by original disruptors Dave and Gail Liniger, who changed the real estate industry forever. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, RE/MAX is now a global franchise network with over 130,000 sales associates in more than 110 countries and territories. The consumer website remax.com is consistently ranked among the most visited real estate websites, and LeadStreet provides referrals to RE/MAX sales associates with no fees from RE/MAX. To learn how RE/MAX can take your career to the next level, visit www.joinremax.com.

RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE COUNCIL (800) 462-8841 • www.crs.com • Chicago, Illinois CRS Help: CRShelp@crs.com

The Residential Real Estate Council was established in 1976 to provide real estate brokers and agents with shared knowledge and tools.

Recognizing the need for advanced education, the Council developed training courses and established the Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) Designation. The Council is recognized as the leading provider of real estate education and networking for residential real estate agents, and the CRS Designation is considered the most prestigious designation a real estate agent can achieve.

SHERRI JOHNSON COACHING & CONSULTING (844) 989-2600 • www.sherrijohnson.com

Sherri Johnson is the premier national real estate coach offering worldclass coaching, keynote speaking and consulting services. No other real estate coach matches her 20-plus years of experience as a top agent, manager and executive of a Top-3 national brokerage, having personally led over 700 agents to $1.6 billion in annual sales volume. Sherri’s unique and proven coaching programs—including her exclusive Goldmine PipelineTM strategy—produce immediate, reliable results for agents nationwide, regardless of current production level.

UNITED REAL ESTATE (888) 960-0606 • www.GrowWithUnited.com • Rick Haase, President

United Real Estate (URE), a division of United Real Estate Group, was founded in 2011 to provide solutions for brokers and agents in a rapidly changing real estate industry. Recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the nation’s fastest-growing real estate companies, United has helped thousands of agents Find Their Freedom® with its full-service, 100%-commission, transaction-based model. The company offers brokerage franchise and conversion opportunities, as well as merger and succession opportunities. Its proprietary technology, Bullseye™ Agent & Broker Productivity Platform, provides on-demand access to next-generation technology, marketing and training for brokers and agents, powered by a 1.8 million-plus listings data warehouse. United operates in 24 states with more than 10,500 agents and over 100 franchise and company-owned locations.

UPDATER www.updater.com • New York, New York • Chris Avery, VP of Real Estate • realestate@updater.com

Think about your last move…it was probably confusing, stressful and chaotic. Your clients experience the same thing and desperately need moving help. Updater is the nation’s leading moving and home management app that saves your clients countless hours on various moving-related tasks including connecting TV and internet, reserving a moving company, securing insurance, connecting utilities, and much more. The experience is branded for your brokerage and each agent, and fully personalized for each client’s unique move. Both brokers and agents find Updater to be an incredible way to differentiate and provide an excellent client experience during a stressful time.

WEICHERT FAMILY OF COMPANIES (800) 401-0486 • www.weichert.com • Morris Plains, New Jersey

Since 1969, Weichert, Realtors® has grown from a single office into one of the nation’s leading providers of homeownership services, made up of 18 full-service real estate-related companies dedicated to putting customers first. Its network of real estate brokerages includes more than 500 offices, serving markets in 42 states, with thousands of agents. As a Weichert agent, you have access to industry-leading sales and marketing tools, powerful technology, national and international referral networks and top-notch coaching and training, as well as a unique culture of support and sharing, from interactive staff to collaborative affiliates across the country. Franchises available.

WORKMAN SUCCESS SYSTEMS (385) 282-7112 • www.workmansuccesssytems.com Salt Lake City, Utah

Workman Success Systems delivers comprehensive team solutions to agents, brokers and companies, private and group coaching solutions for every level of business, and proven seven-figure income-earning systems. Workman Success Systems Founder, Master Coach and Speaker Verl Workman delivers the necessary performance skills, the latest and most effective tools, and proven dialogues and systems that work. To hire Verl to speak at your next event, visit www.workmansuccess.com/speaking. Sign up for a free coaching consult by going to www.workmansuccess.com/consult.

ZAVVIE (888) 407-4556 • https://zavvie.com • Boulder, Colorado • Lane Hornung, CEO

Founded by Lane Hornung and Stefan Peterson, zavvie combines proprietary technology with real world operating expertise, to provide a superior iBuyer strategy for brokers. zavvie is making the experience simple and seamless for iBuyers and agents to work together in the best interest of the consumer by facilitating and empowering listing agents to get all available offers for their clients. Its platform is a one-of-itskind offering, backed by market specific iBuyer and Open Market data and efficient technology. Its customer friendly interface works well with its top-notch Customer Success Team to create a seamless consumer-centric process for brokers and their clients.

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SERVICE PROFILES

RREIN Member Profiles BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES AMBASSADOR REAL ESTATE (402) 493-4663 • (800) 477-7653 www.BHHSamb.com • agents@BHHSamb.com

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate is dedicated to providing progressive, quality real estate services in Nebraska’s metropolitan Omaha and Lincoln surrounding areas. We service all types of markets: single-family residential, new construction, condos, corporate relocation, third-party relocation, acreages and commercial real estate. With approximately 400 licensed agents, we have an agent to meet your needs regardless of the style, price or age of the property you are looking for. We understand that trust is earned and that good, professional service is an essential part of that.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES NEVADA PROPERTIES (800) 735-4488 • www.BHHSNV.com

With more than 260,000 homes sold and 35 years in the industry, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties is the leader in Las Vegas real estate. Consistently rated among the top brokers in the nation, our agents successfully help families find their dream homes. With six area offices, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties is a full-service brokerage focused on quality service and the development of its agents. Call today to see how we can help increase your business.

CENTURY 21 AWARD (800) 293-1657 • www.century21award.com

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES FLORIDA REALTY

Century 21 Award is the premier Southern California-based, full-service real estate company serving San Diego, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties from 15 distinctive office locations. Our 1,000 professional agents and staff are fully equipped to assist you with all of your real estate needs. Our services include residential, commercial, relocation, property management and bank-owned properties.

(954) 693-0100 • (800) 386-1554 www.BHHSFloridaRealty.com • Sunrise, Florida • Rei Mesa, CRS, CRB, President & CEO

(800) 727-6888 • www.c21nm.com

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty serves 21 counties throughout Florida with more than 40 locations and approximately 1,800 sales professionals. The full-service brokerage company, founded in 1999, is part of HomeServices of America, the nation’s premier provider of homeownership services. The company is a franchise member of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices’ network, one of the few organizations entrusted to use the world-renowned Berkshire Hathaway name. The company offers residential and commercial services as well as seasonal rentals, property management, REO & foreclosures, corporate relocations, referral services, title, home warranty plans and personal concierge services. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty ranks in the Top 10 in the network and is the overall No. 1 fundraiser for The Sunshine Kids Foundation in Florida, having generated more than $3.6 million. Visit www.BHHSFloridaRealty.com.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HOMESERVICES GEORGIA PROPERTIES (770) 992-4100 • www.BHHSGeorgia.com

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties has over 1,600 associates and 26 locations across the Greater Metro Atlanta and North Georgia area. The company generated over $4.1 billion in sales volume in 2019. Trendgraphix reports that Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties is ranked No. 1 in home sales for the Greater Metro Atlanta area. Led by president and CEO Dan Forsman, the organization offers a full suite of real estate services including residential real estate, luxury real estate, new homes services, condo/high-rise services, commercial real estate, corporate relocation, property management, mortgage lending, title and settlement services, home warranties and insurance. Equal Housing Opportunity.

Visit http://www.BHHSGA.com.

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CENTURY 21 NEW MILLENNIUM CENTURY 21 New Millennium is a full-service real estate brokerage in the greater Washington, D.C., area. The company, which specializes in residential and luxury properties, joined the CENTURY 21® System in 1998 and has established a sound and successful organization providing traditional residential and commercial services, on-site mortgage, title, and property management, and access to a vast network of relocation and other real estate service providers worldwide. It has earned the status of No. 1 CENTURY 21 Firm in the World for the past three years. With 20 locations and approximately 900 real estate professionals, New Millennium is consistently included in REALTOR® Magazine’s Top 100 Companies List for all real estate firms nationwide regardless of brand. It is also a past winner of the prestigious Cartus Masters Cup, the Network’s highest honor.

The Cartus Broker Network is the largest relocation network in the world and includes more than 775 hand-selected brokerages in the United States.

COLDWELL BANKER KAPPEL GATEWAY REALTY (844) 861-5631 • www.KappelGateway.com

Coldwell Banker Kappel Gateway Realty was created through the merger of Kappel & Kappel Realty, Inc. and Solano Gateway Realty, Inc. Both firms, founded in 1972, are the market leaders in Solano County, combining more than $600 million in sales dollar volume and welcoming more than 240 agents in seven offices, with branch offices in Vacaville, Fairfield, Dixon and Green Valley. Eighty-five percent of our business is derived from returning and referred clients, a true testament to our clients’ high level of satisfaction with our services and our trusted real estate professionals.

SERVICE PROFILES JORDAN BARIS, INC. REALTORS® REAL LIVING

MCCOLLY REAL ESTATE

(800) 4-JBARIS • (973) 736-1600 • www.JordanBaris.com info@jordanbaris.com

(800) 348-2100 x206 • www.mccolly.com

Founded in 1952, Jordan Baris, Inc. Realtors® Real Living is among the most respected full-service real estate brokerages in Northern New Jersey. With a team of close to 150 associates, the firm operates offices in West Orange and South Orange, with teams focused on Essex, Morris, Union and Hudson counties. Jordan Baris, Inc. Realtors® Real Living offers real estate brokerage to buyers and sellers of residential and commercial properties, developers, tenants and landlords; title services through JB Title Agency, LLC; and global relocation services through its membership with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®.

KINLIN GROVER REAL ESTATE (508) 420-1130 • www.kinlingrover.com

Kinlin Grover has 16 real estate offices covering Cape Cod from the bridges to Provincetown, specializing in the marketing and sale of waterfront, village, commercial properties and fine homes. From the very beginning, the Kinlin Grover mission has remained constant: “to help our clients make the best real estate decisions and to uphold the highest standards of ethics and professionalism.” In addition, Kinlin Grover Vacation Rentals is the largest real estate firm on Cape Cod with over 600 privately-owned Cape Cod vacation rental homes. We value every client and pledge to deliver unsurpassed service as trusted advisors, expert facilitators and skilled negotiators.

LONG & FOSTER REAL ESTATE, INC. (866) 677-6937 • www.LongandFoster.com

Long & Foster Real Estate, the nation’s No. 1 independent brand by sales volume, is part of The Long & Foster Companies, a subsidiary of HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. HomeServices is the nation’s second-largest real estate brokerage and one of the largest providers of integrated real estate services. Long & Foster Real Estate is the exclusive affiliate for Christie’s International Real Estate throughout select parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, and it is a founding affiliate of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®, a prestigious global network of real estate professionals that includes the Luxury Portfolio International division. Long & Foster Real Estate has over 220 offices, stretching from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Fair Haven, New Jersey, and from Martinsburg, West Virginia, to the Atlantic Ocean, and it represents more than 11,000 agents in seven Mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, plus the District of Columbia. The company, which has a productive commercial business in addition to its residential side, sold more than $31.1 billion worth of homes and helped people buy and sell homes nearly 85,000 times in 2017.

LUSK & ASSOCIATES SOTHEBY’S INTERNATIONAL REALTY (717) 291-9101 • www.LuskandAssociates.com

When you work with Lusk & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty, you can count on specialists who can answer your questions, apply in-depth knowledge of current market conditions and access extensive resources that can expedite the sale of your home.

Since 1974, McColly Real Estate has found your place to call home, from the shores of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana to Lake Street Beach in Chicago. McColly is a proud LeadingRE member with bilingual agents in 14-plus languages among 450-plus Realtors® in 18 offices. McColly Companies is the One Source for All Purpose Real Estate with its ancillary companies of McColly Insurance, Community Title, McColly Auctions, McColly Bennett Commercial, McColly New Homes Division and Luxury Home Portfolio™.

PATTERSON-SCHWARTZ REAL ESTATE (877) 456-4663 • www.pattersonschwartz.com pattersonschwartz@psre.com

Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate is Delaware’s largest independent REALTOR® with over 50 years of service to the Delaware real estate market and surrounding communities in nearby Pennsylvania and Maryland. With nine offices and 415 sales associates, we are committed to excellence, integrity and quality service. We offer a full range of services, including residential home sales, purchase and rental, relocation services and property management.

RANDALL, REALTORS® (401) 364-3388 • www.randallrealtors.com

Randall, Realtors® has been a consistent leader in the marketing of Southern New England properties for more than 28 years. Specializing in waterfront properties and second homes, our agents boast a 98.5% client satisfaction rating. Through our extensive marketing network, we offer tremendous exposure for our property listings and continue to deliver successful sales and representation for our clients. In addition, Randall, Realtors®’ Vacation Rental Department offers a large selection of vacation rental properties serving the Southern Rhode Island shoreline and Eastern Connecticut.

RE/MAX 440 AND RE/MAX CENTRAL (215) 453-7653 • www.pahomesforsale.com • Tom Skiffington, Broker/Owner, tom@tomskiffington.com

RE/MAX 440 and RE/MAX Central is a first-class, professional real estate company. Our goal is to provide the most prompt, courteous and professional services to all our customers and clients. We are the leading RE/MAX in Pennsylvania and Delaware with the highest sales volume and transactions. RE/MAX 440/Central has 10 different offices in Bucks, Montgomery and Lehigh counties.

RE/MAX GATEWAY (703) 652-5760 • www.gateway2realestate.com

The real estate market is ever changing. It takes constant evaluation, review of recent trends to forecast a potential future and education of agents through mastermind groups and real estate information exchanges. These are areas in which we excel at RE/MAX Gateway. Contact us today if you are looking to advance your career in real estate through a multitude of educational experiences and resources, or if you need real estate advice in order to make informed decisions when buying and selling houses.

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 99

BROKER-TO-BROKER REFERRALS CALIFORNIA

DELAWARE

Ascent Real Estate, Inc. 410 Kalmia St., San Diego, CA 92101 Contact: Gina Lancelot • Tel: (619) 325-4100 Email: info@ascentrealestate.net • URL: www.ascentrealestate.net Coverage Areas: San Diego Offices: 9 • Associates: 180

Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+

CENTURY 21 Award - Orange County 22342 Avenida Empresa, Ste. 110, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688 Contact: Joshua Tucker, Director of Relocation Services Tel: (760) 217-2491 (Toll Free) • Fax: (619) 374-2706 Email: jtucker@century21award.com • Coverage Areas: Orange County Offices: 15 • Associates: 1,200 CENTURY 21 Award - San Diego, Riverside 7676 Hazard Center Dr., Ste. 300, San Diego, CA 92108 Contact: Joshua Tucker, Director of Relocation Services Tel: (760) 217-2491 (Toll Free) • Fax: (619) 374-2706 Email: jtucker@century21award.com Coverage Areas: San Diego, Southern Riverside Offices: 15 • Associates: 1,200 Coldwell Banker Kappel Gateway Realty 750 Mason St., Ste. 101, Vacaville, CA 95688 Contact: Rachel Guerin Tel: (707) 427-5344 or (844) 861-5631 • Fax: (707) 446-9830 Email: info@kappelgateway.com • URL: www.KappelGateway.com Coverage Areas: Vacaville, Benicia, Davis, Dixon, Fairfield, Napa, Rio Vista, Suisun City Vallejo and Winters, California Offices: 7 • Associates: 240 J. Rockcliff REALTORS® 4115 Blackhawk Plaza Circle, Ste. 201, Danville, CA, 94506 Tel: (925) 251-2501 (O), (925) 324-1323 (C), 877-JRCKCLF (572-2523) (TF) URL(s): www.rockcliff.com • www.rockliffcares.com Coverage Areas: Alameda County: Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Dublin Emeryville, Fremont, Hayward, Livermore, Newark, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, San Leandro, Sunol, Union City; Contra Costa County: Alamo, Antioch, Bethel Island, Brentwood, Byron, Canyon, Clayton, Concord, Crockett, Danville, Diablo, Discovery Bay, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Hercules, Lafayette, Martinez, Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pinole, Pittsburg, Pleasant Hill Port Costa, Richmond, Rodeo, San Pablo, San Ramon, Walnut Creek; San Joaquin County: Country Club, Lathrop, Lodi, Manteca, Mountain House, Stockton, Tracy, Silicon Valley/San Jose area

CONNECTICUT Page Taft 89 Whitfield St., Guilford, CT 06437 Contact: Karen Stephens, Executive VP • Tel: (203) 453-6511 Email: kstephens@pagetaft.com • URL: www.pagetaft.com Coverage Areas: Connecticut • Offices: 3 • Associates: 60 Randall, REALTORS® 4009 Old Post Rd., Charleston, RI 02813 Contact: Jean Fournier, Dir. of Relocation & Referral Services Tel: (401) 486-9677 Email: jfournier@randallrealtors.com • URL: www.randallrealtors.com Coverage Areas: Connecticut and Rhode Island Offices: 9 • Associates: 175

100 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate 7234 Lancaster Pike, Ste. 220B, Hockessin, DE 19707 Contact: Brian Pomije, Relocation Manager Tel: (302) 234-3600 (Office) • (302) 234-5207 (Direct) • (800) 443-2295 (Toll Free) Email: bpomije@psre.com • URL: pattersonschwartz.com Coverage Areas: Delaware (New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties), Pennsylvania (Chester and Delaware counties), Maryland (Cecil, Kent and Harford counties) • Offices: 9 • Associates: 415

FLORIDA Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty 1580 Sawgrass Corporate Pkwy., Ste. 400, Sunrise, FL 33323 Contact: Rei Mesa, CRS, CRB, President & CEO Tel: (954) 693-0100 or (800) 386-1554 • Fax: (954) 236-6962 Email: ReiMesa@BHHSFloridaRealty.com Relocation Contact: Sharon Sapp, Vice President, Relocation, Referrals & REOs Email: sharonsapp@BHHSFloridaRealty.com URL: www.BHHSFloridaRealty.com Coverage Areas: 21 counties throughout Florida, including Southeast Florida, Southwest Florida and Orlando area • Offices: 40 • Associates: 1,750

GEORGIA Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties 863 Holcomb Bridge Rd., Roswell, GA 30076 Contact: Kathy Connelly, SVP Corporate Services • Tel: (678) 352-3321 Email: Kathy.Connelly@BHHSGeorgia.com • URL: www.BHHSGeorgia.com Coverage Areas: Metro Atlanta and North Georgia Offices: 26 • Associates: 1,600

ILLINOIS McCOLLY Real Estate 800 Deer Creek Dr., Schererville, IN 46375 Contact: Deborah Horton, CRP, RCC, Director of Referral/Relocation Services Tel: (800) 348-2100 ext. 206 Email: dhorton@mccolly.com • URL: www.mccolly.com Coverage Areas: Alsip, Aroma Park, Beecher, Blue Island, Bourbonnais, Bradley, Burbank, Burnham, Calumet City, Channahon, Chicago, Chicago Ridge, Clearing, Country Club Hills, Crest Hill, Crestwood, Crete, Evergreen Park, Flossmoor, Frankfort, Glenwood, Grant Park, Harvey, Hazel Crest, Hegewisch, Hickory Hills, Homewood, Kankakee, Lansing, Lemont, Lockport, Lynwood, Manteno, Matteson, Mokena, Momence, Monee, Morgan Park, Mount Greenwood, New Lenox, Oak Lawn, Orland Hills, Orland Park, Palos Heights, Palos Hills, Palos Park, Park Forest, Peotone, Richton Park, Riverdale, Roseland, Steger, Tinley Park, University Park, Worth • Offices: 18 • Associates: 450+

INDIANA McCOLLY Real Estate 800 Deer Creek Dr., Schererville, IN 46375 Contact: Deborah Horton, CRP, RCC, Director of Referral/Relocation Services Tel: (800) 348-2100 ext. 206 Email: dhorton@mccolly.com • URL: www.mccolly.com Coverage Areas: Beverly Shores, Cedar Lake, Chesterton, Crown Point, DeMotte, Dyer, Dune Acres, East Chicago, Gary, Griffith, Hammond, Hebron,

BROKER-TO-BROKER REFERRALS Highland, Hobart, Kouts, La Porte, Lake Station, Lake Village, Lakes of Four Seasons, Long Beach, Lowell, Merrillville, Michiana Shores, Michigan City, Miller Beach, Morocco, Munster, Ogden Dunes, Otis, Portage, Porter, Rensselaer, Roselawn, Schererville, Schneider, St. John, Sumava Resorts, Thayer, Valparaiso, Westville, Wheatfield, Whiting, Winfield Offices: 18 • Associates: 450+

MARYLAND CENTURY 21 New Millennium 5990 Kingstowne Towne Center, Alexandria, VA 22315 Contact: Todd Hetherington, CEO • Tel: (800) 382-1101 Fax: (703) 822-0136 Relocation Contact: Jeff Hetherington, Director of Relocation Email: move@c21nm.com • URL: www.c21nm.com Coverage Areas: Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Southern Maryland markets. Our areas of expertise range from Fortune 500 executives to specialized training in military and government relocation.

Offices: 16 • Associates: 700+ Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+ Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate 7234 Lancaster Pike, Ste. 220B, Hockessin, DE 19707 Contact: Brian Pomije, Relocation Manager Tel: (302) 234-3600 (Office) • (302) 234-5207 (Direct) (800) 443-2295 (Toll Free) Email: bpomije@psre.com • URL: pattersonschwartz.com Coverage Areas: Delaware (New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties), Pennsylvania (Chester and Delaware counties), Maryland (Cecil, Kent and Harford counties) • Offices: 9 • Associates: 415 RE/MAX Gateway 4090B Lafayette Center Dr., Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Scott MacDonald, President Tel: (703) 652-5760 • (703) 727-6900 (Cell) Email: scottmacdonald@remax.net • URL: www.gateway2realestate.com Coverage Areas: Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland Offices: 6 • Associates: 170

MASSACHUSETTS Kinlin Grover Real Estate 4 Wianno Ave., Osterville, MA 02655 Contact: Lucy Cundiff, Director of Agent Services Tel: (508) 420-1130 Email: lcundiff@kinlingrover.com • URL: www.kinlingrover.com Coverage Areas: Southeastern Massachusetts Offices: 16 • Associates: 275

MISSOURI Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Select Properties 1650 Des Peres Rd., Ste. 205, Saint Louis, MO 63131 Contact: Angie Ignatowski, Relocation Director Tel: (314) 835-6000 • (314) 835-6050 (Direct) Email: aignatowski@bhhsselectstl.com • URL: www.bhhsselectstl.com Coverage Areas: St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County, Jefferson County, Lincoln County • Offices: 11 • Associates: Over 500

NEBRASKA Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate 13340 California St., Omaha, NE 68154 Contact: Katie Adams, CRP, GMS, VP Corp. Relocation & Business Development Tel: (800) 477-7653 or (402) 547-5137 Email: Katie.adams@BHHSamb.com • URL: www.BHHSamb.com Coverage Areas: Omaha and Lincoln Metropolitan Area, including Omaha, Bellevue, Ralston, LaVista, Papillion, Gretna, Elkhorn, Fremont, Lincoln, Council Bluffs and surrounding communities

NEVADA Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties 3185 St. Rose Pkwy., Ste. 100, Henderson, NV 89052 Contact: Eileen Mitchell, Dir. of Relocation & Referral Services Tel: (800) 735-4488 Email: relo@BHHSNV.com • URL: www.BHHSNV.com Coverage Areas: Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Summerlin and Pahrump • Offices: 6 • Associates: 1,050

NEW JERSEY Jordan Baris, Inc., REALTORS® Real Living 50 Mt. Pleasant Ave., West Orange, NJ 07052 Contact: Carol Abdo, Relocation Director Tel: (973) 736-1600 (Office) • (800) 4-JBARIS (Toll Free) Fax: (973) 736-5159 Email: relocation@jordanbaris.com • URL: www.jordanbaris.com Coverage Areas: Essex, Union, Hudson and Morris counties. Specifically West Orange, South Orange, Maplewood, Livingston, East Hanover, Roseland, Short Hills, Montclair, Bloomfield, Belleville, Newark, East Orange, Orange, Irvington, Jersey City, North Bergen, Union, Vauxhall, Parsippany-Troy Hills Offices: 2 • Associates: 150 Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+

NORTH CAROLINA Coldwell Banker Advantage 7610 Six Forks Rd., Ste. 100, Raleigh, NC 27615 Contact: Benina Drake, CRP, SVP Relocation & Referral Services Tel: (800) 274-5345 • (919) 846-3330 (Direct) Email: BDrake@AdvantageCB.com • URL: AdvantageCB.com Coverage Areas: Apex, Cary, Clayton, Creedmoor, Chapel Hill, Durham, Falls Lake, Fayetteville, Ft. Bragg area, Henderson, Holly Springs, Knightdale, Lake Gaston, Lillington, McGee’s Crossroads, Pinehurst, Pittsboro, Pope Air Force Base area, Raleigh, Southern Pines, Wake Forest and Zebulon Offices: 17 • Associates: 325 Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+

RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 101

BROKER-TO-BROKER REFERRALS PENNSYLVANIA Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+ Lusk & Associates Sotheby’s International Realty 100 Foxshire Dr., Lancaster, PA 17601 Tel: (717) 291-9101 • Fax: (717) 393-2336 Contact: Sandy Zercher Email: sandra.zercher@sothebysrealty.com URL: www.LuskandAssociates.com Coverage Areas: Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Susquehanna Valley, Pennsylvania; South Central Pennsylvania • Offices: 1 • Associates: 40 Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate 7234 Lancaster Pike, Ste. 220B, Hockessin, DE 19707 Contact: Brian Pomije, Relocation Manager Tel: (302) 234-3600 (Office) • (302) 234-5207 (Direct) • (800) 4432295 (Toll Free) • Email: bpomije@psre.com • URL: pattersonschwartz.com Coverage Areas: Delaware (New Castle, Kent and Sussex counties), Pennsylvania (Chester and Delaware counties), Maryland (Cecil, Kent and Harford counties) • Offices: 9 • Associates: 415 RE/MAX 440 and RE/MAX Central 701 West Market St., Perkasie, PA 18944 Contact: Tom Skiffington, Broker/Owner • Tel: (215) 453-7653 or (215) 643-3200 • Email: tom@tomskiffington.com URLs: www.pahomesforsale.com • www.lehighvalleyrealestate.com Coverage Areas: Pennsylvania counties: Bucks, Berks, Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Lehigh, North Hampton, and New Jersey Offices: 10 • Associates: 170

RHODE ISLAND Randall, REALTORS® 4009 Old Post Rd., Charleston, RI 02813 Contact: Jean Fournier, Dir. of Relocation & Referral Services Tel: (401) 486-9677 Email: jfournier@randallrealtors.com • URL: www.randallrealtors.com Coverage Areas: Connecticut and Rhode Island Offices: 9 • Associates: 175

SOUTH CAROLINA Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices C. Dan Joyner, REALTORS® 745 N. Pleasantburg Dr., Greenville, SC 29607 Contacts: Nichole Moore, Director of Relocation, (864) 678-5362, nmoore@cdanjoyner.com, Jo Anne Conner, Destination & Broker-to-Broker Mgr., (864) 678-5227, jconner@cdanjoyner.com • URL: www.cdanjoyner.com Brookfield GRS, SIRVA, AIReS Relocation, Graebel, MI Group Coverage Areas: Greenville, Greer, Taylors, Duncan, Spartanburg, Mauldin, Simpsonville, Fountain Inn, Powdersville, Easley, Piedmont, Anderson Offices: 10 • Associates: 400+ CENTURY 21 New Millennium 5990 Kingstowne Towne Center, Alexandria, VA 22315 Contact: Todd Hetherington, CEO • Tel: (800) 382-1101 Fax: (703) 822-0136 Relocation Contact: Jeff Hetherington, Director of Relocation Email: move@c21nm.com • URL: www.c21nm.com Providers of world class real estate services in the Northern Virginia, Washing-

102 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

ton, D.C., and the Southern Maryland markets. Our areas of expertise range from Fortune 500 executives to specialized training in military and government relocation. • Offices: 16 • Associates: 700+ RE/MAX Gateway 4090B Lafayette Center Dr., Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Scott MacDonald, President Tel: (703) 652-5760 • (703) 727-6900 (Cell) Email: scottmacdonald@remax.net • URL: www.gateway2realestate.com Coverage Areas: Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland Offices: 6 • Associates: 170

VIRGINIA Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+

WASHINGTON, D.C. CENTURY 21 New Millennium 5990 Kingstowne Towne Center, Alexandria, VA 22315 Contact: Todd Hetherington, CEO • Tel: (800) 382-1101 Fax: (703) 822-0136 Relocation Contact: Jeff Hetherington, Director of Relocation Email: move@c21nm.com • URL: www.c21nm.com Providers of world class real estate services in the Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C., and the Southern Maryland markets. Our areas of expertise range from Fortune 500 executives to specialized training in military and government relocation. • Offices: 16 • Associates: 700+ Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+ RE/MAX Gateway 4090B Lafayette Center Dr., Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Scott MacDonald, President Tel: (703) 652-5760 • (703) 727-6900 (Cell) Email: scottmacdonald@remax.net • URL: www.gateway2realestate.com Coverage Areas: Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland Offices: 6 • Associates: 170

WEST VIRGINIA Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. Headquarters Office: 14501 George Carter Way, Chantilly, VA 20151 Contact: Vicki Hamp, SVP of Corporate Real Estate Services Tel: (800) 335-0356 Email: Vicki.Hamp@LongandFoster.com • URL: www.LongandFoster.com Coverage Areas: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia Offices: 220+ • Associates 11,000+

INDEX OF SERVICE PROVIDERS ABR®.........................................................................................10

National Association of REALTORS®................................6, 55

American Home Shield®...........................................................5

Pillar To Post Home Inspectors®................................................2

Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA)............ 36

Quicken Loans.................................................... Bellyband, IFC

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices..................................... IBC

Real Estate Webmasters................................................... 24-25

The CE Shop............................................................................ 77

REALTOR Team Store®...............................................................9

Century 21 Real Estate LLC..................................................... 13

RE/MAX, LLC...........................................................................15

Darryl Davis Seminars, Inc......................................................73

RISMedia’s 2021 Online Newsmakers Directory................... 91

ERA Real Estate......................................................................62

RISMedia’s 2021 Online Power Broker Directory.................. 41

Homes.com..............................................................................23

RISMedia’s ACESocial.................................................. 7, 18, 103

HomeSmart............................................................................. BC

RISMedia’s RealEdge Podcast.................................................... 8

Lamacchia Realty.................................................................... 68

ShelterZoom.............................................................................28

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World ........................... 27

Sherri Johnson Coaching & Consulting.................................49

McKissock Learning........................................................................43

United Real Estate....................................................................34

NAR’s Resort and Second-Home Property Specialist (RSPS) Certification..............................................................................16

Workman Success Systems................................ 40, 76, 79, 87

®

®

Weichert, Realtors®..................................................................78

National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)®........................................................20

Simplify Your Social Media Strategy “I think anyone getting into this business who is looking to reach out and have some type of identity on social media needs to look at ACESocial.”

- Andrew Velez, Real Estate Consultant/Licensed REALTOR®, RE/MAX Advisors

For more information, visit acesocial.rismedia.com RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE July 2021 103

RE: REAL ESTATE

The REACH Class of 2021 Propelling Proptech Into the Future

S

econd Century Ventures (SCV), the strategic investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), recently unveiled the 2021 REACH scale-up class. REACH identified eight transformative technology companies pushing the boundaries of innovation with pioneering tools and best-in-class solutions.

Since 2013, the REACH program has been driving growth for emerging technologies by supporting their launch into the real estate vertical and adjacent markets.

REACH pinpoints the startups that hold the greatest potential to help REALTORS® accelerate business and gives those entrepreneurs the tools to expand exponentially by building their platforms, products and services to benefit more than 1.4 million U.S. and international members.

“Second Century Ventures’ investment in the REACH Class of 2021 illustrates NAR’s ongoing, long-term commitment to investing in real estate technology and innovation,” says SCV President and NAR CEO Bob Goldberg.

“This year, the pandemic gave new urgency to the development of technological solutions and further highlighted the essential contribution of SCV—the most active venture fund in global real estate technology.”

Though the pandemic spurred the need for innovative tools to adapt to changing restrictions, REACH is focused on technologies with lasting impact in our increasingly tech-dependent industry. Programs like REACH allow NAR to proactively prepare for ever-changing market conditions and respond nimbly, as happened in 2020.

According to Goldberg, “These exceptional startups were chosen not only for their capacity to address the unique challenges presented by the pandemic, but for the ways they will revolutionize the home-buying and -selling experience. Together, these innovators and thought leaders will deliver value to REALTORS® and drive positive change in the industry for decades to come.”

Meet the REACH Class of 2021 Representing a variety of stages of growth, these eight proptech companies offer a range of inventive solutions in real estate financing, home maintenance and repair, marketing, senior living services and more.

Several of the startups aim to help more people get into new homes more quickly. Knock is a fast-growing fintech company whose flagship product makes it easy for consumers to buy their dream home before listing

104 July 2021 RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE

their current house, while Landis helps agents provide renters with an innovative and accelerated path to homeownership. Plunk is the first mobile app leveraging AI to forecast home valuation and identify specific remodeling projects that will provide the most return.

Others offer value-add solutions to help REALTORS® navigate their work more effectively. Aryeo’s content management platform enables creators and real estate professionals to collaborate seamlessly, saving time and resulting in better quality. Milestones is an end-to-end digital customer experience platform that helps real estate professionals interact with consumers through personalized landing pages and centralized hubs to manage all aspects of the home-buying and -selling process.

“This year, the pandemic gave new urgency to the development of technological solutions and further highlighted the essential contribution of SCV.” - Bob Golderg, CEO, The National Association of REALTORS®; President, Second Century Ventures

Two companies focus on unique solutions for property owners. Feather takes a next-generation approach to furniture and home decor rental and Super offers a technology-enabled home care and repair subscription service. K4Connect, a mission-driven startup, focuses on empowering older adults and those living with disabilities with technology solutions for residents, staff and operators of senior living communities.

Expanding Our REACH In addition to the residential real estate technology scale-up program, REACH offers a program focused on the U.S. commercial sector as well as international programs through REACH Canada, REACH Australia and REACH United Kingdom to grow technology and advance the real estate system on a global scale.

Get Involved!

Join the REACH Insight Panel and be among the first to test innovative products and services offered by REACH companies. Or, if you’re interested in helping shape and refine these technologies, your brokerage can take part in an exclusive pilot. Sign up or learn more at narreach.com. RE

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