3 Rs – Results, Rules and Records
Ten months ago, I rejoined Compass as Chief Real Estate Strategist. This has been the most invigorating and inspiring 10 months of my professional career. I've had scarier times (2009 to 2011) and more gratifying times (2015 to 2018), but this engagement is different. The accomplishments of the leadership team at Compass over the past 10 years is exemplary. From a start-up to the No. 1 company in the country by sales volume in 10 years is nothing short of amazing. The reorganization of Compass from the intense high-growth years to the "deliver operating results" in our current state takes a rigorous conviction, discipline, and most of all confidence. I have experienced the change and the results – impressive is an understatement. Q1 2024 results are publicly available. Snapshot below. Compass' Q1 2024 results outperformed the market and outperformed the industry. This is a function of Robert's leadership and the team's focus and execution. Experiencing this continued vision, focus, and discipline is remarkable. Our only constant in life and business seems to be change. Our industry is experiencing significant change, once again. The rules of our industry are changing to protect the consumer. As I mentioned in my March 18, 2024 blog post: [This change] represent[s] an exceptional opportunity for the good to become great. This includes real estate professionals and brokerage firms. Those, individuals and/or companies, that focus on perfecting the expression of their value proposition will gain market share. We are not alone in an industry that experiences change. I tend to reflect on sports, teams, and competition in my approach to business. Rules in organized athletics change constantly. The players study the rule changes, practice the behaviors and motions that are impacted, and repeat the motions constantly to adapt, perfect, and thrive. We are no different in our industry. Study the rules, adapt your behavior, practice the motions, perfect your skills, and thrive. It's possible that lack of studying the new NFL rules contributed to the San Francisco 49ers overtime loss in the 2024 Super Bowl. How many times do you think the rules changed on Caitlin Clark in her basketball career? The three-point line, the shot clock, etc. She understood the rules, practiced the motions, perfected her game, and thrives! Caitlin Clark is the leading scorer in NCAA basketball history! No qualifying statements required. How are you practicing and perfecting your game? Feel free to call me with questions. This is Where We Are Now! Mark McLaughlin serves as CEO of McLaughlin Ventures and M&A Advisory at WAV Group. To view the original article, visit the McLaughlin Ventures blog.

Your Comprehensive Guide to Real Estate SEO
Nowadays, many businesses, including those in the real estate field, rely on online presence, something that seems inseparable from so many success stories. And what is the most important part of the online presence? SEO, of course. It's a constant question for real estate agents — how to keep up with Google and optimize their SEO. We all know good SEO equals a good ranking on Google, and a good ranking on Google means more leads, and more leads mean more sales. We see how everything within this chain is interconnected. Pull one element from it and the whole process will fall apart. So now you see how important it is to keep optimizing your SEO. Back in the day, all you needed was to have keyword-rich content and you would have been guaranteed to score high on Google. Today the process is becoming more and more complicated, yet easier and easier. Here, we've compiled everything that will help you to understand how Google and SEO work. Let's start: What does SEO stand for? SEO has two main meanings: Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Optimizer. Search Engine Optimization means everything that helps your website to appear in the top position of the search results. Search Engine Optimizer is the person who is responsible for doing the search engine optimization for a website. As we mentioned earlier in this article, we want to talk about the first meaning, Search Engine Optimization. If you want to know more about the person who is doing the SEO, we have another article on that titled, Who is a Real Estate SEO Expert? What Is SEO? SEO is the process of ranking up the pages on your website in the search engine results page (SERP). The world's most popular search engines are Google and Bing. SEO is vital for any kind of website, blog, personal, shopping, companies, and of course real estate professionals. In this article, we will talk about real estate SEO. But before we start, we need to understand how search engines work: How Do Search Engines Work? Each search engine has its own structure and algorithms, but all of them follow three main processes: Crawling Indexing Ranking Crawling is the process by which search engine bots visit your website and understand that you exist. Indexing is the process of saving your data and information in search engine databases. Ranking is the process by which search engines decide whether or not to display your pages in search results. What Are the SEO Cornerstones? SEO has three main types or categories: On-page Off-page Technical All the things you hear about SEO belong to one of the above categories. Let's jump to each category, and talk about the most important stuff you have to do for your real estate website. ON-Page Optimization On-Page Optimization means any visible or invisible things that are related to just one or several pages. It can be the content, it can be the images, it can be the UX/UI, or — more advanced — it can be link structure, etc. Keyword research Keyword research is the foundation of any successful on-page optimization strategy. By identifying the right keywords to target, you can optimize your content and drive more relevant traffic to your website. Start by brainstorming a list of keywords that are relevant to your real estate business. Consider both broad keywords, such as "real estate," and long-tail keywords, such as "luxury homes for sale in [city]." Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or SEMrush to gather data on search volume and competition for each keyword. Once you have a list of keywords, incorporate them naturally into your website's content. Avoid keyword stuffing, as this can negatively impact your rankings. Instead, focus on creating high-quality, informative content that incorporates your target keywords in a natural and meaningful way. If you want to to prepare your keywords list, don't even think about not reading our Real Estate SEO Keywords article. Optimizing Meta Tags and Descriptions Meta tags and descriptions play a crucial role in on-page optimization. These elements provide search engines with information about your web pages and can influence your website's click-through rates. Start by optimizing your page titles. Include your target keywords and make sure they accurately reflect the content of each page. Next, optimize your meta descriptions. These short snippets provide a brief summary of your page's content and can entice users to click on your website in search engine results. When optimizing meta tags and descriptions for real estate websites, it's important to be descriptive, compelling, and concise. Use action-oriented language, highlight key selling points, and include a call-to-action to encourage users to click through to your website. Learn more about these on our comprehensive article, SEO Titles and Meta Description. Content Content is king when it comes to on-page optimization. High-quality, engaging content not only appeals to your target audience but also satisfies search engine algorithms. When creating content for your real estate website, focus on providing value to your readers. Write informative blog posts, create in-depth property descriptions, and include helpful guides and resources. Incorporate your target keywords naturally throughout your content to improve its relevance and visibility. In addition to written content, consider incorporating other forms of media, such as images and videos. High-quality visuals can enhance the user experience and make your website more engaging and memorable. Content can be the blog posts you are publishing, or even the description of your property pages, as well as market updates pages, etc. Heading Titles Heading tags (H1, H2, H3) organize webpage information and indicate its importance to search engines. They create headings and subheadings, making it easier for users to scan and understand content. Media (Images and Videos) Images and videos are essential for showcasing properties and capturing the attention of potential buyers. However, they can also impact your website's performance if not optimized properly. To optimize images, make sure to compress them to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Use descriptive file names and Alt tags that include relevant keywords. This not only improves accessibility for visually impaired users, but also provides search engines with more context about your images. For videos, consider hosting them on platforms like YouTube or Vimeo and embedding them on your website. This reduces the load time of your pages and ensures a smooth user experience. Add relevant descriptions and keywords to your video titles and descriptions to improve their visibility in search results. Structuring URLs and Internal Linking URL structure and internal linking are often overlooked aspects of on-page optimization. However, they play a significant role in improving website navigation and search engine visibility. When structuring URLs for your real estate website, make them descriptive and user-friendly. Include relevant keywords and separate words with hyphens. Avoid using long, complex URLs that are difficult for users and search engines to understand. Internal linking is another important aspect of on-page optimization. Use internal links to connect relevant pages on your website, improve navigation and help search engines discover and index your content more effectively. Incorporate anchor text that includes relevant keywords to enhance the relevance of your internal links. Off-Page Optimization Off-page optimization acts as a vote of confidence from other websites, signaling to search engines that your real estate website is a reliable and relevant source of information. As such, investing in off-page optimization is really crucial for your business. Backlinks High-quality backlinks from authoritative websites are a cornerstone of off-page optimization for real estate websites. When reputable websites link back to your real estate site, it signals to search engines that your content is credible and valuable. As a result, your website's search engine ranking is likely to improve, driving increased organic traffic from users seeking real estate-related information. To acquire high-quality backlinks, real estate professionals can engage in outreach to industry-relevant websites, collaborate with local businesses, and contribute guest posts to reputable real estate publications. By fostering genuine relationships with other websites and producing valuable content, you can naturally attract authoritative backlinks, bolstering your website's off-page SEO profile. Guest Posting and Content Marketing Guest posting on industry-specific websites and contributing valuable content to real estate publications is an effective way to enhance your real estate website's off-page optimization. By sharing your expertise and insights with a wider audience, you can establish your website as a trusted authority in the real estate niche, attracting both backlinks and referral traffic. In addition to guest posting, content marketing efforts such as creating informative blog posts, infographics, and videos can further amplify your real estate website's off-page optimization. By crafting compelling content that resonates with your target audience, you can attract natural backlinks and social media shares, reinforcing your website's online authority and relevance. Social Media In today's digital age, social media platforms serve as an indispensable tool for amplifying your real estate website's off-page optimization. By maintaining an active presence on popular social channels such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, real estate professionals can engage with their audience, share valuable content, and foster a community of loyal followers. Social media signals, including likes, shares, and comments, contribute to your website's off-page SEO by indicating to search engines that your content is resonating with users. Additionally, social media provides a platform for sharing your website's content, potentially leading to increased visibility, backlinks, and referral traffic. By strategically leveraging social media, real estate professionals can augment their off-page optimization efforts and solidify their digital footprint. Google My Business Google My Business (GMB) is a powerful off-page optimization tool for real estate professionals looking to enhance their local visibility. By claiming and optimizing your GMB listing, you can ensure that your real estate business appears prominently in local search results, complete with essential information such as your address, phone number, and customer reviews. Maintaining an updated and comprehensive GMB profile not only improves your real estate website's local SEO, but also establishes trust and credibility with potential clients searching for real estate services in your area. Furthermore, positive reviews and ratings on your GMB listing can bolster your website's online reputation, further solidifying your off-page optimization efforts. Reviews Online reviews are a crucial component of off-page optimization for real estate websites. Positive reviews from satisfied clients can significantly enhance your website's credibility and trustworthiness, influencing potential clients' decision-making. Encouraging satisfied clients to leave reviews on platforms such as Google, Yelp, and real estate-specific websites can contribute to a positive off-page SEO profile for your real estate business. Technical Optimization Technical SEO involves optimizing your website for search engine crawling and indexing. It focuses on the technical aspects that affect search engine rankings, such as site speed, mobile responsiveness, and structured data. By adhering to technical SEO best practices, real estate websites can improve their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more qualified leads. Speed Optimization Website speed is crucial in user experience and search engine rankings. Slow-loading websites can lead to high bounce rates and lower search engine rankings. To optimize your real estate website for speed, consider compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and minimizing HTTP requests. Additionally, choosing a reliable web hosting provider and utilizing content delivery networks (CDNs) can further enhance your website's speed and performance. Structured Data and Schema Markup Implementing structured data and schema markup on your real estate website can enhance its visibility in search results and provide richer snippets, such as star ratings, reviews, and property details. By incorporating structured data markup for properties, local business information, and real estate listings, you can improve the way search engines understand and display your website's content, ultimately increasing its chances of ranking prominently in search results. URLs structure A clear and descriptive URL structure can contribute to better search engine visibility and user experience. When creating URLs for real estate listings and property pages, consider using descriptive keywords and avoiding unnecessary parameters or dynamic URLs. A well-structured URL not only helps search engines understand the content of the page, but also makes it more user-friendly for visitors navigating your website. Mobile-Usability With the increasing use of mobile devices, ensuring that your real estate website is mobile-friendly is essential for both user experience and SEO. Google's mobile-first indexing means that the search engine primarily uses the mobile version of a website for ranking and indexing. Therefore, optimizing your website for mobile devices, including responsive design and mobile-friendly content, is crucial for achieving high search engine rankings and providing a seamless user experience across all devices. Breadcrumbs Breadcrumbs are navigational aids that help users understand their current location within a website's hierarchy. Implementing breadcrumbs on your real estate website not only improves user experience and site navigation but also provides search engines with additional context about the relationship between pages. This can contribute to better indexing and understanding of your website's content, potentially leading to improved search engine rankings. Robots.txt The robots.txt file allows you to control which pages and resources search engines can and cannot access on your real estate website. By properly configuring your robots.txt file, you can guide search engine crawlers to focus on indexing your most important pages while preventing them from wasting resources on irrelevant or duplicate content. This can help optimize the crawl budget allocated to your website and ensure that search engines prioritize indexing your valuable real estate listings and content. Learn how to optimize your robots.txt file in Robots.txt: A Comprehensive Guide for Real Estate Websites. Sitemap A comprehensive XML sitemap can assist search engines in discovering and indexing all relevant pages on your real estate website. By providing a clear map of your website's structure and content, you can ensure that search engines crawl and index your pages more efficiently. Additionally, regularly updating and submitting your XML sitemap to search engines can help ensure that new and updated content is promptly recognized and indexed. Learn how to optimize your Sitemap.xml file in The Ultimate Guide to Sitemaps for Real Estate Websites. To view the original article, visit the Realtyna blog.

eXp Realty Introduces eXp Elevate Coaching Platform
eXp Realty today launched eXp Elevate Coaching, a coaching platform designed to enhance the business growth and professional development of eXp Realty agents in North America. eXp Elevate Coaching is an advanced extension of eXp's University and Mentor programs, offering agents an array of enriched mastery programs, including one-on-one coaching, mastermind groups, and group coaching sessions. The initiative features a coaching marketplace that will host a variety of self-guided programs, tailored to agents seeking to advance their careers and elevate their professional skills through expert guidance. "With eXp Elevate Coaching, we are taking a significant step forward in equipping our agents with the tools and insights they need to excel and hit their goals," said Bryon Ellington, Chief Learning Officer at eXp Realty. "This innovative program is designed to provide personalized, actionable guidance that addresses the unique challenges and opportunities faced by today's real estate professionals." The ACCELERATE LIVE and ACCELERATE ON-DEMAND programs are central elements of the eXp Elevate Coaching platform, providing agents with practical strategies and personalized coaching to help them achieve rapid growth and success. These programs are led by top eXp Realty agents who are recognized leaders in their fields, offering firsthand insights and proven tactics in real-time and on-demand formats to accommodate varying learning preferences and schedules. eXp Realty is committed to continual innovation and agent empowerment, striving to provide resources that support career growth and business success. eXp Elevate Coaching is the latest example of this commitment, offering exclusive educational opportunities that are expected to set new benchmarks in real estate coaching. For more information about eXp Elevate Coaching, please visit eXp Elevate Coaching's official website. See also: [Podcast] The Benefits and Pitfalls of Agent Coaching with Kathy Schmidt  

[Podcast] The $650 Billion Problem in Commercial Real Estate with David Bitner
Residential real estate isn't the only industry getting beat up in the headlines. Commercial real estate is getting their fair share of press. That's why James and Keith of the Real Estate Insiders Unfiltered podcast brought in commercial real estate expert David Bitner, the Executive Managing Director and Global Head of Research for Newmark. David has decades of experience in the CRE realm and shares his insights on the potential $650 billion problem looming in the sector. Also, learn about the latest trends, potential challenges, and opportunities in the rapidly growing market — and why data needs to continue playing a crucial role in decision making. Listen to this podcast on: Apple Spotify YouTube Other Visit the episode homepage for show notes and more details.

ERA Real Estate Launches Agent Coaching Program
ERA® Real Estate announced the launch of its ERA Coaching Program. This robust program, which is designed for all ERA-affiliated agents – whether new or seasoned – is offered at no cost to participants. With this announcement, ERA Real Estate has created a program for agents to develop interpersonal relationships and sales practices, helping them refocus on building their book of business amidst a complex market backdrop. The ERA Coaching Program will gather agents in their brokerage's office to attend the program via watch parties. The program consists of seven, two-hour live, virtual sessions which will cover topics such as mindset, building a database and pipeline, sphere of influence engagement, building relationships and creating outside sources of business. Most notably, the course will be led by President of ERA Real Estate, Alex Vidal and the brand's Vice President of Learning, Gino Caropreso. Vidal has personally coached more than 20,000 real estate agents throughout his career in brokerage leadership. Continuing that role as president of a global brand is part of his distinctive "boots on the ground" leadership style. This year alone, Vidal has led an in-person agent mastermind at ERA Real Estate's annual business conference and two all-network virtual sales rallies intended for the ERA® network's more than 43,000 affiliated brokers and agents. While the agent coaching program will be led by Vidal, local ERA® brand brokers and designated proctors will play an integral role in the initiative's success. The coaching sessions will take place on Mondays, with brokers and proctors receiving class outlines the day before and taking part in a brief update call with Vidal on Monday mornings. Agents will be assigned homework at the end of each Monday session and brokers/proctors will meet with all course participants each Friday for accountability meetings to ensure pull through of the material. "Coaching agents has long been a passion for me, and I am so excited to bring the ERA Coaching Program to our highly engaged network," said Vidal. "This is a perfect example of a program that will succeed because of the brand's uniquely collaborative nature: content will be delivered from the brand level, and brokers and their designated proctors will ensure that agents optimize the coaching program with personal accountability sessions and local pull through. This is not a 'one and done' type of coaching course. We have established a strong lattice of support extending from the national brand to the local office that will engage agents in bringing their business to the next level. At the end of the day, that's why I'm here: to help our ERA affiliated agents be more successful and live a better life."

eXp Realty Launches REVenue Share 2.0 Agent Compensation Model
eXp Realty announced critical enhancements to its revenue share model in North America, designed to expand earning opportunities, increase transparency and simplify earning calculations. "In 2009, the real estate industry shifted when eXp first created the Revenue Share business model," said Glenn Sanford, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of eXp World Holdings. "The earnings potential and collaboration between agents that Revenue Share created had never been experienced before and has since been copied. Now is the right time to continue that innovation with REVenue Share 2.0." The changes introduced today fall into three areas: Agents will have the ability to earn revenue share money faster with the ability to immediately unlock the first three tiers of the model, both eXpansion and eXponential shares, and those tiers will now stay unlocked regardless of how many personally sponsored agents join eXp. This will help agents earn more revenue share, faster. In addition, levels 4 – 6 will be fully opened up when five, 10, or 15 productive agents are sponsored into the company, respectively. A New Fast Start Attraction bonus, starting in July, will be paid on agents when they join the company. The sponsoring agent can now earn up to $4,000 (in North America) or 5% of the GCI while capping, for an agent that they directly sponsor, for their first year at eXp. The new Real-Time Revenue feature inside of My eXp will allow agents to instantly withdraw accumulated revenue share earnings for a nominal transaction fee for any transactions that have closed. eXp Realty is committed to sharing 50 percent of the company dollar with the agents who help the company grow. In 2023, the company shared over $197 million in revenue share to agents for those efforts. REVenue Share 2.0 is designed to help agents make money faster, to earn it easier and to get paid on demand. "As always, we are committed to being the most agent-centric real estate brokerage on the planet. We are laser-focused on helping our agents build for their futures, to be the primary beneficiaries of the success of the eXp model," said Sanford. "These enhancements that are part of REVenue Share 2.0 reflect our ongoing commitment to providing the best possible platform for real estate professionals to thrive. By listening to our agents and adapting our model, we are setting new standards for success." "eXp is committed to relentless innovation and continual enhancement," said Leo Pareja, CEO of eXp Realty. "By actively incorporating feedback from our agents, we are constantly refining our strategies to lay a solid foundation for their long-term success, ensuring that we stay ahead in the industry."

Relitix's Agent Movement Index Reports Subtle Shifts in Real Estate Agent Dynamics through March 2024
The latest findings from Relitix's Agent Movement Index™ (AMI) for March 2024 reveal a nuanced landscape in the real estate sector, with shifts in agent activities suggesting stabilizing and evolving market conditions. Key highlights from this month's AMI show that the decline in the number of active agents, those with a closing in the past year, has plateaued. This stabilization is possibly linked to a resurgence in property sales, hinting at a more buoyant market ahead. Moreover, the AMI reveals an upward trend in agents switching between brokerages, though the expected peak for March fell short of previous highs, the overall trend continues generally upward. The broader impact of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) settlement is still unfolding. Agents are yet to fully adjust to these changes, with upcoming months likely to clarify whether agents will prefer stability or seek new opportunities amidst shifting industry dynamics. Rob Keefe, Founder of Relitix, commented on the findings, stating, "This month's data suggests that while the agent market has faced considerable flux, there's now signs of emerging stability. We're closely monitoring how these changes affect agent decisions, especially in light of recent industry-wide shifts." The AMI, a robust measure of agent movement dynamics, is calculated from extensive national data drawn from major MLS systems and is released monthly. It includes both raw monthly figures and seasonally adjusted data to provide a clear view of underlying trends. March's report saw the AMI reaching a score of 114.6, with the seasonally adjusted figure slightly lower at 122.3, reflecting ongoing adjustments in the market. These metrics serve as critical indicators for brokerage firms and real estate professionals looking to navigate the ever-evolving real estate landscape. Trends in the relative movement of experienced real estate agents between brokerages are an important strategic consideration for brokerage and franchise leaders. The relative amount of movement fluctuates over time on a seasonal and long-term basis. To capture these trends and report them to the industry Relitix is proud to introduce its Agent Movement Index™. The AMI is published monthly and features monthly and seasonally adjusted, and 12-trailing-month values. The index is calculated using national-level data from a large sample of the nation's most prominent MLS systems.

How RE/MAX Can Fix Falling Agent Count
New RE/MAX CEO, Amy Lessinger, is a sharp leader that looks you in the eye, speaks clearly with acute knowledge, listens carefully, and smiles in the face of adversity. She will emerge as another great leader for RE/MAX. The challenge ahead for RE/MAX is daunting. If you look at the growth of companies in America today, the franchise model has been losing agent count to the national brokerage model led by Compass, eXp and REAL. Although franchises deliver a tremendous amount of value for a sliver of broker dollars, agents and teams do not seem to care. As my friend Mark McLaughlin has long said, agents vote with their feet – and that is the problem in front of Lessinger: falling agent count. RE/MAX is not alone; other franchises are facing the same adversity. Combating falling agent count is a challenge facing many brokerages today. Even a growing brokerage keeps their eye steadily on the ball of agent count and production. In truth, brokerages and franchises do not sell real estate, their agents do. They are the foot soldiers of the real estate industry that stand belly-to-belly with the home-buying and selling consumer. They are the family, friend, or neighbor that you trust when you plan to transact. Sure, brands do matter. And I expect that brands will matter more over the next decade. The boutique mom-and-pop shops face an uphill battle to compete in the digital real estate arena that operates with an ever-growing requirement for technical expertise. Agents expect a full house of technology from their broker, and so do consumers. Agent Retention Agent retention and the sinewy tissue of trust and loyalty happen at the branch level. The broker or manager you work for needs to be a coach, cheerleader, mentor, and best friend. RE/MAX has a lot of franchise owners that continue to sell real estate, competing with their agents. That stings many agents. It would be better if those broker owners would pass those deals off to their agents. Agent Recruitment Keller Williams taught the industry that recruiting is a full-time job at the branch level. eXp and REAL followed their playbook, along with others. Many RE/MAX broker owners are busy running the branch(es) and working their own clients, leaving little time to recruit. This is where the franchise can step in. They can run national campaigns to recruit agents to the brand and set appointments for their franchisees to hire them. HomeSmart and Windermere execute this strategy well. New Agent Licensing Many great brokerages like Howard Hanna and Watson own real estate schools. This is a great feeder of new agents. If you train new agents correctly, and help them get started, they can perform very well for your business. I am not aware of any franchise organization that owns a licensing school. Seems like a great opportunity for RE/MAX and others. Every state has different regulations that may impede this tactic, but wherever possible, it's a great strategy. Otherwise, get the list of new licensees and recruit. Create a startup package for these agents to help them get their feet off the ground. The life insurance and financial planning industry has this practice nailed. Mergers and Acquisitions The absolute fastest path to growth is through acquisition (purchase our book on how to create an M&A strategy). If you look at the success of NRT (now Anywhere Advisors), followed by Berkshire Hathaway, Howard Hanna, and Compass – every one of these leading firms by volume were created through M&A. Anywhere has programs for their franchises to help offset the costs of a merger. It has helped companies like Gibson Sotheby's International Realty and a host of others to merge with other brokers in their area. It helps. Develop a Home Services Mindset What RE/MAX has started with Motto Mortgage is wise. If you look at the most profitable brokerage firms across America, they have diversified into home service offerings. Anywhere has also followed this playbook with insurance, title, mortgage, and relocation. The franchises have not unlocked success in these affiliated service offerings to the level that many of the LeadingRE firms have. It's fixable. Develop a Customer for Life Strategy to Keep Clients Connected to RE/MAX Franchises Home ownership/management portals are the newest and greatest opportunity for any franchise or brokerage today. If RE/MAX deploys a product like Milestones.ai to every consumer who has ever transacted with the brand, millions of homeowners who have been ghosted by their agents after the transaction will re-engage with the brand. Consumers have portals for banking, investing, healthcare, and education. The landscape is wide open for real estate. Gary Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX Advantage is hot on this strategy already. I am sure that more will follow. Milestones.ai keeps the agent and the firm connected to the consumer between transactions. Today, only one in five consumers return to their agent for a future trade because their agent ghosts them after the closing. Milestones fixes that. Tom Ferry does a great job of explaining the Milestones strategy, and the folks he coaches get it. Past clients are assets. If you watch the video, you will understand. He explains that customer-for-life strategies transform your thinking to past clients as assets under management. It's impressive. Over the multiple decades of working with brokerages and franchises, WAV Group Consulting and WAV Group Marketing have helped firms develop and implement successful programs for recruiting the right agents that will create incremental profitability while strengthening the brand's reputation. We have helped brokers and franchises start from scratch and significantly improve the performance of existing businesses. The suggestions articulated are not new and are likely well-known by every franchise or brokerage today. The challenge is in the execution. I expect great things from Lessinger and her management team. They had a CEO at the helm to take them public, another CEO to steady the ship, and now Lessinger will lead the charge on making sure that their entire organization is singularly focused on their dedication to franchise owner success. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Local Logic Partners with homegenius to Elevate Real Estate Decisions
This latest announcement from Local Logic and homegenius underlines the expanding trend of deepening engagement real estate search by providing deep local insights. Gone are the days when search just includes beds, baths and price points. Consumers have an insatiable appetite for information regarding the region, neighborhood and individual property. They spend hours looking at floor plans, days on market and taxes, and they really want to better understand every element of the neighborhood they may be buying in to. According to their website, the Local Logic platform has more than 100 billion unique data points – the largest unique location data set in the U.S. and Canada. The platform creates a digital twin of cities, quantifying the built world and offering predictive, precise analytics to inform the present and future of over 250 million individual addresses. If your MLS or brokerage is not looking to add local insights to your search, you are missing out on a huge trend driven by consumers demanding to know more before they invest in their most important life decision. Check out the full release below. Local Logic Partners with homegenius to Elevate Real Estate Decisions Advanced location analytics meet innovative technology in game-changing collaboration Local Logic, the leading location insights provider for the real estate industry, is thrilled to announce a new partnership with homegenius Inc., a subsidiary of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN). This collaboration aims to transform the real estate search and transaction process, integrating Local Logic's advanced location insights with homegenius' comprehensive ecosystem of real estate and technology services. Through this partnership, Local Logic's Local Content and Local Maps products are incorporated into the homegenius platform. Local Content enhances property listings with detailed lifestyle and location scores across 18 distinct categories, including services, transportation, and neighborhood character. Meanwhile, Local Maps offers a dynamic, heatmap-based search tool that allows users to customize their property searches based on personal lifestyle preferences. "This partnership with Local Logic marks a major advancement for homegenius, aligning with our mission to innovate and streamline the real estate experience," said Eric Ray, Chief Digital Officer. "By integrating Local Logic's location intelligence into our homegenius platform, our clients with unparalleled insights into properties and neighborhoods, enhancing decision-making in the real estate market." This collaboration brings together Local Logic's granular location insights and homegenius' innovative technology solutions, enabling users to make more informed decisions from search to close. The integration of Local Logic's tools will allow homegenius to offer a more personalized and intuitive search experience, providing a clear understanding of property characteristics and neighborhood qualities. "We are excited to partner with homegenius to bring our advanced location intelligence directly into the hands of consumers and real estate professionals," said Vincent-Charles Hodder, CEO of Local Logic. "This partnership is a testament to our commitment to enhancing the real estate industry through data-driven solutions that empower users with comprehensive insights into properties and their environments." About Local Logic Local Logic is a location intelligence platform that digitizes the built world for consumers, investors, developers, and governments – delivering unrivaled clarity and actionable insights capable of creating more sustainable, equitable cities. With more than 100 billion unique data points – the largest unique location data set in the U.S. and Canada – the platform creates a digital twin of cities, quantifying the built world and offering predictive, precise analytics to inform the present and future of over 250 million individual addresses. Learn more at locallogic.co. About homegenius homegenius Inc., a subsidiary of Radian Group Inc. (NYSE: RDN), and its family of companies combine an array of title, real estate and technology products and services into a full-service ecosystem. homegenius offers innovative experiences from search to close, enabling mortgage lenders, mortgage and real estate investors, consumers, GSEs, and real estate brokers and agents to benefit from integrated and personalized solutions leveraging advanced technology and the latest advancements in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Learn more at http://www.homegenius.com. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

How RPR Commercial Provides Value for REALTORS
There's a lot of talk right now about "value" as it pertains to the business of real estate. As in, what value do REALTORS® bring to the table? For REALTORS® navigating the complex landscape of commercial and land transactions, having a centralized database that seamlessly integrates all these aspects is invaluable. Enter RPR, your Realtors Property Resource. RPR is a game-changing platform that combines ease of use with unparalleled access to a wealth of data, and all at no extra cost to users, because it's included in your National Association of REALTOR® member dues. RPR: Your go-to, commercial real estate hub One of the standout features of RPR is its inclusivity, offering a single destination for REALTORS® to access commercial and land data all in one place across the U.S. Gone are the days of toggling between multiple platforms or databases to gather information relevant to a transaction. With RPR, REALTORS® have access to a streamlined application that pulls in a collection of heavy-hitting partners, to improve and maximize the user experience to its fullest. In this article, we'll examine three key, value-packed features of RPR Commercial that can help commercial practitioners. Because providing them with access to accurate and comprehensive data, can make all the difference between success and missed opportunities. We'll look at RPR Commercial as a whole, but put a spotlight on Site Selection, Trade Area data and the comprehensive list of RPR's commercial data partners. RPR Commercial Site Selection You can really set yourself apart from other commercial agents by utilizing the analytic tools that RPR Commercial provides. When you're able to sit down and show clients how much spending potential is in one particular area over another, or calculate ROI based on discretionary income and key demographic indicators, you're bringing much more than a "hunch" to the table. You're bringing data and analytical insight into the equation and it will impress your clients to no end. RPR's Commercial Site Selection tool is the perfect option when the question is, "Where are the right people for a business?" This RPR feature gives commercial real estate practitioners an edge when it comes to finding ideal areas for professional or retail business sites. Here's a summary of what it can do for you: Select specific attributes from broad data categories such as economic, demographic, spending, tapestry and more. With these attributes selected, a user can search a large geography such as a county, and identify where these conditions exist in smaller geographies such as ZIP codes or neighborhoods. This drilling down allows a user to search for properties only in these geographies with their desired attributes, ensuring that the core drivers of a client's business are in the area, which is a time saver from looking through properties that aren't. Seeing these steps unfolded visually is highly recommended. Just watch this step-by-step video walkthrough. It will take what might seem like a complicated process and break it down and simplify it for you. Trade Area data and reports You've surely heard the saying: "location, location, location." Well, it certainly applies to commercial real estate when finding a location that will support a client's business. Learn where customers are, and gain insight into their mindsets with RPR's Trade Area details and consumer segmentation data from RPR (via Esri). Create customized, easy-to-understand reports that offer deep insights into the people, their lifestyles and behaviors in neighborhoods across the country. A Trade Area Report from RPR goes beyond area demographics — it goes into the psychographics (how consumers think), which is even more crucial to determining a given area's spending potential. RPR's Trade Area data provides users with the community details that help set a property apart when marketing to potential buyers and tenants, or to ensure that an owner occupier or investor is choosing an area with a community that will support their business or investment. Watch this video on RPR Trade Areas for a step-by-step run through the process: Commercial listing and data partners that add tons of value RPR's strength is further amplified through partnerships with Commercial Information Exchanges (CIEs), and National Commercial Listing feeds, including: Brevitas Crexi Catylist/Moody's Land Broker Coop TotalCommercial.com OfficeSpace.com As well as a handful of critical data partners that add uber-efficient access to demographic, tenant, traffic counts, POI (Points of Interest) data and commercial comps. CompStak (for access to commercial property comparables) Esri Precisely SMR Research These partnerships expand the reach of RPR's database, ensuring that REALTORS® have access to the most up-to-date and comprehensive data available in the market. Whether searching for commercial listings, researching properties or land parcels, REALTORS® can trust that RPR provides the most accurate and reliable information available thanks to the commitment and collaboration with valued partners. RPR: a high value, no-cost way to make informed decisions Ease of use is another key benefit of RPR Commercial. The platform is designed with REALTORS® in mind, offering intuitive tools and user-friendly interfaces that make navigating complex data sets a breeze. Whether researching property values, analyzing market trends, or generating reports for clients, REALTORS® can rely on RPR's easy-to-use tech to get the job done efficiently and effectively. But perhaps the most compelling aspect of RPR is its cost — or rather, lack thereof. Unlike other data platforms that come with hefty subscription fees or usage charges, RPR is available to commercial users at no additional cost. This means that REALTORS® can access a wealth of valuable data without worrying about breaking the bank. In an industry where time is money and data is king, RPR is the ultimate tool for commercial specialists who are looking to unlock their full potential. To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Agent Survey Reflects Continued Optimism Ahead of Anticipated Industry Changes
The Real Brokerage Inc. announced results from its March 2024 Agent Survey, offering insights into housing market trends and real estate agent expectations across the United States and Canada. The survey reveals continued optimism among agents about future market conditions in both the United States and Canada, despite expectations of a continued year-over-year decline in industry transactions in March. The survey also highlights agent expectations for improved transparency and readiness as the industry prepares to implement practice changes associated with the National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently announced settlement agreement. "We are grateful for the perspectives of our growing agent base, which has now surpassed the 17,000 milestone," said Tamir Poleg, Chairman and CEO of Real. "Their opinions and insights are essential in guiding our approach, ensuring we remain thoughtful and agile as we navigate industry shifts together." "Embracing change and fostering transparency are cornerstones of our culture," remarked Sharran Srivatsaa, President of Real. "Our agents' continued resilience and adaptability are critical as we position the company to capitalize on evolving industry dynamics and emerge even stronger." Key Findings Agents Remain Positive About Forward Outlook, Although Optimism Index Ticks Down Sequentially from February Level Real asked agents at the end of March 2024, "Compared to one month ago, are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the outlook for your primary market over the next 12 months?" Among the agents surveyed, 45% felt more optimistic and an additional 15% felt significantly more optimistic about the next 12 months, outweighing the 13% who felt more pessimistic and 7% who felt significantly more so. The average response among survey participants resulted in a weighted index reading of 63.3 on a 0-100 scale, with scores above 50 reflecting a positive outlook and those below 50, a negative one, thus signaling an expectation for improving year-over-year growth trends in the year ahead. March's index level showed a slight decline from February's 69.2, indicating lower optimism compared to the end of February, primarily due to a decline among U.S. agents, which offset improved optimism among agents surveyed in Canada. Balance of Power Shifts Further Towards Sellers When asked "Would you consider your primary market to be a buyer's market, seller's market, or balanced market?" 61% percent of agents noted sellers have the upper hand, an increase of 4 percentage points from February, while only 13% of agents believe buyers have the upper hand in their markets. Total North American Home Sale Industry Transactions Expected to Decline Year over Year in March Real asked agents, "In your primary market, how would you describe the number of transactions closed in March 2024 compared to March 2023?" The average response among survey participants resulted in a weighted index reading of 48.6 on a 0-100 scale, with scores above 50 indicating growth and below 50, a decline. The results suggest a modest decline in total industry transactions across the U.S. and Canada during March 2024 compared to March 2023, with a decline in the U.S. home sales market, while the Canadian market is expected to grow. March's index reading of 48.6 was slightly below February's 48.7 level. More Pronounced Decline Expected in the U.S. in March - The total number of U.S. home sale transactions is expected to decline in March 2024 compared to March 2023. Agent responses indicate a more pronounced pace of decline in March relative to February, with the average response among survey participants resulting in a March weighted index reading of 47.3, below the 48.5 level reached in February. Canada Market Growth Accelerates - Agents surveyed in Canada signaled accelerating year-over-year growth compared to February, with the average response among survey participants resulting in the overall Canadian weighted index rising to 62.9 in March from 51.8 in February. Affordability and Low Inventory Remain the Biggest Challenges Challenges for prospective home buyers include affordability/interest rates (47%) and inventory shortages (40%), with economic uncertainty and buyer competition tying for a distant third (each at 5%). Over One Third of Agents Expect Practice Changes to Improve Commission Rate Transparency Agents were asked whether they believe (i) a new rule prohibiting offers of buyer broker co-op compensation on the MLS and (ii) a requirement that MLS participants working with buyers enter into written agreements with their buyers, would improve transparency regarding commission rates in real estate transactions. Thirty-seven percent of agents surveyed believe these industry practice changes would improve transparency, compared to 29% who believed the changes would be neutral, and an additional 29% who believed the changes would not improve transparency. Agents See Buyer Agency Agreements as an Opportunity to Communicate the Value Agents Bring to a Transaction Forty-five percent of agents surveyed believe securing written buyer agent agreements will be relatively easy, contrasting with 27% who foresee potential difficulties. Meanwhile, 23% of agents are neutral on the issue, believing the ease of securing a written agreement will depend on each client's understanding of industry practices. Approximately Half of Agents Anticipate a Decline in Buy-Side Commission Rates Due to the Proposed Practice Changes Thirty-nine percent of agents surveyed expect buy-side commission rates to decline slightly as a result of the proposed practice changes, while an additional 12% expect buy-side commission rates to decrease significantly. This compares to 35% of agents who expect buy-side commission rates to remain about the same, and 9% who see an opportunity for buy-side commission rates to increase as a result of the proposed changes.

"Check Out Our Comprehensive Home Buyer and Seller Guide!"
For consumers in the market to buy or sell a home, it's crucial to stay informed about recent changes in the process. The landscape has evolved significantly, with new federal regulations mandating initial contracts with agents for buyer representation before home viewings. It's time to engage with your clients actively! A recent article by WAV Group highlights the necessity of updating your website to include seller concessions. However, the real transformation needs to occur in your marketing and communication strategies. Seize this moment to champion transparency and advocate for consumers navigating the evolving real estate market. Today, our industry requires a unified, consumer-centric approach to address the shifts in how real estate transactions are conducted. This message needs to resonate across all platforms: MLS listings, REALTOR® associations, brokerages, teams, agents, and even media outlets. With 131 million U.S. households needing to familiarize themselves with the changing landscape of real estate, the stakes are high. Imagine the perception if a potential client learns about these changes from sources other than their trusted agent — it could cast doubt on your credibility and integrity, potentially leading to misunderstandings about commissions. In fact, you can leverage this as an opportunity for lead generation. Consider creating a comprehensive whitepaper, prominently featured on your website and social media channels. Make it omnipresent in the digital sphere, branded to your agency. Accompany it with a press release and seek coverage in local news outlets, radio shows, and relevant consumer blogs or podcasts. As an industry, we have a collective responsibility to communicate effectively with consumers. This messaging should seamlessly integrate into your marketing efforts. Experts on the team, like Marilyn Wilson, Bondilyn Jolly, Kevin Hawkins, and Victor Lund are already assisting clients in this endeavor, and WAV Group Communications stands ready to help you craft a unique and impactful message tailored to your audience. Shoot the team an email to coordinate a call. Let's embrace this communication challenge together and ensure that consumers are well-informed and confident in navigating the real estate market's evolving landscape. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Brokers and Their Web Partners: Anticipating Change
In light of impending alterations stemming from the settlement agreement in the anti-trust litigation, updates to broker and agent websites are inevitable. It is imperative to initiate planning for these modifications immediately. Do not assume that your vendor is already addressing these changes; it is crucial to initiate the conversation proactively. While it may seem like the sky is falling, there is potential for brighter outcomes. "The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated." – Mark Twain Two decades ago, the emergence of IDX and VOW sparked concerns about the future of real estate and the role of agents. However, the enduring value of real estate agents transcends mere gatekeeping for property searches. Despite fluctuations in commissions, driven by home value inflation (more commission per trade) and escalating referral fees to portals (less commission per trade), the necessity of real estate agents remains robust. Even during crises such as the housing bubble burst in 2008, real estate professionals proved indispensable, safeguarding home sellers through tumultuous times. Facing another pivotal moment, the traditional practice of offering compensation to buyer's agents via the MLS is ending. While apprehension abounds, there are compelling reasons to believe in the enduring value of real estate agents. Consumer satisfaction with real estate services remains high, and alternative models like discount brokers and FSBO have failed to gain traction. The full-service approach continues to resonate with consumers and investors alike. Key Rule Changes Impacting Broker Websites: 1. Publication of Buyer Agent Compensation Listing brokers are the only ones allowed to display seller concessions on their websites, enhancing transparency. Collaborate with your vendor to effectively showcase these concessions, leveraging features to make listings more appealing. This presents an opportunity to drive increased traffic and capitalize on lead generation. 2. Requirement of Buyer Representation Agreements Buyers must sign representation agreements before viewing properties. This mandate can serve as a catalyst for enhanced lead conversion. Brokers should focus on streamlining the process and offer seamless digital solutions for negotiating commissions and signing contracts. Planning Ahead for Success It is evident that proactive planning is essential to navigate these impending changes successfully. With the industry likely to undergo simultaneous transformations, the time to act is now. Collaborate with industry experts like WAV Group and your real estate technology vendors to devise strategies that align with the evolving landscape. Waiting until the changes take effect could put your brokerage at a disadvantage. Strategic planning sessions can provide clarity and direction, ensuring readiness for the forthcoming shifts. In conclusion, while change may be daunting, it also presents opportunities for innovation and growth. Embrace the evolving landscape and position yourself for success by planning ahead, and staying ahead of your competition. What's at Risk? Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com, Movoto, and Redfin are all brokers with billions in revenue at risk. They have robust buyer agent networks, but are prohibited from displaying the seller's concession of listing brokers (except Redfin). Only the listing firm can do that. Not sure how their business model changes, but they are planning. P.S. Does the QR code on your yard sign take you to the landing page of the listing that displays the seller concessions? What about your virtual tours, or automated marketing tools for new listings, pendings, solds, etc.? You need to evaluate everything to get ahead of this. It is an enormous project that will take time. Start now. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Howard Hanna Joins Forces with Ask the Agent to Revolutionize Client Engagement
Howard Hanna announced a strategic partnership with Ask the Agent, an interactive video and conversational AI technology provider specializing in communication tools for the real estate industry. Ask the Agent brings a wealth of expertise in developing advanced technology solutions tailored specifically for the real estate industry. At the forefront of their offerings are two key products poised to revolutionize client engagement: Interactive Video and Conversational AI. Interactive Video: Ask the Agent's Interactive Video platform empowers Howard Hanna's agents to create and publish with one click immersive, personalized video experiences that captivate audiences while answering client questions on demand 24/7 to drive engagement. Its products, such as Meet the Agent, Property Listing Channel, Agent Broadcast Channel, feature calls to action with reports and unique client insights that elevate the user experience. Conversational AI: Ask the Agent's Conversational AI technology enables Howard Hanna to transform both large scale property listing descriptions and property search with knowledgeable, speaking avatars educated on every property with local area information, delivering unique real-time assistance. Interactions can include answer inquiries, property information, scheduling viewings, and guiding clients through the initial stages of the buying or selling process, enhancing efficiency and convenience for both parties. "Being able to help agents modernize and communicate what their value proposition is in an engaging interactive user experience is what Ask the Agent does best. It's the right product at the right time," said James Beckmann, Ask the Agent's CEO. "We are thrilled to partner with Ask the Agent to offer our agents these innovative technology solutions," said Kevin Patai, senior director of digital strategy, Howard Hanna. "With Interactive Video and Conversational AI, our agents have the opportunity to modernize their marketing strategies and gain a competitive edge in the market, ultimately delivering superior service to our clients." For more information about Howard Hanna, visit howardhanna.com. To learn more about Ask the Agent and its Interactive Video and Conversational AI solutions, visit asktheagent.com.

eXp Realty Names Leo Pareja as CEO to Drive Next Era of Growth and Innovation
eXp Realty announced the appointment of Leo Pareja as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective immediately. He succeeds Glenn Sanford, who will now fully dedicate his efforts to his position as Founder, Chairman, and CEO of eXp World Holdings. In his previous role as Chief Strategy Officer, Pareja was instrumental in solidifying eXp Realty's standing in the competitive real estate marketplace. His visionary leadership and remarkable track record has greatly enriched the company's value proposition to its agents. For example, the successful launches of strategic initiatives like eXp Exclusives, Revenos and significant enhancements to eXp Solutions. "Leo's innovative and recognized industry leadership has elevated our agent-value proposition by reshaping referrals and lead-generation," said Sanford. "His deep industry experience and influence on our community have been profound, and I trust that under his direction, eXp Realty will further fortify its competitive advantage and deliver unparalleled value to our agents, further cementing our position as a groundbreaking leader in the real estate industry." The announcement comes as eXp Realty is recognized in the top spot in five categories on the coveted RealTrends 500 report: Transaction Sides, 5 Year Top Movers (Sides), 5 Year Top Movers (Volume), Best Brokerages and Public Independent. The company also moved up to No. 3 in two categories: Volume and Billionaires' Club. The company continues to prove its model as it gains market share, welcoming the best agents in the industry. "As we step into this new chapter at eXp Realty, I am honored to lead a company that has always placed innovation and agent success at the forefront of its mission," said Pareja. "Together, we will not only continue to redefine the real estate landscape through technology and unparalleled agent support but also empower every member of our community to achieve their full potential." Having joined eXp Realty in 2022, Pareja brings over two decades of real estate experience, highlighted by numerous accolades including recognition in RealTrends' The Thousand report, topping the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' (NAHREP) Top 250 list, and being named a 30 under 30 agent by Realtor® Magazine. His entrepreneurial spirit is evidenced by his co-founding of one of the largest private lending companies on the U.S. East Coast and a rapidly growing MLS technology vendor. He has also played significant roles in the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, serving as the founding president of the Metro D.C. chapter and later as the national president.

WAV Group Releases 2024 Brokerage Technology Roadmap, Part 2: The Intranet
The WAV Group's 2024 Brokerage Technology Roadmap is a comprehensive guide designed to empower brokerages in maximizing profitability, streamlining operations, and fostering increased agent productivity and consumer engagement. This four-part series provides invaluable insights into leveraging technology effectively within the real estate industry. Part 2 of the report sheds light on the pivotal role played by the company intranet in driving agent productivity and facilitating product adoption. Building an effective intranet involves careful consideration of various factors, including email integration, single sign-on functionality, and commission payment portals. Email Integration Integrating email services into the intranet is paramount for driving adoption among agents. Given that professionals typically start their day with email, seamless integration ensures that the intranet becomes an indispensable tool in their daily workflow. Single Sign-On Password management can often be a significant barrier to adoption for agents and staff within enterprise real estate brokerages. With numerous applications requiring individual login credentials, streamlined access is crucial. Implementing single sign-on functionality simplifies the login process, allowing users to access multiple applications seamlessly through a centralized dashboard. Commission Payment Portal Agents prioritize access to their income, making it imperative to feature commission-related information prominently within the intranet. Whether displaying past income, pending payments, or 1099 statements, integrating commission management software enables agents to conveniently access and track their earnings. Providing self-service capabilities empowers agents to manage their financial information efficiently. By addressing these key components within the intranet, brokerages can enhance operational efficiency, promote agent productivity, and ultimately drive business success. The WAV Group's 2024 Brokerage Technology Roadmap serves as a guiding resource for navigating the complexities of modern real estate technology and harnessing its full potential. Get all the ingredients for a successful intranet infrastructure when you download the full report. Download Free with 'Roadmap' Code For a limited time only, brokerages can download part two of the 2024 Brokerage Technology Roadmap using code "roadmap" during checkout. WAV Group is publishing a four-part series on brokerage technology for 2024. Find the other articles in this series here: Part 1 – Brokerage Website Technology Part 2 – Brokerage Intranet Register to Receive the Entire Guide Be the first to receive a download opportunity for each segment of this four-part series. Register here (bottom of page). To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

[Podcast] The Benefits and Pitfalls of Agent Coaching with Kathy Schmidt
In this episode of Million Dollar Question, host Billy Ekofo interviews Kathy Schmidt, a seasoned professional with extensive experience in the Edmonton real estate market. Billy and Kathy discuss the significance of mentorship in real estate, the qualities of effective mentors, and the importance of setting healthy boundaries. The discussion also touches on the dynamic nature of the real estate sector, highlighting the need for two-way communication and humility in mentorship relationships. Connect with Kathy: Website: schmidtrealtygroup.com Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts RadioPublic Visit the episode homepage for show notes and more detail.

Leverage ListTrac to Convince Potential Sellers There is Strong Interest in Their Property
While supply is still limited and approximately one-quarter of homes are still receiving multiple offers, homeowners are still hesitant. They do not believe there is enough demand for their home to warrant selling it. Here's one simple way to counter that belief and demonstrate strong home buyer interest. Using the weekly ListTrac report available through participating MLS markets, it is easy to visually demonstrate where buyer interest is highest by looking at the weekly ListTrac views by price point information. In the attached example, you can see that homes retailing between $200,000 and $400,000 are creating the most online interest. If you have a potential seller that falls into that price point, you can convince them there IS strong buyer interest by sharing the easy-to-read graph shown here. Ask your MLS If they offer ListTrac and how you can take advantage of this FREE tool included in your subscription. This tool is also great to show your seller clients all the ways you are generating listing exposure and lead activity for them. Ask your MLS to show you the automated sellers reports you can easily create with ListTrac, too. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

The 11 Positive Side Effects of Brokerage M&A Stimulates Financial and Operational Growth
The title of WAV Group's book exemplifies the purpose of brokerage mergers and acquisitions, Acquiring More Profit. Successful mergers stimulate more transaction volume and profit for the firm, but there are many positive side effects that are often under-appreciated. Since publication, WAV Group has had the opportunity to collaborate with many of our clients to discuss the 11 positive side effects of successful M&A. Today, we'll outline how these 11 side effects stimulate financial and operational growth. 1. Intense focus on change There is an enormous amount of preparation that goes into a successful merger or acquisition. The process of discovery researching into the deep operational bowels of another brokerage will often yield new innovative approaches to improving your business. The process of evaluating if an acquisition strategy is right for you will drive an internal exploration of your own competencies, strengths, wants and needs. 2. Process documentation Every brokerage has developed operational processes. In WAV Group's findings, firms with fewer than 350 agents rarely have their processes documented. This can be particularly harmful in a merger because it makes it much more difficult to train managers and agents on how the firm operates. As a result, processes are defined ad hoc by agents who want to do things the way they have always done things, or managers implement processes at the branch level that vary from branch to branch. Proper process documentation by both firms in a merger allows the companies to evolve their processes to blend the best practices of each firm together and improve the overall effectiveness of the combined entity. 3. Improved onboarding and offboarding Firms with more than 100 agents typically have a checklist for onboarding a new agent. In addition to the many documents that need to be signed, there are introductions that need to be made to support staff, and probably about 22 software applications that need to be configured to the new agent. Often, a successful onboarding experience will validate the agent's decision to join you and become a productive long term asset. Most firms do a pretty decent job of onboarding, but fail to have a documented process for offboarding. What are all of the things that need to be shut off when an agent leaves the firm? WAV Group audits brokerages regularly to align software licenses to shut off applications that they are continuing to pay for agents who have left the firm, shut off agent IDX agreements, etc. During a merger, the firm is onboarding a horde of agents. Proper planning and documentation will allow this process to happen smoothly and delight the agents joining the firm with little or no disruption to their selling efforts. 4. Growth There are enormous economies of scale that can happen in a growing real estate company. Many operational expenses are not linear with the number of agents or transactions. Most firms have excess capacity in their fixed expenses which could be spread over many more agents. Often growth will drive down the cost of business and press the efficiency of underutilized company assets like offices and staff. Companies like Homesmart have created technologies that even support remote office staff. For example, the home office has a team of receptionists who pop up on a screen like a Zoom call when anyone enters the office. They greet the guests on video and either page an agent or help the visitor with anything they need. This process allows a receptionist to greet anyone entering any office any time. There are many other examples of this. The ability to maximize the efficiency of the firm's services to a wider net of agents and clients often produces efficacies of scale. Transaction management, commission management, training, and other regular activities of the brokerage are often underutilized, and the growth of the firm can be supported without additional staffing. 5. Value creation Every firm in real estate is competing amid significant disruption and uncertainty. The scale of a firm in a given market will cast a bright light of industry leadership against mounting margin pressures and the determined efforts to realign costs to sustain market share and profitability. Firms who are active in M&A are constantly strengthening their competitive positioning with smart cost decisions to preserve profits and enable further investment in growth through acquisitions. Firms who view their business value in light of the capital value of their company are often the most efficient managers of expenses and capital. 6. Offset taxes through reinvestment Most brokerage firm owners take a minimum salary to optimize the profits of the firm. At the end of the year, the firm either pays profits out to the shareholders as dividends or pays corporate tax to keep the money in the company for operating expenses. Another efficient way to manage the tax implications of profits is to reinvest operating profit into acquisitions. Losses from one company offset profits in another company. As a result of properly adhering to the tax code, firms can reinvest profits into growth and benefit from the tax savings. 7. Reassess management team and function Every good manager has a superpower. Some are great at training, others are great deal-doctors, some outperform their peers at recruiting, and more. Expanding the company provides an opportunity for management realignment that allows the firm to put the best players on the field in the position that they thrive in. There is nothing more beneficial in a merger than picking up additional management that is equal to or better than your existing staff. This is often called an acquihire – merging the words acquisition and hire into one word. 8. A playbook is an asset WAV Group works with many brokerages to create an acquisition playbook. This is a customized document that is based upon the acquisition checklists that are included in the Implementation System to Acquiring More Profit. (BTW, if you purchase the Implementation Guide, be sure to purchase the electronic version where we will deliver the editable Word and Excel docs that comprise the Implementation Guide. This allows you to customize the checklists to align with your organization.) Having a process that is documented and refined with each merger allows a firm to get increasingly better at mergers. The same is true for opening new offices. Having a list of everything that needs to be done and the assignment of tasks to the people who will take on the tasks is a keynote of preparedness that allows companies to consistently have successful merger outcomes. Moreover, if an opportunity arises quickly when a broker comes to you with an immediate merger need, you will be ready. Leading companies like Compass, Howard Hanna, HomeServices of America, United Realty, and many others have made acquisitions a repeatable science in their business. 9. Expand business units If you look in the rear view mirror to determine how companies maximize financial and operational growth through mergers and acquisitions, you find that the greatest amount of success is delivered through the expansion of business units. Real estate brokerages often have a variety of affiliated businesses that also benefit from the merger of brokerages. For example, at Watson Realty they have business units in mortgage, title, insurance, new home, property management, relocation, along with home service companies like plumbing, electric, landscaping, etc. Companies that merge with Watson not only benefit from their operational expertise and brand, but enable additional consumer services that drive additional margin to the company. 10. Grow firm value Whenever WAV Group speaks to brokers about mergers and acquisitions, the top question is what multiple of profit are companies trading at today. Our answer is always a range – 3x to 7x profit. But that is a small part of the answer. Many times, a company can be unprofitable but growing at a remarkable pace. For example, Compass is currently valued at $1.7B but has rarely demonstrated an operating profit. Even if your brokerage is not profitable, it has value. Last year, a client of ours did an acquisition where the seller brought a check to the closing table. The overall observation made by WAV Group over the past decade is that larger firms trade at a higher value than smaller firms. A company that is operating in the top-third in an area's market share is worth more than a small firm operating in the bottom-third. Rolling up a bunch of small firms in a market to create a large firm is a great strategy for using growth to improve the value of a business. 11. Shared services Many real estate companies have staff who are jacks-of-many-trades, masters of none. As firms grow, they are able to dedicate staff members to single roles rather than multiple roles. Rather than have multiple staff members responsible for a variety of operational activities, those staff members can be dedicated to fewer activities across a wider organization. It is vital that these opportunities for shared services are explored before and after a merger to streamline the organization and eliminate duplicate and inconsistent work. As you can appreciate, mergers create many important side effects to improve the performance of a brokerage firm beyond increased market share, transaction volume, and profit. Be sure to purchase a copy of Acquiring More Profit and our Implementation Guide to get started on your M&A journey. If you need a valuation on your company, if you are thinking of selling, or there is a company that you would like to buy, please reach out to us to schedule a confidential discussion. We will immediately schedule a discovery meeting. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Survey Reveals Optimistic Agent Outlook, Highlights a Strong Sellers' Market
The Real Brokerage Inc. announced the results of its February 2024 Agent Survey, offering insights into housing market trends and real estate agent expectations across the United States and Canada. The survey reveals a resilient optimism among agents about future market conditions in both the United States and Canada, highlighting a prevailing sellers' market, despite overall industry transactions expected to decline year-over-year in February. "We first launched our agent survey in January as a strategic initiative to directly capture the sentiments and experiences of our rapidly growing network of over 16,000 agents," said Tamir Poleg, Chairman and CEO of Real. "With a presence now covering all 50 states and four Canadian provinces, we're excited to share our agents' valuable insights with the broader public. This effort underscores our commitment to transparency and the immense value we place on our agents' perspectives." Sharran Srivatsaa, President of Real, added, "Our agents are the true experts of their local markets. This survey bridges the gap from their individual market insights to broader industry trends, underscoring the pivotal role our agents play in guiding our strategic direction." Key Findings Agents Remain Optimistic About Forward Outlook Real asked agents at the end of February 2024, "Compared to one month ago, are you more optimistic or pessimistic about the outlook for your primary market over the next 12 months?" Among the agents surveyed, 53% felt more optimistic and an additional 16% were significantly more optimistic about the next 12 months, outweighing the 7% who felt more pessimistic and 1% significantly more so. The average response among survey participants resulted in a weighted index reading of 69.2 on a 0-100 scale, with scores above 50 reflecting a positive outlook and those below 50, a negative one, thus signaling an expectation for improving year-over-year growth trends. There were similar sentiments shared by both U.S. and Canadian agents. However, February's index level of 69.2 showed a slight decline from January's 73.7, indicating a modest softening in optimism compared to the end of January. Sellers Continue to Have the Upper Hand When asked "Would you consider your primary market to be a buyer's market, seller's market, or balanced market?" 57% percent of agents noted sellers have the upper hand, an increase of 11 percentage points from January. Total North American Home Sale Industry Transactions Expected to Decline Year over Year in February Real asked agents, "In your primary market, how would you describe the number of transactions closed in February 2024 compared to February 2023?" The average response among survey participants resulted in a weighted index reading of 48.7 on a 0-100 scale, with scores above 50 indicating growth and below 50, a decline. The results suggest a decline in total industry transactions across the U.S. and Canada during February 2024 compared to February 2023, with a decline in the U.S. home sales market, while the Canadian market is expected to grow. February's index reading of 48.7 showed a modest decline from January's 49.0 level. Pace of Decline in the U.S. Improves in February: The total number of U.S. home sale transactions is expected to decline in February 2024 compared to February 2023. However, agents expect an easing in the pace of decline relative to January, with the average response among survey participants resulting in a February weighted index reading of 48.5, improving from 47.8 in January. Canadian Market Growth Continues at More Moderate Pace: Agents surveyed in Canada signaled continued year-over-year growth, although at a more moderate rate compared to January, with the average response among survey participants resulting in the overall Canada weighted index reading decreasing to 51.8 in February from 55.5 in January. Affordability Remains the Biggest Hurdle for Buyers Challenges for prospective home buyers include affordability/interest rates (45%) and inventory shortages (42%), with economic uncertainty (5%) and buyer competition (4%) being distant third and fourth concerns. Nearly Two-Thirds of Agents See Referrals as Most Effective Lead Source Sixty-three percent of agents cite networking and referrals as the most effective source of leads, followed by social media (12%), online advertising (5%), and home search portals (3%). About the Survey The Real Brokerage February 2024 Agent Survey included responses from over 500 real estate agents across the United States and Canada and was launched in the last week of February 2024. Responses to questions regarding transaction growth and agent optimism were calibrated on a 0-100 point index scale, with readings above 50 indicating an improving trend, whereas readings below 50 indicate a declining trend. Responses are meant to capture industry-level information and are not meant to serve as an indication of Real's company-specific growth trends.

The Big Thaw and the NAR Settlement
Friday certainly did not go as planned. The NAR settlement changed the course of my day and weekend. More on that later. Spring has sprung in Jackson, WY. The Big Thaw from winter to spring has begun. Yesterday was nearly 50 degrees, and we expect high 40-degree weather with sunny blue skies again today. A few great weekends of spring skiing still ahead. Switching to the big thaw in residential real estate: consumers no longer seem to have expectations that interest rates will return to 2022 levels. The stability of 6 percent mortgages is driving consumer confidence and activity. Mortgage buy-downs are becoming more popular. The Goldman Sachs chart below suggests interest rates may fall to 6 percent flat over the next two years. Coming off the lowest unit volume of 2023 in decades, the Realtor.com trend lines for new listings by month are positive compared to 2023. As we near the end of Q1 2024 and enter the traditional spring selling season, it seems that buyers will have more choices. The Realtor.com Active U.S. housing inventory for sale chart below has inventory building beyond levels seen since 2021. Now it's the buyers' turn to take down the inventory. Come and get it! Our markets across the country perform very differently; real estate is local. From my listening posts, Q1 2024 has been busier than any Q1 since 2021, which included record low interest rates and the great COVID migration. We are all thankful for the thaw! Regarding the NAR settlement: it represents an exceptional opportunity for the good to become great. This includes real estate professionals and brokerage firms. Those individuals and/or companies that focus on perfecting the expression of their value proposition will gain market share. It's that simple! If you have deeper questions, please call me. This is Where We Are Now. Mark McLaughlin serves as CEO of McLaughlin Ventures and M&A Advisory at WAV Group. To view the original article, visit the McLaughlin Ventures blog.

Best Way to Build Your Brokerage M&A Strategy
Last week, the WAV Group M&A team hosted a webinar for more than 300 brokers as the final episode of our webinar series for our book, Acquiring More Profit. In our final episode, co-author George Slusser and I reviewed the final stage of a merger – "Evaluating Your Results." We welcomed Nicole Rideout Hartwick of Gibson Sotheby's and Matt Rand of Howard Hanna Rand Realty as panelists. Both firms close numerous acquisitions each year. Immediately after the webinar, a number of brokers who have never executed a transaction before reached out to get advice on how to get started. A lot of this information is in the book, but one item that we did not write about is a self valuation. Are You a Buyer or Seller? The first question that a brokerage should answer for themselves is if they are a buyer or seller. Regardless of size, this is always the most important question to explore. We all know that if someone came along with an unbelievable offer, it would be a no-brainer to sell. However, the regularity of unbelievable offers is extremely limited, especially in a low margin business like real estate brokerage. Similarly, if someone wanted to give you their brokerage because they are tired of running it, most firms would accept. This is also an unlikely scenario. The best way to answer this question is to have a valuation done on your business before you initiate conversation with another firm about a merger or acquisition. WAV Group can perform the valuation for you, or you can use the worksheet offered in our Implementation Guide and do it yourself. Either way, you can start out by looking at your own business. You must evaluate the business as if a "third party" absentee owner was involved. Adjustments are made for what expenses they may need to add, or what expenses they would not need to incur. Be honest about the true profitability of your firm, not just what the financial statements might tell you. Would you buy your brokerage today? Would you sell it for the multiple of EBITA ranging from 3X to 6X? Exploring the question of being a buyer or seller of your company is the best way to understand as to whether you are in fact the buyer, and when you might be the seller. Trade Multiples Today, smaller firms are usually trading for 3X to 4X of the trailing 12 months' Adjusted EBITDA, but larger firms with more than $1 billion in transaction volume are likely to see 5X to 6X. These are general numbers that will simply get you into the ballpark of what brokerage firms are trading for. The terms of the deal can move the needle on the multiple in many ways. Like an AVM, these multiples get you close, but your company is worth the exact amount that you are willing to accept from a buyer – driven by many motivations, synergies, opportunities, and culture. Some firms simply fit together very well, producing higher valuations. At other times, the fit is OK, leading to lower valuations. It's like the perfect house vs. an adequate house. Other Getting Started Basics Data helps. Nearly every broker is looking at marketshare data every month. Most firms can use the knowledge about a competitor's commission plans and the local operating costs to estimate how a brokerage is performing. Use those market share reports and your knowledge of the key agents at a competitive firm to define your prospect list. Meet with potential candidates. George Slusser often likes to use the analogy of "It's Just Lunch" to discuss prospecting for M&A trades. Compatibility and culture are the ingredients that make for great transactions – far more impactful than the price paid. Price is what you pay, value is what you receive. In our webinar, Matt Rand shared a story about a merger that took nine years to happen! The important lesson here is that you need to get out and socialize with your competitors, much in the same way you recruit agents. It's a sales pipeline. Some owners do not like the prospecting part of M&A, which is fine. If you are looking to buy or sell, WAV Group can get you started. You need to be prepared to take the meeting, but we can help you get there. Once you get started, keep going. Rinse and repeat. There are 180,000 operating real estate brokerages in America, according to NAR estimates. Lots of fish in the pond. Start casting! To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Why You Need to Say 'Yes' to Multifactor Authentication
Purchasing a home is typically the largest and most significant investment of our lives. It's a milestone interwoven with personal dreams, aspirations, and an immense amount of confidential information. Real estate agents, brokers, and their MLSs are more than just facilitators of a home purchase – you are stewards of trust, responsible for managing, protecting, and maintaining the confidentiality, integrity, and security of sensitive information on behalf of buyers and sellers. Trust remains the core reason most people select a real estate agent. According to research from the National Association of Realtors, 97 percent of consumers said honesty and integrity were the most important traits for a real estate agent. Agents, brokers, and MLSs must ensure that their clients' personal details, financial records, and other sensitive data are kept secure and confidential. When clients choose to work with you, they entrust you with the most personal and confidential information they will ever share in a purchase transaction. In our digital era, where anyone can access data from anywhere at any time, you must actively protect personal information. Real estate in the crosshairs Security company Astra reports an average of 2,200 cyberattacks per day in the U.S. across all industries, and real estate is fast becoming a preferred target. According to leading cyber security firm Octiv, bad actors were responsible for 75 real estate industry breaches last year, including well-publicized ransomware incidents that delayed some property closings for weeks, costing the industry more than $50 million. The experts at Octiv recently warned at a CoreLogic conference of MLS executives that real estate is becoming a bigger target for hackers than ever. The problem with passwords Security experts say the challenge for real estate is that the passwords we use to protect access to our systems and the personal information of clients on those systems are not enough. Research by NordPass documents the widespread use of poor passwords in every industry, not just real estate. However, real estate is particularly vulnerable because of the size of these transactions, the wiring of large amounts of funds, and the disclosure of buyers' and sellers' deep financial and personal details. Multifactor authentication offers a solution Despite efforts to strengthen password use, NordPass research shows that these efforts are a massive failure overall in the U.S. The growing solution to our password problems is multifactor authentication. Multifactor authentication (MFA) requires users to provide two or more forms of identification to access an account. These factors can include something you know (like a password), something you have (like a smartphone), or something you are (like a fingerprint or biometric scan). MFA ensures that even if one of your credentials is compromised, unauthorized access to your account is still blocked. By requesting multiple forms of identification, MFA makes it significantly harder for hackers to gain unauthorized access to your accounts. Requiring more than one form of identification provides vastly more robust security protection than using even a complex password. How MFA works Think of MFA as adding a deadbolt lock to your door – even if someone has the key (your password), they still can't get in without the second one, and that additional form of authentication is your added protection. Common steps to an MFA process: Step 1 – You enter your email address or mobile number. Step 2 – You are sent a one-time link to access your account. Step 3 – After you click on the link, you are prompted to enter a one-time numerical code (with a short expiration) sent via your account registered email or mobile number. Step 4 – You enter the code provided and get access to your account. Another MFA approach begins with prompting you for your username and password. Once verified, you are taken to a page requiring you to enter a one-time code, either to your registered email or mobile number associated with your account. The code has a short expiration, so you must enter that code quickly to obtain access to the account. A little pain for a lot of gain While MFAs are quickly becoming standardized in real estate, this has not been without resistance. MLSs and brokerages don't like the idea of "forcing" their users to change. Change is hard, especially when the behavior you are trying to change is among independent private contractors. Overall, many agents don't like the idea that they might have to take extra steps to log in and would rather use a password. Again, the problem tech companies face is that password strength is abysmal overall. In fact, the Nordpass study found that "123456" and "password" are still among the most commonly used passwords in America. Our weak password culture is a ticking time bomb, waiting to be exploited by hackers. Multifactor authentication creates a layer of security that solves the password problem by requiring additional forms of identification, making it exponentially harder for unauthorized users to gain access. MFA is your digital bodyguard Yes, multifactor authentication may occasionally require a little more work to access your accounts, but its extra protection is more than worth it. Consider the potential consequences of a security breach: lost client trust, financial losses, and damage to your professional reputation. Verifying your identity takes only a few extra seconds. Think of it as an investment in the long-term security of your business. Imagine this scenario: A hacker gains access to your email account and starts sending fraudulent messages to your clients, requesting sensitive information or funds. The damage to your reputation and client relationships could be irreparable. Now, consider the same scenario with MFA enabled. Even if the hacker obtains your password, they won't be able to access your account without the second form of authentication, effectively stopping the attack in its tracks. The minor inconvenience of an extra login step – or two – pales in comparison to the potential consequences of a breach. Artificial intelligence is improving MFA One valuable and practical benefit of artificial intelligence is that it is making the MFA process less frequent. Known as "adaptive authentication," it uses built-in AI and machine learning to selectively decide and deploy MFA only when it determines it is required. CoreLogic recently rolled out adaptive authentication as part of its Clareity security offering to deter unauthorized users, bots, and deceptive login attempts in real time. By learning your behavior patterns, it can instantly spot potentially nefarious activity. For example, if you normally log in from Miami but MFA sees you are attempting to log in from Moscow, it will deploy MFA. Otherwise, when it recognizes you accessing your Single Sign-On dashboard from the same place, you will be able to sign in without additional authentication. Better to be safe than sorry Cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the real estate industry. Embracing multifactor authentication is no longer a choice but a necessity. Keep in mind that whenever you struggle to use any new technology, Tech Helpline analysts can help. This service is available to over 750,000 Realtors in North America as a member benefit from their MLS or association. Saying "yes" when asked to opt into MFA helps uphold the trust your clients place in you, safeguarding the very foundation of your business – and our industry. Related reads From the Tech Helpline Blog: 4 Ways to Improve Your Cybersecurity 6 Reasons Not To Use Similar Passwords And The Best Alternatives Is Your Computer Protected from All The Newest Cyber Threats? A Quick Checklist Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns both Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.

[Podcast] Navigating Realtor Safety: Insights with Shannon Cutler
In this episode of Million Dollar Question, host Billy Ekofo chats with Shannon Cutler, an expert deeply committed to Realtor safety. With seasoned experience and hands-on knowledge, Shannon enlightens us about the importance of ensuring safety in the real estate profession. She delves into practical strategies and simple tips for prioritizing while navigating the intricate realm of real estate dealings. In this episode of Million Dollar Question: What prompted Shannon's transition from police officer to Realtor Property market dynamics on Vancouver Island Tactics for safe real estate practices Misconceptions around safety in the real estate industry Potential pitfalls of hurrying through deals and how to avoid them Connect with Shannon: LinkedIn: Shannon Cutler Website: shannoncutler.com Instagram: @islandshannoncutler Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts RadioPublic Visit the episode homepage for show notes and more detail.

Redfin Launches AI-Powered Tool to Answer Questions About For-Sale Homes
Redfin announced the beta launch of Ask Redfin, a generative AI-powered virtual assistant that quickly answers homebuyers' questions about for-sale homes. House hunters can now use Ask Redfin to learn about a listing, such as whether there's an upcoming open house, monthly homeowners association fees, what school district the home is in and much more. Anyone searching via the Redfin iPhone app in the U.S. can opt in to the Ask Redfin beta. Redfin created the feature to help homebuyers easily find the information they care about within a home's listing details, local market conditions, nearby schools, touring availability and more. Ask Redfin answers questions about home amenities (does this house have air conditioning?), market conditions (what do homes in this area typically sell for?), and zoning (can I build an ADU?), among other topics. It's integrated with Redfin's support team, so homebuyers can be quickly connected to a licensed real estate agent if their question goes beyond the details of the listing, such as how to make an offer or to get an agent's opinion on the market value of a home. "When you're house-hunting, details about all the homes you're considering start to blur together," said Dallas Redfin Premier Agent Casi Fricks. "Ask Redfin will be an asset to buyers looking for fast answers 24/7. And, if a buyer wants to take next steps, get more expert insights or discuss their options, they're quickly connected to an agent who can help." Ask Redfin uses large language models to tap nearly all of the publicly available information on a home's listing page and beyond to respond to queries. "We include an enormous amount of data on every listing you find on Redfin because homebuyers deserve as much insight into a home as possible," said Ariel Dos Santos, Redfin Senior Vice President of Product and Design. "Ask Redfin makes it easy and effortless for customers to find the information they want to know." People using the latest version of the Redfin iPhone app to search for homes in about a dozen U.S. metros—including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C., among others—will automatically see Ask Redfin when they view a listing. Redfin iPhone app users searching for homes outside of those areas can opt-in to the experience by logging into their account, visiting the My Redfin section of the app and selecting "Try Ask Redfin." This will turn on Ask Redfin for use on any U.S. listing, regardless of where the home is located. Redfin plans to make Ask Redfin visible by default in more markets and available on additional platforms in the future, and the company is encouraging homebuyers to share feedback as they try the beta version.

Brokers: 3 Hacks to Improve Your Transaction Management Experience
The life of a real estate broker-owner is a balancing act. You juggle an endless array of responsibilities daily, from recruiting and retaining top talent to ensuring legal compliance, managing finances, supporting agents, overseeing transactions, and building relationships. As a broker, one of the most effective ways to increase office efficiency is by integrating a digital transaction management solution into your real estate business ecosystem. With the right system in place, you can leverage the power of a robust transaction management solution by utilizing hacks to get the most out of your system. Here are three impactful hacks that can help you get the most out of your transaction management system: Hack #1: The power of agent insight — acting vs. reacting Transaction management systems give brokers real-time visibility into deal workflows. Rather than waiting for agents to raise issues, you can proactively identify bottlenecks and provide support. By tracking agent activity, you gain insight to: The habits of top performers to share their best practices across your team Identify points in the transaction lifecycle where agents commonly get stuck Develop standardized systems and checklists to smooth workflows Spot areas where additional training may be beneficial Checking in with agents at critical milestones For example, if you notice several agents taking over a week to get fully executed contracts to buyers, you can work with them to identify obstacles. Perhaps they struggle with understanding a new form or are simply new to the business. Insight can lead to additional coaching, and you can continue monitoring to see if the situation improves. Armed with this knowledge, you can immediately offer support or resources to help agents get back on track, avoiding delays that could jeopardize their deals. This proactive approach accelerates transaction completion rates and enhances agent satisfaction and client trust. Hack #2: Using clauses to save time Creating and saving clauses within your transaction management system, such as Form Simplicity, can significantly reduce the time spent drafting documents. These clauses consist of creating standard phrases or wording frequently used in transactions and making them available to be inserted into forms as needed. This preparation saves considerable time across numerous transactions, making the process more efficient for everyone involved. Both brokers and agents can build a database of reusable clauses related to transaction language for forms, disclosures, and more. With a robust clause library, brokers and agents can search and insert relevant clauses into documents instead of drafting from scratch each time. Some examples of helpful clauses include: Standard terms for listing agreements Phrases for Seller disclosures Verbiage explaining financing contingencies Language surrounding home inspections Consider your office's cumulative time savings across all transactions. The use of prefilling clauses speeds up the drafting process and ensures consistency and accuracy across all transactions, benefiting both agents and clients. Setting up clause libraries will require a bit of effort upfront but will save significant time down the road. Brokers can choose to build a shared clause library or allow agents to create their own individual collections. Hack #3: Configuring automated notifications and email reminders By setting up automatic notifications, brokers put their transaction management system on autopilot. One of the greatest values of task notifications and email reminders within your transaction management system is you can ensure that nothing falls through the cracks. Automated reminders help keep agents, clients, and third-party vendors informed about upcoming deadlines, necessary documentation, and other critical aspects of the transaction process. Email alerts also remove the need for brokers and agents to log in to check statuses continually. Instead, the system pushes out reminders when attention is required. Some examples of notifications brokers can include: Alerting agents when new forms are uploaded that require review Reminding agents of looming tasks and deadlines Informing brokers when transactions reach key milestones requiring oversight Requesting broker review when agents submit completed documents By fine-tuning notifications for different user groups, brokers ensure the right people receive prompts relevant to their roles. Removing the need for brokers and agents to monitor systems constantly enables everyone to focus on high-value activities, saving crucial time. Streamline management with smarter transaction tools You know from personal experience that running a real estate brokerage comes with no shortage of moving parts to manage. Transaction management systems organize workflows to help brokers act as strategic leaders rather than reactive problem solvers. Monitoring agent dealings, building clause libraries, and configuring system notifications allow you to work smarter, not harder, when overseeing transactions. Implementing these three simple hacks helps brokers ensure transactions flow efficiently so agents can provide exceptional service. When you have structured processes in place, you can help create more capacity for business growth while cultivating a positive office culture of success. Learn more about one of America's leading transaction management solutions, Form Simplicity, at formsimplicity.com. Related reads From the Form Simplicity Blog: Protecting your brokerage: How to audit-proof the transaction side of your business Broker Benefits: 3 Ways Brokers Can Maximize Their Use of a Transaction Management Solution 3 Surprising Advantages of a Digital Transaction Management Program Tricia Stamper is Director of Technology at Florida Realtors®, which owns both Tech Helpline and Form Simplicity.

eXp World Holdings Revolutionizes Real Estate Radio With 'KGCI Real Estate on Air' Partnership
eXp Realty announced a partnership with "KGCI Real Estate on Air," an online streaming radio channel. The platform was created to empower, inspire and foster professional growth for all real estate agents through a dynamic mix of educational, insightful and motivational segments. "KGCI Real Estate on Air is a complete game-changer for our industry," said Bryon Ellington, Chief Learning Officer, eXp Realty. "It's a one-stop-shop for all the knowledge and expertise agents need to thrive in their day-to-day operations. Through this partnership, we envision KGCI Real Estate on Air becoming an indispensable resource for agents everywhere, empowering them to develop their skills and stay at the forefront of an ever-changing industry." KGCI Real Estate on Air features daily broadcasting, and is designed to build community and provide guidance to agents. The channel will also keep agents updated on the latest industry trends and opportunities, ensuring they stay ahead of the curve. According to statistica.com, internet radio's reach in the U.S. has increased sharply in the last decade with 75% of the population having listened to online radio in December 2023, compared to 45% in the previous 10 years. Weekly online radio consumption among U.S. listeners has also increased, growing from 12% in 2007 to 70% in 2023. One of the most exciting aspects of KGCI Real Estate on Air is the inclusion of agent voices from around the globe. eXp Realty agents Knolly Williams, Hollie Kitchens, Ricky Carruth and Carrie Soave are just a few top-producing agents who will be sharing their insights and experiences on the channel. "As an agent, I can tell you KGCI Real Estate on Air is exactly what we need in the real estate industry today," says Monica Weakley, another top-performing agent at eXp Realty and member of eXp World Holdings Board of Directors. "In today's landscape, agents face a constant influx of change. This station seeks to foster an open dialogue that promotes continuous learning and thoughtful discussions, ultimately fueling professional growth. Together, we will embark on a journey to elevate the real estate industry, and I am thrilled to be a part of that." Tune in to KGCI Real Estate on Air daily at realestateonair.fm. "We're excited to see the impact this radio channel will have on our agents and the real estate industry as a whole," said Ellington. "Let's tune in and start this new chapter together!"

Understanding Your ListTrac Report
The image below is a clip from ListTrac Web Insights for an MLS. ListTrac is now reporting metrics from nearly every major IDX vendor, the major portals, and the MLS systems including Black Knight, Matrix, FlexMLS, and Rapattoni – in total, over 100,000 real estate property search sites. This particular report shows listing views. It should be no surprise that Zillow is the leading consumer site for viewing property. In most MLS areas, Zillow has more traffic than all other sites combined (which is true in this market). Here are some interesting observations: The MLS system matters The MLS system is a major point of engagement for consumers who are home shopping. Moreover, consumers viewing property from the MLS system are working close enough with a real estate agent that the agent goes through the trouble of setting up their saved search. Of course, the MLS views will also include the research done by agents when they do searches. It is a hard number to dissect, much in the same way that traffic to Zillow is hard to dissect the intention of consumers on Zillow or other consumer sites. Homes.com? Homes.com was contested by Realtor.com when CoStar CEO, Andy Florence, announced that Homes.com has garnered enough traffic to become the second highest ranking portal in America. Realtor.com CEO, Damian Eales, stated in a podcast that Andy's statement is easy to make "when you are grading your own homework." WAV Group has not seen a ListTrac report that validates the claims of Mr. Florence in any market, but we have no reason to doubt him. If you have evidence, please pass it along. Homesnap? Sadly, Homesnap has also disappeared from these reports. Homesnap was the partner to the Broker Public Portal and was garnering tremendous traffic in many markets. Before the sale to CoStar, I believe that 1.2 million real estate agents were benefiting from their service through their MLS. I still do not understand why CoStar killed that product. As you can see, Zillow has retained Trulia, which is outperforming Homes.com in this market. Who is IDX vendor Cyberitas? A Google search result of the company indicates that they are working with Anywhere brand Century 21. In this market, Century 21.com is slightly ahead of virtual tour vendor Property Panorama in terms of traffic, and slightly behind Homes.com in overall traffic. I found it interesting that Century 21 has more traffic than Coldwell Banker in this market. Typically, it is reversed. The Power of IDX (or powerless IDX) In terms of IDX vendors, Reliance Networks and MoxiWorks were tied, followed by IDX Broker and iHouseWeb. But overall, IDX is dwindling in terms of attracting consumers to search for properties. WAV Group believes that IDX vendors have failed to keep up with the portals in one key area: IDX sites do not display listings of all parcels. They only display the listings for sale or recently sold (in many markets). Consumers love getting the listing information at the parcel level published by Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Homes.com, Movoto, Redfin; and the newly appointed sites by RE/MAX and Compass that have also become parcel centric. If you are a broker, remember to log into ListTrac and look at how your listings are performing in the market. Share that information with your agents so they understand these numbers and remind them that ListTrac has seller reports that show where a client's listing is being viewed. If you are an MLS and would like help interpreting the ListTrac report and communicating that to your brokers, agents, or consumers, reach out to our team. WAV Group Communications can help. Other ListTrac Data Points ListTrac will also show you how many leads were generated off of listings, and which sites generated the most number of leads. They will also show visitor trends. You will be amazed at how much traffic dips in the MLS on weekends. I love the top agent report. As you might expect, the agent with the most listings has the most views of their listings. The geographic traffic report is fascinating. It allows you to look at where the consumer is searching from. This particular market has significant search traffic from the major Texas cities. The national narrative is that everyone is moving to Florida and Texas – but this area is attracting folks from Texas. Last but not least are the most popular price points. Seventy percent of all search traffic in this market was for homes under $500,000. As you can tell, I am a ListTrac fan. If you have it in your market, make a point to review it every month. Be sure to include it in your training and communications. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Keller Williams and Coursera Partner on Real Estate Education Certificate
Keller Williams has partnered exclusively with Coursera, a leading online learning platform, to offer the KW Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate. Within two to four months, the foundational program can prepare users with or without a college degree or industry experience for a career in real estate. "Two powerhouses in education – Keller Williams and Coursera – are joining forces to empower individuals to build rewarding careers in real estate," said Meredith Maples, senior director of Keller Williams University. Powered by the new partnership, the KW Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate comprises 124 hours of world-class content, including videos, readings, assessments, and hands-on projects. The KW Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate encompasses five core courses: The Principles of Real Estate Sales Fundamentals Establish Clients for Life with Buyers Establish Clients for Life with Sellers Manage a Real Estate Business "This is one of the most comprehensive foundational real estate education programs available on the market today," said Maples. "The KW Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate caters to aspiring individuals and licensed agents, offering essential foundational training for success in an industry that provides limitless opportunity." Over 142 million registered learners come to Coursera to learn job-relevant skills from 300 leading universities and industry partners. KW's certificate is part of a portfolio of more than 40 entry-level professional certificates designed to help learners become job-ready. One in four completers of these professional certificate programs secured a new job, according to Coursera's 2023 Learner Outcomes Report. "This new partnership enables us to train the next generation of real estate agents and leaders at an unprecedented scale," said Marni Baker Stein, Chief Content Officer of Coursera. "This program provides an accessible entry point for anyone interested in the industry." "Keller Williams' top agents teach you exactly what it's like to be a real estate agent, help you master the skills you need to succeed, and provide a pathway to a fulfilling career," said Stein. To learn more about the KW Real Estate Agent Professional Certificate, visit coursera.org. The new certificate allows aspiring individuals to fully explore a real estate career prior to committing to pre-licensing education and a new career. Upon completion of certification, Keller Successful Career Opportunities in Real Estate (KSCORE) will provide scholarships to eligible individuals in qualifying areas for pre-licensing education. "This certificate will put aspiring real estate agents in a stronger position than ever before as they embark on a new career," said Maples.

[Podcast] Real Estate Rollercoaster: Navigating the Market Madness with Jason Jakus
In this lively episode of It's Closing Time, Michael Lucarelli, CEO of RentSpree, and Jason Jakus, a Florida real estate broker, delve into the real estate market, discussing Jason's insights, educational emphasis, and the emotional aspects of transactions. They tackle the booming Florida real estate scene, spotlighting increased rentals amid population growth and escalating home prices. Jason underscores the ongoing client connection, revealing the triumphs and challenges faced during the tumultuous fourth quarter 2020 to June 2022 market period, emphasizing the vital role of follow-ups and effective communication in client relationships. Listen to the full episode above, or click one of the links below to listen on the podcast service of your choice: ‍Apple Podcasts‍ Spotify‍

The Benefits of Partnerships in Real Estate
Navigating the intricate world of real estate requires agents to orchestrate a delicate dance between buyers and sellers, all within the cutthroat confines of a fiercely competitive industry. Thriving in this environment demands perpetual innovation and a keen eye for untapped opportunities. One such avenue of potential is the power of partnerships. In this post, we'll delve into the myriad benefits these collaborations can bestow upon real estate brokers and agents while spotlighting some compelling instances. Buckle up for a journey through the perks of partnerships! Expanded Network and Exposure Real estate partnerships act as a gateway to an augmented sphere of influence and an extended network of potential clients. Picture this: Two agents or firms joining forces, opening the floodgates to each other's client databases, and catapulting listings into a wider audience. This synergistic approach not only broadens exposure but also unlocks new markets previously beyond reach. Take, for example, the partnership between Berkshire Hathaway Home Services and Nest Seekers International. This collaboration not only facilitated access to luxury listings but also opened doors to diverse clientele, resulting in boosted sales and successful market penetration. Pooling Resources and Skills Sharing resources and expertise emerges as a pivotal advantage of real estate partnerships. The amalgamation of marketing budgets and technological prowess can birth unparalleled efficiency and superior customer service. Consider the collaboration between Boston Logic and William Raveis Real Estate, culminating in a bespoke CRM system streamlining the entire transaction process. This partnership harnessed the collective resources and expertise of both entities, delivering substantial value to agents and customers alike. Fostering Collaboration and Innovation Beyond the realm of shared resources, real estate partnerships catalyze collaboration and innovation. The confluence of ideas and tactics propels the creation of novel products or services, pushing boundaries that a solitary entity might find insurmountable. Look no further than the partnership of Zillow and Realogy. This powerhouse collaboration birthed a platform elevating transparency in home buying. By synergizing Realogy's industry acumen with Zillow's online real estate prowess, the partnership empowered buyers and sellers with unprecedented information and transparency. Elevated Brand Recognition and Authority Partnering with established businesses or agents is a surefire strategy for enhancing industry authority and brand recognition. Collaborating with reputable entities allows agents to leverage existing reputations and networks to fortify their own brand. The alliance between Citi Habitats and the Corcoran Group is a case in point. By capitalizing on each other's strengths, both businesses expanded their market share and recognition. Corcoran agents gained access to Citi Habitats' rental listings and client database, while Citi Habitats agents tapped into Corcoran's technology, marketing tools, and management systems. In summation, real estate partnerships present agents with a cornucopia of advantages, from amplified exposure and network expansion to collaborative innovation. By forging alliances with fellow agents or firms, individuals can share resources and skills, pioneer novel products, elevate brand recognition, and venture into uncharted markets. The examples provided underscore how successful partnerships yield substantial benefits for all involved parties. For real estate agents eyeing business growth, exploring partnerships is not just an option but a strategic imperative. To view the original article, visit the Transactly blog.

Milestones Awarded for Delivering Mutual Benefits to Loan Officers and Realtors
Generally, technology solutions for real estate and mortgage professionals are separate, siloed solutions that are not connected in the service of the real estate consumer. When a homebuyer is working with an agent to find a home, and a loan officer to find financing, the only collaboration between the two might be email. The real estate and mortgage industries share a common challenge: 82% of past clients do not use their loan officer or Realtor in a future transaction. The primary reason is that the relationship breaks up after the closing as determined by surveys and interviews from the National Association of REALTORS®, as well as counterparts in mortgage. Milestones has become the most popular solution for real estate firms and mortgage firms alike. The invention of the consumer homeownership portal delivers value to the homeowner in managing and maintaining their home with the support of their trusted advisors in both real estate and mortgage. The homeowner hub is provided by service providers in real estate, mortgage, or title industries to past clients, prospects, friends and family. Consumers can invite and manage the service providers of their choice. The good news is that it works. The likelihood of a consumer using their service provider in a future transaction increases if the customer is a homeowner hub user. This is true for both real estate and mortgage. Milestones is a natural solution for enterprise firms that provide a range of affiliated services across real estate, mortgage, insurance, title, home warranty, and more. All of the affiliated services are seamlessly integrated with Milestones, allowing each business unit to contribute to supporting the homeownership journey. For their efforts in mortgage, leading mortgage publication HousingWire named Milestones to the 2024 Tech100 mortgage program. Details below. Milestones Named in HousingWire's 2024 Tech100 Mortgage Program AUSTIN, Tex. – Feb 1, 2024 – Milestones, a leading provider of innovative solutions for homeowner engagement in the real estate and mortgage industries, is proud to announce its recognition in the HousingWire Tech100 Mortgage program for 2024. This prestigious accolade highlights Milestones' commitment to revolutionizing the mortgage landscape through cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions. HousingWire's Tech100 Mortgage program, now in its 12th year, is an annual list that recognizes the most innovative and impactful technology companies in the mortgage and real estate industries. The list can be leveraged to identify partners and solutions to the challenges that mortgage lenders and real estate professionals face every day. "It is an honor to be acknowledged amongst an elite group of companies recognized for their excellence and influence in the mortgage technology sector," said Dustin Gray, CEO at Milestones. "Milestones is delivering on innovation to enhance customer retention and repeat business through its consumer-centric products that emphasize the lender's value between transactions." Milestones has distinguished itself through its commitment to developing forward-thinking solutions that streamline and enhance the mortgage process. The company's innovative technologies have empowered lenders, borrowers, and other stakeholders by providing efficient, secure, and user-friendly experiences. With a white-label approach, Milestones' home management portals assist real estate brokerages, mortgage lenders, title companies, home warranty providers, and insurance companies in being actively involved and guiding their customer's journeys, fostering continuous engagement for repeat business and referrals, as well as driving ancillary products and services to boost revenue. Gray added, "This acknowledgment reflects our dedication to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the proptech industry in the mortgage sector, and we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of the housing finance landscape." Learn more about Milestones and talk to Sales here. About HousingWire HousingWire is an information services company that provides unique data and research, respected business journalism and must-attend events for housing leaders to use to advance their understanding and business outcomes. Our vision is a world in which housing leaders have a complete view of the housing market, and a broad community of peers with whom they can connect. We are committed to delivering the data, analytics, media, and events that advance this vision. Because housing is too important for narrow perspectives and missed connections. Informed housing leaders are better housing leaders. A connected housing industry is a better housing industry. And the full picture always reveals new opportunities. Explore more at www.housingwire.com. About Milestones Milestones provides personalized home management portals, referred to as "hubs," that incorporate a variety of tools and resources to assist homeowners throughout the entire homeownership journey, and that are uniquely branded to professionals in the real estate and mortgage landscape. Whether it's buying, selling, moving, or owning a home, homeowners have access to a wide array of home service providers, insights into home value, and much more. Our solution simplifies the complexities of homeownership, while empowering housing professionals to stay engaged, educate, and add value for their clients to foster long-term relationships. Learn more at Milestones.ai. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

[Podcast] Venture Capital and Real Estate Update with Moderne Ventures' Constance Freedman
Constance Freedman is the founder and CEO of Moderne Ventures, a strategic venture capital firm with over $350M AUM. Moderne invests in technology companies in and around the multi-trillion-dollar industries of real estate, finance, insurance and home services. It has both a Fund and an Industry Immersion Program, called the Moderne Passport, designed to foster innovation, partnership and growth between industry partners and new emerging technology companies. In this episode of Million Dollar Question, host Jessisa Edgerton and Constance talk through Constance's uncanny ability to spot the next market shift and to handpick companies, with strategic wherewithal, that can thrive through the market's most turbulent times. In this episode of Million Dollar Question: How a strategic venture capital fund functions Constance's methods for identifying successful up and coming companies Silver linings for current first-time home buyers Drawing similarities between the 2008 crash and today's market The advice that catalyzed Constance's own company Connect with Constance: Website: modernventures.com LinkedIn: Constance Freedman Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts RadioPublic Visit the episode homepage for show notes and more detail.

Delta Survey Reveals Real Estate Brokers' Top 5 Challenges for 2024
What are the top five business challenges for real estate broker leaders in 2024? That's the question answered by the new 2024 Delta Real Estate Leadership Survey of more than 130 brokerage leaders representing firms that collectively were responsible for 2 out of 3 residential real estate transactions last year. For the second year in a row, "Recruiting new agents" was the No. 1 business challenge (65% versus 63% in 2023), followed by "Reduced profit margins" (60% versus 48% in 2023). "Agent adoption of brokerage provided technology" leaped into the No. 3 spot at 55% (it tied for the No. 5 spot last year at 39%). The "Impact of commission lawsuits" jumps into the No. 4 spot cited by a majority of brokerage leaders (52%) as being a top challenge for this year. At the No. 5 spot was "Cutting the right expenses" at 37%. "It's no surprise that recruiting remains the largest challenge for real estate leaders and that the majority see the industry lawsuits as another top challenge," said Michael Minard, CEO and owner of Delta Media Group. "What is a bit of a surprise is seeing the importance of agent tech adoption catapult into the top three business challenge. This indicates that real estate technology will be under a microscope in 2024, and it had better benefit the brokerage's bottom line." The Delta survey also asked leaders to share their take on the value of all-in-one marketing technology platforms in the brokerage's organization. Industry leaders gave all-in-one platforms an average rating of 7 out of 10. However, brokerage leaders 30 years old and younger, gave the centralized tech platforms a perfect rating of 10. In contrast, the oldest age group of leaders, 60 and older, gave the platforms the lowest rating of any age group: 6.6. Female leaders ranked the value of all-in-one platforms significantly higher (7.03) than their male counterparts (6.73). The survey also found: Rounding out the Top 10 business challenges for this year included "Recruiting top producers" (47%), "Retaining top producers" (44%), "Recruiting younger agents," "Providing higher quality leads for agents," and "Making sure you have the right technology" (all tied at No. 8 with 35%). Only about 1 in 10 leaders consider managing teams or managing the impact of AI to be a top business challenge this year. Less than 1 in 7 leaders said that increasing the speed of agent lead follow-up or recruiting a more diverse workforce was a top challenge for 2024. The Delta survey also asked brokerage leaders to identify the single best thing their brokerage did in 2024. The most common responses focused on three things: activities related to cutting costs and streamlining operations (also the most common best thing accomplished in 2023), technology adoption, and digital marketing, as many brokerages said they focused on integrating new tech and expanded their digital marketing activities; and agent support and growth, implementing new programs and services, from training and coaching to providing more brokerage marketing support. Finally, when real estate leaders were asked to provide additional insight into their top business challenge for 2024, the study uncovered three common themes: Keeping agents engaged and productive Attracting and retaining new talent External market pressures, from high interest rates and inventory shortages to legal and economic uncertainties Additional details from the Delta Real Estate Leadership Survey are featured in the latest issue of Delta Media's Real Estate and Marketing Technology Magazine, found online here.

Victor Lund and Marilyn Wilson Named RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmakers
WAV Group, a collaborator of RE Technology, proudly announces that Victor Lund and Marilyn Wilson have been recognized as RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmakers for their outstanding contributions to the real estate industry. The designation places them among a select group of key influencers acknowledged for their newsworthy endeavors that positively impact consumers and communities. RISMedia, a leading provider of U.S. real estate news and information services, unveiled its prestigious list of over 300 Real Estate Newsmakers on February 1st. The honorees were revealed in an online directory on RISMedia.com and featured in the February issue of Real Estate magazine. The Newsmakers were chosen by RISMedia's executive and editorial teams and span various categories, including Influencers, Trailblazers, Futurists, Achievers, Crusaders, Luminaries, and the esteemed Hall of Fame inductees. John Featherston, Founder, CEO, and Publisher of RISMedia, commended this year's cohort, recognizing their exceptional accomplishments amid the dynamic real estate landscape. He emphasized the importance of celebrating the industry's creativity, innovation, and philanthropic efforts, particularly during challenging times. Marilyn Wilson, a founding partner of WAV Group and a pioneering leader in the real estate sector, has been instrumental in shaping the real estate landscape through her thought leadership and strategic insights. With a background in global marketing and product development, Marilyn brings a wealth of experience to the table. Her work at WAV Group and her involvement in initiatives as President of RETechnology.com have contributed significantly to advancing innovation and growth within the industry. "Receiving the RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmaker designation is a tremendous honor," Wilson said. "At WAV Group, we strive to empower real estate professionals with strategic insights and innovative solutions. This recognition underscores the importance of our collective efforts in shaping the future of the industry. I am grateful to be part of such a dynamic community of changemakers." Victor Lund, also a founding partner of WAV Group, stands out for his exceptional expertise and commitment to driving innovation. As the founder and managing partner of WAV Group, Victor has played a pivotal role in guiding brokers, networks, and franchises through successful acquisitions, market research, and technology optimization. His strategic vision and unwavering dedication have earned him a reputation as a sought-after consultant and mentor within the industry. "I am deeply honored to be recognized as a RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmaker," said Lund. "This acknowledgment reaffirms our commitment at WAV Group to drive innovation and excellence within the real estate industry. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to meaningful change and look forward to continuing our mission of creating waves of positive impact." Both Lund and Wilson epitomize excellence and leadership in their respective roles, embodying WAV Group's commitment to creating waves of positive change in real estate. Their inclusion as RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmakers reaffirms their status as influential figures driving industry-wide transformation. RISMedia will celebrate this year's Real Estate Newsmakers, including the Hall of Fame inductees, at the upcoming Newsmakers Reception & Dinner on September 5th at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. The event, held in conjunction with the 2024 CEO & Leadership Exchange, promises to be a celebration of the industry's brightest minds and trailblazers. In response to the recognition, Victor Lund and Marilyn Wilson expressed gratitude for the honor and reaffirmed their commitment to advancing diversity, innovation, and excellence in real estate. For more information about WAV Group and its groundbreaking initiatives, visit www.wavgroup.com.

Redfin Announces 'Sign & Save' Program Which Offers Homebuyers Refunds
Redfin has announced Sign & Save, a new way for consumers to get a better deal in real estate. Homebuyers who sign up to work with a Redfin agent before the second tour can get a refund of 0.25 - 0.5% of the purchase price at closing. For example, an eligible homebuyer purchasing a $500,000 home will save $1,250. For a $2 million home, eligible Sign & Save customers will get a $10,000 refund. "Redfin is putting money back in homebuyers' pockets at a time when many are struggling with high prices and mortgage rates," said Jason Aleem, Redfin's senior vice president of real estate operations. "The concept is simple: as a Sign & Save customer you get extra savings because we know you're serious about buying a home, and we're serious about getting you into one. We started piloting Sign & Save in a handful of cities in September and the customer response has been fantastic. We're now rolling it out to dozens more markets because we believe it will help our agents close more sales and increase profits by identifying and rewarding homebuyers who are ready to make a purchase." How Sign & Save Works When a homebuyer goes on their first home tour with a Redfin agent, the agent learns about the customer's goals, explains the benefits of working with Redfin to achieve those goals, and asks the customer to sign a buyer agency agreement. This is a contract that creates a formal working relationship between the customer and Redfin. Customers who sign up to work with a Redfin agent before the second tour get a refund when they close on their new home. The standard Sign & Save refund is 0.25% of the purchase price. For customers who purchase a luxury home through Redfin's Premier service, Redfin offers a 0.5% Sign & Save refund. Because Redfin earns a larger commission on a luxury home sale, it's able to give the homebuyer a larger refund. Redfin's Commitment to Savings and Transparency The program is part of Redfin's commitment to giving customers a better deal by offering great service from exceptional agents at a lower cost. "Saving customers money has been central to our mission to redefine real estate in the consumers' favor," said Aleem. "Homebuyers are becoming more aware of the high cost of agent fees and less apologetic about negotiating commissions. We've helped usher in this new era of price transparency by advertising our low listing fee and publishing the buyers agent commission on every listing on our website. Sign & Save is another opportunity for our agents to explain the fees involved in the transaction and the benefits of working with Redfin." With Sign & Save, Redfin is rewarding customers who commit to working with a Redfin agent early in the process. Customers who don't want to sign a buyer agency agreement can still work with Redfin agents to tour homes with no obligation. In pilot markets, Sign & Save customers were significantly more likely to close than other customers. Buyers in the pilot markets are making offers with their Redfin agent at a significantly higher rate than buyers in comparable markets. "Homebuyers today are often connecting with the first agent who responds to their online request without understanding how the process works or what the fees are," said Andrew Vallejo, a Redfin Premier agent in Austin, where Redfin piloted the program. "Sign & Save is a great way to start a conversation with new customers about why they should hire me and how I'll help them win and save." Sign & Save is now available to Redfin's home-buying customers in more than 50 markets. A full list is available here. The refund is available to customers who sign an exclusive Buyer Agency Agreement before their second tour with Redfin and go under contract to purchase a property within 180 days of signing the agreement.

LeadingRE Announces 36 New Members from Across the Globe
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) has announced the addition of 36 new members to its professional community in 2023. The new member firms to have joined LeadingRE's network last year include property businesses from the UK, Europe, United States, Canada, Latin America, Caribbean, Asia the Middle East, and Africa. This remarkable expansion brings the firm's worldwide membership to 550, representing a network of more than 138,000 real estate associates in more than 70 countries worldwide. As an invitation-only business-to-business real estate community, LeadingRE interconnects top local and regional real estate firms across the world and supports their success with best-of-industry assets, like referrals, exclusive events, elite training and education, marketing and technology resources, and support. Chris Dietz, President of Global Operations at LeadingRE, commented: "Last year we experienced some global economic uncertainty and challenges including interest rates rises and unforeseen fiscal fluctuations. Real estate is a people business and by connecting professionals around the world, we can enhance our understanding of property markets – both locally and internationally. We are delighted to see such diverse new members from APAC, EMEA, LATAM and North America join our ever-expanding community of leading professionals. We look forward to continued growth in 2024 as we embrace another exiting global real estate market of opportunity." Selected companies in the LeadingRE international network are recognised for their expertise and superior knowledge of both local and global markets. All LeadingRE members are vetted, not just for performance, but a continued commitment to quality customer experience. A full list of new LeadingRE member firms can be found below: Asia-Pacific: Cambridge Real Estate (Cambridge, New Zealand) Lodge Real Estate (Hamilton, New Zealand) Richmont's (Sathon, Thailand) Canada: MacKay Real Estate (Wolfville, Nova Scotia) Real Estate Centre (Taber, Alberta) Team PowerHouse (Prince George, British Columbia) Boldt Realty Inc., Brokerage (St. Catharines, Ontario) Europe, Africa and Middle East: Boulevard Group (Nice, France) Castelhana Real Estate (Lisbon, Portugal) Ismail and Partners (Lagos, Nigeria) Maior Capital (Olbia, Italy) Oria Advisors (Lisbon, Portugal) Philip & Frank (Prague, Czech Republic) San Patrik Real Estate (Zagreb, Croatia) Savoir Prive Properties (Dubai UAE) Strand Properties (Marbella, Spain) The London Broker (London, United Kingdom) Latin America and the Caribbean: CENTRAL MAXRE SRL REAL ESTATE (Buenos Aires, Argentina) Dominican Properties (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) Panama Sovereign Realty (Pedasi, Panama) Peters & Romero Real Estate (Mexico City, Mexico) Propiedades Cancun (Cancun, Mexico) Vida & Co. Ltd. (San Ignacio, Belize) United States Chisum Realty Group (Angel Fire, New Mexico) Christie's International Real Estate Bluegrass (Lexington, Kentucky) ClearView Realty, LLC (El Paso, Texas) Denovo Realty (Melbourne, Florida) DiPietro Group Real Estate (Windham, New Hampshire) DJ & Lindsey Real Estate (Saint Augustine, Florida) Galles Properties (Pagosa Springs, Colorado) Hogan Associates Christie's International Real Estate (Middletown, Rhode Island) Homepage Realty (Louisville, Kentucky) Huntington & Ellis, A Real Estate Agency (Las Vegas, Nevada) Liz Moore & Associates (Williamsburg, Virginia) Meservier & Associates (Auburn, Maine) St. James Properties (St. James, North Carolina) Wallace Real Estate (Knoxville, Tennessee)

[Podcast] Brokers Sharpen Brand Value to Invigorate Agents
Many real estate agents who are frustrated with their business amid a stalled housing market may be thinking it's time for a change. They might be tempted to seek greener pastures at another brokerage where they think their growth will be better supported. During times of instability, brokers are wise to invest in greater training, mentorship, technology and other tools aimed at providing agents an advantage in their market. When agents can see and feel the value of working at your company, they're more likely to stay and deepen their loyalty to your brand. Recorded at NAR NXT, The REALTOR® Experience, in Anaheim, Calif., host Marki Lemons Ryhal invites three brokers — Valerie Belardo, Tiffany Curry and Nova Tower — onstage in front of a live audience to discuss what their doing to strengthen agent retention and keep talent from giving up in difficult moments and walking out the door. Their strategies include making sales meetings a can't-miss event, boosting education and training programs and underscoring a close-knit company culture. Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify Libsyn Visit the episode homepage for show notes and more detail.

How to Structure URLs for Your Real Estate Website: A Guide
Welcome to the world of real estate website URLs — it's a bit like a digital maze where every slash and dot has a role to play. But don't worry, we're here to be your friendly guides through this online journey. Imagine us as your digital map, helping you navigate the twists and turns of web addresses. Together, we'll make understanding real estate website URLs as easy as a walk in the park. So, let's embark on this adventure with a simple and smile-inducing guide to tackle those sometimes-tricky website addresses! Why is a Well-Structured URL Important for Real Estate Websites? Having a well-structured URL is crucial for both search engine optimization (SEO) and user experience. A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, serves as the address of a webpage on the internet. It not only helps search engines understand the content of a page, but also impacts how users perceive and interact with your website. A well-structured URL provides clear and concise information about the content of a webpage. It should be descriptive, relevant, and easy to read. By optimizing your URL structure, you can improve your website;s SEO and make it more user-friendly for potential homebuyers or sellers. Let's dive deeper into the components of a URL and explore best practices for real estate websites. Components of a URL Let's break down the different components of a URL. A typical URL consists of several parts, each serving a specific purpose: Protocol: The protocol determines how data is transmitted between a web browser and a web server. The most common protocol is http:// or its secure counterpart https://. Domain: The domain is the main part of a URL and represents the specific website you're visiting. In the case of a real estate website, the domain could be something like www.realestatecompany.com. Subdomain: A subdomain is a part of the main domain and precedes it with a dot. It can be used to organize different sections of a website or target specific markets. For example, blog.realestatecompany.com could be the subdomain for a blog section. Path: The path refers to the specific location of a webpage within a website. It's often represented by a series of slashes ("/") and can include directories, categories, or individual pages. For instance, /listings/properties could lead to a page showcasing available properties. Parameters: Parameters are additional information included in a URL that provides instructions or data to the webpage. They are usually represented by question marks ("?") and ampersands ("&"). For example, /listings/properties?city=NewYork could filter the properties based on the city of New York. Now that we have a clear understanding of the components of a URL, let's move on to the next steps — how we can optimize it for real estate websites. Ways to Optimize URL Structure To optimize your real estate website's URL structure, consider the following best practices: Incorporating keywords in your URL Including relevant keywords in your URL can significantly improve the visibility of your real estate website in search engine results. When search engines crawl and index your website, they analyze the URL to determine its relevance to a user's search query. By incorporating keywords related to your real estate niche or specific property listings, you increase the chances of ranking higher in search results. For example, instead of using a generic URL like /properties/12345, consider utilizing a keyword-rich URL such as /luxury-villas-for-sale-in-malibu. This not only helps search engines understand the content of the page, but also provides potential visitors with a clear indication of what they can expect. If you want more information about keyword strategy of your website, check out this article: Real Estate Keywords. Make it easy to read and understand It's crucial to create user-friendly URLs that are easy to read and understand. A user-friendly URL should provide a clear indication of the content on the page and help visitors navigate your real estate website more efficiently. Avoid using long, complex URLs with unnecessary characters or numbers. Instead, opt for shorter, descriptive URLs that accurately represent the content of the page. For instance, a URL like /listings/condos/central-park-view is much more user-friendly than /listings/12345?property_id=6789. URL structure listings and property pages Real estate websites often feature a vast number of listings and property pages. To optimize the URL structure for these pages, it's crucial to follow a logical hierarchy and incorporate relevant keywords. For instance, consider structuring your URL as follows: /listings/city/category/property-name. This structure provides clear navigation paths and helps search engines understand the context of each listing. Additionally, incorporating relevant keywords, such as the city name and property type, can boost your website's visibility in local search results. More Tips to Maximize Your URLs' Effect on SEO Keep it simple and concise: Long and complicated URLs can be difficult for users to remember and share. Aim for shorter URLs that accurately describe the content of the page. For example, www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/condos-for-sale is much simpler and more user-friendly than www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/listings/condos/buy/marketplace/sale. Use hyphens to separate words: Hyphens are preferred over underscores or spaces in URLs because they are more readable to both users and search engines. For instance, www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/3-bedroom-homes is more readable than www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/3bedroomhomes or www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/3_bedroom_homes. Avoid using unnecessary characters: Special characters, such as exclamation marks or ampersands, can make URLs appear cluttered and confusing. Stick to alphanumeric characters and hyphens to ensure compatibility across different platforms and devices. Be consistent in URL structure: Consistency in URL structure not only helps users navigate your website more easily, but also assists search engines in understanding the hierarchy of your site. For example, if your main categories are "buy" and "rent," use a consistent structure like www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/buy/property-type and www.yourrealestatewebsite.com/rent/property-type. That's it! Utilize these simple tips and tricks to help improve your website visibility in search results. If you enjoyed this article, you might like these two, too: Optimizing Crawl Budget for Real Estate Websites SEO Titles and Meta Descriptions for Real Estate SEO Thank you — let's keep SEO-ing! To view the original article, visit the Realtyna blog.

Global Survey Reveals Affluent Home Seekers Expanding Reaches and Sustainability Is Top of Mind
Sotheby's International Realty published its 2024 Luxury Outlook report, a comprehensive exploration into high-end real estate markets across the globe. Following several years of residential real estate frenzy, the report reveals that buyers have begun to acclimate to a new normal of higher interest rates, with high-end home seekers expanding their reaches to more parts of the world with Australia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey poised for growth. The report explores the trends shaping real estate investment decisions in the year ahead, from the intergenerational transfer of wealth, to pinpointing parts of the world where tax incentives are increasingly enticing. "Our goal for the fourth edition of the Luxury Outlook report was to couple the expert insight of our agents with the perspectives of leading global institutions on the trends affluent buyers can expect in the months ahead to help them make opportunistic transactions in 2024," said Bradley Nelson, chief marketing officer, Sotheby's International Realty. "Despite higher interest rates, demand remains strong in many corners of the market, as people move both because they're going through major life events—such as new children or new jobs—or simply because they want to upgrade their home and, with it, their lifestyle." The Sotheby's International Realty 2024 Luxury Outlook report was compiled by surveying Sotheby's International Realty agents around the world who transact in the US$10M+ price category. This information was complemented by gathering supporting data from other leading industry experts, including UBS; The Brookings Institution; McKinsey & Company; and property technology and security firm, Kastle Systems; in addition to art and luxury experts at Sotheby's, the famed auction house, to round out luxury trends in the year to come. Key findings featured in the report include: The international market remains robust; policy and regulatory changes are closely linked with real estate markets and are driving investment decisions High-net-worth individuals being more mobile than ever – maintaining multiple residences – and looking at transactions with a modified perspective in light of higher taxes, new government incentives, or in the face of a changing climate The real estate industry using the synergy of the real world and the cyber world to market and sell homes The dominance of telecommuting and hybrid work shifting the demands of affluent homebuyers Sustainability moving from a niche interest to now being top of mind for many buyers A historic rise in mortgage interest rates translating into a higher percentage of all-cash deals around the world Owners needing to be strategic to minimize the tax impact of their wealth transfer given a strong appreciation of real estate values in recent years and the looming drop in the estate tax exemption More than 80% of leading Sotheby's International Realty agents said AI is likely to have the biggest impact on the real estate industry in the next five years vs. virtual reality or blockchain "As we continue to navigate shifts in the real estate market, Sotheby's International Realty agents from 83 countries and territories around the world continue to lead the way," said Philip White, president and chief executive officer, Sotheby's International Realty. "Luxury Outlook offers our clients unparalleled and trusted expertise as they seek to make informed real estate decisions in the year ahead, whether buying, selling, or investing, wherever they may be." Click here to read the complete report.

RPR Commercial's 2024 Real Estate Market Outlook
Much like its residential counterpart, the commercial real estate market faced a pretty challenging year in 2023. Some say it was the most challenging ever. Big picture, the industry as a whole is suffering and still feeling the hangover effects of the pandemic. According to some experts, office space vacancy rates are at a 30-year high at 18%. This, coupled with rising interest rates and a potential recession on the horizon, have all been working against the business side of real estate. However, not all sectors of commercial real estate are scuffling. In fact, some are doing quite well, and are poised to offer more growth in the coming year. This is why RPR (Realtors Property Resource) is offering this 2024 commercial real estate forecast, as well as to offer some pointers about how using RPR Commercial can add value to your efforts as a commercial practitioner. RPR's 2024 Commercial Real Estate Forecast While many experts are expecting the residential market to bounce back a bit and improve across the board this spring, the commercial sector is a mix of optimistic growth and more of the same. Leading the more-of-the-same category (as in bad) is office space, which is predicted to be flat, or possibly worse. Office space As mentioned in the opening, office occupancy is historically low. The bottom line: people prefer working from home and corporations and businesses are trying their best to get them back to the office. But with unemployment low and individual productivity high or level, it's a tough sell to employees and businesses have almost no leverage to put butts in office chairs. Even hybrid schedules aren't enough to justify massive office buildings, as owners and investors try to pivot and figure out what to do with all the empty space. Some are getting creative and turning empty work buildings into apartments, while some are simply razing structures altogether and rebuilding for the future with an eye on data centers and warehouses. Either way, the future of office space is still bleak. On the flip side, here are some commercial segments that are primed for growth: Brick and mortar rebound? Even with e-commerce's continued growth and most mega malls being half empty, there is some hope on the horizon for neighborhood-focused retail success. Densely populated urban and suburban areas (strip malls) are propping up the retail sector with growth and positive numbers. With less new construction and therefore less competition, neighborhood and community shopping centers are showing strong vacancy rates and positive rent growth for the foreseeable future. When it comes to these types of retail locations, RPR Commercial can be a great asset. The Site Selection tool offers commercial agents an edge when it comes to finding ideal areas for retail business sites. Here's a top line of what it can do: Allows users to select specific attributes from broad data categories such as economic, demographic, spending, tapestry and more. With these attributes selected a user can search a large geography such as a county, and identify where these conditions exist in smaller geographies such as ZIP codes or neighborhoods. This drilling down allows a user to search for properties only in these geographies that have their desired attributes, ensuring that the core drivers of a client's business are in the area. For a strip mall focused site selection success story, check out RPR's article Spot-on Site Selection is how the Cookie Crumbls. Multi-family offers multi opportunities Multi-family (apartments and condos) investment opportunities appear to be on the rise. That's mostly attributable to rising mortgage rates from 2023 that have put homeownership beyond the reach of many families. Of course, housing shortages and a slowdown of new builds is also a factor. And while that might not be optimal for residential and the middle class as a whole, it does create demand for multi-family units and those who have the capital to invest in them. In fact, multi-family is among the few commercial categories that are seeing rent growth and increasing property values. When it comes to multi-family ROI research and number crunching, RPR is a great resource to tap into when you're working with commercial investment clients. The tools available to you in RPR, especially its collaboration with Valuate®, can help you assess a commercial investment in multifamily dwellings or buildings. Here's how to apply RPR Commercial to your multi-family research: Multi-Family Prospecting in RPR Commercial. Improve your commercial market forecast with RPR Commercial No matter what area you specialize in when it comes to commercial real estate, RPR Commercial can help. This digital tool, offered by the National Association of REALTORS®, offers practitioners access to 850K+ listings and 56 million+ off-market properties, allowing you to search, research and do your homework on commercial properties throughout the country. Plus, RPR offers indispensable, analytic tools such as Site Selection, Trade Area Reports, ROI and investment, and consumer segmentation demographics and data. As well as commercial comps, traffic counts and assessments, points of interest and climate risk assessment. Log in to RPR Commercial today for a successful tomorrow… and rest of the year! *References NAR Commercial Real Estate Market Insights NAR: Will the Commercial Market Hit the Reset Button in 2024? JP Morgan: Real Estate Commercial Trends Money & US News: The Commercial Real Estate Outlook CBRE: U.S. Real Estate Market Outlook 2024 What to Expect for CRE in 2024 Commercial Real Estate Trends for 2024 To view the original article, visit the RPR blog.

Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE): Implications for Real Estate SEO
Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE) has been introduced as a 'beta' using generative AI. I have been closely monitoring this new search experience over the last few months, and I believe it can potentially transform the user search experience. Google's newest AI technology, released in May 2023, may have an overall impact on how we perform Search Engine Optimization (SEO). As a real estate marketing professional, it's crucial to comprehend these changes and how they could influence your digital strategy due to the ever-changing digital landscape. A Brief Overview of Google SGE SGE is designed to provide more context to its search results, making it easier for users to find relevant content and immediate answers to questions. For example, as outlined in Google's "A new way to search with generative AI," people will be able to do the following: Ask entirely new types of questions that you never thought Search could answer. Quickly get the lay of the land on a topic, with links to relevant results to explore further. Ask follow-up questions naturally in a new conversational mode. And get more done quickly, like generating creative ideas and drafts right in Search. The outcome showcases two features that illustrate this new technology. First, AI-generated snapshots emerge at the top of search results that offer a quick overview of the topic, answering specific questions and presenting essential information. For example, if a user searched for a home with a kitchen with specific amenities such as a gas stove, SGE could provide a snapshot comparing different properties, highlighting their kitchen amenities that have a gas stove (see image). The second feature is introducing a new vertical experience for specific items. This feature provides a comprehensive overview of products, including descriptions, reviews, ratings, prices, and images. Google does claim that it assures us it will display reliable and current information in these features while giving importance to quality and responsible AI usage. The Impact of Google SGE on Real Estate SEO The Possible Benefits SGE delivers an enhanced user experience. For example, SGE's AI-powered snapshots and vertical experiences could offer a more detailed and comprehensive overview of properties and other real estate information. I believe SGE has the potential to greatly enhance user engagement and satisfaction. By providing users with a wealth of information at a glance, it has the ability to expedite their decision-making process. Improve information accuracy through better AI technology. Google's promise of quality and accuracy could result in more reliable and up-to-date information about properties in their search results. This can enhance the credibility of real estate listings and foster trust among potential buyers or renters. The Potential Challenges Possible reduction of organic and paid website traffic to branded sites. Due to their prominence, AI-powered snapshots could push traditional website links further down in search results. This could lead to decreased website traffic, translating into fewer leads for brokerages and agents. My initial guess would be a 20 to 30% decrease in traffic. As website traffic often forms a crucial part of lead generation in real estate, this could pose significant challenges. Another significant challenge is how to monetize or promote core or ancillary services. The SGE vertical experiences bypass traditional property review websites and affiliate links, potentially affecting the revenue streams of those relying on these methods. Put simply, when property information, reviews, and prices are easily accessible in search results, users may be less inclined to visit real estate websites. This can have a direct impact on their revenue from ads, affiliate marketing, and other related services. Strategies for Adapting SEO Practices in Light of Google SGE Despite these challenges, these are some of my thoughts on ways real estate marketing professionals can adapt their SEO strategies to leverage the changes brought about by SGE. Focus on high-quality content With SGE possibly delivering AI-generated snapshots of real estate information, creating specific and authoritative content relevant to buyers and sellers becomes even more crucial. Creating high-quality content, such as in-depth information or unique insights about a property or neighborhood, can still attract users who wish to dive deeper into a topic. In addition, if accomplished with consistency, it allows Google to recognize your website as the "topical authority" on a subject. Optimize for featured snippets SGE uses snippets of information to provide quick answers. Therefore, structuring content that directly answers common user questions can increase the chances of your content being featured. This requires the utilization of headings, lists, and succinct paragraphs to make it easy for search engines to pull relevant information. I believe this is going to be a very important strategy based on the last two months of Google Search updates, which were labeled as 'Helpful Content' updates. Leverage structured data! This is an area where real estate SEO experts keep missing the mark by doing only the basic implementation of structured data. Implementing structured data markup (Schema.org) on your website can provide additional context and information about your content. We discussed this in a previous article, "3 SEO Real Estate Web Strategies." This approach assists search engines in understanding and presenting your content more effectively. Build a strong brand presence Another way to remain competitive in the eyes of consumers is to build a strong brand presence. Real estate marketing professionals can build a strong brand using a shotgun (omnichannel) approach to distribute the brand message and engage with buyers and sellers using the latest tools on social media platforms. For example, creating YouTube shorts, Instagram Stories, TicTok, and Facebook Reels from full-length videos. Yes, there are AI tools available to easily craft and distribute this content. It seems brokerages tend to stay away from this strategy, which is a shame. People are generating tons of revenue through this media. Monitor and adapt to changes in website performance Finally, organizations should scrutinize and adjust changes in website performance. Real estate marketing professionals can improve website performance and remain competitive by tracking website analytics and adjusting as needed. Incorporate AI in its property search It's a good idea to have frank discussions with your website partners about utilizing AI tools to improve the property search user experience. If they are not, call me, David Gumpper. There are many such tools available. In Conclusion Using Google's Search Generative Experience has advantages and disadvantages for real estate. On the one hand, it offers users a convenient way to view properties and obtain reliable information. However, on the other hand, it can lead to reduced website traffic and limited control over information. Important Note: Google SGE is currently featured as an experiment in the Search Labs. While it's not widely released, you can access it through the Chrome desktop and Google App on Android and iOS. Search alone generated 57% of Alphabet's 2022 revenue, which amounts to $162B. So you have to believe Google will smartly implement SGE to allow the search service to continue to grow revenue. So you need to keep up your SEO tool belt tight and ready to work. In summing up, real estate marketing professionals can adapt to these changes by: Creating high-quality content Optimizing for featured snippets Leveraging structured data Improving user experience Building a solid brand presence Monitoring and adapting to changes in website performance. By implementing these strategies, real estate professionals can remain competitive in the industry and succeed in the age of AI-powered search. If you want more insight into SEO practices and an understanding of the future of AI, contact David Gumpper of the WAV Group. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

MLSs Truly ARE Business Generation Partners to Their Subscribers
We always love to share quantitative data that proves that MLSs truly help dial up business opportunities for their customers. ValleyMLS.com, an MLS that takes its job of generating views, leads and listing exposure very seriously, is a great example! According to ListTrac, the industry's most respected source for business generation reporting, proves the point that ValleyMLS is arguably the most affordable and most effective way to create business potential. For the last 30 days Valley MLS.com, the company's consumer-facing website has generated more inquiries than any other lead source. In the same timeframe, Paragon MLS, Paragon Collaboration Center and ValleyMLS.com have generated more saved listings than any other source by a large margin. And third, the IDX feeds that Valley MLS facilitates generated more listing views than any other source. These combined results are a great example of why MLSs are probably the most affordable business generation source for brokers, especially because all of these sources follow Fair Display Guidelines and the "Your Listing, Your Lead" philosophy. No referral fees or advertising fees are collected at all. If you're an MLS and subscribe to ListTrac, please share this type of information with your subscribers regularly. If you're a broker, take a second look at the business generation value delivered by your MLS. You will likely be pleasantly surprised! To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Real Makes It Easier for Independent Brokerages and Team Leaders to Join
The Real Brokerage Inc. announced the launch of two programs that make it easier for the nation's 100,000+ independent brokerages and team leaders to join Real, while maintaining the brands and compensation structures that are right for their businesses. Already the fastest-growing, publicly traded real estate brokerage as measured by agent growth, both programs are designed to clear the path for independent brokerages and fast-growing teams to benefit from the technology, tools, training and culture of collaboration and performance that Real provides. "Real is a platform of possibilities. We are focused on providing agents and team leaders with the best platform from which to serve clients and build long-term wealth," said Real President Sharran Srivatsaa. "In today's market, independent brokerage owners and team leaders need a platform that gives them the ability to scale. Our Private Label and ProTeams programs give owners and team leaders the power to overlay the Real model – and all of the benefits associated with being a part of the fastest-growing, publicly traded brokerage firm – without losing their brand or having to alter their economic plan." Real Chairman and CEO Tamir Poleg said, "We've kicked off 2024 on a strong note, with over 500 agents joining Real in the first week alone, pushing our network past the 14,000 agent mark. With the launch of these new programs, we're set to further accelerate our growth, providing unparalleled opportunities for independent brokerages and teams to expand their businesses with unmatched flexibility and support." Private Label Specifically designed for independent brokerages that have spent years building a brand in their local marketplace, Real's Private Label program empowers brokerages to benefit from Real's cutting-edge transaction management platform while maintaining and continuing to invest in their local brand, which often comes with a strong customer base and emotional attachment. The Private Label program will be available immediately to brokerages through an application process in states that allow this type of representation. Real piloted the Private Label program in five markets over the last 12 months for close to $2 billion in sales volume, including Kofi Nartey and his 12-member Globl RED team, which joined in August 2023. "Being able to maintain our existing brand and get all the benefits of a tech-forward brokerage partner was a game changer," Nartey said. "We spent the previous three years launching our brand and building brand awareness. Real understood the value of what we had built with Globl RED and wanted to support our continued growth. The Private Label model made the transition easy, as we were able to have a seamless public facing brand transition, while working smoothly behind the scenes to onboard onto the platform. This allowed me and my team to keep our focus on our business and on our clients." ProTeams Real's ProTeams program, which launches today to select teams and which will be fully available throughout the U.S. and Canada by the end of the first quarter, gives team leaders the flexibility to customize their team members' caps, splits and fee payments down to the individual team member level, allowing them to continue to embrace the structure that works best for them and reap the benefits associated with being a part of the Real platform. According to Srivatsaa, the Private Label and ProTeams programs address the biggest concerns of independent brokerages and larger teams interested in making the move to Real. "Last year, we introduced a number of agent-centric benefits, including healthcare benefits resources and co-sponsored and willable revenue sharing programs," Srivatsaa said. "We are kicking off 2024 with a revenue share retirement benefits program for all Real agents and two game-changing programs that give individual brokerage owners and team leaders the ability to join Real with the brand they've spent millions of dollars building and the financial models that work best for them."

Draft Marketing: Picking Up Followers From Other Brands
It is that time of year. Time to take stock of your efforts last year, and set your targets for 2024; part of that is a brand assessment. You should be looking at how your brand shows up online. It's a thing – like measuring the growth of your children. If your measurements in 2023 were lower than 2022 – fix that. Here is a simple idea called Draft Marketing. Sometimes we use social media to dive deeper into something. Have you ever scrolled through a bunch of webpages, aka "gone down the rabbit hole," where one page takes you to another page? You find so many of them to be informational to your interests that you click "follow" on a slew of companies. You are not alone. Marketers understand the rabbit hole, and social media is structured in a way that highlights similar pages to whatever sparked your interest. Funny thing – most real estate brokerages (and agents and teams) have not figured this out yet. Let's start out with an example of how Draft Marketing works. I am going to use Taylor Swift as an example. I did not follow Taylor on Instagram, so I went to her page and clicked the follow button. Below is the page before I followed her. Then I clicked the "follow" button. Pay close attention to the red arrow that points to additional pages that I might like. These artists are draft-marketing off of Taylor's brand. Because I liked Taylor Swift, Instagram suggested that I also follow Selena Gomez, Olivia Rodrigo, Ariana Grande, "Taylor Nation," and Sabrina Carpenter. All competitors to Taylor Swift. Let's take a look at how it works on Linkedin — pretty much the same way. Once you hit the follow button, look what happens… Here, you will find that major brands are draft-marketing on Taylor's brand. So, take this idea to real estate in your market. The largest brand in my market is Compass. Good news – Compass is not developing social media at the office level. It is easy to beat a competitor that has not built office pages. Compass has over 300 offices and has not deployed a hyper-local social media strategy everywhere yet. I know that they read this blog, so maybe this will change soon. Shown in the image above here is the top independent brokerage in our area – San Luis Obispo Realty. They have a LinkedIn page that has not been claimed, yet. Please – if you have a brokerage – claim it on all social media platforms. These pages show up in search, and it looks bad when you have not taken some basic steps to do something as simple as claiming your own page. For those of you who hate social media, claim your page anyway – make sure that your address, phone number, and link to your website are correct. This is most likely what you see when you google a competitor. Again, in the example above, I have not followed them yet. Once I hit the follow button, here is what happens… Oddly, I get Generative AI and OpenAI as other companies to follow. In general, even the "People also viewed" links on the sidebar only have one competitor, JDR Property. This is a great example of a company that you can draft-market off of. I mean, they only have 56 followers – which is not a great showing – but it's something. Clearly their efforts to build and grow their community are not significant. If you build up your community to be larger and more engaged, that will not be a bad thing for your brand. Side note – agents look at this stuff when they are being recruited. If the digital footprint of your brand sucks, that is a strike against your recruiting efforts. Draft Marketing is the simple pursuit of finding look-a-like customers from your competitors' social media pages. To get started, create a spreadsheet in Google Drive or another shareable document space. Go to your competitor sites, add links to their profiles into the spreadsheet along with a screenshot. Do the same thing for your pages. Pay close attention to the number of posts per month and the number of followers. This is a race, so you need to track your progress. Look what happens when you follow, or unfollow them. Who shows up? Do you show up? If you don't show up, you need to invest in the time to fix that. Here is an article that explains how to get followers on Instagram for draft marketing. You can do the same draft marketing on LinkedIn. If you do show up as a suggested follower, where do you show up? Position 1, 2, 3, 4, 5? Keep track for the race. Be sure to check mobile apps vs. browsers too. As you do your work, track what happens and how your position changes. It takes time for this to happen. The race is more of a marathon. The good news is that most real estate brokers are not paying attention to these things. Per the teachings of just about every real estate guru, it is not super hard to put enough effort into winning on social media. Ninety-nine percent of brokers do a crappy job. If you have more money than time, hire us and we can work on it for you. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Brokers Need to Prepare for Upcoming Changes to Agent Commissions. Here's How
It seems like every day, there's a new headline about real estate commissions. Several high-profile rulings and cases are putting how agents and their brokers get paid under the microscope. To those of us in the industry, it may sound shocking, but the simple truth is that consumers don't know much about how real estate transactions work, and both buyers and sellers are surprised when they learn how their agents will be paid (and that buyers generally haven't been responsible for paying any portion of the commission, at least historically). But all of that may be on the verge of changing. Let's discuss the events that have led us to this moment and what brokers need to start doing to prepare. What is the Burnett v. NAR decision? Burnett v. NAR was a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of 500,000 home sellers in Missouri who argued that the NAR rule of coupling commissions paid to buyer and seller agents in exchange for the privilege of listing the property in the multiple listing service (MLS) unfairly inflated home prices and the commissions paid to buyers' agents. In October 2023, a federal jury agreed and ordered NAR to pay damages. Like many industry and legal experts predicted, similar complaints are starting to be filed across the country, including Grace v. NAR et al, which was recently filed in California. What do brokers have to do in response to Burnett v. NAR? For now, nothing… yet. The Burnett v. NAR verdict does not require brokers to make immediate changes to their commissions structures. But it has been reported that the Department of Justice may investigate the issue further, meaning it's far from being laid to rest. Brokers aren't being forced to change their practices overnight, but changes are coming—and they might involve the much-discussed unbundling of commissions. As Constellation1 President Brant Morwald predicted in his 2024 real estate industry outlook, the unbundling (or uncoupling) of commissions could lead to lower agent commissions (and therefore lower commission income for brokerages). And while the status quo remains, smart brokers would do well to get ahead of the issue, start talking about these issues now, and begin preparing for a future with more competitive (read: lower) real estate commission income. Shift how you think (and talk) about agent commissions State rules and regulations can vary widely, but two key tenets ring true: Agent commissions are (and always have been) negotiable A lot of top agents (and their brokers) take the "industry average" or "their normal commission" for granted, some going so far as to have the amount pre-printed on their listing agreement forms. Any broker operating this way would do well to change this practice immediately. Compliant forms do not list commissions on them and contain language that asserts the negotiability of real estate commissions. Since we know consumers don't always read the fine print, it's important that this point be a part of every client onboarding conversation, and one that brokers must train their teams to have—even if we culturally have a general discomfort around discussing money and compensation in North America. Commissions and other compensation should be disclosed Of course, since sellers are generally responsible for paying commissions on real estate transactions in the United States, the amount they are making is usually known to the seller, since it's coming out of their proceeds. But buyers are usually not privy to this information, often because it's not a required disclosure (or not enforced), and this is what is at the heart of many of the lawsuits that are being filed right now. Agents can also be compensated in other ways, and their clients might want to know this information, too. These two tenets can be the guardrails brokers and their teams use moving forward to settle on acceptable, fair, and most importantly, mutually agreeable compensation structures. How brokers need to prepare for the inevitable changes to agent commissions Whatever happens, the new focus, interest, and scrutiny on commissions isn't going to go away. In any case, brokers can start laying the groundwork now for a landscape where commissions are different than they are today, and where competition for the best sales talent will only be getting fiercer. Shift how you think about real estate commissions The first major change will be to shift how you and your teams think about commissions. For a long time, sales teams have shied away from talking about money in general and commissions in particular (apart from saying, "we're going to get you the best price on your house!") because, let's face it, talking about money is uncomfortable for a lot of people. But this new landscape is forcing the question, and the more you talk about it, the easier it will get. When real estate brokers and agents agree to represent a client in a transaction, they commit to acting as fiduciaries: they are bound by a legal obligation serve the best interests of their clients, not themselves or their businesses. This means there's an important balance to be struck between meeting your business goals (and charging a fair commission that reflects the amount of work your team does and your overhead) and ensuring fairness for your client as well. Explain how agent commissions and broker splits work As we stated above, before they seriously start considering buying real estate, most people have no idea how real estate agents make their money. Add in another layer of complexity: the different kinds of commission splits and how brokers make their money (read: how much of their commissions agents don't get to keep). What might seem to a consumer like an enormous sum of money might seem less so when the agent explains everything behind it: the split with the broker, brokerage and agent overhead, the cost of tools, licensing, staging, photography, marketing, the list goes on. Most consumers also don't know that agents are independent contractors who have to pay their own taxes, save for their own retirements, pay for their own benefits, and more. Remind consumers that agent commissions are negotiable Don't take 6% as a given anymore. Remind consumers that the amount your agent (whether they're representing the buyer or the seller) will make is up for negotiation, and then sell them on your value proposition and why you deserve what you are asking for. More on that below. That said, having a more flexible commission (and tools to help you deliver the same great customer experience with less effort and people power) could be a valuable tactic for getting more leads in this exceptionally competitive market. Home in on your brokerage's value proposition Agents work hard. It's so much more than snapping a few listing photos, putting them online, and watching the offers (and money) roll in. If only it were that easy! Being a broker is hard work, too. You're managing an entire sales and support team and often a brick-and-mortar location, maintaining your license and (if applicable) franchise agreements, working on recruitment and retention, deciding what agent benefits to provide and how to pay for them, and so much more. And most importantly of all, this work gets results: according to NAR's 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, for sale by owner properties typically sell for less than the selling price of other homes (a median of $310,000 in 2022) versus the median of agent-assisted homes ($405,000). A big part of your agents' work going forward will be explaining why you command a certain commission and why you deserve it. It is in your clients' best interest (remember, your fiduciary duty) to know what they're paying you for and to give them a chance to ask questions. So, what is your value proposition? Why do your agents deserve their commissions? What value do you add? Here are a few ideas to get the conversation started. Specific market knowledge and expertise The undeniable fact is that, since selling real estate is your bread and butter, you know more about it and have amassed considerable expertise about how it works in terms of the rules, best practices, and market. This means you're in a position to fetch the highest price for those who list with you. Negotiation skills This goes back to being a fiduciary. Just as a listing agent's role is to maximize profit for the seller, the buyer's agent's responsibility is to make sure they get the fairest price for what they're buying. This means honed negotiation skills and the ability to advise their clients when they aren't getting a good deal, and why. Proven track record The data speaks for itself: agent-assisted sales result in higher prices for sellers than FSBOs. This is a big selling point for sellers, and helping them means helping yourself, too. Where it gets tricky in this new landscape is ensuring that they know the buyer's side commission is also negotiable and to work that into the conversation. Additional tools Agents don't work with rotary phones and post-its anymore (and even if they did, they'd need to pass on the cost of using those tools to their clients). Agents use pretty sophisticated tools to market their listings, nurture their clients, and ultimately help properties sell faster and for a fair price. These tools cost money, and consumers might not realize the resources your agents are investing in to ensure their success. So, tell them! This is all, of course, on top of the role of being a trustworthy, confidential guide and advocate for the biggest purchases the average people make in their lifetimes! Keep the commissions conversations going This is just the beginning of what will likely prove to be a very long and evolving conversation across the entire industry. So, start now. Talk early and often with your sales team and their clients about these issues and stay abreast of more developments as they happen. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

What Can Real Estate Software Learn from the Gaming Industry?
We like to joke that whenever we need to talk about something particularly technical, we're speaking geek. Usually, that means we're going to dig into integrations, or protocols, or even infrastructure. We've even used it to dip our toes into the nerdy side of things with blog posts about comic franchises before. But today, let's speak a different sort of geek: Gamer. It might not be the first industry you'd think of as being relevant for real estate, but the gaming industry does hold a lot of potential for those of us on the real estate software side. After all, it's not the niche hobby that it once was—as a whole, it boasts over 3 billion users and over USD$240 billion in annual revenue these days. Its demographics span generations and all kinds of interests, from the most casual of idle games made to let players relax to the most intense eSports leagues where professional players battle it out for fame and glory. Because of the nature of the gaming industry, and because it depends so heavily on its users for success, it's learned a thing or two about giving the people what they want and need—and those are lessons that real estate software should take to heart, too. Lesson 1: People should come first. Think about it. If you were to pick up a video game, whether or not you knew anything about it, and you couldn't figure out how to move your character around or do anything you needed to, would you keep playing? No, because you don't have to. Video game developers need to consider their players first and foremost because if they don't, they don't succeed. They need people to be able to understand and use and even enjoy their work, or they will founder. What we can learn: Unlike a game, what we build isn't something people choose to use. People don't use real estate software because it's fun, or they want to—they need to use it for their livelihoods. And if they have to use it, why shouldn't they expect the same intuitive and straightforward experience as they could get with optional software? Lesson 2: People should be involved. For decades, game developers have offered their users a way to have their say in how a game works before it ever hits the market through early access and alpha and beta testing. These programs let players get into games while developers were still working on them, so they could help identify bugs, missed opportunities, and new ideas to improve the game for when it launched. Though it was at first a tool used to build excitement for an upcoming game—because players got invested in the bragging rights that came with seeing a game before anyone else—it became standard procedure over time as developers saw the value in letting players put their work through its paces. Games came out sturdier, more functional, and sometimes, even with a few new details the designers hadn't considered before. What we can learn: We've said before that the future of real estate software is collaborative—and that extends to users, too. After all, it's something that our founder, Lorne Wallace, did with Lone Wolf software from day one, and what better way is there to make sure people come first than to let them show you how they operate? Lesson 3: Hype isn't as important as doing it right. I won't name any names here, but let me give you two scenarios. One video game, a somewhat niche title from a little-known publisher that barely advertises itself, runs an extended beta test period for players, slowly introducing new features and fixing the bugs players found. Another video game, an A-list title from a massive publisher that blows a huge budget on marketing, runs a beta test period that lasts about three weeks, and focuses on keeping interest through that period. At launch, one finds huge success, topping the charts for weeks on end and making headlines even now, months later. One fell off the charts quickly, and rarely comes up outside of search queries for tech support. I'll let you guess which was which. What we can learn: Though the same length of extended beta test period wouldn't really be reasonable in real estate software, the clear moral of the story is that you've got to do things right—because once you launch, you need to deliver on what you promised, and people will see right through a gimmick. The bottom line If there's one thing the gaming industry has gotten right, it's how it connects with the people who use its creations. And that's ultimately what all the lessons we've discussed here come down to: How software, and the people who build it, interact with the people who use it. Though there are plenty more lessons that we could include here, this is what matters. How we think about real estate software is due for a shift, and lessons like these are what will get us there. By thinking about how software directly works for the people, we can define the future of real estate software—how it grows and evolves over the coming years. To view the original article, visit the Lone Wolf blog.

[Podcast] Being Fully Present: A Conversation with Carolyn Rosson
Today's guest, Carolyn Rosson, is the President of Ebby Halliday, an established company with a reach spanning 12,000 square miles across Texas and Oklahoma. In her 40 plus years with the company, Carolyn—mentored by Ebby herself—has risen through the ranks to her current position as President, continuing the intentional leadership style that Ebby started 75 years ago. In this episode, we learn why Carolyn's emphasis on service, to her staff and clients alike, has made her such a central figure in the growth trajectory and sustained success of one of the most powerful brokerage companies in the southern United States. In this episode of Million Dollar Question: A company led by women: Carolyn's experience being mentored by Ebby Halliday Keeping cohesion across different brands amidst growth and expansion Embracing that the pandemic has forever changed the ways that brokers work Authenticity and presence: Carolyn's top tips for success Connect with Carolyn: LinkedIn: Carolyn Rosson Website: ebby.com Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts RadioPublic To view the original article, visit the LeadingRE blog.

[Podcast] The Secrets to Leading a World-Class Independent Company with Carol Bulman
Carol Conway Bulman is the CEO and Chairman of Jack Conway & Company, Inc., the largest locally-based independent real estate firm in Massachusetts. Operating since 1956, the company has 25 offices with more than 600 agents from Swampscott to Cape Cod. Offering one-stop shopping for its clients, it includes insurance, mortgage financing, title, staging, renovation, relocation and commercial real estate divisions. In today's episode, Jessica and Carol talk about Jack Conway's company values, the company's dedication to philanthropy, what it's like running a family business and more. In this episode of Million Dollar Question: Jack Conway's core values, history and rebuild A philanthropic obligation Learning from George Floyd's murder What it's like working alongside your children Carol's advice on leadership Connect with Carol: LinkedIn: Carol Bulman Website: jackconway.com Email: [email protected] Listen to this podcast on: Spotify Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts RadioPublic To view the original article, visit the LeadingRE blog.

5 Common Google Search Console Errors for Real Estate Websites
Is your real estate website not ranking as well as you'd like on Google? It could be due to some common errors in your Google Search Console (GSC). As you know, SEO is an on going process, so if you want to keep your pages up in search results, you must constantly update your website and monitor it to fix issues. One of the greatest tools for monitoring your performance and also fixing your issue is Google Search Console. This tool is owned by Google, so it's really crucial to use. If you want to improve your real estate website SEO, this article will help you understand GSC errors. Common Errors in Google Search Console Crawl errors Mobile usability issues Structured data errors Page speed problems (CWV) Security issues Let's talk about all of them more exclusively: Error 1: Crawl errors Crawl errors can prevent Google from properly indexing your pages, leading to lower rankings for your real estate website. These errors occur when Google's bots encounter issues while crawling your site. There are several crawl errors on GSC. The most common crawl issues in real estate websites are: Not Found (404) Crawled – currently not indexed Discovered – currently not indexed Page with redirect Server error (5xx) Fixing each one of these requires knowledge about SEO, and also a little about SEO plugins if you are using WordPress as your CMS. Error 2: Mobile usability issues In today's mobile-driven world, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial for real estate businesses. Mobile usability issues can negatively impact your website's performance and rankings on Google. If your site is not optimized for mobile devices, you may be missing out on potential leads and traffic. To identify mobile usability issues, go to the "Mobile Usability" report in your Google Search Console. This report will highlight any issues affecting the mobile user experience on your website, such as text that is too small to read, clickable elements that are too close together, or viewport configuration errors. Here are some solutions to common mobile usability issues: Use responsive design: Ensure your website is built using responsive design principles. This means that the website's layout and content will automatically adjust to fit the screen size of the device being used. Optimize font sizes: Make sure text on your website is easily readable on mobile devices. Use a font size that is large enough to be legible without zooming in. Space out clickable elements: Ensure that clickable elements, such as buttons and links, are spaced out enough so that users can easily tap on them without accidentally tapping on adjacent elements. Note that the Mobile-usability report will retire at the end of the 2023. Google announced that, in modern times, virtually all websites are mobile friendly and there is no need to have either this or the mobile usability test anymore. Error 3: Structured data errors Structured data helps search engines understand the content and context of your real estate website. It provides additional information about your properties, such as price, location, and availability. However, if there are errors in your structured data implementation, it can cause Google to misinterpret your website's content and potentially impact your rankings. To identify structured data errors, navigate to the "Enhancements" report in your Google Search Console. This report will show you any issues with your structured data markup, such as missing fields, incorrect values, or invalid markup. To resolve structured data errors: Use structured data testing tools: Google provides a structured data testing tool that allows you to validate your structured data markup. Use this tool to identify any errors and make the necessary corrections. Follow Google's guidelines: Ensure that your structured data markup follows Google's guidelines for real estate websites. This includes using the appropriate schema types and properties to accurately represent your properties. Test and monitor: After making corrections to your structured data markup, use the testing tool again to verify that the errors have been resolved. Regularly monitor your Google Search Console for any new structured data errors that may arise. Error 4: Page speed problems (CWV) Page speed is a crucial factor that directly influences user experience and search engine rankings. In the realm of real estate websites, where competition is fierce and user expectations are high, addressing page speed problems is paramount. One significant aspect of page speed that Google emphasizes is the Core Web Vitals (CWV). Understanding Core Web Vitals (CWV): Core Web Vitals are a set of specific factors that Google considers when evaluating the overall user experience of a webpage. The three main components of CWV are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Measures the loading performance of a webpage by assessing the time it takes for the largest content element to become visible. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Assesses the visual stability of a webpage by measuring unexpected layout shifts during the loading process. First Input Delay (FID): Evaluates the interactivity of a page by measuring the time it takes for a user to interact with the page after the initial click. Note that Google has just announced that FID is going to be replaced by Interaction to Next Paint (INP) very soon. Error 5: Security issues Website security is crucial for protecting your real estate website and the sensitive information of your visitors. Google takes website security seriously and may penalize websites that have security vulnerabilities. To identify security issues, use the "Security Issues" report in your Google Search Console. This report will alert you to any security-related problems detected on your website, such as malware infections or hacked content. To secure your website: Install an SSL certificate: An SSL certificate encrypts the data transmitted between your website and users' browsers. This ensures that sensitive information, such as login credentials and contact forms, is secure. Update your software: Keep your website's CMS, plugins, and themes up to date. Software updates often include security patches that protect against known vulnerabilities. Use strong passwords: Ensure that all user accounts on your website have strong, unique passwords. Encourage your users to do the same. Regularly backup your website: Perform regular backups of your website's files and database. This allows you to restore your website to a previous state in case of a security breach. That's it, These are the most common Google Search Console issues that might happen to your real estate website, No matter the type of real estate website you are using, you can increase the likelihood of ranking by solving these issues. To view the original article, visit the Realtyna blog.