Improving Your Business

Stories, articles and advice aimed at improving your business

Top factors that hold up home purchase contracts the most

Home purchase contracts are increasingly being settled on time, and technology has increased the median days to close. But there are sill many ways for contract negotiations to hit a snag. A National Association of Realtors survey in May

MRED’s new policy on listing commissions

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) updated its rules and workflows around commission figures June 4 in response to feedback from industry stakeholders, effectively undoing a policy set in place last year. According to a May 1 blog post from

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Exclusive: Baird & Warner president talks housing recovery in new video

In a new video, Baird & Warner president and CEO Steve Baird offers insights on the housing recovery in the Chicago market since the Great Recession. See the full video for a snapshot of the current market and insights

Amazon and Lennar partner to create Alexa-controlled smart homes

Amazon and Lennar announced its new partnership to provide Alexa-enabled smart homes in certain markets across the country. Homebuyers can get homes that come with features that can be controlled with Alexa including Wi-Fi, smart locks, doorbells, thermostats and

Agents using Google Maps on their websites could have to pay

Agents and brokers who are embedding Google Maps into their listings will now have to pay to do so. The Google Maps application programing interface (API) allows agents and brokers to embed maps into listings on their websites. This

5 reasons why mortgage applications are denied

When entering the market for the first time, many homebuyers are unsure of what they must do to qualify for a mortgage and have concerns about their application being denied. A new report by LendingTree looked at more than 10

Farmhouse features are the most profitable trend in starter homes

Starter homes with farmhouse-inspired features and craftsman designs are demanding the highest sales premiums, according to RealEstate.com. In the study, RealEstate.com analyzed the listing descriptions of millions of entry-level homes (homes at the bottom third of the market) to

Hurdlr targets the real estate world with new focus

Hurdlr, a Washington, D.C.-based startup that helps freelancers monitor expenses, taxes and other back end personal business needs, recently announced a new focus on the real estate industry. It will provide agents with goal-setting features paired with its original income-tracking

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Are you in violation of the Realtor Code of Ethics on social media?

Realtors are facing a major issue regarding compliance with the Realtor Code of Ethics and the Illinois Real Estate License Act. I recently spent some time looking at Realtor posts on my social media feeds. What I found in

The best way to stay in contact with your client — just forget the emojis

It can be difficult to find time for face-to-face meetings or even phone calls, leaving many agents and clients rely on text messages to communicate. Smartphone users in the United States are initiating and receiving five times as many

Is Vero the next social hotspot for agents?

Facing growing scrutiny for privacy violations and obfuscating personal posts in favor of advertisers’ paid posts, social networks are being forced to reexamine their ways before they’re abandoned. Some users opt to go social network-free while others go in

AgentEDU expands its training curriculum with new Assistants track

It can be difficult for many agents to take the leap from working alone to hiring an assistant to help. It is even more difficult to find someone who has previous experience in the real estate industry. Once an

ShelterZoom’s blockchain-based platform picks up steam around the world. How does it work?

Slowly but surely, bitcoin and blockchain — a decentralized ledger that powers the cryptocurrency — have been making inroads in real estate, but a technology company wants to make them the industry standard. ShelterZoom‘s Offer NOW is a blockchain-based

MRED adopts real estate technology platform Remine. How does it work?

The multiyear lease Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) recently signed with Remine, a big data and predictive analytics platform designed to help agents identify new market opportunities, will offer customers a number of benefits, according to Rebecca Jensen, MRED

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How to build your real estate business with can’t-miss Facebook ads

For Realtors, especially those who tend to use more traditional forms of advertising, Facebook is the proverbial golden ticket. Today, more than 80 percent of internet users are active on Facebook, where they spend a staggering 700 billion minutes

Real estate tech company Homesnap secures $14 million in funding. How can it help agents?

With its double-pronged approach to cater to both agents and homebuyers, Homesnap continues to increase its reach in the industry, recently securing $14 million in series B funding. Homesnap serves more than 800,000 agents and brokers, helping them boost productivity

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