Category Archives: Real Estate

Family Home, Real Estate

Are the Suburbs Right for You?

UPDATED Leave a comment

Having a family and living a peaceful life in a beautiful suburban home is a dream for many. Your kids growing up with a backyard and playing around, breathing fresh air and enjoying the smell of freshly cut grass is one of the best things you could provide them with. There are, of course, a lot more options for living arrangements for families and not everything is going to be a good fit for everyone. However, if you’re leaning towards life in the suburbs or are simply unable to make a decision, keep on reading. We’re here to talk about the benefits of buying a suburban home. 

Why buying a suburban home is not for everyone

Let’s start off by saying that if you’re just not the type to live in a suburban home and lead a quiet life, that’s completely fine. There’s no one right way of living, choose what’s best for you!

Having to maintain your home

If you’re used to living in a bigger urban city, chances are that you used to live in an apartment. Although living in a house has a lot of perks, it has its downsides as well. Having to mow your lawn, fix your fence or clear snow off of your front porch and driveway can be bothersome. You might not be cut out for it and that’s completely understandable. 

Continue reading →
Real Estate

How to Get Your Security Deposit Back

UPDATED Leave a comment

One of the biggest disputes among renters and landlords is the security deposit. Almost all apartment management companies or landlords require one. If a problem does arise, it usually involves the renter receiving less than the amount they thought they were entitled to.  Let’s dive into scenarios and common questions about security deposits. Specifically we will attempt to answer the question of how renters can get their entire deposit back quickly. 

What is a Security Deposit

First of all, the security deposit is your money. Its purpose is solely to be used against any damage that you cause during the rental. 

For example, if you damaged anything inside the unit that needs to be repaired, this will be deducted out of the security deposit amount.  It is not to be used for anything else. 

Some states actually require the landlord to deposit the money into a separate account. They must also report the name of the bank, and the account number to the lessee. 

Continue reading →
Real Estate

Five Threats Facing real Estate Brokers

UPDATED Leave a comment

As a real estate broker/owner, you have a lot on your plate… from recruiting and retaining agents, to fielding countless vendor calls a day, to attending board and MLS meetings and more. It’s overwhelming. On top of all of that, technology advancements are creating new threats you may not even know exist.

1. Innovation is Outpacing Compliance Regulations

Your documents, data, and even private agent/client conversations live online now in a way they didn’t five years ago. With this new reality comes a variety of new compliance issues to keep on your radar.

Ada Compliant Website

Make your website easier to use for visually or hearing impaired visitors by implementing small tweaks, like adding alternative text for listing photos and transcripts for audiovisual content. 

Continue reading →
Real Estate

8 Things to Know Before Renting an Apartment

UPDATED Leave a comment

Are you looking for an apartment to rent? Are you wondering what some of the most essential considerations before committing to an agreement with a landlord? Moving into a new apartment can be an exciting new chapter in your life. Whether it is your first apartment or your tenth rental, there are some things you need to do and understand before you commit to a lease.

While renting an apartment should be more relaxed and less stressful than buying a home, there are some potential issues you need to think about to avoid problems, let’s take a look.

Your Credit History

Having an excellent credit score is essential when buying a home, but it can also play a role when renting apartments too. You may be renting because your financial history isn’t the best, but some landlords will need to see you have a good credit score to accept you as a tenant.

Continue reading →
Real Estate, Real Estate Agents

How to Throw an Exceptional Client Appreciation Event

UPDATED Leave a comment

Hosting a client appreciation party is a great way to show your appreciation for your clients’ business while encouraging future referrals.

“There’s a concept that says, ‘Business goes where it’s invited and stays where it’s appreciated,’” says author of the best-selling book Giftology John Ruhlin.

Client appreciation events show existing clients how much you appreciate them while drawing new clients to your business. Here are a few tips to help make your client appreciation events and gift-giving a success:

1. Cater to Your Clientele

The type of event you sponsor will largely depend on the demographics and culture of your sphere of influence. Families, for example, might enjoy a holiday photo-themed event.

Continue reading →
Real Estate

Making your Rental Property More Appealing to Millennials

UPDATED Leave a comment

Having an additional stream of income is a wise choice nowadays. After all, the cost of living will just continue to rise.

Thus, if you have an unoccupied space, condo, apartment, or house, you can rent it out to other people to supplement your current income. Not only can it be a solid and continuous source of income, but it also helps you earn extra without the need to get involved that much.

With more and more people preferring to rent a property than own one, all you need is to keep up with the maintenance. However, if you want to make money, then you have to target a specific group of people. A great demographic to target are millennials.

Good thing there are plenty of ways you can make your rental property much more attractive to the generation. Check out these tips listed down below.

Continue reading →
Real Estate

Five Ways to Wow Your Real Estate Clients

UPDATED Leave a comment

Today’s consumer is mobile-first and more educated than ever about real estate. Likewise, they expect and demand that their real estate agents deliver personable, responsive and tech-savvy experiences with complete expertise in their market.

Here’s how to create compelling client experiences before, during and long after the deal has closed.

1. Cater to Your Clientele.

First impressions are mission critical for real estate agents trying to capture the hearts and minds of potential new clients.

Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report research shows that sellers use these initial impressions to shape and inform their decisions. Specifically, 86 percent say trustworthiness and 81 percent cite responsiveness as “extremely or very important” qualities they seek when selecting an agent. Also, 80 percent favor agents who can serve as experts within a local market.

Continue reading →
Real Estate, Travel

Coping With Moving Away Before the Holidays

UPDATED Leave a comment

If you’ve just moved over the summer or right before the holiday season starts, it can be hard to cope with your first holidays being away from family and your hometown. But there are some things you can do to help ease the pain of being far from family during the holiday season. Here are some tips for creating lasting memories and making the holidays enjoyable even after a big move.

If you can’t visit…

Start your own traditions:

If you’re unable to visit your extended family after the big move, you can start your own traditions within your own family. Whether it’s creating a new Thanksgiving recipe, looking for amazing Christmas light displays in your new neighborhood, or getting the kids involved with decorating your home home, there are plenty of new traditions you can start.

Have a virtual visit:

You can also have a virtual visit with the rest of your family members. If everyone gets together for a big holiday party, or if you’re apart from someone you love for the first time, offer to have a phone or video call to make the distance feel less drastic. You’d be surprised just how much better you may feel getting to chat (even if it’s brief) with the ones you miss the most during what’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.

If you can visit…

Make your attendance the gift:

If you’re able to visit but money is tight (as it typically can be during the holidays), make your attendance during the holidays the gift you’re giving to your family. Flights and gas can be expensive, and holiday travel can be draining, especially if you and your spouse have children to take care of. So go home for the holidays, but don’t worry about the expense of holiday gifts on top of the visit.

Switch off every other year:

After a big move, it can be overwhelming to think of traveling every holiday season. So you and your extended family can work out a schedule to switch off visiting each other every year. Maybe your parents or other extended family can visit you for your first holiday season in your new home, and you can travel to them the following year, or vise versa. Establishing this schedule can also allow you to look forward to the holidays instead of dreading them.

Overall, consider this a fresh start.

The holiday season can be a fresh start for all of us. So remember that your first holidays in your new home may be hard to cope with, exciting, or a full range of emotions in between, but they are also a time for togetherness and remembering what’s most important. And no matter what, the new year is just around the corner.

Real Estate

Customer Service: Why it Matters.

UPDATED Leave a comment

Providing good customer service. Such a simple concept and a necessity in today’s customer centric on-demand world. Yet it seems to be somewhat of a unique and sometimes hard-to-find skill in business.  It is both art and science. Customer service plays an essential role in basically every industry, which is why companies holistically need to embrace customer service in an integrated way for it impacts their bottom line. In the real estate industry, the quality and value of customer service – from real estate agents, brokers, brokerages, teams and companies alike – must be strong, concise, authentic, integrated and memorable in order to be successful and market aligned.

Continue reading →
Home Sellers, Real Estate

How to Increase Your Home’s Resale Value

UPDATED Leave a comment

People are always asking how they can get more money for their house when they put it on the market. While some of the things that determine your home’s value are out of your hands (location, age, layout), many buyers are willing to fork over a little more when certain upgrades have been made. Below are some suggestions for projects and improvements that can increase your home’s resale value. 

Invest in Energy Efficiency

It’s the 21st century, and green is the name of the game! Not only do energy-efficient updates help protect the environment, they also save you more money by reducing utility bills. Now we’ve all heard of those little energy-saving hacks like unplugging your phone charger and washing your clothes in cold water — but those aren’t the kinds of things that are going to add value to your home. If you want a greater resale value, you have to think bigger. Consider one of these upgrades:

Continue reading →