Real Estate Marketing Archives

7 Reasons Real Estate Agents Get Sued & How to Avoid It

September 6, 2022 By Jeremy

This post has been fact checked by Lisa Rogers at time of publishing by Principal Attorney at ArkLaws.

Even the most diligent real estate agents can get sued, and it happens all the time. But that doesn’t mean you have to panic if you get served. Most lawsuits against real estate agents can be prevented if you are proactive and take steps to protect yourself to avoid the courtroom.

If you’re an agent and find yourself getting sued, contact us today and we’ll be happy to talk to you and point you in the right direction.

The seven most common reasons real estate agents get sued are:

Breach of Duty
Breach of Contract
Fraud
Negligence
Failing to Disclose a Property Defect
Giving Legal Advice
Not Protecting Client Data

Breach of Duty

Breach of duty means that you fail to do something that is your responsibility to do, and it is one of the most common reasons real estate agents are sued. Because of your expertise and experience, your clients trust you to act in their best interests with honesty and transparency.

Breach of duty claims can be filed for any number of reasons including: [Read more…]

10 Tips on Staging A Home For A Quick Sale

August 2, 2022 By Jeremy

How do you capture a buyer’s heart for top dollar and get to the closing table faster? By staging your home to sell! And staging your home doesn’t have to be a massive effort or incredibly expensive.

Making small changes to your home like updating your lighting both inside and out allows you to raise your sales price and decreases the time your home is on the market. Home staging is the technique of creating an emotional connection between your home and a potential homebuyer so they’re ready to make an offer on the spot.

Proper home staging has three effects:

Help buyers emotionally connect to your home.
Increases the perceived value to get you higher offers.
Allows a buyer to better “visualize” how they’ll use your home if they buy it.

Fun fact: According to the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, home staging sells homes 5 – 11 times faster! And with the average cost of staging being 1% of a home’s sale price, homeowners usually will sell for 20% over the asking price making you more money!

So how do you perform a proper home staging? Here are 10 tips you can do quickly, easily, and on your own!

Tip #1: Start With Your Curb Appeal [Read more…]

Form 2553: How to Use It & Save on Corp Taxes!

May 24, 2022 By Jeremy

If you are ready to save money on your corporate taxes as a real estate agent, investor or small business, we are here to help. Registering with the IRS to form your corporation is easy, and form 2553 is simple when you know what to fill out and how. The TL:DR version is by marking yourself from a C Corporation (which is the IRS default) to a S Corporation you can lower what you owe in taxes. It is important to note there are differences in C and S corps, and we’ll cover those in a follow up post.

Below you’ll find FAQs about Form 2553 including what it is, who is eligible for it, and how to fill out and file this form.

What is a Form 2553?

The 2553 form is the tax form that tells the IRS that a business wants to be registered as an S Corporation rather than a C corporation.

To be eligible and qualify you must: [Read more…]

5 Professionals That Always Have Off-Market Listings For You

March 15, 2022 By Jeremy

When inventory runs low, getting creative is the key to finding new listings or sourcing properties for your clients. By going outside the “real estate” box you can build a network that brings you consistent off-market properties and keeps your business running smooth, even when the MLS dries up.

Here are five types of professionals you can network with to keep real estate leads and business flowing. [Read more…]

How to Market a Pocket Listing

June 1, 2021 By Jeremy

You’ve scored your first pocket listing, congratulations! These are highly profitable and can help you stake your claim in your market. The only problem is that most of your go-to real estate marketing strategies aren’t going to help you here. For one, you have to protect your client’s privacy and keep the general public out. Two, the home is probably out of the price range of the average buyer.

Those two factors mean that you need to get creative with your marketing of the home, and we’re ready to help. Below you’ll find seven ways to market a pocket listing so that you can bring in qualified buyers and help to keep your client’s identity and home as private as possible.

Network with Financial Advisors

Gaining the respect and trust of financial advisors can take some time. That, combined with the idea that you are likely reading into marketing pocket listings before you obtain your first, is why we’re starting our list here.

Meeting financial advisors can happen in any number of ways, and you may want to wait for the relationship to start organically rather than approaching them on the spot about a business opportunity. Over time, you can gain their trust by offering your services when they mention clients that need to downsize their assets or have the opportunity to move into a bigger home.

After their trust is gained and a healthy relationship is established, you can approach them about a pocket listing to see if they know of anyone who may be interested. They may even provide you with a list of people who have the kind of income that would justify you approaching them with the opportunity.
Exclusive Advertising

With a pocket listing, advertising to the general public is off the table. Even exclusive advertisements in pristine publications might be an issue if the client doesn’t want to make the information to select groups, which is why you should always consult with your client about the idea first. [Read more…]

What is Part-Time Real Estate Agent (Pros and Cons)

May 25, 2021 By Jeremy

Are you thinking about becoming a part-time real estate agent? Then you’re likely thinking “Maybe I can give this a try?” and possibly thinking if it will remain a side hustle or a full time job. Becoming a part time real estate agent is a great way to get your feet wet, but it comes with plenty of obstacles a full time agent does not have to face.

By talking to long time agents, brokerages and by using our experience, we’ve created a guide to the pros and cons of being a part-time real estate agent to help you determine if this is the right more for you and your goals. At the very bottom you’ll find 5 tips to help you succeed if you do decide this is the right path for your career.

Is it legal to be a part time real estate agent?

Yes it is legal to be a part-time real estate agent, and yes you absolutely can work as a part-time real estate agent. An essential factor to remember is that all real estate agents have control over the amount of work they take on. It might not be as easy to find a brokerage to join, and you do need to work during your downtime, but this industry is flexible enough for people to get their start by working part-time. Many very successful agents get their start by working as an agent part-time until they have enough of a workflow to justify leaving their day jobs.

Do you need certifications to be a part time real estate agent?

The exact certification requirements are dependent on your local board. Being a part-time real estate agent is still a professional endeavor, so it requires some certifications. You’ll need to complete schooling and obtain the appropriate certificates to act as a real estate agent. That said, you can expect to complete schooling, find a brokerage to join, and take an exam at the very least.

How much can I expect to make as a part time agent?

[Read more…]

Should You Use Your Basement as a Bedroom?

May 11, 2021 By Jeremy

Whether you’re a homeowner or an agent looking for how to classify a basement, or you’re a landlord renting out a room in your home, you need to familiarize yourself with the codes surrounding basements. A strategic approach to a makeover can help to add value to the house. Not only that, you may even be able to convert a basement into a rentable space.

Before you run an ad about a basement bedroom for rent, you need to make sure what you have to offer qualifies as a basement. We’re here to help guide you through this topic and help you understand whether or not a basement can qualify as a bedroom.

What qualifies a basement as a bedroom?

For a basement to qualify as a bedroom, it needs to meet the criteria provided by local code enforcement offices. You should know that laws are subject to variation due to local regulations, and what is required in some places may not be in others. That means you do need to do some research.

However true that may be, the fact is that the general outline of what a basement bedroom must require is similar in all areas.

One of the most essential things a basement must feature to qualify as a bedroom is windows. At the very least, you can expect to have to include a few windows with a surface area of about 6 feet. The windows cannot sit more than 44-inches above the ground and must be paired with an oversized window well on the outside, if applicable. This allows the window to bring in natural light and act as an exit in an emergency.

That’s not all, though. [Read more…]

7 Out-Of-The-Box Partnership Ideas to Drive Real Estate Leads

May 4, 2021 By Jeremy

At some point, the market will appear dried up. All your typical lead sources will go quiet, and you’ll have to live off of your reserve while waiting for the market to pick up again. That’s typical for the average real estate agent, but this does not have to be a situation you face.

By becoming the “it” person and everyone’s go-to, you can have a continuous flow of real estate leads that come in ready to buy and sell. The best part is that because they are direct referrals, the lead quality is high and your funnel stays full.

Below you will find seven unique marketing strategies to keep your pipeline full of buyer and seller leads year-round. [Read more…]

How to Find Listings in a Market Where Everything Moves Fast

April 27, 2021 By Jeremy

You have a buyer and the buyer has a pre-approval letter or cash in the bank to purchase a home, great! But what happens when there are no listings or when properties fly off the market faster than you can even email them to a client? If you’ve worked in NYC, DC, SFO, or a similar hot real estate market you’re used to this predicament. But with suburban sprawl increasing and demand for space growing, a lack of inventory has become a reality across the USA.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered!

Below you’ll find five ways to find off-market listings as well as properties to keep buyers happy and your database full. [Read more…]

5 Ways To Increase Buyer & Seller Leads from Listing Pages

April 6, 2021 By Jeremy

If you’re ready to drive more buyer and seller leads from your listing pages, we’re ready to help.

Below you’ll find 5 of our top tips to turn more website visitors into leads for your sales funnel and increase foot traffic for your open houses. [Read more…]