Tools For Real Estate's Active Rain Blog

I was shocked last year to lose some buyers that I'd been working with in the 700K to 1 million price range. I referred them to a well-known agent who worked with many high end clients, and who was a "neighborhood expert" in their area of preference. I assumed it would be a perfect match. Wrong. ...

Did you know that testimonials are one of most under-used sales tools in real estate? The power of your current customers to sell your value to others is far greater than your own power to sell yourself. And unlike most forms of real estate advertising, testimonials are free! Unfortunately, most ...

A few days ago I heard that an old friend of mine, Rick Bakke, had just passed away.   I hadn't talked to Rick in a couple of years, but back when I was a struggling new agent 7+ years ago, Rick was kind of the maverick warhorse in the office - a high-volume agent who looked a bit like Santa Clau...

Recently we came across a case study that reminded us how easy it can be to overlook important information when representing clients in a transaction.  Here's the scoop, in the hopes it will help someone avoid making the same mistake in the future:Home buyers Bob and Ellen (not their real names) ...

Michelle had kid stuff to attend to on Saturday, but Libby and I attended Active Rain's first birthday party at Magnolia Park and had a great time!  Having only been on Active Rain for about a month it was my first opportunity to really interact with a lot of members all at once, and I was impres...

If you haven't already picked a target market, now is the time to choose one that you feel has good potential for you, and focus on it. While it may feel like you are limiting yourself at times, you are actually giving yourself the opportunity to fully develop your expertise and capture market sh...

There's a growing awareness among home sellers (and real estate agents) that the bar needs to be raised when it comes to online home listing photos.  Here's a good example of how using the right camera can put you miles ahead when it comes to online photos that make sellers happy.I personally lik...

A couple of points from my recent comment on Redfin's blog:The concept of not having a buyer's agent present at a home inspection (especially since it typically means having the listing agent there with the buyers instead) makes no sense to me.  There are so many things a buyer agent knows from y...

Only if you are committed to exercising and improving your health!  How many times does a new or struggling real estate agent hear those words of advice - you need to just start joining organizations so that you meet people - try a health club.  The advice is well intended and good if further dir...

I've been amazed recently at the some of the discussions regarding discount real estate agent services, especially some of the back and forths in the comments section of the Redfin corporate blog.  For some reason I rarely see anyone make the point about what to me (a full-service real estate age...