Virginia Court Rules to Prohibit Title Company Home Warranties
On January 4th, 2017, the State of Virginia ruled that Title Company Home Warranties are no longer able to be provided to buyers at closing in return for business. If you don’t know this practice it goes like this: In many areas of the country, including the Northern Virginia, Washington DC, and Maryland areas, Title Companies have offered “FREE Home Warranties” for buyers who close business with them. Essentially, it was a marketing tactic by the Title Company to “induce” business. I have said for a very long time this is not a valid practice and should not be allowed. I wrote this blog back in April 2016 saying this exact thing and explaining how the Title Company Home Warranty isn’t really free. Someone does pay for it. Here is the ruling for you to check out for yourself.
Do you have a WordPress website or thinking of getting one? In my travels in the Title Insurance industry and working directly with Realtors on their websites, I have seen the pitfalls Realtors go through learning how to use them. The $99 a month site, the real estate company websites (template), the site that isn’t set up correctly, and of course, the website that is a business card online and never updated. Even if a direct referral is given to a Realtor, that person is STILL going to look them up! When they do…what will they find? Perception is reality in real estate, so let’s talk about why Realtors should dump these crappy websites, and instead use WordPress. Knowing how to use this amazing tool can change your business. Here are some beginner WordPress Website Tips for Realtors when they are getting started.
Are you looking to implement a successful video marketing strategy in 2017? Perhaps you are just getting started using video in your real estate business? Either way, I have you covered in this blog. I’m sure by now you have (if you are a Realtor/Lender/Title) been asked to write or give your quarterly and yearly goals. One of those “goals” might be trying to figure out video, shoot a few, and post it to social media and YouTube. I want you to meet and surpass this goal. I started using video in my business over 4 yrs ago and it changed not only my business, but the entire way I look at real estate marketing in general. You have the Realtors/Lenders that “get it” and see the vast opportunity that video creates, and then you have the other 90% of Realtors/Lenders. Where do you fall? Let’s add video as part of your business in 2017!
If you own an iPhone or any Apple product you know that they come out with “updates” for IOS software that makes the technology possible. Each time you update the IOS software your phone gets new and cool additions that weren’t there before. Sometimes these changes are big, other times they are small. Either way, if you NEVER update the software, eventually the applications on your phone will no longer become compatible and work correctly…or at all. I think that is very much the same as it applies to Realtors and their real estate database and overall business. As an agent, if you aren’t updating your business and database, eventually it also becomes stale and outdated. Think…when is the last time you sat down and went through your entire real estate database and updated it? Are you still doing the same marketing tactics you were doing 5-10yrs ago? Are you getting the same result? Here are some steps to take to update your real estate business and move forward to a successful 2017 and beyond.
How many real estate company Websites are there in the United States? There are around 1.4 million licensed agents in the US so you can guess that the number is pretty high. Ever notice that these real estate company websites rarely (if ever) are ranked on the 1st page of Google for any type of searches…broad or hyper-local? Does this mean that the Google algorithm doesn’t like real estate company websites completely? No…that’s not it. The issue is far deeper than that. I get it…Realtors are not in the website game. They are in the game of helping people buy and sell homes. The issue is that “marketing and branding” is HUGE in real estate. How do you get clients? Where do you send them to get more information about you? HOW do you get discovered on the platform where most people go for information? Your real estate website is your HUB for all things real estate and you. Learning how to use this amazing tool is a must to stay relevant to the consumer in the present and future. Here are the top 5 reasons Google doesn’t rank that company given website.