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Do You Want to Become a Real Estate Agent? Find Out: Take CENTURY 21®’s Quick Real Estate Personality Assessment

January 20, 2017 By

 

A real estate agent’s main asset is their personality. If you’re a good listener and you love connecting with other people you’re probably an agent-in-waiting. The best agents are typically dependable, conscientious, and capable of sustaining new and lasting relationships. If this sounds like you, you’re in the right place.

CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT tool will help you determine your personality type by providing invaluable insights to help you move one step closer to entering the real estate business.

Are you comfortable around strangers? Do you like to take charge of a situation? If you’re nodding your head, this tool is for you. It’s a quick and easy way to gain insight into becoming a great agent. Chances are you’re already bursting with qualities you’ve never equated to selling a house.

So, are you interested in an independent business where you make your own hours? Does the idea of helping someone make their dream a reality sound exciting?

Click the link below to unlock your real estate personality. It only takes ten minutes. You’ll never forget the feeling of handing someone the keys to their new home.

CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT

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Get the Most Out of Social Media as a Real Estate Agent

January 5, 2017 By

Be a better real estate agent by learning the benefits of key social media platforms. Remember, each platform provides a different function, and each platform has its inherent pros and cons. What may succeed on one platform may not on another. Whether you’re tweeting about an open house, or posting a new listing on Facebook, this infographic will help you determine how to use your voice as effectively as possible.

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What Millennials Look for in a Home

August 9, 2016 By

Millennials have grown up in a world of technology, connectivity, and awareness that distinguishes them from the baby boomer homeowners before them. Be prepared for their differing interests, hobbies, and priorities that may shape their ideal home sweet home. We’ve provided an easy to read infographic to help you navigate a home sale and find the perfect fit for your millennial home buyer.

Remember, each client is different. While this may serve as a guide when selling to millennials, always communicate with home buyers to understand their individual needs. Click on the infographic to take a closer look!

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The ToolkitCMA™ Features You Need to Know

May 20, 2016 By

C21_CMAToolkit_Blog-HomeAs part of our promise to be smarter, bolder, faster, the CENTURY 21® System now provides its agents with the ToolkitCMA™ at no additional cost. The product, which is used by over 100,000 agents across the country and priced at around $200, is just one of the many resources that CENTURY 21 offers in order to support its members at the local level.

Among its features that you can view on the right, the ToolkitCMA offers the following:

  • 98% Market Coverage
  • Mobile & Tablet Branded Presentations
  • MLS Interface
  • Marketing Flyers

C21_CMAToolkit_Blog-FlyersWhat does this mean for you as an agent? Professional quality marketing, along with easy-to-read content from virtually any MLS in North America. Here, we’ve provided small sample of the various styles and formats in which you can create flyers, but you’ll find even more options one you’ve signed in under your account.

Of course, the ToolkitCMA allows for customization, as seen in the preferences tab of the program below. This way, agents can tailor the product to their individual work.

C21_CMAToolkit_Blog-PreferencesRemember, as part of the CENTURY 21 ® System, you’ll receive all of this at no additional cost. This is just one way that our brand gives you the edge you need to succeed in real estate.

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Lessons from Mom That Help You Be a Better Agent

May 3, 2016 By

This Mother’s Day, CENTURY 21 ® wants to showcase the values that the women in our lives have taught us to uphold, since they align with the ones that make our brand what it is today. These life lessons from Mom, Grandma, or even your Aunt, not only guide you through your personal life, but may also help you be a better agent.

  1. Do Your Best

While you may have first heard this saying in school, laboring over a late night project or term paper, this phrase fully applies to the real estate world. As an agent, you should always present your best work, whether it’s in the form of fully researched market analyses and listing presentations or well-staged open houses to elicit offers from potential home buyers. While only you can put in the effort, CENTURY 21 offers the support and resources you’ll need to make Mom proud.

  1. Learn from Others

Opportunities for growth aren’t just limited to the classroom, and Mom emphasized this at your young age when talking about your friends, coaches, and relatives. Now, take this lesson to heart when networking. Everyone you meet, from clients to fellow agents to industry leaders, has something to offer. It’s your job to discover what that may be with genuine conversation and active listening. Attend networking events, join social media groups, and chat up potential home buyers during open houses.

  1. Embrace Change

Moving to college may have been daunting when you were younger, but Mom was right there supporting you. Use this tactic with your clients who might be making an especially big or stressful move. Focus on the positives of the experience and instill confidence by showing them a new home sweet home that’s a perfect fit for their future life.

  1. Put Family First

Mom didn’t even have to mention this since she practiced it each and every day of your childhood. Today, make sure your clients know how important family is to you, by fully understanding and accommodating their family needs. For example, if you’re working with a couple who expects kids in the future, focus on neighborhoods with nearby schools, parks, and family friendly recreational facilities. You can even ask them which structural features are important to them when raising kids, such as the master bedroom placed close to the other bedrooms, or a finished basement that provides extra room for activities.

A strong career in real estate may be as simple as going back to the basics with these four core lessons. CENTURY 21 thanks all the women who have helped shaped our agents with their wisdom. Happy Mother’s Day!

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How to #Hashtag

April 1, 2016 By

The (#) is an ever-evolving symbol. Some may remember it as the pound sign. Others may think of it as the number sign. A small number may even know it as the octothorp. Today, you know the sign as a hashtag, a social media feature that may benefit your online marketing presence as a real estate agent. In this article, you’ll learn the basics of hashtag use, including which platforms suit them best and the difference between trending and custom tags. You’ll also hear about the dos and don’ts of hashtags such as the pitfalls of overuse and tagging without research.

What are Hashtags?
A brief refresher: Hashtags serve as keywords in a search function. You can identify one by the pound sign (#) followed by a word or phrase, as in #RealEstate. When used this way, hashtags group pieces of digital content on social media that share a common theme to create searchable topics. So, a search for #RealEstate on Twitter gathers all recent and popular content with that tag in one location for you to view.

Which Platforms Support Them?
Hashtags may be used on any social media post, but only on certain platforms. Instagram, Twitter, Google+, and Vine are all ideal because users can easily search for content and receive a list of posts containing a particular tag. Facebook has a similar search function, but doesn’t work as well due to a high number of private profiles. In turn, this makes tagging less prevalent on that network. Hashtags are not supported on Pinterest, Snapchat, or LinkedIn, so avoid using them on those sites altogether.

How Do I Label Content?
All hashtags should follow a certain format, and each platform has different guidelines for them. When using ones that contain multiple words, as in #RealEstate, do not separate them with a space, punctuation, or symbol. This means that signs like the ampersand (&), dollar sign ($), and even the pound sign itself (#) should not follow the hashtag. While there is no actual limit to length, six characters are optimal . Stay away from longer tags, as they’re harder to read. In terms of number of hashtags, you may find more engagement on Twitter with just two. You can add more on Instagram posts, since the platform allows up to 30. However, it’s not recommended to use such a high number because they may make your post seem cluttered. On Facebook, however, your content may actually fare better without any hashtags at all, due to their unwieldiness within the platform.

Which Hashtags do I Use?
Since the basic function of hashtags is to reflect the content of the post, consider descriptive terms. For example, a photo of a loft in Boston might have the tags #Boston and #loft in it. As a realtor, you may want to incorporate industry terms, such as #Property, #ForSale, #JustListed, or #DreamHome to reach others interested in real estate. Make sure to search for the hashtag before using it to avoid obscure or even controversial topics. A seemingly innocent phrase may not be so. Try a search for your local area (#Boston, #Springfield, etc.) plus #RealEstate in order to find popular local tags your potential clients use. You could also utilize tools to find popular hashtags in your area, but only use ones relevant to your content. Your loft photo won’t benefit from the popular hashtags #foodie or #love.

Now that you know the ins and outs of hashtags, you can start using them like a pro!

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Know Your Negotiation: Tips for Real Estate Agents

February 17, 2016 By

One of the many reasons a home buyer or seller turns to you, the real estate agent, is for negotiation help. They might lack experience and feel insecure when it comes time to talk about money and their potential purchase or sale. While you may have already brushed up on some tactics, realize that negotiating in real estate presents a unique situation. Here are some tips that may help.

Check Your Emotions, Not Theirs
Common advice recommends negotiators to remain unbiased and objective — strong emotions can potentially hurt your deal. However, as a real estate agent, it’s important to remember that emotions do play a part in your business. A home may often be the largest investment in a client’s life. Acknowledge and understand that clients might have a lot at stake, while continuing to remain unemotional during negotiation. Your clients may appreciate that you understand their point of view while maintaining a professional demeanor.

Prepare Your Clients
Whether your clients are the ones buying or the ones selling, get them up to speed on how a typical negotiation occurs. Although you may be responsible for leading the process, you can still make your client feel like a participant. Lay out the procedural steps for them, so there are no surprises or unexpected obstacles. Answer as many questions as possible beforehand so they don’t feel out of the loop or overwhelmed when the negotiation occurs.

Manage Expectations
While you may have good intentions to get your client the best deal possible, don’t promise it. After all, you can’t. A negotiation is a live, working discussion that can take many turns. Make sure your clients understand the worst case scenario by talking to them beforehand about all potential outcomes. As mentioned before, buying or selling a home may be an emotional endeavor for them. Mentally preparing them for less than favorable outcomes takes the shock out of the situation and may reduce mental stress.

Discuss Alternatives
The “worst case scenario” conversation shouldn’t end with a simple acknowledgment of potential outcomes. Create a plan of action just in case those outcomes are realized. What would your client like to do if the buyer won’t budge on an asking price? What would the buyer like to do with certain home inspection results? Deciding on an action beforehand can reduce the time and effort of decision making in the moment, which may lead to more objective, unemotional choices.

Report Facts Only
Since it’s your job to remain detached during this process, make sure you remain that way when reporting negotiation outcomes to your client. If a seller is angered by an asking price, but accepts it anyway, you may want to leave out their emotional response when reporting the offer acceptance. Their reaction is unnecessary to the business transaction, and can only add superfluous feelings of attachment to the process.

Negotiating in real estate can be a high stakes game, but these tips may help you to remain calm while you work out the best deal for your client.

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Best Linkedin Practices for Real Estate Agents

January 12, 2015 By

LinkedIn is an essential tool for professionals. The platform currently has over 300 million users who use it to showcase and share their professional accomplishments. Think of LinkedIn like a public version of your resume, and a community of like-minded peers. If you’ve already tackled the standard social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest now it’s time to use LinkedIn to help promote yourself and your business.

Here are four best practices.

1. Join and participate in groups: There are thousands of groups on LinkedIn that cater to a wide range of industries. Join groups related to real estate and show your thought leadership by being an active participant. Engage and participate in discussions, respond to questions, and ask questions of your own.

2. Share content: It’s recommended that you not share listings on LinkedIn because your connections are not your target market. Instead of sharing listings, we recommend that you share content that shows that you are a thought leader. Use the Rich Media Button to post videos, blog posts, images, documents, and presentations.

3. Optimize your profile: Add keywords to your profile to increase the likelihood that it will come up in search. Use words that are specific to your niche and your location to push your profile to the top of searches. For example, if you do residential listings in Charlotte, North Carolina, make sure those words are included somewhere in your profile.

4. Customize your URL: Change your standard LinkedIn URL to a URL that contains your first and last name. This will make it easier for clients and fellow REALTORS® to identify you.

LinkedIn is providing a new and unique outlet for people to build their personal brand, share advice and insights, and be regarded as an industry expert. These tips will help you do just that.

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6 Homes Nominated for the Globes

January 12, 2015 By

Roll out the red carpet. It’s award season. There were so many fantastic movies and television shows in 2014. It’s hard to choose a winner, but we’ve done some of the work for you by nominating one house that could be straight from the set of some of our favorite films and small screen shows. And the winners are…

1. We could see Cinderella escaping Into the Woods from her duties at this spacious home. Luckily she’ll be able to switch her rags for riches, love, and a walk-in closet full of glass slippers.

2. This doesn’t look like a House of Cards, but we’re sure President Underwood wouldn’t protest vacationing here with First Lady Claire. Sometimes you just have to get away from The White House. There is plenty of room for scheming, plotting, and presidential duties.

3. This seems like the perfect home to Get Away with Murder. We could practically see Professor Keating and her prodigies sitting in the living room till the early hours of the morning, solving their latest case.

4. These brownstone homes are fit for all the Girls. Hannah, Marnie, Jessa, and Shoshanna are bound to get themselves into some sort of trouble while living here. The nearby coffee shops are a perfect place for Hannah to work on her writing — she is the voice of her generation, after all.

5. This home is fit for the entire Crawley clan. We’re sure the Earl and Countess of Grantham would thoroughly enjoy living in this abbey. There is also plenty of space for the sprawling staff.

6. This home could belong to Amy and Nick Dunne, before Amazing Amy’s disappearance that is. It’s big enough and just creepy enough to be the site of an alleged murder and the morbid mystery that follows.

We wish luck to all of the houses and casts nominated for tonight’s accolades.

Recommended Reading:

-Carrie, Seinfeld, and Friends: NYC Apartments Straight From the Screen

-What’s Your Favorite Scary Movie? 10 Real Houses Where Your Favorite Scary Movie May Have Occurred

-Let the Games Begin: Which District Should You Live In?

 

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5 Ways to Help Save Money in 2015

January 11, 2015 By

Saving money is typically a New Year’s resolution, but it’s not always as easy as one would hope. One of the best ways to save money is to make improvements at home.

Follow these steps to help cut spending and, simultaneously, improve your home.

1. Install dimmers: Putting dimmers on your lights will decrease your energy bill. You don’t always need full lighting in a room and there are times when it would actually be beneficial to have more control over your lighting. According to DoItYourself.com, dimmer switches save 98% of energy compared to normal light switches, potentially decreasing your energy bill by 10%.

2. Close closet doors: This may sound odd, but closing your closet doors will save you money. Your house will heat or cool these spaces if the doors are open so, if you keep them closed, you won’t be wasting energy on unused spaces.

3. Organize the pantry: Keeping a well-organized pantry or food closet is essential for a happy home and it will also save you money. If you keep your pantry neat and tidy, you’ll be able to see exactly what groceries you have and what you need to stock up on.

4. DIY cleaning products: Save a few extra dollars every month by using items like vinegar and lemon juice to create your own cleaning products. DIY cleaning products are easy and inexpensive to make and you won’t need to rush out to the store when you run out.

5. Use cold water: Using cold water in your laundry will greatly decrease your energy bill. Most clothes will wash the same in cold water versus hot. Hot water uses more energy, so switch over to cold.

Making these small changes around the house will add up.

Recommended Reading:

-Money Matters: How to Decrease Your Energy Bill this Winter

-How to Decorate Your Home on a Budget

-Winter is Coming: How to Prep Your Home for Winter

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