The market is cooling. This top CEO has 3 tips to reignite your business

If the slower market has you discouraged, never fear. Coach Tom Toole has the best advice for agents looking to turn things around from Nick Bailey, CEO & President of RE/MAX International

Why I Should Consider a Short Sale

More than 5.6 million homes were sold in the United States alone in 2020. Many more homes have been sold since then and some have even gone through short sales. But what is a short sale exactly, and how is it any different than a regular sale, bankruptcy, or foreclosure?

How does a short sale affect you as a homeowner? Are there any benefits of short sales compared to other options? Keep reading and learn more about whether or not you should consider a short sale when selling a home. 

What You Need to Know About Short Sales

Short sales are not as common as they used to be, but some people may still decide to go through the short sale process. A short sale is a particular situation in which the lender of a mortgage decides to accept a mortgage payoff that is significantly less than the amount owed by the borrower. This is done to allow a homeowner to sell their house if they need funds. 

But what about the remaining balance of the loan? As for the remainder, the mortgage lender will usually forgive it so the borrower doesn’t need to pay it. Short sales are not very common because they are not particularly beneficial for anyone involved. 

Even the homeowner will not benefit as much when selling the house as usual. However, sometimes selling the home, as usual, is not possible. This is often the case for those who need money right away and can’t afford to wait for their house to sell. 

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Is It Worth Renting an Apartment Near Campuses?

Renting a fun apartment close to a college or university campus initially sounds exciting. Undoubtedly, many would jump at the excellent occasion without thinking. And for a good reason; everybody associates college years with wild parties and a culturally and artistically exciting period. Regardless of age, living close to campus is inspiring. And it certainly implies fulfilling one of the daring dreams of being “close to the action’ and part of an electrifying community. 

Renting an apartment next to campus comes with a set of rules you must adapt to. In this regard, it’s like an out-of-the-ordinary scenario, like dwelling near a noisy airport or thriving on ranches and gated communities. Still, you have to consider the idea thoroughly because, despite your best intentions, your plan can backfire on you.

We dedicate this article to two age categories. On the one hand, students should read this to find out more about living off-campus. On the other hand, we recommend it to adults and young professionals driven by an adventurous spirit. 

Students, should you try living off-campus?

Choosing the most suitable form of accommodation is a tough nut to crack regardless of age. However, picking a dorm, renting, or buying an apartment for students becomes even more demanding. Renting a home of your own close to your college or university campus is a challenge, and we would endorse you to do so. 

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What does ‘housing recession’ even mean? Economists don’t really know

The phrase "housing recession" has exploded in popularity, according to an analysis of search terms. But pinning down what it means and where it originated is surprisingly difficult, experts told Inman.

$2.6 Million Homes in California

A midcentury-modern retreat in Los Angeles, a 1922 home in Oakland and a 1971 ranch house in Laguna Niguel.

A Retiree Finds Somewhere to Call Home in Brooklyn

A New Yorker found himself in a precarious housing situation after retirement. He finally moved into his own furnished one-bedroom apartment in East New York.

Lesson Learned: There’s only one you

This week: Find out how New York City's Jane Katz parlayed a lifetime in publishing, sales and marketing into a thriving real estate practice.

How brand-fueled growth can bring stability to uncertainty

Brokerage firms can ease the process of breaking into new segments or regions by combining the reputations they’ve built in their markets and the consumer trust brands represent.

What is biohacking, and how does it energize the wellness real estate industry?

In all likelihood, “biohacking” isn’t a new concept for you or your affluent, health-conscious clients. But do you know how the right home can augment this mindset?

Compass is Poised to Sink or Swim This Week

News that Compass has let go of Chief Technology Officer Joseph Sirosh did not make the company’s stock tumble. Not yet. CEO Robert Reffkin announced Sirosh’s departure at market close Thursday. The stock remained virtually unchanged ($3.25 NYSE: COMP) throughout Friday. However, it’s doubtful Reffkin, or any Compass investor slept much this weekend. 

Back in June, we predicted that this market flip would put added focus on elite agents and brokers like Chicago’s Matt Laricy. The massive layoffs at Compass and Redfin earlier this year were a big warning buzzer. And now we seem to be watching as enormous investments tumble. The Real Deal story on Sirosh getting the axe doesn’t pull punches, but most of the rest of industry media uses terms like “belt-tightening” to describe what looks to me like a freefall.

In the past, Compass said that it spent $900 million to build out its technology platform. Now, the technology aspect seems questionable somehow. Compass competitors have suggested the quasi-tech firm is a residential brokerage in disguise. It looks like the detractors may have been correct, and if they were, many people invested almost a billion to build a broker recruitment hook. 

Compass stock has been in a kind of waffling freefall since the IPO

Sirosh was Compass’ CTO since late 2018 and brought viability to Compass’s claims of advanced tech. He formerly worked for almost six years for Microsoft in AI and at Amazon in similar roles. This was something Compass got a lot of mileage out of before going IPO. Then, within three months of going public, the company lost 30% of its initial opening value of $20.15 on April 1, 2021. Now it’s down over 83%. It would be interesting to see who cashed out over the past year among the horde of big investors who held billions in stock early on. 

In the announcement, the Compass CEO could not resist telling Inman that his company’s 28,000 agent-entrepreneurs in a statement about “enhanced tools” and the tech platform. This is sad if you think about the high hopes pinned on the idea. Not so long ago, Compass was looking like the dominant player to come. And the company had already pirated hundreds of the top agents in the U.S. When the market heated up in 2019, Compass was selling more residential real estate than anyone. 


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Apartment rental price growth is finally slowing

Apartmental rental prices look to have hit their peak following tremendous gains throughout 2021, and experts say this could help to boost some real estate stocks that did well in the early days of the pandemic.

Between June and July, rents rose by just 0.8%, which was only a third of the growth seen over the same period one year earlier, according to data from RealPage. Annually, rents in July were up 12.2%, compared to 13.8% yearly growth in June.

Rents are cooling at a time when apartments are becoming less affordable. The problem is that rent growth has outpaced income growth for the past 20 years. That briefly changed early in the pandemic when landlords slashed rents dramatically in early 2020, at a time when renters were fleeing urban areas. However, as people returned in 2021, rental prices increased once more. These new renters tend to be younger however, with lower incomes, which meant landlords couldn’t increase rents as much as they’d like.

Landlords also offered incentives to get people to return, including free months in their lease or adjusted terms. Last year many landlords removed some of these incentives, making it more difficult to make true rent growth comparisons from 2021 to 2022.

What’s stopping rental prices from going up now is a massive supply of new apartments coming onto the market. RentCafe said it expects 420,000 new apartment units to be completed this year, a fifty-year high in the U.S. A lot of that new inventory is located in New York City and in the Sunbelt region.

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Homes That Sold for Around $1 Million

Recent residential sales in New York City and the region.

A Tiny House in Manhattan Has a Link to the Underground Railroad

Before it was a clothing store, it was a bar, and before it was a bar, it was a key part of American history.

PageProof redefines creative marketing compliance with checklists

PageProof, the industry-leading online proofing platform for agencies and marketing teams, today announced the release of checklists, a powerful new feature that adds a list of essential items to be checked off to a proof. Checklists go beyond seeking overall sign-off on creative work to highlighting essential requirements that need to be considered and checked off before final approval can be given – adding another layer of visibility and traceability to creative workflows. By combining checklists with the power of PageProof’s collaborative online proofing platform which includes automated controlled workflows, PageProof becomes integral when seeking marketing compliance for all creative work – of any kind.

“We understand that the volume and speed of producing creative work in today’s world have grown exponentially,” says Gemma Hurst, CEO of PageProof. “And with the focus on marketing compliance increasing, checklists are perfect for ensuring that all essential requirements on creative work have been considered. PageProof’s checklist feature is a game changer for achieving internal marketing and brand compliance.”

With this new capability, PageProof adds another unique compliance feature to the online proofing space. Previously, PageProof’s audit function patented triple-layer encryption, and ISO 27001 certification meant customers collaborated on creative work knowing their feedback was secure. Adding checklists means that sign-off can be against individual elements of creative work. If the proof owner wishes to do so, final proof approval can be prevented until the checklist is complete.

The items included on a checklist can be customized to suit any team’s requirements. Team administrators can customize list items with relevant sets of fields, layouts, relations, and automation to suit. Enterprise customers can create an infinite number of templates for use cases, whereas the Teams plan is limited to one template.

“Not only do checklists add another compliance element, but coupled with our security features it lets our customers, partners, and prospects know that we understand the pressures for marketing and creative teams in today’s market,” says Marcus Radich, CTO of PageProof. “PageProof already has a number of robust, security-focused features, but checklists are unique due to their versatility, adding a customizable list of items to be checked which also increases the visibility of decision making. Organizations will love the power to create tailored checklists to mirror business processes and brand requirements in their terminology.”

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RE/MAX Names Top Florida Producers for the Second Quarter of 2022

RE/MAX Alliance Group, the #1 RE/MAX in Florida and the Southeast, is proud to announce associates who placed among the top RE/MAX producers in Florida for the second quarter of 2022 for combined residential and commercial sales.

Ivan Gould of the Sarasota office ranked #25, Leonard Giarrano of the Sarasota office ranked #29, Cindy Quinn of the Holmes Beach office ranked #34, Ryan Adamson of the Sarasota office ranked #36, Ryan T. Carson of the Siesta Key office ranked #37, Karin Dubbs of the Englewood office ranked #52, Robert T. Anderson Jr. of the Siesta Key office ranked #77, Stacy Cunneen of the Bradenton office ranked #89 and Christine Kourik of the Holmes Beach office ranked #91.

Breaking out just the month of June, Ryan Adamson of the Sarasota office ranked #1, Trudy McClellan of the Tampa office ranked #18, Cindy Quinn of the Holmes Beach office ranked #35, Karin Dubbs of the Englewood office ranked #55, and Shannon Hansbury of the Venice office ranked #65.

RE/MAX Alliance Group offers residential and commercial real estate solutions through 12 offices in Sarasota, Manatee, Charlotte, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando counties. It is the #1 RE/MAX franchise in Florida for contributions to the Children’s Miracle Network. For more information, please visit https://www.alliancegroupfl.com.

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LTI Mortgage and HybridAgentHomes.com Kickoff Hybrid Agent Program

In response to today’s pricey economy, Micheal “Mike” Price (Mortgage License #244007, Real Estate Salesperson License #720851), Owner and President of LTI Mortgage, now offers “The Hybrid Agent Program” to save buyers and investors lots of money. Mike is a well-rounded mortgage broker and real estate agent with nearly 20 years of experience in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) real estate market. He has seen his fair share of client headaches, heartaches, and concerns. That makes him a leading real estate industry expert able to provide robust lending and sales solutions while offering massive financial savings.

The primary benefit of working with Mike as “The Hybrid Agent” is his ability to direct up to half of the real estate commission toward closing the deal. That money can be used in a number of ways including the following:

– reducing overall closing costs
– buying down the interest rate to save big over the long term of the loan
– buying out a private mortgage insurance (PMI)
– or using a combination of the above

Mike Price’s mortgage company, LTI Mortgage, already provides a competitive funding solution. His company’s financing rates are lower than the majority of other lenders and banks. But now, with “The Hybrid Agent Program,” he saves clients more money and makes transactions easier. As “The Hybrid Agent,” Mike is one point of contact for both the sales and financing sides of the real estate transaction. That way, he ensures there is a robust and legal communication path around finding a home or property you love and also paying for it. Starting immediately, “The Hybrid Agent” is taking on new clients. Those clients will quickly see exactly how much they save by viewing financial comparisons between purchasing a home with his “The Hybrid Agent Program” and purchasing without it.

To start saving with “The Hybrid Agent,” go to https://hybridagenthomes.com/vsl. There, you can register, see the program in action, read case studies, see and hear Mike Price speak about his offerings in a short video, and schedule a consultation to save money on your next real estate transaction.

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How Do I Time a Move From One Rental Apartment to Another?

Most New Yorkers give notice at their old apartments without a new one lined up. But that’s OK.

Security deposit: $17M to bolster RentSpree’s leasing solutions

The rental market's recent surge in rent price and occupancy rates is driving technology adoption among the nation's landlords, in turn driving RentSpree's evolution.

Mortgage rates hold steady after Fed inflation warning

Fed Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech spooks stock market investors, but long-term interest rates stable as bond markets bet on a slowdown next year.

What is ‘Barbiecore’? Design trend pretty in pink as ‘Barbie’ flick nears

The design trend of the moment includes — you guessed it — lots of pink, frills, vintage finds, florals, curvy furnishings and beds evocative of clouds. Barbie wouldn't have it any other way.

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