Skill DevelopmentTechnology
August 26, 2014

5 Great Ways to Use Your Blog to Engage Your Community

Blogs are powerful tools for building, engaging and maintaining an audience and demonstrating your market expertise. A blog is much more than a place to share your latest listings. In fact, if that’s all you’re doing with your blog, you’re probably not making much of an impact or gaining much…
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TechnologyUseful Apps
August 26, 2014

Instagram Hyperlapse: Create smooth time-lapse videos with ease

Over the last year or so, I’ve seen some really cool things done with time-lapse video in the real estate marketing space.  Having been part of building a full scale “media team” for a local Portland area brokerage I know that this process isn’t easy, and the equipment isn’t cheap. Today,…
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Uncategorized
August 26, 2014

10 Ways to Maintain Your Client Relationship After Closing

It’s no secret that many agents drop the ball when it comes to maintaining relationships with their clients, once a deal has closed. That’s counterintuitive though, given that there really is no better referral source than a happy former client, or better yet, a former client who is ready to…
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Uncategorized
August 25, 2014

Mortgage Pre-qualification is Coming to a Website Near You

These days, just about every agent has their own website. For the most part, they are all more or less the same, and it’s getting harder and harder to make them stand out from the crowd. They’ve all got blogs and neighborhood guides and mortgage calculators. Visitors can expect to…
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Uncategorized
August 18, 2014

Seven Reasons You Need to Start Using Video Yesterday

Video content is quickly becoming the next big thing in real estate marketing. These days, almost every agent has their own website, with an IDX platform and social media and blogs and all of that. Monster companies like Zillow are making it harder for anyone to rank well in search…
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Compliance
August 15, 2014

Help Spread the Word About Foreclosure Relief Scams

The CFPB is going after companies and individuals who are seeking to take advantage of distressed homeowners. Specifically, they’re targeting those who coerce or trick owners into paying up-front fees in exchange for promises of future debt relief in the form of loan modifications. These predatory practices are nothing new.…
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Uncategorized
August 13, 2014

WFG National Title Promotes Thompson to SVP

Oversees agency operations in LA, MS Santa Barbara, CA August 12, 2014                Earle Thompson has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Agency Division with WFG National Title Insurance Company (WFG National Title). WFG National Title is the fastest growing national title insurance underwriting company and a full service provider of…
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cfpbCompliance
August 12, 2014

CFPB Shuts Down a Finance Monster

Colfax Capital Corporation, formerly known as Rome Finance, has long been one of the most egregious violators of ethical and legal standards in the financial services sector. A recent ruling by the CFPB and several State’s Attorneys General have officially put an end to that. In 2010, they were sued…
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Market Statisticsmillenial
August 11, 2014

Market Watch: Where the Young People Are

The NAR recently released a study showing the best markets for Millennial home buyers. Austin, Dallas and Denver top the list of cities deemed best for the newest generation of buyers. With the exception of Washington DC, none of the top cities are located on the east coast. The combination…
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Compliance
August 7, 2014

CFPB Has the Answers Consumers Need

As part of its mandate under the Dodd-Frank bill, the CFPB is tasked with increasing financial literacy among the nation’s citizens. Along with writing and enforcing legislation geared toward creating a fair and open financial marketplace, the CFPB wants consumers to better understand the financial tools and services available to…
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