Discover tips on growing your sphere of influence, enhancing your personal brand, managing client relationships and earning more referrals.
Connecticut’s private listing law took effect October 1. If you list a one-to-four unit home in this state, you now market it publicly or you get a signed opt-out form. There’s no third option. That wasn’t the only change this fall. Since mid-September, Zillow lost its first court round against MRED and Compass. Zillow Preview…
AI renovation liability is becoming a real risk for buyer’s agents. A quick ChatGPT prompt during a showing — “can you show me this kitchen opened up and renovated?” — feels like a clever way to help a hesitant buyer see the potential. But it can create serious legal exposure for the agent, the brokerage,…
Most buyers assume that because you listed the home, you can also unlist it — pull the photos, kill the video, scrub the address from the internet, any time they ask, even years after closing. It’s an understandable assumption. It’s also wrong, and not explaining that clearly is where this conversation goes sideways. Once a…
Here’s the answer up front: No, we are not post-portal. Zillow still commands more home search traffic than its next several competitors combined, and no private exclusive network, ChatGPT app, or Google carousel has changed that. What has changed — dramatically, in the last 18 months — is where the search starts. The portal is…
If you’re on a team right now, thinking about joining one, or quietly wondering whether to leave one, here’s the question that matters more than your split: would this team survive a bad year without its leader personally selling? If the answer is no, you’re not on a team. You’re an employee of a top…
Connecticut just became the third state in the country to pass a law restricting private listings and unlike the NAR policy debate or the Zillow-Compass platform war, this one isn’t optional guidance. It’s state law, with real penalties attached. (Inman has the full rundown if you want the industry-wide view.) If you’ve been following the…
First off, I still firmly believe that your sphere of influence and warm referrals are the right foundation for most agents. A client who comes to you through a trusted introduction converts at a rate that no cold internet lead program can match. That’s not a philosophy — it’s math. But this is 2026, and…
If your brokerage is enrolled in Zillow Preview, your pre-market listings are about to get significantly more eyes. If you represent buyers, your search strategy just changed. On May 5, 2026, Zillow and Realtor.com announced that Zillow Preview listings will automatically syndicate to Realtor.com — beginning this summer. Two platforms. One pre-market window. No extra…
If you’ve been on the MLS lately, you may have noticed a new button appearing on some listings: Submit Offer. That’s ShowingTime’s Offer Manager — and it’s rolling out across MLSs nationwide. Before you click it for the first time at 9pm on a Sunday with a buyer waiting, here’s what it actually does, what…
When clients turn to AI real estate advice before closing, the results can be costly. Ryan Serhant nearly lost a $50 million deal last month — not to a competing agent, not to financing, but to ChatGPT. Both his buyer and seller independently consulted AI before closing. The buyer was told he was overpaying. The…
Every year, NAR surveys nearly 5,000 REALTORS® about where their business actually comes from. The 2025 Member Profile — covering 2024 transaction data — contains one of the most clarifying data sets in the industry on this question. As we move into 2026, the numbers haven’t shifted enough to change the argument. But they’re worth…
The biggest business war in residential real estate just had its most dramatic week yet — and most agents are only catching pieces of it. Here’s the full picture: what happened, who’s winning, and what it actually means for how you do your job. The Week That Changed Everything In seven days, this happened: On…