Michelle Magnus Brown

Adding a home warranty to your listing or closing adds value to your business. Experienced real estate agents are well aware of this. We already know that a home warranty can help sell your listing faster and for more money. And when offered as a closing gift to buyers a home warranty makes a memorable gift that helps generate repeat business. However, misinformation abounds and the home warranty industry is no exception. Following are the top five home warranty myths debunked: … [Read more...] about The Truth About Home Warranties

Today's real estate landscape has never been more challenging when it comes to closing deals. Mortgage rates are at 20-year highs, marked by tight inventory, insurance hurdles and inflation. According to data compiled by Redfin, 15.7% of homes that went into contract in August 2023 fell through. This hurts your seller and can dramatically affect the perception of the property's value. Regardless of how you frame it, there is often a perceived blight on the property when it suddenly shows "back on market." Following are ways to prevent your deals from falling through: … [Read more...] about Ways to Prevent Your Deals from Falling Through

Today's high interest rates are keeping many would-be buyers on the sidelines. Real estate sales are down 15.3% from the previous year of 2022, which were already down from the year before that. Today's interest rates currently average 7.61% - a big jump from just a year ago when the average was 5.34%. But some buyers simply must make a purchase now, regardless. Learning clever ways to hack high interest rates can help. Following are ways you can help your clients get some relief. … [Read more...] about Clever Ways to Hack High Interest Rates

As of July 2023, statistics indicate that there are over 1.53 million real estate agents and only 106,548 active listings, nationwide. It's a more competitive marketplace than ever. More experienced and knowledgeable agents get more business so adding ADU expertise to your bag of tricks is key. Nationwide housing shortages, high interest rates, and home insurance challenges are keeping sellers from listing and buyers from buying. Meanwhile the need for additional housing escalates. Enter the Accessory Dwelling Unit, which also turns out to be a great selling point for both buyers and sellers. As such, your ability to help your clients navigate the ADU-pathway will make you a more effective, knowledgeable and in-demand agent. Following is ADU 101 for real estate agents: … [Read more...] about ADU 101 for Real Estate Agents

Fifteen months and forty-four billion dollars later, Twitter is now known as X. Basic questions to ponder now that the app has become X: What happened to the blue bird? And what will replace "tweets?" On a more abstract note, "twitter" was both a noun and a verb, arguably so is Threads, whereas X is not. Hmmm. Those musings aside, what will the future of X look like and more importantly, how will that affect how you use what is now being rebranded as the "everything app?" Like most, you probably used Twitter to micro-blog important real estate news and stay connected with your clients. Now that the forces behind X are promising "unlimited interactivity," what might that look like and how does it stack up against Threads, it's recent competitor? Here's what you need to know about X versus … [Read more...] about What You Need to Know About X Versus Threads