Nars Center For Realtor® Development

Welcome back, Friends! Our podcast has received another award from AVA Digital Awards, an international competition that recognizes excellence by creative professionals in the area of digital communication. We received a Gold Award for Podcast and Audio Production!  We have another amazing award-winning guest today! She has been recognized as an amazing instructor, having received the ABR® Hall of Fame Award, the REBI Distinguished Educator Award, REALTOR® of the Year, and Educator of the Year, both from the Illinois Association of REALTORS®. She is one of the primary authors of the ABR® designation course and we are thrilled to have her back with us again. She was with us last year to talk about the changes in the industry and how to prepare for them. We will link to that episode in the show notes. Today, we are going to dig in deeper with Lynn, specifically about ways to show your value to your clients. We must improve our skill in communicating what we do and how valuable our skills are to our clients. We

We’re back with our second episode of the month to talk about connecting with people so that you will have clients throughout 2024. We call it filling your pipeline. Many of us focus on getting business. If we can spend time connecting with people with purpose, there generally will be a more steady flow of clients throughout the year. Did you apply anything you’ve learned from the first episode already? We would love to hear what worked for you! Our email address is in the show notes.   In this episode, we will look at the difference between online leads and live leads and a few marketing tips. February’s guest is Janet Judd. She’s a 2022 REBAC Hall of Fame recipient, Missouri Real Estate Commissioner, former President of the Missouri Association of REALTORS®, and she has won a number of awards in the business. She is going to give you real actionable tips to help you fill your buyer pipeline for 2024. [3:08] Excellent content on your site makes the difference. Janet gives some great recommendations.    [4:

How is your business growing and flowing right now? I hope you have a pipeline full of clients who are looking right now or planning to buy or sell in the next few months. We know, though, that hope is not a strategy. We need better tools than just hope to get our buyer pipelines filled. We know that a whole lot is happening in the real estate industry right now. We will be having several months of focusing on tools you can use to communicate more clearly, to set better expectations, and to create great experiences for you and your clients. February’s guest is Janet Judd. She’s a 2022 REBAC Hall of Fame recipient, Missouri Real Estate Commissioner, former President of the Missouri Association of REALTORS®, and she has won a number of awards in the business. She is going to give you real actionable tips to help you fill your buyer pipeline for 2024.   As a reminder, this a two-part episode, with the second part coming later this month.    [3:17] Janet is a solo agent in Missouri who has been selling real estat

We are so glad you joined us to help you start your new year! This episode’s guest is Matthew Rathbun. Matthew discusses business suggestions, strategies, and ideas to help you make your plans for success this year. This is Part 2 of the interview with Matthew on Business Planning. The first part was launched earlier this month. In this part 2 episode, Matthew leads us into a conversation about the people you’re partnering with in your business and gives some great suggestions when you consider the rhythm of work and home life. We would also love to hear your feedback on this new format with two parts and shorter episodes.    [2:30] Matthew urges you to choose your sellers and buyers carefully. Allot your time and attention to the right people.   [7:30] Matthew explains that you are alienating your market if you post what a great time it is to buy. It is a very different marketplace today with a different cost of living and a weaker job market than past markets.   [8:27] Whatever you post in a public forum, c

We are so glad you joined us to help you start your new year! This episode’s guest is Matthew Rathbun. Matthew will be discussing business suggestions, strategies, and ideas to help you make your plans for success in 2024. This is the first part of a series on Business Planning with Matthew this month. The second part will launch later this month.   [2:55] Matthew is the EVP of a Coldwell Banker company with 10 or 11 offices in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area.   [3:40] Matthew started teaching and has been teaching ever since. He is currently the president-elect for the Real Estate Business Institute, a good partner for CRD, providing lots of education to agents.   [4:20] There has been attrition in the industry. A lot of agents are not seeing a lot of production right now. When you plan for next year, you have to base it on reality. [5:33] We are knowledge workers more than salespeople. The buyer hires you as a buyer’s agent for what you know. How do you provide clarity on your value as a buyer’s agent?   [

This episode’s guest is John LeTourneau. Our topic is real estate investing. The Center for REALTOR® Development has a course that teaches this: Real Estate Investing: Building Wealth: Representing Investors and Becoming One Yourself. There is so much opportunity for you, our listeners, in this area. John is just opening the door of what’s possible. Let’s find out more.   [2:42] John became a broker and a REALTOR® in 2005.   [4:11] John started in residential but preferred B2B, so he worked as a non-REALTOR® commercial broker for several years at a large commercial firm. John shares a prospecting story.   [6:50] John does volunteer work for his local, state, and national associations and public speaking and education in the U.S. and internationally. Every hour he gives comes back 10 or 20 times in satisfaction, wisdom, and knowledge.    [10:23] In commercial real estate, you are a product specialist and territorial generalist, or a territorial specialist and product generalist. John’s license allows these tra

We are in a market that is now topsy-turvy. We are part of the major movements in the economy of our country and there are benefits and challenges in the flow of economics and of buying a home. Today, we are going to talk about a group of people who have had some tough times buying in recent years. We’re talking about our active-duty military and our veterans who use VA Loans to purchase a home. Working with VA borrowers right now could be just what your business needs.  Jimmy Vercellino is our guest today. He’s going to educate us about these loans and he is going to show us how we can serve our veterans well in the homebuying process.   [3:01] Jimmy discusses his background. He served in the military and now helps veterans. [6:51] Jimmy, as a Marine veteran, shares a common language with the veteran and active-duty military homebuyers he serves. If you, a REALTOR®, speak that language, you can better serve that client and there’s instant trust, differentiating you from competitors.  [9:41] Getting veteran

Today we are talking about a topic that we all need to pay attention to. Many of us don’t like this part of our business. Our guest, Holly Mabery, is going to break it down to a simple plan for us to follow. What’s the topic? Marketing! Holly brings this huge concept to a manageable part of your business. She is also one of the subject matter experts for NAR’s Marketing Strategy and Lead Generation course. Let’s join Holly for some great information on marketing and a few laughs about this potentially overwhelming topic! [3:38] The most successful agents are the ones who show up with value and substance to their clients. That’s the key to building your business.  [4:00] Before selling a house, you have to figure out how to market yourself to get listings, how to market the listings, and then how to re-sell the house each time the buyer goes back to it. Clients will come to you because of how you show up and the consistency with which you show up. [9:17] Holly coaches new agents to know the purchase contrac

Do you want to know about AI, and specifically, ChatGPT? Alex is here to tell you all about it! Alex is a true tech person with a teacher’s heart. He will explain some of the inner workings of Natural Language Programming, which is what ChatGPT is: language. There are layers to this, and more changes are coming; changes that will make using ChatGPT even easier. So, let’s get some tips and some education from Alex Camelio! [2:36] Alex looks for technologies that change the way we do business. For example, the Snapchat and Reels trend of holding your phone upright to watch video was a small, fundamental change to video. [4:31] When Alex sees fundamental changes in people adapting and working differently, that’s when he starts thinking there’s a revolution or a trend that’s sticking around. He sees that with AI.  [6:10] In a few months, Alex will be at NAR for two sessions involving AI. He discusses the sessions.  [7:49] AI has limitations; it tends to lie or “hallucinate” when it lacks information to draw

September is Safety Month at the NAR. We have a great episode with Andy Tolbert to help you stay aware and keep yourself safe as you do your job. I am so glad to have Andy Tolbert in this episode with me today. Andy lives in Florida, where she’s a speaker, real estate investor, and safety professional! So, join us for this episode about safety while selling!   [1:17] September is NAR Safety Month. The dangers to real estate professionals seem to be increasing — or are we just knowing more about the dangers? [2:17] Andy has been in real estate for 20-plus years. She is a Florida broker associate, a state-permitted instructor, and an instructor and member of the Florida REALTORS® faculty. She has trained loan officers and real estate investors and is a self-defense and firearms instructor.   [3:29] Andy and her husband have written a book called The Safer Agent. It’s the real estate agent’s guide to make a ton of money and be safer doing it! [4:54] Andy discusses her number one safety rule.   [5:37] Andy also

In this episode, we are talking about emerging technology. Dan Weisman and Dave Conroy work at NAR and are sharing with us their knowledge about technology in the real estate industry. We’re talking AI — yes, we all love ChatGPT — Chatbots, Fractional real estate, and what they see for the future of cryptocurrency. They have some software suggestions and usage tips for us as well. So, join us for this informative episode! [2:31] Dan Weisman and Dave Conroy are the Directors of Emerging Technology at NAR. [3:51] If agents do not feel they are able to keep up with emerging technologies, Dan encourages them not to feel bad. Even Dave feels on some days it’s like drinking from a firehose and keeping up with emerging technology is his full-time job. [5:05] Proptech is any form of property technology. Dan and Dave also look at the adjacent industries of construction tech, financial tech (fintech), insurance tech, and mortgage tech. [6:59] There is no shortage of data to feed proptech tools to help agents get a bet

Everyone, as a consumer first, is adapting to the areas of tech they need, in their work or life. We want you to have the best tools that will benefit you and benefit your clients. In this episode, Ali Whitley, discusses working with our mature clients. The Seniors Real Estate Specialist Designation (SRES®) is an amazing class that the Center for REALTOR® Development offers. This class discusses things you need to know but didn’t know you needed. We discuss the technicalities of senior living, reverse mortgages, estates, taxes, and more. We also discuss helping our mature clients get established in communities and be connected in the ways that they want to be connected. Thanks for joining us!   [2:22] Ali is an educator and loves all things education. She is happy to be the chair of the Emerging Business and Technology Forum for NAR this year. [4:56] A person of the same age could have a very different lifestyle than another person. It depends on your activity and health and your ability to be active. [8:16]

In this bonus episode, we are joined by a member of the NAR staff, Alexia Smokler, a staff executive to NAR’s Fair Housing Policy Committee. That description does not begin to convey all the work that she does on our behalf and on behalf of the clients we serve. She has been key in developing the Bias Override class and Fairhaven.realtor. We are excited to discuss the programs she manages as well as learn what agents are doing in the marketplace, in this bonus episode!   [1:40] Monica welcomes and introduces Alexia Smokler, the Director of Fair Housing Policy and Programs for NAR.  [2:19] Alexia discusses several of the educational programs she delivers such as Fairhaven, implicit bias training, NAR’s Fair Housing Champion award, and licensure reform efforts under the ACT Initiative, which NAR rolled out after the Newsday investigation in Long Island. [3:52] Monica asks Alexia for definitions of Fair Housing, DEI, and Implicit Bias. [8:18] Alexia discusses the difference between prejudice and discrimination.

In this episode, we are joined by Mandy Neat who is going to discuss commonalities in homebuying trends with Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z. With significant cultural changes happening at increasingly fast speeds, we see notable differences in these generations. While we never want to generalize, there are some markers with these generations that can help us understand our clients better. In this episode, we learn more about these generations and how we can manage their expectations with preparation and communication. We want to help you be able to help them!   [5:20] Mandy discusses the different generations. She brings up a conversation with a Gen Z about what he would want in a house.  [7:33] Gen Y is the next largest home-buying group after Baby Boomers. [11:06] Mandy sees that people are not going right to college from high school. They see housing as an asset. Some are buying investment properties.  [15:46] Younger Millennials are becoming first-time home buyers. They are trying to pay off

Our guest today is a long-time REALTOR®, trainer, and world traveler. Do you have a dream to travel somewhere? Is there a place that you already love in the world? For example, have you been to Cabo San Lucas eight times? Wouldn’t it be great if you could be a connector with buyers and sellers with agents in Mexico? In the Caribbean? In Europe? In Asia? You can do that with your favorite areas in the U.S. and the world! In this podcast, Ginni Field talks about selling real estate and expanding your business in new ways. We also talk about international buyers and sellers in the United States with a focus on the Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS) designation. Join us on this podcast and expand your vision beyond your local area.   [6:10] Monica asks the audience to stick with this episode to hear the interesting stories Ginni and Monica will share with consideration for the huge and growing influx of international immigrants, residents, and investors. [7:53] Ginni discusses what she learned fro

In this episode we welcome Matt Difanis and Robert Morris. April is Fair Housing Month, as people know, and we gratefully, as an organization, are getting more education and more awareness on the need for us to be more systemic, and more attentive, in order to provide excellent care to all who come to us. Matt Difanis and Robert Morris have been instrumental at the national level with course materials, ethics reconsiderations, and other conversations that are helping us pay more attention. They teachboth the At Home with Diversity course and Bias Overide. They are grateful to be sharing these classes and this information with our members. In this episode, they share their stories on what has led them to be so committed to getting the message of Fair Housing out to others.   Matt:  [1:40] Let me start by saying none of this was on my radar up until just a few years ago. [2:00] I had the privilege of serving as the 2018 President of the Illinois REALTORS® and that meant I was on the leadership teams starting in

Dr. Jessica Lautz is the Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®. In this episode, she is going to share national data with us from NAR and discuss what she sees coming in the future. All of our crystal balls may be broken, but there are definitely patterns that can be seen. The core of Jessica’s research focuses on analyzing trends for both NAR members and housing consumers. Through the management of surveys, focus groups, and data analysis, she presents new and innovative ways to showcase results. Let’s see what she will teach us in this episode!   [2:46] Jessica thinks we’re in a moment of transition when existing home sales data show 12 months of decline but the decline seems to be getting smaller. [4:24] Our current sales numbers are lower than in 2019, before the pandemic. They are more in line with 2014 sales numbers. [6:51] The typical homeowner has been in their home for 10 years and has $210,000 in home equity. [7:14] In some scenarios, not only

With interest rates rising, we are seeing changes in the mortgage industry. Not all lenders, though, are created equal. They have various levels of education and experience, just as real estate agents do. They need to be the expert in the loan department for our clients. Like so many areas of our work, we need to have some knowledge of the process to help our clients, and be on top of the process. In this episode, our guest, Debra Killian, has been in the mortgage business for over 25 years. She has financial, banking, accounting, and business experience. She has also been a contributor for the Home Finance Resource Certification Course. In this episode we are going to discuss loans, lenders, money laundering and so much more! [3:41] This episode will touch on the importance of having an understanding of all the major loan types, and the best ways that we can work with lenders to improve the experience for our clients. [4:32] Deb explains that there are so many misconceptions about how the mortgage lending bu

This episode discusses important ways of working with buyers, including understanding what buyers want, expressing the value that REALTORS® bring to the table, and how to get compensated in a changing environment. We take a closer look at how REALTORS® can improve their systems with buyers. How do we best serve our buyers, and what does that look like moving forward? Lynn Madison is an ongoing contributor and instructor for the Accredited Buyer’s Representative (ABR®) designation. She will be sharing her wisdom in this month’s episode!   [4:05] Agents have told Lynn that what they have learned in the ABR® class assisted them in doing a better job for their clients. [4:36] ABR® has been updated to show how to make a buyer’s offer stronger in a multiple-offer situation. [7:01] Your value proposition is what you do, why you do it, and how that is important to the buyer. [9:17] Too many agents think their job is done when the contract is signed. The ABR® class talks about the Code of Ethics, the Rules, and Multip

When you talk to some serial entrepreneurs you need to put on your seatbelt! Lots of us, as REALTORS®, have that entrepreneurial bent, starting and running our own businesses. Imran Poladi started young selling real estate.  He served as Vice President of NextHome Real Estate since the launch of the company in 2014 until July 2022. He has mentored brokerage owners and as a speaker, he’s taught thousands of agents concepts of business, real estate, and living life.   In this episode, we are talking about business planning. But we’re also talking about living life the way you want to live it. Though Imran loves business, he also likes taking control of his life and changing it up sometimes. He lives in California. You can read his full story at ImranPoladi.com.   [4:11] Business planning comes around every year. Imran shares his take on this topic. [6:41] Some people start their business planning at the end of December. Imran says you need to know what your budget looks like in the fall. [9:22] Every year, you