Insider Blog
Fuel your real estate business and brand with technology insights,
news, product updates, and advice from the Insiders.
Homes of Idaho
Homes of Idaho experiences record growth by breaking the "one-size-fits-all" mold. “We’ve been able to build our own tech ecosystem that fits our culture and brand, so even if another brokerage in our market is using kvCORE, it isn’t going to look like our kvCORE.” -- Colby Lampman, Broker/Owner, Homes of Idaho
Small and Midsized Brokers Power Recruiting with CORE BackOffice
Actually working out the commission program needed to recruit agents presents much less of a challenge than tracking these unique commission programs designed for each agent on something other than an Excel spreadsheet. Small and midsized firms need to support variety in their compensation plans in order to recruit and require an affordable solution that integrates with QuickBooks. In 2016 and 2017, entrepreneur Jeremy Shoenig developed software for exactly this purpose, called BrokerSumo.
Real estate teams should demand more. Here’s why.
Teams are often the highest contributors to brokerage sales volume and one of the fastest-growing segments in real estate. This makes teams a critical part of today’s real estate landscape, so it’s important for brokers to make an effort to do whatever they can to recruit and retain teams in their organization. Fortunately, industry technology has improved in recent years and there are solutions today, like kvCORE Platform from Inside Real Estate, that effectively support teams and individual agents on one platform. Now, broker-owners have complete control, but can also allow their teams and agents to customize the platform to fit their needs and create their personal and private platform within the broker platform.
Tapping the Zillow Gap - Competing on Consumer Experience
Ah, Zillow. The real estate portal we all know and love? It’s no secret that many homebuyers leverage the “Z word” to begin their initial stages of the homebuying process. Due to the popularity of Zillow with homebuyers, many brokerages and agents alike feel they must be committing a dedicated monthly budget to the platform for a perceived fear of missing out on a potentially limitless stream of leads. Many real estate professionals also feel there is an unspoken expectation they need to be present on the search portal to truly compete with those who are also on Zillow. However, often the cons/disadvantages of advertising with Zillow outweigh the perceived pros.
Two Industry Leaders Team Up on 'A Journey to Tech Perfection'
REAL Trends and Inside Real Estate set out to answer an age-old problem for brokerages: How do you get agents to use the wonderful products and services that you offer? Many times, the technology is complicated, or the agents don’t want to invest the time into learning a new program. However, much of the time it’s due to a lack of management support, few training opportunities, and a dearth of incentives for sales associates to commit to your brokerage tech platform.
What Wins the Broker Tech Battle - Exclusive Interview
Joe Skousen, Founder/President of Inside Real Estate weighs in on what’s really behind the broker-tech battle, and how brokers can win the war.
Building a Brokerage With Leads
Chris and Leigh Russell started Plum Tree Realty from scratch about seven-and-a-half years ago. After taking took some time to define what “being the best” meant for their firm and researching the many lead generation programs out there, they chose a platform they felt was "the best technology available." Now, from lead generation to recruiting, Russell has built his brokerage around the value proposition of getting leads to his agents.
Russell Real Estate Services
The winning combination of technology plus culture sets Russell Real Estate Services apart. "The trust cultivated in our organization has led to a reciprocal tech relationship: Our agents have embraced our approach to consolidated technology, which has led to widespread adoption, and, consequently, unprecedented success." - Jeff Russell, Broker/Owner of Russell Real Estate Services
A Journey to Technology Perfection
Find out how this brokerage struck gold with a well-thought-out tech strategy, a near flawless platform rollout and record numbers of agent adoption.
Brokers beware! That old tech is eating at your profits
It’s common for brokerages to focus more on lead generation programs, CRM software, and sophisticated websites as their revenue driving solutions. There is no question powerful solutions like kvCORE are built to drive revenue. But if brokers ignore the backend, that’s a missed opportunity to carve out additional profitability and claim a competitive advantage with a modern back office.
Ready Player One: How the New Hybrid Virtual Brokerage Can Help You Compete
It’s only been in the last few years that virtual brokerages have popped up, and they’re a hot topic within the industry. Without a physical location, virtual brokerages have significantly lower overhead costs and can scale their business with relative ease–two big reasons why they’re growing in popularity.
Yes, There is Such a Thing as Too Much Real Estate Tech
Today it seems as though there is a tech tool or solution for every stage of the real estate transaction, from marketing and advertising to listing and closing. Sometimes it can feel like we are kids in a candy store, overwhelmed by so many choices that promise they will miraculously improve our business. But is there such a thing as too much tech for real estate? And what is the perfect balance of tech tools that produce the highest agent adoption and profitability for the brokerage?
To Our Friends and Industry
Inside Real Estate will be here, independent, and leading the way, arm in arm with you, keeping your data secure and driving the innovation that champions the agent, and empowers you to serve this industry every day.
Does Tech Increase Transaction Volume? Yes—And There’s Proof
The data is indisputable. Inside Real Estate’s kvCORE Platform is getting more business for real estate professionals across the board.
Real Estate Teams Get What They Deserve
Teams just scored the most sophisticated solution ever created thanks to the latest release by the newly combined Inside Real Estate and BoomTown teams.
Does the Real Work Start After the Real Estate Transaction? The Numbers Say Yes.
Post Close Companion is your answer to client nurture after the transaction. And it makes it easier than ever.
Elite-Level Marketing Materials Don’t Need to be Time or Labor Intensive– Here’s Why
kvCORE is innovating tools that allow agents to do it all, without having to do it all.
Will 250k Agents Leave the Business Next Year?
What can you be doing to make sure your agents stay loyal with you and stay productive?
Old School is… New School?
When a real estate brokerage, team, or agent is asked about what they are doing regarding their own individual marketing efforts the answers might surprise you. The majority of agents in the United States have an almost even distribution of their marketing dollars between print and digital marketing. To shed some light on how agents spend their precious marketing dollars, it is important to identify exactly what constitutes print vs digital.
3 Reasons Reporting Analytics Are Imperative for Brokerages
Real estate is a numbers game and because of this, it is imperative for brokerages to have the data they need to determine where their brokerage is succeeding and in what areas they can improve. BrokerSumo offers back-end support and analytics at a brokerage level so that firms can see firsthand what is affecting their bottom line. Here are 3 reasons reporting analytics are imperative for brokerages.
Facebook Business Page Strategy: SEO 101
Facebook has come a long way from its early days of college coders dreaming in a dorm room. Today, over 2 billion people use Facebook globally. More than 1 billion of those users log into Facebook daily.Want those eyes on your real estate listings? You’ll need to develop a strategy for search engine optimization (SEO), your key weapon in the fight for online visibility. These Facebook Business Page SEO fundamentals will point you in the right direction.
Agent-First Tech Drives Massive Success
Throughout the years, RE/MAX Advantage Plus has remained one of Minnesota’s revered and multiple award-winning real estate firms, primarily because of their commitment to cutting edge technology and redefining the real estate process.
Keeping Your Sphere of Influence Warm When the Real Estate Market Cools
What can you do as a real estate professional during the slow season to make sure you stay top of mind to your leads and prospects for when things really pick up again in the Spring? Here are a few tips to ensure that your sphere of influence does not freeze this winter.
The Unseen Perks of a Strong Broker Tech Platform
Having strong technology at the foundation of your brokerage isn’t something "nice to have". It’s a necessity. Here are some of the benefits of incorporating great technology tools into your brokerage landscape.
The 50/50 Social Media Strategy for Agents & Brokers
There are plenty of ways for real estate agents and brokers to automate their posts. But there is an important balance between automation and personalization. Simply posting your listings is not enough. Having a “robot-like” social presence is not effective in building client relationships. That’s why a 50/50 strategy between personalization and automation is so important for today’s agents and brokers. It solves the need for automation for the ever-busy agent, while also putting some of the focus on personalization.
5 Key Features Needed for Agent Adoption
We’ve narrowed the list down to the top 5 value propositions needed within a CRM platform to have the highest success of Agent Adoption.
Inside Real Estate Soars 149% Over Previous Year
In the effort to support its 149% year-over-year revenue growth and massive demand for its leading cloud software, Inside Real Estate has made some recent high-profile hires. These hires are well-known and well-respected within the real estate and tech industries, and position Inside Real Estate as a powerhouse brand with solutions for real estate brokers, teams and agents at every stage of their business.
Leads are Easy, Converting Them is the Challenge (And 5 Ways to Fix That)
In today’s real estate market, finding leads really isn’t the problem, it’s converting them. There are multiple ways to help you cultivate your list. But it’s what you do with those leads that really matters. Even in hot real estate markets, you’ll find plenty of potential clients who need nurturing. How are you going to nurture them all the way to the closing table?
3 Ways AI Can Help You Close a Deal
There’s a big misconception around what artificial intelligence (AI) really is and how it can impact your real estate business. To make matters more confusing, many of today’s real estate software platforms have latched onto the term but fail to explain what’s really behind the curtain. So what is AI, exactly?
10 Questions to Ask Your Tech Vendor About Your Data
You’ve most likely heard about the recent news in the industry calling to question the safety of your personal contacts, sphere, leads or other data that belongs to your real estate business. Many tech platforms expect you to freely hand over your private sphere data in order to use their solutions. And there lies the question: How safe is your data when you hand it over?