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?
Who’s Your Source? High Profit Marketing for Real Estate Lead Generation
When it comes to real estate lead generation, nearly every agent is looking for an answer to the same question: What’s the best lead source? In order to get the most out of your leads, you need to be able to see the ROI on all of your lead sources so you know where to spend those precious marketing dollars — and where to stop wasting them. To gain better insight into which lead sources brokers should be investing in, Imprev Thought Leader conducted a survey. Here are some findings.
Top 5 Profit-Drivers of an Automated Real Estate CRM
In real estate, the million-dollar question is, ‘How do I make more money?’ The easy answer: close more deals. Unfortunately, it’s not always as easy as it sounds, otherwise, we’d all be rolling in the dough. By automating some of your most important and time-consuming processes, you can become more effective in cultivating leads, keeping in touch with clients, and managing your active listings. So, what does your brokerage automated look like? Here are a few ways that a real estate CRM can automate your marketing and team activities to help you work smarter and become more profitable.
How to become a lead machine with a customized real estate website
Making a good first impression with a potential client is essential to the future (or lack thereof) of that relationship, whether it's in person, on a phone call, or on your real estate website. Think of your website homepage as the outside of a home. Without that curb appeal, it makes it difficult to sell.
Real Estate Lead Texting: When and What to Text for Phenomenal Response Rates
Text messaging is the most popular application on smartphones, and 40% of home buyers prefer communicating with an agent by text over phone calls. Additionally, text messages have an open rate of 98%. How can real estate agents harness this opportunity and use text messaging to capture leads? Here are some best practices for when and what to text your real estate leads.
Real Estate Brokerage CRM & Leads - Working in the Old vs NEW
Why is it that you run into so many old-fashioned “CRM” systems? What a brokerage, successful team, or large real estate company truly needs is high integration and high automation around some very simple tools that make your life easier. For today’s post, we have brought together some of the ways that working leads and contacts in an old system or process contrasts with the way they can (and should) be worked in a new technology system.
Real Estate Lead Generation for Brokers: Data-Driven Lead Conversion
The effectiveness of real estate lead generation programs for brokers and teams is 100% reliant on how they track and report to drive higher conversion rates. The Inside Real Estate team focuses on bringing the data and tips together that really allow you to maximize your team’s effectiveness on conversion. Here are the top 3 factors in improving real estate lead conversion.