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Real Estate Best Practices

Coaches, books, classes and seminars aim to capture real estate agents dollars with promises to teach them any number of ways to improve their business. From sales skills to how to close more deals to how to win with expireds (expired listings) and more, everyone has something to teach you.


There's nothing wrong with continuing education, whether it's keeping on top of new laws and regulations or learning how to be more productive. But before you spend an arm and a leg on any of those things, pull up a chair, put on your glasses and peruse the pages in this section of ActiveRain.


It is only here that you can tap into the world's largest online real estate community and actively engage with your peers. Find out what works and what doesn't from those that actually put into practice what others merely teach. Read how-to articles, advice on designations, certifications and continuing education classes. You never know where you will find the inspiration to take your business to the next level. So, pull up a chair and dig in!

Recent blogs on Real Estate Best Practices
By Sam Thomas, When it's important; hire a professional.
(Providence Group Realty)
If your home no longer feels right, you usually have two choices:Renovate it — or move.Neither one is automatically the right answer.A renovation can completely change the right house. But you can also spend a lot of money improving a home that still doesn't solve the real reason you wanted to move in the first place.Moving has its own costs, compromises, and uncertainty.So before you call a contractor or start scrolling through listings, ask yourself these three questions.1. Can Your Home Actually Become What You Need?This is the first question I would ask.Some homes have plenty of room to improve.You may be able to: Open up the kitchen Add a bathroom Rework the floor plan Finish unused space Update the primary suite Add storage Improve outdoor living Modernize the finishes But every h...
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By David Ramirez, Tax Representation at its Best
(Tax Relief Services)
Investor, Landlord, Flipper, or Developer? Make Sure Your Tax Professional Knows the DifferenceYou bought real estate, so you are a real estate investor—right?Maybe.You could be an investor, landlord, house flipper, developer, or some combination of the four. The distinction matters because each role can produce a very different tax result.It can affect whether your profit is a capital gain or ordinary income, whether losses are currently deductible, whether self-employment tax applies, and whether the property qualifies for a Section 1031 exchange.Calling every property an “investment” does not settle the issue. The IRS looks at what you actually did with it.The InvestorAn investor generally acquires property to hold for appreciation, income, or both. The property might be vacant land,...
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By Linda Peltz, It's The Sold That Counts
(eXp Realty)
Debt has traditionally played a major role in real estate investing.Buy a property, put some money down, finance the balance and use leverage in hopes of increasing your return.That's a familiar real estate investment strategy.But what happens when an investor intentionally removes the mortgage?That's one of the most interesting topics that came out of my recent conversation with Joel Friedland of Brit Properties, a Chicago industrial real estate investor with approximately 45 years of experience.Joel's approach is unusual:His investment group purchases industrial properties without mortgage debt.I'm Linda Peltz, Fresno realtor with eXp Realty of California, Inc., and although my primary market is residential real estate in Fresno and California's Central Valley, our conversation highli...
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By William Piotrowski, Just Call William 630-881-8655
(Diamond Residential Mortgage Corporation )
🏡🔥 HELLO, FUTURE HOME BUYERS… THIS ONE IS FOR YOU! 🔥🏡The most expensive thing you’re doing right now costs nothing…Which is exactly why you can't see it.YOU'RE WAITING.Waiting for mortgage rates to come down.Waiting for more inventory.Waiting for home prices to drop.Waiting for the market to “Settle Down.”Waiting until it finally feels like the perfect time to buy.After two decades in this business, I've watched this happen over and over again.📈 When rates rise, buyers freeze.📉 When rates fall, everyone suddenly wants to shop.And when everyone starts shopping at the same time?Competition goes UP.Here's the truth:You don't need to buy a home today.But you absolutely should know what your options are today.Because waiting without a plan isn't a strategy.It's just… waiting.🏡 WHY START LOOK...
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By Jacob Maslow, Your Brooklyn Connection
(Torsx)
The house and the garden are usually designed by different people at different times, and the gap between them is where most properties lose their hold. The architecture stops at the wall and the landscape starts at the lawn, and the strip between them is a no-man's-land of gravel and downspout. Combining building architecture and landscape is the work of making the two read as one design, so the eye moves from the roof to the tree without a seam.The seam is the part that costs the most to fix later. The house that turns its back on the garden and the garden that hides the house are both failures of the same decision: the decision to treat them as separate.Start with the gradeThe grade is the ground the house sits on, and it is the first thing the landscape and the architecture share. T...
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By Wanda Kubat-Nerdin - Wanda Can!, Southern Utah's Preferred Real Estate Agent.
(Red Rock Real Estate (435) 632-9374)
Subject to Sale or Subjected to Suffering? Subject To Sale offers are becoming more common with the understanding that the buyers must sell their own property first. The concept can be practical, unless the timeline is left wide open with little more than a vague promise that a sale is somewhere on the horizon. A reasonable contingency can feel like one that never quite ends, with:➡️  No firm deadline for acceptance on the buyer’s home.➡️  No firm closing date for that sale.➡️  No clear milestones requiring the transaction to move forward. Eventually, the buyers list their house. Showings happen…S-L-O-W-L-Y. An offer comes in and falls through. Another appears shortly afterward but the buyers need just a little more time. Then weeks turn into months. Meanwhile, the seller’s property sit...
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By Debe Maxwell, CRS, The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!
(Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310)
✨ THE VIEW FROM HERE — Experience Changes Everything  Experience Doesn't Always Eliminate Problems. It Changes How You Handle Them.There was a time early in my real estate career when almost every problem felt like a five-alarm fire. An inspection uncovered something unexpected? Fire. The appraisal came in low? Bigger fire. A lender called late in the day with a problem nobody saw coming? Somebody PLEASE find a hose!!After decades in this business, I've learned something I couldn't possibly have known when I started: Experience doesn't always eliminate problems. But it certainly changes how you handle them.Actually, experience does eliminate a surprising number of problems. You learn to ask better questions before they need to be asked. You recognize the little red flags that once would...
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By David Offutt, TREA
(Texas Real Estate Academy)
Every Texas agent knows the feeling. Renewal is "months away," so it sits on the back burner. Then the expiration date is suddenly next week and you have not touched your 18 hours.Here is what TREC does if you miss it. Your license does not quietly roll over. There is a $200 CE deferral fee if your hours are not done, and a $250 late reporting fee on top of that. That is up to $450 in penalties for the same class you could have taken any night of the year.So the deadline matters. Here is how Texas renewal actually works, so it does not sneak up on you: Licenses run on a 2-year cycle. TREC opens your renewal 90 days before your expiration date. You need 18 CE hours: Legal Update I (4 hours), Legal Update II (4 hours), a contract-related course (3 hours), and 7 hours of electives. Brokers...
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By David Offutt, TREA
(Texas Real Estate Academy)
If you have ever tried to look up a specific TREC rule or a section of the Texas Real Estate License Act, you know the drill. You bounce between PDF links, a state code website that looks like it was built in 2003, and a search box that fights you the whole way. You know the rule exists. You just cannot find the language.I got tired of it. So we built the fix.We took the entire Texas Real Estate License Act, all 164 sections of Chapter 1101 of the Occupations Code, and put it on one page you can actually read: Texas Real Estate Law.Then we did the same thing with the TREC rules, all 205 of them, the full 22 TAC Part 23, right here: TREC Rules.A few things that make these easier to live with than the raw statute: Every section is deep-linkable. You can send a colleague a link that drops ...
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By Debe Maxwell, CRS, The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!
(Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310)
Managing the Transaction Behind the Transaction in Contingent OffersFor several years, buyers who needed to sell a home before purchasing another one were often at a serious disadvantage. In a market filled with multiple Offers, abbreviated due diligence periods and buyers willing to waive nearly every conceivable protection, a home-sale contingency could send an otherwise excellent Offer straight to the bottom of the pile.In today’s market, we are seeing something very different. Contingent Offers are FAR more prominent than they were just one year ago. Homes are taking longer to sell, buyers have more choices and many homeowners simply cannot—or do not want to—purchase their next home before selling the one they already own.That does not make a contingent Offer a bad Offer. It makes i...
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By Will Hamm, "Where There's a Will, There's a Way!"
(Hamm Homes)
Building a Sphere of Influence is a great way of getting business from people you know already.  Here is a list of questions to may them think of who to write down: What are the names of the members of your family?What are the names of your spouse's family?What are the names of your "extended" family?What is the name of your best friend?What are the names pf your very close friends?What are the names of your children friends parents?What are your children's teachers names?What are the children's coaches names?What are your children's dentists names?Who cuts your children hair?Who cuts your hair?Who services your car?Who sold you your current car?Who is your mailman?Who do you know at your church/place of worship?Who are your doctors?Who owes you money?What is the name of your favorite t...
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By Gwen Fowler SC Lakes & Mountains 864-710-4518, Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc.
(Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc)
Sellers sometimes think buyers need time to decide how they feel about a house.In reality, buyers start forming an opinion almost immediately.Before they have seen every bedroom, opened every closet, or walked through the backyard, they are already deciding whether the house feels right.That is why the first five minutes of a showing matter so much.It Starts Before They Walk Through the DoorBuyers notice the driveway, the grass, the landscaping, the front steps, and the exterior condition before they ever enter the house.They notice whether tree limbs are hanging over the driveway, whether weeds have taken over the flower beds, and whether the front porch feels clean and inviting.A seller does not need an expensive landscaping project.Sometimes trimming shrubs, sweeping the porch, cutti...
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By Gwen Fowler SC Lakes & Mountains 864-710-4518, Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc.
(Gwen Fowler Real Estate, Inc)
How to Explain the SC Buyer Agency Contract to Clients (Without the Arguing!)Posted by: Gwendolyn T Fowler Category: EducationIf you're a real estate agent in South Carolina, you know the conversation well:Client looks at the contract, confused...Client: "Wait, so we have to pay YOU? Why? The seller should pay!"You: take a deep breathHere's the thing: Most of our buyers don't understand the Exclusive Right to Buy/Lease Buyer Agency Contract (Form 130). They see "broker fee" and immediately think we're charging them thousands of dollars out of pocket.They don't realize most sellers already pay this.And honestly? That's our fault for not explaining it clearly enough.I'm sharing how I've learned to walk buyers through this contract so they understand the deal, feel respected, and sign with...
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By Roy Kelley
(Retired)
We spend a lot of time in this business talking about marketing, production, lead generation, technology and now, of course, AI. All of those things have their place. But none of them can replace the foundation of what we do. Trust.And trust is built when we establish our fiduciary responsibility, carry it out every step of the way and honor it for the duration of the relationship—even when doing so isn't the easiest path.   The "F" Word in Real Estate Let's talk about the "F" word. No...not that one. Get your mind out of the gutter!! I’m talking about the word that should define every real estate professional: fiduciary. It's not a particularly glamorous word and it's certainly not one you're likely to see trending on social media. In fact, I'm not sure how many consumers could actuall...
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By Debe Maxwell, CRS, The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!
(Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310)
The "F" Word in Real EstateLet's talk about the "F" word. No...not that one. Get your mind out of the gutter!! I’m talking about the word that should define every real estate professional: fiduciary.It's not a particularly glamorous word and it's certainly not one you're likely to see trending on social media. In fact, I'm not sure how many consumers could actually define it if we asked them. But in real estate, it's one of the most important words in our vocabulary because it gets right to the heart of what we're hired to do.When a client chooses us to represent them, they're trusting us with far more than showing houses, putting a sign in the yard, writing a contract or negotiating repairs. For most people, buying or selling a home involves one of the largest financial transactions th...
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By Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400, Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome
( HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400)
Why Can't I Bring a Check to Settlement?August 20, 2026“I'm buying the house for cash. Why can't I bring a cashier's check?” It's a reasonable question.Years ago, bringing certified or cashier's funds to settlement was common. Today, many title and settlement companies have much stricter requirements for receiving and disbursing funds. There is a reason. Technology has changed what can happen to a piece of paper in a matter of seconds. Imagine someone hands over a check. Before that physical check ever reaches the bank, an image of it may already have been deposited electronically. The piece of paper may still be sitting right there in front of you, but that doesn't necessarily tell you what has already happened electronically. Here's another example. Someone asks to receive a check at ...
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By Kelly McGovern, Working with Kelly is a good move
(Realty Concierge International)
In Massachusetts real estate, buyers often hear that a home must be delivered in “broom clean condition” at closing. While the phrase sounds simple, many sellers misunderstand what it actually requires, and what it doesn’t.“Broom clean” means the home must be fully emptied of all personal property, including furniture, trash, paint cans, old building materials, and anything not included in the sale. Floors should be swept free of debris, and surfaces should be left generally tidy. However, unless the purchase and sale agreement specifically states otherwise, professional deep cleaning is not required.The key rule: the home should be delivered essentially as it was shown, unless the contract’s four corners spell out additional expectations. If the agreement doesn’t mandate shampooing car...
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By Steve Depoe | The Rose Realty Team, Taking the stress out of Buying and Selling
(The Rose Realty Team)
Many of us spend years planning for retirement.We save money, pay down debt, and prepare for the future.But one area that's often overlooked is what happens to our home.If you've lived in your home for twenty, thirty, or even forty years, you've likely accumulated substantial equity. For many families, the house becomes one of their most valuable assets.Yet many homeowners have never discussed how they want that asset handled in the future.This isn't about expecting something bad to happen.It's about being prepared.One issue families sometimes face is probate. Probate is the legal process used to settle an estate after someone passes away. Depending on the circumstances, it can create delays and additional responsibilities for surviving family members.Fortunately, Texas homeowners often...
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By Kelly McGovern, Working with Kelly is a good move
(Realty Concierge International)
Family drama has a way of showing up at the worst possible time, and real estate transactions are no exception. When multiple relatives are involved in selling a home, especially in situations like estates, divorces, or inherited properties, conflict can escalate quickly. As an agent, your job isn’t to referee personal disputes. Your job is to protect the transaction, maintain professionalism, and keep the process moving forward. The most effective way to do that is by establishing clear boundaries from the start. Families often assume the agent will mediate disagreements, but stepping into that role is a fast track to stress, miscommunication, and liability. Instead, it’s far better to designate one authorized decision-maker. In estate situations, this is typically the executor or per...
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By Joe Manausa - Tallahassee, FL, Tallahassee Real Estate
(Joe Manausa Team at Xcellence Realty)
This one caught my attention because it applies to real estate in a very practical way.It’s easy to get caught up in waiting—for the right market, the right client, or the right opportunity. I like the reminder to focus on what we can accomplish in the next 12 weeks.Consistent follow-up, building relationships, and staying active can make a big difference over time.Worth a read if you’re thinking about where you want your business to be a year from now. Start Your “One Year From Now” Today!You don't need to wait for New Year's Day, your birthday or some other annual marker you use to inspire new goals and change. You can start today! Too many people are living with the pain of regret. In Real Estate alone it's: The interest rate they didn’t take advantage of when rates were lower.The ho...
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