Michael Crist

Each year, the Counselors of Real Estate offers its insights on the factors, trends and issues that are shaping the residential and commercial real estate industries. CRE’s analysis offers insights into opportunities and challenges facing real estate professionals, as well as how the economic environment is changing the industry landscape. 2017 CRE Chair Peter Burley,… Continue Reading Counselors of Real Estate Highlight Challenges for Industry

FHFA senior economist William Doerner demonstrates helpful data tools at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Chicago. When the National Association of REALTORS®’ Chief Economist Lawrence Yun was attending the University of Marilyn College Park in the early 1990s—only about 10 miles from the U.S. Capitol—murder rates were published on the front page of the… Continue Reading Data Will Help Tell Your Market’s Story

By now it’s clear how mobile technology has disrupted real estate, but it’s already time to prepare for the next tsunami: Blockchain and artificial intelligence. That was the message that Mark Lesswing, chief technology officer for the National Association of REALTORS®, delivered to attendees of the Emerging Business Issues & Technology Forum on Saturday. Joseph… Continue Reading The Next 2 Tech Game Changers

Real estate industry experts and researchers  presented data and discussed the effects of student loan debt on millennials’ ability to participate in the housing market and own a business, during a panel titled “Digging Out: Growing Your Business While Paying Off Debt” at the 2017 REALTORS® Conference & Expo. According to Jessica Lautz, managing director… Continue Reading Student Loan Debt Keeps Millennials From Buying Homes, Starting Businesses

To hear political expert Steve Schmidt tell it, America’s political system is more broken than ever. Schmidt told a packed room at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in Chicago that “our political system today precludes the ability to get to common-sensible solutions.” That dysfunction, according to Schmidt, comes from divisions left in the country by… Continue Reading Steve Schmidt Decries Political Environment as Tax Reform Looms

Agents, appraisers and lenders discussed the importance of being educated on the specifics of a condominium building or project when selling a condo unit, during a panel yesterday at the 2017 REALTORS® Conference & Expo. During the panel “Dispelling Condo Confusion for Agents and Appraisers,” real estate agent and appraiser experts discussed the many issues… Continue Reading Detailed Data Can Help Curb Condo Confusion

Suffice it to say, real estate teams have become incredibly popular. They give agents a competitive advantage, an extended revenue source, and the ability to leverage the skillset of several people instead of just one. As Kate Beckman—director of Independent Contractor Relations at NRT LLC—says, “There is strength in numbers.” But real estate brokers and… Continue Reading Best Practices to Manage Team Risk

Steve Schmidt Congress isn’t going to approve the tax reform bill introduced in the House this week, Republican campaign strategist Steve Schmidt predicted during a federal legislative and political forum at the REALTORS® Conference & Expo on Saturday. Only the country’s largest corporations—which already pay well below the statutory corporate tax rate of 35 percent—have… Continue Reading GOP Strategist: Tax Reform Won’t Pass

If you’ve been thinking about starting a podcast to build your business but don’t know where to start, online audio enthusiast Monica Neubauer has a simple piece of advice: Just dive in—but make sure you know why you’re doing it and what you hope to accomplish. Are you looking to attract more listings? Do you… Continue Reading How to Measure the Success of a Podcast

Desiree Rogers said trust is becoming more difficult to establish with customers amid a more divisive political and cultural environment. It’s a difficult environment in which to build trust. The divide is growing between the general masses and the elites, social media has made some relationships less authentic, parents today worry that their children won’t… Continue Reading 6 Ways to Build Trust in a Skeptical World