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Becoming a Real Estate Agent in Your Spare Time

May 17, 20164,707

It is in fact possible to become a real estate agent working part time.  As a matter of fact in some cases it is recommended that you only work part time when first starting out.  This is because start up expenses, like getting your real estate agent license and other necessities, can take a while to get in order.  On top of that a lot of people take a while to get acclimated.  It’s not uncommon for an agent’s first sale to take six months or more.  In this case it can be helpful to have a primary stream of income until you get off your feet.

The first step to getting your real estate agent license.

The first step to getting your real estate agent license.

The most important thing to remember when getting started in real estate is that it’s all about networking.  You need to tell anyone who will listen that you’ve become an agent.  On top of that you need to tell them to tell anyone they know.  Getting your name out there is paramount to your success.  Luckily this doesn’t need to take you too far away from your daily routine.  It won’t stop you from completing any of your other responsibilities, but you do need to put in the extra effort.  

Next, you’re going to need to implement some strict boundaries.  A lot of the work required of an agent can be done from home.  However, clients have a tendency to call you out of the blue looking to see a property.  Your answering machine need to clearly state when you are and aren’t available.  People will understand if they know when you can reach you.  But this means you need to make sure that you call people back as soon as possible.  Clients will generally respect your boundaries so long as you let them know up front, and you stick to your commitment.

The last thing to remember is that becoming an agent, even a part time one, comes with it’s fair share of investment.  Just getting your real estate agent license can take anywhere from several months to a year and cost several hundred dollars.  Once you get your license you’ve got roughly a thousand dollars in advertising expenses.  This should cover the basic necessities: business cards, for sale signs, open house signs, a website, etc.  Then there’s membership, board, and association fees, and you can’t forget the price of gas in your car from driving people all over town.  All in all it’s a sizeable investment, so keep this in mind before you quit your previous job.

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Inspiration for Female Real Estate Agents

May 17, 20164,880

Hello, my name is Loren Robin.  I am, among other things, a real estate agent.  As a woman who’s lived a life beyond her wildest dreams I wanted to share a story of success with all you female real estate agents out there.  

I grew up in a lower middle class family.  At the age of 22 I returned to my childhood home in New Jersey from a failed attempt to get my life started across the country.  I discovered that my parent were getting a divorce, and they were putting the house up for sale.  I found myself broke, depressed, and gaining weight.  I had a high school education, no marketable skill, and no idea what I wanted to do with my life.  I was completely lost, grasping for anything that resembled a purpose.  At night I waited tables.  During the day I watched an endless stream of realtors pass through the house.

Loren Robin is one of the top female real estate agents in the business.

Loren Robin is one of the top female real estate agents in the business.

One afternoon, a top-producing agent came over. The experience changed my life forever.  She was dazzling. She drove a baby blue Jaguar, and she had the friendliest personality I’d ever met. Her clients were running late, so we had a chance to talk for a while. She said I reminded her of herself when she was my age. “You have a great personality,” she told me. “You’d be really good at real estate!”  I couldn’t believe that this gorgeous woman, who was so full of confidence, believed I could step into her shoes! It was truly inspiring.

Finally, I found some direction in my life.  I got my real estate license in no time, and things started falling into place.  My first job in real estate was at Weichert Realtors in New Jersey. Even though I was terrified, I played the part well.  In my first year I made the Million Dollar Club; which was a huge deal for me.

After a few good years at Weichert I took on a new job at the biggest commercial real estate company in the state.  I met an amazing man while on vacation. We fell in love, married, and moved to Canada. Two years later I was pregnant with twin boys. It soon turned out my husband wasn’t who I thought he was.  Suffice it to say, I divorced quickly and moved to Florida with my twin boys.

At this point I’d tasted success, and I wasn’t ever giving it up!  Despite being the single mother of two young boys, I got a Florida real estate license.  After a few years I took a leap of faith, got my broker’s license, and started my own company. Everyone thought I was nuts. I had two small children, I was leaving a steady job, and I didn’t have a clue what I was getting into. I just knew I had to do it.

I was the president, owner, top salesperson, bookkeeper, etc. I worked nonstop and still did so many things wrong.  Even though it took me a while to get into the swing of things, the market was hot and the business flowed in.

I built a successful company over several years. One day, Prudential called out of the blue saying they wanted to buy my company.  We negotiated for a bit, and it payed off. They bought my company.  Most of my team and I went to work for them.

         In less than two years, I was the company’s top producer on the east coast of Florida. I had a handful of  full time assistants working for me, and plenty of support. But I was paying Prudential a fortune to be there. After shelling out their 6% franchise fee, 15% cut for the broker, 10-15% for advertising, the money I had left just didn’t make any sense.

After three years with Prudential I left to start my own boutique firm.  I called it Luxury Real Estate Group International, and I only hired rock stars! We started with five new home projects in a jaw-dropping office with major developers.

If you’d told me at 22 where that I’d make it to the top 1% of the real estate industry, I would have called you crazy.  I just didn’t think I was capable.  What more I managed to do it while raising two wonderful boys on my own.  The take home message here is that it’s hard to see our own potential, especially when we’re low.  Sometimes it takes someone else having faith in us, before we’re willing to have faith in ourselves.   I’m here to say that real estate isn’t about where you’ve been.  It’s about what you’re willing to put in to where you’re going.  On top of that it give you the confidence, and the people skills necessary to go into a variety of other professions if you so choose.

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Personal Branding for Real Estate Agents

May 16, 20164,100

Loren’s Step by Step Guide

Branding is one of those concepts that is frequently referenced, but never particularly well-defined.  We understand that good real estate branding ideas are important for our success.  However, when it comes to how and why we’re implementing them, things tend to get a little fuzzy.  The simple answer is that customers seek out an agent for one of two reasons. A personal connection, or recognition of a familiar and trustworthy brand.  The primary are a result of your networking efforts.  The latter are a result of your marketing efforts and the focus of this article.  If you’re looking to build a brand that sets you apart from your local competitors, then here are some guidelines to follow.


1. Depict and maintain a clear representation of your identity.

Real estate branding ideas should define your businesses place in the market.

Real estate branding ideas should define your business’s place in the market.

The first step here is defining yourself.  Who are you? What do you do? How are you and your services special?  It is more than likely that you will already have the answers to these questions.  If you don’t, then think about what you, or your customers, have valued most about your services.  Any aspect of your business in which you excel above and beyond can be an aspect of your brand identity.

The second step is to consistently live up to the identity you depict in your brand.  If you represent yourself as punctual, you can’t show up late.  If you represent yourself as positive, you can’t be negative.  Your brand serves as a promise to your clients.  When you fail to deliver on that promise, then you’ve lied in the eyes of your clients.  Obviously no one is perfect, but you have to do your best to live up to the brand.

2. Expand the reach of your brand

You can’t be everywhere at once.  This is why you have a website, an email, a voicemail, a Facebook page, etc.  You must be sure that each of these automated mechanisms of your business also represent the image you want for your business.  If you’ve chosen an identity that fit you well then this shouldn’t be too difficult a task.  All you need is to make sure your personal touch shows through in every aspect of your business.

3. Collect testimonials

There is only so much you can do to cultivate a brand for your business.  At some point you’ll need the help of your satisfied customers.  It’s highly recommended that you ask every one of your clients to provide you with a testimonial.  Ask for their impression of the experience.  Review these testimonials, and post them to your website and facebook page.  This will prove an excellent way to build credibility with future clients.

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Real Estate Agents-How Should You Advertise Online?

May 16, 20162,765

Figuring out how to market a real estate agent online is easy once you learn how to do it right.  Only focusing on one aspect of online marketing is probably the biggest mistake you can make.  For example, a lot of people will just buy paid ads.  They incorrectly assume that internet marketing works just like print advertisements.  What they don’t realize is that paid ads are just a fraction of the puzzle.  In order to create effective online advertising for real estate agents you must familiarize yourself with the three pillars of internet marketing.

How to establish effective online advertising for real estate agents.

How to establish effective online advertising for real estate agents.

The first, and arguably most important, of these pillars is organic search rankings.  What shows up when you search something in a search engine: Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc?  You get pages and pages of links.  These links are posted in the order they are ranked by the search engine.  The search engines make these rankings by looking at a variety of factors.  Factors that typically revolve around the popularity of the site, and the frequency with which it mentions the words you just entered into the search bar.  As you might imagine, the link listed at the top of an organic search is the one people are most likely to click on.  As the list descends the links are increasingly less likely to be clicked on.  For this reason, it is in your best interest to get your link as high up on the organic search list as possible.  

The second pillar are paid advertisements.  These are commonly referred to as pay-per-click (PPC) ads: Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Yahoo Gemini, Bing Ads, etc.  As their name suggests, the cost of these paid advertisements typically correlate to the number of clicks your ad receives from users.  Since each click technically represents a new lead this can be an incredibly useful means of promoting your company, brand, or product.  This is the easiest aspect of online marketing to maintain because it merely requires you to purchase the space, and the search engine handles the rest.  Unfortunately there are two major downsides to paid advertisements.  First, most experienced internet users can recognize paid content.  They are accustomed to being bombarded by it.  And they generally consider it inferior to organic content.  This means a portion of users have developed a tendency to ignore paid content.  Second, a lot of users click on paid ads by accident, and have no interest in purchasing the product it’s representing.  This is only an issue because you still have to pay for their click regardless of whether or not the user intended to click on it.

The final pillar of online marketing is content.  One of the most important factors the search engines account for when creating organic rankings is the content linking to each site: blog posts, press releases, videos, images, facebook posts, etc.  Not only does the amount of content enter into consideration, but also the quality and freshness of said content.  For example, if your site has a massive amount of content but the newest stuff is a couple of month old, then you won’t get as high of a ranking as a site with less content that is still fresh.  The same goes for sites with lots of fake content (lorem ipsum articles, blank videos, etc) as opposed to sites with high quality content in a lesser quantity.  

This is an instance where the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.  Any one of these techniques is almost never enough to constitute a successful online marketing campaign, but in tandem they are incredibly effective.  If you remove one pillar then the structure that’s built upon it will inevitably crumble to one degree or another.  Remember this when constructing your own online marketing presence.

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7 Social Media Tips for Real Estate Agents

May 16, 20163,660
7 Social Media Tips for Real Estate Agents

Social media can be an incredibly effective, even necessary, tool of online marketing for real estate agents.  As with other marketing tools, social media marketing is only effective when done correctly.  It is for this reason that this article will cover the seven most important rules of marketing real estate via social media.

How to reach more clients with online marketing for real estate agents..

How to reach more clients with online marketing for real estate agents..

1. The first marketing technique you can implement to boost your online presence is posting about your neighborhood.  This could mean showing off your listings.  But it’s oftentimes more effective to focus on events or plans that might interest the community as a whole.  This can refer to generic events like block parties, or niche events.  Niche events only apply to specific communities: bonfires at a beach community, golf tournaments at a golf community, etc.  These types of posts do more than call attention to the neighborhood you’re trying to market.  They also demonstrate your intimate knowledge of said community.

2. The next thing to remember when marketing real estate via social media is to be careful not appear too self interested.  In other words your entire page shouldn’t exclusively showcase your own listings.  Be sure to also post about other properties, especially the ones you find unique.  This fosters good will between you and your fellow agents.  Good will that increases the likelihood that they will support you in turn.

3. Be sure to include images in your postings.  Potential clients are always more likely to be engaged by pictures rather than words.  If you post pictures more people will like, share, and comment on your post.  This means it will be more likely that your post shows up on the feeds of their friends and followers.

4. You must demonstrate an interest in your clients digitally.  This is second nature to us when we deal with clients face to face, but you must remember to show the same degree of interest in their virtual life as well.  If you want them to like, share, and comment on your posts, you must do the same to theirs.

5. Contests and sweepstakes are an excellent means of promoting engagement in your social media page.  These sort of games are fun for your followers and fosters a deeper relationship by positioning yourself as a realtor who actually listens to the wants and needs of their clients.  It can also be an excellent method of gathering information, because it allows you to see their likes and dislikes on a variety of subjects.  

6. Facebook ads can be an incredibly effective means of reaching out to new customers, when used correctly.  For example you can promote a post to individuals in a specific zip code or area; which allows your post to be seen by potential clients that you would otherwise have no means of contacting.

7. The final thing to be aware of is that much of what you post in your personal page can show up on your business page.  For this reason it is best to avoid commenting on hot button issues, like politics or religion, on social media.  It’s best to err on the side of professionalism and opt out of conversations that could be construed as offensive by one side or the other.

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How Top Realtors Cope With End of Summer Burnout

January 4, 20164,242

The end of summer burnout is an affliction that affects almost every realtor at some point in their career.  The changing of summer to fall marks the end of six months of non-stop business.  This realtor marathon, while financially fruitful, is hell on the nerves of most agents.  By the time fall rolls around, a lot of real estate agents experience burn out.  So how do the top agents go about avoiding real estate burnout?  How do you get the spring back in your step?  Here are a couple tips from realtors who’ve made it through happy and healthy.

avoiding real estate burnout

Take a trip to avoid real estate burn out.

The most common response to real estate burnout is a vacation.  Taking a trip at the end of the summer season, with family, friends, or even by yourself, can be an excellent means of getting away from all the work related stress.  By allowing yourself to focus on your own wants needs, and desires, you can begin to recuperate some of your lost energy.  Having a vacation to look forward to at the end of your summer season is also an fantastic way of  avoiding realtor burnout.  It’s much easier to get through the summer if you know you have some me-time  waiting for you on the other end.

Another trick realtors use to recover is picking up a passion project or hobby at the start of fall.  This is another technique designed to focus some time on one’s self, and relieve stress.  What you decide to do is entirely dependant upon your interests.  Hiking, painting, knitting, cooking, gardening, reading, writing, bowling, model building, fishing, hunting, playing music, the list is literally endless.  Just find something you genuinely like doing and schedule some time every week dedicated to that activity.  You’ll be surprised how much it can change your attitude and perspective.

Remember, occupational burnout directly correlates to how we deal with stress.  If you don’t manage your stress effectively, then you’re at risk to burnout.  So just do whatever you do to relieve stress.  Meditate, exercise, talk to a friend, a family member, a professional, just make sure you do something.

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Does Income Affect Realtor Burnout?

January 4, 20162,468

The short answer is, yes.  However, it’s not necessarily in the way you think.  The natural assumption is that those who are more stressed about money a more prone to burnout.  Or even that those who are the most successful and the busiest are the most prone to burnout.  Neither one of which is necessarily true.  Realtor burnout is caused by an inability to effectively handle stress.  Real estate agents experience burn out regularly because it’s an incredibly stressful industry.  The reasons behind their stress vary only slightly based on income.

real estate agents experience burn out

real estate agents experience burn out

Unsuccessful or inexperienced realtors are generally fending off stress from a variety of sources.  They typically don’t have any of the staff or automated systems of the more successful agents.  As a result they have to personally handle all aspects of the job.  They prospect their own clients.  They fill out their own paperwork.  They constantly answer their own phones.  Everything falls on them to handle. This is an added source of stress. On top of all that, they also have to worry about financial security.  Their only saving grace is that the majority of them have limited fiscal responsibilities.

This is where the less established agents typically have an edge on their successful counterparts.  Their overhead is limited.  They’re typically younger.   This means they’re less likely to have children, and that they’re less likely to be homeowners.  Well established realtors on the other hand generally have to worry about keeping up with all of those responsibilities.  Veteran agents may not have to deal with same workload, but there is tremendous pressure on them to continue being successful because they’ve built a life around that success.  

When you look at the numbers, inexperienced and unsuccessful realtors are more likely to leave the industry than successful ones, but that doesn’t mean money is the key factor in avoiding real estate burnout.  Stress and real estate go hand in hand, so those who implement means of alleviating stress are the ones who avoid burnout.  Successful realtors are more likely to have developed the techniques necessary to accomplish this goal, but that doesn’t mean money had anything to do with it.  They’re simply developed better methods for coping with the rigors of the job.  One could argue this ability to cope contributed to their success.

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Can You Spell “Stress?”- 5 Tips for Real Estate Agent Burnout and Fatigue

January 4, 20163,119

If you spend any real time in the business, chances are you will eventually find yourself burned out from your real estate career.  I don’t know a single realtor who hasn’t felt the symptoms at some point.  There are also countless methods for recovering from, or avoiding real estate burnout altogether.  The following five tips are the most basic steps towards tackling the problem.  They are all things you should be doing to keep yourself happy, healthy, and at the top of your game.  Even if you don’t have an issue with real estate burn out.


  • Take Some Time for Yourself

burned out from your real estate career

Avoid burnout by taking some time for yourself.

Part of the reason why burnout is so common among realtors is because of how much of their time is dedicated to focusing on other people.  When you spend so much time worrying about other people, there is a tendency to start neglecting one’s own needs.  If you aren’t making time for yourself on a weekly basis, then you need to start.  It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as it’s something you enjoy doing: read, write, cook, paint, go shopping, get a massage, spend some time with friends and family.  Just schedule some time every week for an activity that makes you happy, because that’s how you maintain sanity in a business that breeds insanity.


  • Figure Out What You Want for Your Business

Another key factor in avoiding realtor burnout is maintaining perspective when it comes to the purpose of your business.  We have a tendency to forget that the reason we work is to support our life outside of work.  Your business’s primary duty is to yourself.  If our career prevents us from having a personal life, then we must reconsider what we want out of our career.  In some case you may need to alter your business practices to reduce your workload, in others you may need to focus your efforts on an aspect of your business that you truly enjoy.  While it may seem counter intuitive, refining the work you take often has a beneficial effect on your business as a whole.  By decreasing your level of stress you’ll find that you’re more productive; which will allow you to make more money in the end.


  • Maintain control over your time

We naturally assume that availability is key to operating a successful real estate business.  That if we fail to respond to a client immediately, we risk losing them altogether.  While it is true that we must be responsive; that doesn’t mean we need to be available 24 hours a day, every day.  Balancing your time is of the utmost importance in this business.  If you focus on never missing a call or email, you’ll drive yourself crazy sooner or later.    So it’s in your own, and your client’s, best interest to schedule your day so that you have some time to yourself.  Turn off your phone when you’re unavailable to take calls.  Prioritize your responses to emails and text messages.  Some people expect immediate response, let them know how your system works, so they know what to expect.  We tend to forget that this business is based on relationships and not technology.  Trust yourself, and your clients, to recognize that you’re good at what you do and that you will respond in a timely manner.


  • Teach your clients how you work

As we discussed in the third tip, it’s incredibly important to maintain control over your time by scheduling time to respond to your clients.  The key to doing this successfully is managing your clients.  If you don’t give them any boundaries, they’ll assume you don’t have any.  In which case they’ll interpret a lack of response as a sign of bad service.  However, if you develop a system for response and let your clients know how it works, then they’ll assume that you’ll get back to them in a timely manner just as you said you would.  


  • Streamline and Automate Your Business

Every aspect of your business that you are manually responsible for is time lost and added stress.  There are two ways of alleviating these effects: by delegating these tasks to other people, and by implementing automated systems that handle them for you.  If you have the ability to hire an assistant then that is an excellent way of relieving some of your more tedious responsibilities so that you can focus on more important ones.  They can take calls, handle menial paperwork, manage your schedule, so that you can focus on the aspects of your business that you’re uniquely suited to accomplish.  The same goes for automated systems.  For example, manually prospecting clients is incredibly time consuming, stressful, and often fruitless; however, if you implement systems for generating leads then you can focus your time and energy elsewhere.  Just think about what you’re good at and enjoy doing, and how you can spend your time focused on those things.  Anything that gets in the way of these activities should be aspects of your business you find a way to delegate.

The tips listed above are all excellent ways to minimize the main causes of burnout, but that doesn’t mean they make you immune.  A lot of people still seeks outside help when dealing with burnout.  Many consult psychologists or medical professionals, some choose to take a break from real estate, others decided to change their careers entirely.  Regardless, what’s important is that you find something that works for you because the effects of burnout will inevitably affect your health and happiness if you ignore the root problems.

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Is Burnout Inevitable Among Real Estate Agents?

January 4, 20164,385
realtor burnout

real estate agents experience burn out

Burnout isn’t necessarily an inevitable side effect of being a real estate agent.  It is however, an incredibly likely one.  As a matter of fact, the rate of realtor burnout is one of the highest of any industry in the United States.  A list that includes nurses, lawyers, doctors, teachers, and other human service professions.  Most real estate agents experience burn out at some point.  Many of them battle it their entire career.  Burnout may seem like a fairly innocuous ailment.  But it does commonly lead to a very serious condition, depression.  One that is largely responsible for the high rate of suicide among realtors.  So what about the industry causes burn out?

Well, burnout is so common among human service professionals because their jobs involve two of the conditions main contributing factors.  Those being a high stress environment, and an emotionally demanding job.  Realtors fit into this cross section perfectly.  They’re required to accommodate demanding clients.  Individuals that often require constant communication.  At the ready to solve any problem that may arise.  Lest they lose the client and fail to receive payment for any of their time and energy. On top of that, remember that they’re dealing in peoples homes.  One of the most personal and emotionally charged products that you can possibly buy or sell.  All in all it is an incredibly high stress and emotionally demanding job.  

Nobody can deal with all of that pressure bearing down on them without breaking or finding a way to relieve stress.  Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to effectively manage stress.  Most of them aren’t even that difficult.  In fact, most them are pretty enjoyable.  It’s a simple as finding a hobby: meditate, go for walks, schedule some technology free time.  Just take a break from work.  This may seem like too easy of an answer.  But according to every doctor out there, these types of activities are vital to mental health.  

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Real Estate Agents are Burnt Out

January 4, 20164,020

Real estate agents experience burn out much more frequently than individuals in most other industries.  They’re some of the most likely sufferers.  You’d think this would cause industry leaders to promote education and awareness.  Unfortunately the subject usually goes unacknowledged for whatever reason.  As a result, most of us realtors know very little about the disorder.  That is why this article will discuss those issues.  It will also cover how to avoid realtor burnout.

So for starters, what is real estate burn out?  It is a form of stress caused by an inability to handle the pressures of one’s career.  It usually begins when an individual’s expectations about their job don’t match their experience. When most realtors first start out, they have a unrealistic impression of their responsibilities.  They don’t understand that the job requires them to be on call 24 hours a day.  They don’t know how tough a commission based income can be.  And they don’t recognize the torment a fluctuating market can cause.  Between them all you’ve got yourself a recipe for a tremendous amount of pressure.  Very few people are capable of dealing with this degree of strain year in and year out.  That is, unless they institute some effective means of stress relief.

Next up, how do you know if you’re burned out from your real estate career? The symptoms of burnout include fatigue, boredom, apathy, frustration, and feelings of ineffectiveness.  While not fully understood, there does appear to be some correlation between burnout and depression.  Sufferers are also known to experience suicidal thoughts but acting on them is fairly rare.  Burnout is a serious malady that requires attention and vigilance.  This is especially true because the descent process is gradual.  Unlike most ailments, it occurs over weeks, months, sometimes even years.  The slow progression makes detection very difficult until the issue has become severe.  This means preventative measures are far more effective than treatments.

Finally, how do realtors avoid burnout?  The answer is surprisingly simple.  Take care of yourself.  Simple steps like instituting a healthy diet, exercise regimen,

avoid realtor burnout

How do realtors avoid burnout?

and sleeping schedule can go a long way.  One should also try managing stress. Starting the morning with a relaxing ritual like meditation, or reading the paper.  Turning off your phone when you know you aren’t available.  Setting time aside for one of your hobbies or interests.  All of these are effective ways of relieving stress.  This is the key to having a long, satisfying career in real estate.

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Recent Posts

  • Becoming a Real Estate Agent in Your Spare Time
  • Inspiration for Female Real Estate Agents
  • Personal Branding for Real Estate Agents
  • Real Estate Agents-How Should You Advertise Online?
  • 7 Social Media Tips for Real Estate Agents

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