Boost Your ROI with these Home Improvement Projects
If you know you’re not in your “forever home,” you likely put a lot of thought into planning your home improvement projects. And if you’re contemplating selling your house soon, you’re likely brainstorming all of the things you can do to maximize the profit on your sale. Like many other people, you want to make sure that you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to home improvements. Let’s take a look at those home improvement projects that provide the most value. Bottom line Before you start tackling renovations, additions, and remodeling, it helps to get a baseline to gauge how much you should invest. Do you know your home’s current market value? If the answer’s no, you want to use one of the many online home value estimator tools or work with a local agent to find out what your property is currently worth. If you work with an agent, you can also get an informed, professional opinion of what home improvement projects will not only attract potential buyers but also provide a return on your investment. Curb appeal If you’re itching for a new kitchen or bathroom, you’ll be disappointed to know that even minor kitchen remodels will not yield a full return on your investment. So, go ahead and tackle those areas if you’re planning on being in your home for a few years and want to enjoy an updated look, but don’t hang your hat on a solid return. By and far, those improvements done to the outside of your home will realize a return on your investment and get people in the door when you go to sell. Let’s take a look at some outdoor projects that will protect your investment. Fresh coat The places where you want to expend your efforts -- and invest your hard-earned cash -- are those places that make a first impression with prospective buyers. If your home’s exterior needs a fresh coat of paint or a modern color update, invest in getting your siding repainted. While your home may not be the newest in the neighborhood, a facelift is just the thing to get it noticed in a great way. It’s all in the details Other areas of note include your roof and your gutters. If you’ve not been the best about maintaining your gutters, clearing your gutters and replacing or securing any loose pieces should be a priority. Again, your house doesn’t have to be new, it just needs to look like it. The same holds true with your roof. While a new roof may not be budget-friendly, you should invest in replacing and securing any loose or missing shingles. Grand Entrance Take a look at your sidewalks, driveway, and entryways. Do you have any loose bricks? Is the cement cracked or uneven? If you answered “yes,” you need to tackle those walkways and your driveway. Again, the goal here is to make your home look as inviting -- and well-maintained -- as possible, and loose bricks or cracked cement won’t cut it. Lush lawn Perhaps the best investment you can make -- and one with the highest return of all -- is to care for your lawn. Buyers love homes with beautiful, full, green lawns, so take the time to have your lawn seeded or have sod laid to create a thick, carpeted look to your lawn. You won’t regret it. With so many variables in play, the best investments you can make in your home are those that will draw in prospective buyers when the time comes. A beautiful exterior draws people in to see the interior, and stepping up your home’s curb appeal will boost your return on investment at settlement. Finished Basement According to Homelight.com High income buyers ($150,000+ a year) like finished basements. Finished basements can bring in more than $40,000 in additional profit and add to the total square footage of a home. Finishing a basement costs an average of $6,500-$15,000 and primarily consists of drywall, flooring, and paint. With the potential for a 69% return on investment, it may be something to consider before putting your home on the market. Refinish Hardwoods The National Association of Realtors says refinishing hardwood floors recovers 100% of the cost at resale. That said, the ROI on updated flooring depends on current condition. If your floors are in decent condition, refinishing them is a great, cheap way to bring in extra profit when selling. Open Floor Plan A spacious layout is at the top of many buyer’s wish lists and can be done for relatively low costs. An open floor plan brings in more natural light, makes the space seem larger, and helps buyers imagine how they would fill the space if it were their own. Some walls can be knocked down quickly, while others may be structural and require alternative support to be installed. Be sure to consult with a contractor before tearing down walls. Source
Top Producing KW Team Relies on Chime to Boost Conversion Rates by Nearly 200%
Lucido Global replaces legacy platform to improve agent productivity, support scalability, and increase the bottom line PHOENIX, Nov. 01, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chime Technologies, an award-winning sales acceleration system for the real estate industry, today announced Lucido Global, one of the top producing KW teams worldwide, has achieved significant and measurable results utilizing Chime. Within just 90 days, Chime produced 187% more agreements with an average price per agreement of $650,000, 34% higher than those on their previous CRM. Chime’s intuitive platform, innovative AI capabilities, and powerful API provide the functionality and integrations Lucido Global agents need to work smarter and generate more business. To learn more about this customer story, visit HERE. Quick Stats - Lucido Finds Success with Chime: Conversion rate to agreement increased 187% Listing conversions increased by 108% Average sales opportunity up 56% Average sales opportunity $615,000+ Robert Lucido Jr., chief strategy officer at Lucido Global, keenly understands that to be successful, modern real estate firms need to leverage technology to innovate, automate, and streamline. When it became apparent that tech innovation had outpaced Lucido Global’s existing CRM, he knew his team needed a next generation technology stack capable of supporting their aggressive approach to innovation. Powered by AI, Chime uniquely provides the innovative tools Lucido Global needs to effectively identify, nurture and convert leads for increased business. Since relying on Chime, Lucido Global reports a 42% increase in business generation from digital advertising. Chime Smart Dialers, Smart Plans and AI Assistant Drive Engagement; Boost ConversionChime seamlessly automates the redundant, time consuming, and manual tasks that plague real estate professionals. By eliminating these tasks, Chime empowers Lucido Global’s agents to invest more time into revenue generating activities and client service. Chime’s integrated smart dialers, for example, help agents expedite the rate at which they connect with leads across their database and quickly prioritize high value leads for further engagement. “Everything we do is about optimizing the value of time and Chime is instrumental in helping us achieve this goal,” notes Lucido Jr. “Almost immediately, Chime helped us recoup valuable time and ensure our agents stay focused on revenue generating activities.” With built-in capabilities to customize and vary outreach based on a lead’s profile, activities, and additional insights, Chime’s unique Smart Plans enabled Lucido Global to consolidate more than 100 drip plans into 8 smart plans, significantly streamlining follow up and driving effective utilization. Further, Chime Smart Plans uniquely support graphic customization, multimedia content and third-party integrations to deliver more value and capture increased engagement. After overhauling their campaigns with multimedia and formatted content, the Lucido team saw their automated email open rate climb to over 30%. Powered by Google’s machine learning and natural language processing technologies, Chime’s AI Assistant delivers better accuracy in recognizing leads’ intention and provides more helpful responses to boost conversion rates. In just one month, Chime’s AI assistant effectively engaged with Lucido Global prospects during non-business hours and converted 11 leads. Armed with the unmatched insight AI Assistant delivers, Lucido Global’s ISA teams are better positioned to hit the ground running, leading to higher level engagement with sales-ready leads. “Because Chime’s AI Assistant is based on Google machine learning, it's only getting better, improving month over month. As a result, you're going to get better CPL and higher quality opportunities,” said Lucido Jr. As the team continues to expand, Chime is making it possible for Lucido Global to gain greater market share. By relying on Chime’s innovative platform to create more business opportunities and support greater efficiencies, Lucido Global effectively maintains its strong foothold as a leader in the real estate industry. To learn more, visit HERE. Join our Facebook Group HERE. About Chime TechnologiesChime is an award-winning real estate technology innovator headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. Our AI-powered platform empowers real estate professionals, teams, and brokerages with the tools they need to automate lead generation operations, drive conversions, and grow their business. Chime Technologies operates as a US subsidiary of Renren, Inc. (RENN). For more information, visit www.chime.me/. Source Media Contact:Sarah MurrayAttune Communications781-378-2674sarah@attunecommunications.com
How New Agents Can Strike it Rich in Real Estate
In January 1848, James W. Marshall saw something shiny in Sutter Creek that would spark a chain of events known today as the California Gold Rush. Hardly two years later, more than 100,000 had people flocked to California with dreams of striking it rich. By the mid-1850s, that number had swelled to 300,000. Since the beginning of 2019, 193,959 people in the United States have rushed to their local real estate Commissions in hopes of cashing in on the current real estate boom. Fortunately for these individuals, the trek was not quite as arduous as it was for 49ers. Today’s rush is most evident not in the Golden State, but in the Sunshine State. In 1855, one in every 90 people in the United States was panning for gold in California. In 2021, one in every 102 Floridians is selling real estate. In August, there were 37,482 active listings in Florida, down 32.4% from the previous year, while the number of real estate agents in the state had increased by nearly 10% in the same period. As of September 30, there was on average just one sale for each of the 210,923 agents in the state. This trend can be seen nationwide as the total number of NAR members across the country has increased 7.73% year over year. As more real estate professionals vie for the same sale opportunities, the questions facing each agent becomes more visceral: “Why should a client choose you and how can you differentiate yourself from the competition?” Here are three tips from our proven system for business development to help you answer that question and strike it rich: Join the strongest team in your market Approximately $2 billion of precious metal was extracted during the Gold Rush; however, most of that wealth was concentrated among relatively few miners. (More wealth was actually created by merchants—such as Henry Wells, William Fargo, Levi Strauss — supporting the miners than by the miners themselves!) Market share is becoming increasingly concentrated among the top firms that have the brand, support, and resources to earn the trust of more clients. Since 2018, the United States has seen an increase in the number of teams as well as the production of those teams. According to RealTrends, between 2011 and 2017, the nation’s top teams increased their business nine times faster than the nation’s top individual agents. Specifically, the top agents increased their collective transaction count by 13%, from 45,000 to 51,000 while the top teams increased their share by 115% from 61,000 to 133,000 units. National Association of Realtors CEO Bob Goldberg noted that, “Real estate teams are an increasingly popular business model in response to consumer demand for a wide range of specialties from their Realtor.” As clients expect not only better service, but also more services to maximize the sale of their home, an individual agent is hard pressed to deliver what a large organization can. An individual agent, on the other hand, has to wear all the hats. With limited time and resources, such a difficult task becomes even more challenging if an individual agent grows his or her business. The quickest and most sustainable way for an agent to maximize income growth is to leverage the support and value proposition a team conveys to focus solely on revenue generating activities. And, as that agent accelerates the development of his business, through the team’s support, he is able to maintain that consistent level of service for all of his clients. Be on the cutting edge, don’t get cut by it Competition in the Gold Rush prompted the development and subsequent adoption of techniques such as sluice-boxing, hydraulic mining, and dredging. Today, if you want to strike it rich, you also must innovate or be left behind holding an empty pan. Those who effectively identify and implement the most impactful technologies will beat the rest to the punch. According to NAR, 73% of recent buyers and 77% of recent sellers contacted only one agent before selecting their agent. It pays to be the first one on the scene, and technology is the means by which you can reach more potential clients before the competition and after the competition has given up. Dig hard and smart R.U. Darby, a Marylander who caught “Gold Fever,” journeyed out west and struck gold, but after a few carts the gold vein disappeared! He persisted and continued to drill in desperate search of locating the vein again. Without any luck and having exhausted his funding, Darby sold his mining equipment for $200 and returned home. Darby, like most prospectors, had no mining experience or expertise. Neither did the man who bought the machinery; however, he called in an engineer to locate the vein, which had been just three feet from where Darby had been digging. By aligning with any industry expert, a “junk man” became a multi-millionaire. Many people get their real estate license thinking that it’ll be quick, easy money. This is exacerbated by the fact that the barriers to entry for getting your real estate license are admittedly low. It seems many have the subconscious presupposition that because it’s so easy to become a real estate agent, it must also be easy to make a lot of money. In reality, it takes hard work, industry expertise to really achieve the promising income so many seek. Residential brokerage adheres to the Pareto Principle in that the top 20 percent make an outstanding income, but that is because they are the ones willing to do the work that the other 1.3 million agents aren’t. You need to make it your mission to get a piece of business every single day. You should leverage the experience of industry experts to avoid paying the dummy tax because, like with R.U. Darby, one mistake could cost you millions. source
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