Hurricane Harvey was a category 4 hurricane that hit the state of Texas on August 25, 2017. To date, Harvey is the most expensive natural disaster to ever hit the United States – creating $180 billion dollars in damage, according to the Balance. This natural disaster undoubtedly has an impact on one of the nation’s last prospering and affordable housing markets. We, the Zurple team, send our condolences to all those affected by this unimaginable event - especially our clients and all members of the Greater Houston Area Real Estate community. 

Whether we like it or not, a fact of the real estate industry is that agents switch brokerages. If you’re currently undergoing a loss of a team member, you’re not alone. It’s common in real estate, like most other industries, that team members move onto another company. Many small teams and brokerages do not have a Human Resources department to assist with employee transitions and will benefit from the list below.

From a lead’s perspective, one of the main benefits of working with a real estate team is the increased brain power. When working with an individual agent, leads will miss out on the diverse skill sets only a team can bring (note: there are also a lot of benefits of working with a solo agent as well, such as personal attention). That’s why it’s important for small real estate teams to choose a CRM platform that’ll allow agents to combine their skillsets, actively manage customer relationships, and steam line sales processes. We’ve outlined some of the key features small real estate teams should look for in a CRM below.

There is an overwhelming amount of contact management systems for Real Estate agents to choose from. However, the residential Real Estate industry is unique, in that it has both B2B and B2C features, meaning most agents benefit from only CRMs tailored to their specific needs. That's why agents who are converting a high volume of online leads benefit from Real Estate CRMs built around online lead generation. Many agents wonder what their competition is doing to convert online leads, so we’ve compiled a list of CRM features that should be a part of every top producer’s platform.

Lead ownership and distribution is a sore subject in many brokerages. In fact, according to a study published by Inman News, over 60% of real estates agents found their brokerage distributed leads unfairly amongst agents. As a broker, it’s your responsibility to ensure each of your agents is treated fairly. Start with strong distribution rules before taking on new team members. However, if your team is currently experiencing disputes, reconsider how you conduct distribution with on and offline lead sources. Also be sure to read the four rules below to ensure you are distributing leads as fairly and as efficiently as possible.