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. 

Imagine it is the middle of the day,you are on your lunch break, scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed and suddenly you get a call from an "Unknown Caller". What do you do? Do you pick it up? Or do you let it go to voicemail?

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.

A common debate amongst real estate agents is whether to force require phone numbers on lead capture forms. Although there are many benefits and caveats to both perspectives, at Zurple we recommend one.