Anywhere names Barri Rafferty chief communications officer

Anywhere names Barri Rafferty chief communications officer

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

The communications vet and former CEO will handle government relations, events and productions functions for the company and will report to CEO Ryan Schneider, Inman has learned.

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Real estate franchisor Anywhere has named Barri Rafferty chief communications officer and head of public affairs, the company has informed Inman.

As head of all things communication, Rafferty will take the helm when it comes to government relations, events and other functions for the company, and will report directly to Anywhere President and CEO Ryan Schneider.

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“Barri is a dynamic leader with a proven record of success leading and elevating established global brands,” Schneider said in a statement. “Her expertise in delivering powerful messaging for a variety of stakeholders will be a substantial asset as we continue to strengthen our brands among broker, agent, investor and consumer audiences alike. I am extremely excited to welcome Barri to Anywhere, and look forward to leveraging her unique skill set as we embark on the next phase of our ongoing transformation and growth strategy.”

Rafferty is an experienced communications professional who comes to Anywhere from international shareholder advisory firm Sodali & Co, where she served as CEO of the Americas until March 2025. She has also served in various consulting roles, and was head of communications and brand management for Wells Fargo for two years.

Additionally, Rafferty previously served as CEO of Ketchum, a top 10 communications consulting firm.

Rafferty also held an interim CEO post for about one year for nonprofit C200, which helps to advance women in business. She is currently a board member for managed services healthcare company Guidehealth.

“I’m honored to take on a new challenge at Anywhere as it pursues its mission to provide a superior, end-to-end transaction experience for the millions of buyers and sellers following their homeownership dreams each year,” Rafferty said in a statement. “Our storied brands, coupled with a commitment to innovation, puts Anywhere in an ideal position to elevate the company’s status as the foremost leader in trust, integrity and performance for consumers and agents across the globe.”

In her new position, Rafferty will be a member of Anywhere’s executive committee.

Update: This story was updated after publication with additional information about Rafferty’s background. 

Email Lillian Dickerson

NAR says lower mortgage rates could help boost sluggish sales. When might that happen?

NAR says lower mortgage rates could help boost sluggish sales. When might that happen?

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Amid fighting over the federal funds rate, NAR says home sales were 0.7 percent lower in May than a year ago as inventory rose to a 4.6-month supply

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Existing-home sales ticked up slightly from April to May but fell to a pace that’s even lower than the same time last year, according to new data released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday.

Existing-home sales dropped 0.7 percent compared to May 2024, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.03 million. Sales were 0.8 percent higher in the month than in April, NAR noted.

Inventory was 20.3 percent higher in May compared to a year earlier, NAR said, as the number of homes for sale rose to 1.54 million — or a 4.6-month supply.

“The relatively subdued sales are largely due to persistently high mortgage rates. Lower interest rates will attract more buyers and sellers to the housing market,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “Increasing participation in the housing market will increase the mobility of the workforce and drive economic growth.”

It’s not clear just when mortgage rates might fall or what might cause them to drop.

President Donald Trump and Federal Housing Finance Administration Chairman Bill Pulte have been publicly calling on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to either cut rates or resign from his post before his term ends next year.

But it’s not clear that a drop in the federal funds rate, which can indirectly impact the rates for car loans and credit cards, would lead mortgage rates to fall from their current rate of 6.81 percent on average for a 30-year fixed. That’s up from 4 percent a decade ago, and from a record-low of 2.65 percent in January 2021.

Amid the ongoing high-rate environment, and with consumer sentiment low — just 26 percent of Americans believed May was a good time to buy a home — sales remained sluggish in much of the country in May.

The lower sales environment has dogged economists and real estate insiders who expected home sales to be higher this year than last, when sales fell to the lowest point in nearly 30 years.

Anywhere Real Estate dropped its earnings estimate for the second quarter of this year by up to 10 percent, saying a slower-than-expected sales environment has cut into its earnings.

NAR said in December that it expected mortgage rates to fall to 6 percent this year, a forecast that has proved increasingly difficult to get right. The trade group now says stubbornly high rates are weighing on the market.

“If mortgage rates decrease in the second half of this year, expect home sales across the country to increase due to strong income growth, healthy inventory, and a record-high number of jobs,” Yun said.

The sales of existing single-family homes rose 1.1 percent from April to May, while sales were down 2.7 percent for condos and co-ops.

Some markets were particularly strong, even when compared to last year, while others were sluggish.

Home sales were up 4.2 percent in the Northeast compared to a year ago, and prices rose 7.1 percent, NAR said.

Meanwhile, sales fell 6.7 percent in the western U.S. compared to a year ago while prices ticked up 0.5 percent. 

Sales rose 1 percent in the Midwest and fell 0.5 percent in the South, NAR said.

Existing-home prices rose by 1.3 percent from a year ago, hitting $422,800 in May. That marked nearly two straight years of home price increases.

Email Taylor Anderson

Compass sues Zillow over private listings ban

Compass sues Zillow over private listings ban

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

The antitrust suit, filed Monday in the Southern District of New York, accuses Zillow of using anticompetitive behavior to “protect its monopoly and revenues in violation of the antitrust laws.”

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Compass, the U.S.-based brokerage that has become a champion for private listings, has sued real estate portal Zillow over new rules that ban privately marketed listings from the platform.

The antitrust lawsuit that was filed in United States District Court in the Southern District of New York on Monday alleges that Zillow has employed “anticompetitive tactics to protect its monopoly and revenues in violation of the antitrust laws.”

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The lawsuit was the latest escalation between two powerhouses of the industry: Zillow is the largest real estate portal, with 2.4 billion visits during the first three months of this year alone. Compass is the No. 1 brokerage in the country by sales volume.

It is the latest signal that the industry remains divided over recent updates to the rules that govern real estate in the U.S., especially when it comes to how, when and where homes are marketed for sale.

“This lawsuit is about protecting consumer choice. No one company should have the power to ban agents or listings simply because they don’t follow that company’s business model,” Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement. “That’s not competition. It’s coercion. Imagine if Amazon banned a seller for offering a product on their own website first. That’s what Zillow is doing in real estate. Consumers should have the right to choose how they sell their homes.”

The fight over private versus public listings seems to have reached a peak with the new legal action. The suit also follows months of brokerages teasing or releasing their own private listing networks (including Compass, Corcoran and Douglas Elliman). Meanwhile, Redfin has joined Zillow in banning private listings that are publicly marketed.

In March, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) weighed in on the subject by opting to keep the Clear Cooperation Policy, which stipulates that agents must list properties on the MLS within 24 hours of marketing them. However, NAR also added a “delayed marketing exempt listings” option for homesellers, allowing them to delay listings to Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feeds while still making them accessible to MLS participants. Individual MLS’s are creating their own policies for how long listings may be delayed, when opting into the new listing feature.

In the complaint, Compass goes on to characterize Zillow as “relentless” in its quest for dominance in the home portal space, even releasing this spring its new “exclusionary policy” to ban listings — what Compass calls the “Zillow ban” — that had been previously marketed privately from its platform as part of its “3-Phased Marketing Strategy.”

Thousands of listings first appear only on Compass’ internal platform, where they can be viewed by Compass agents and their clients. The second phase involves marketing a listing publicly as a “coming soon” listing that isn’t yet on the MLS. Ultimately, Compass said that 94 percent of its seller clients who use the company’s private listing strategy ultimately list their homes on the MLS.

Compass alleged that Zillow moved to prevent the private listings strategy because it can’t monetize those listings.

“The strategy poses a significant threat to Zillow’s home search monopoly and its revenues,” Compass wrote in its complaint. “For Zillow, every home buyer search conducted on Compass instead of Zillow is a lost opportunity for Zillow to lock that prospective home buyer into Zillow’s ecosystem and make money selling her information to real estate agents for a lead fee—Zillow’s central business model.”

Lead-monetization was another point of contention in Compass’ suit. When properties are first marketed elsewhere, Compass alleges, “Zillow cannot make money” from those listings.

“Zillow uses the Zillow Ban to block real estate search rivals like Compass from competing head-to-head,” Compass wrote.

Compass alleged that Zillow is large enough to amount to a monopoly, and that it may have colluded with Redfin and worked directly with eXp on administering and complying with the ban.

EXp is the nation’s largest real estate brokerage by transactions. It announced on April 10 that it would support Zillow’s policy.

Neither Redfin nor eXp was named as a defendant in the Compass lawsuit. Compass named Zillow and its subsidiary Trulia as the sole defendants in the antitrust case.

In response to the complaint, Zillow said that it planned to “vigorously” defend itself from the claims, which it called “unfounded.” The company said that “most brokerages, consumer advocates and fair housing experts” supported its policies.

“At the heart of this issue is a simple principle: when a listing is publicly marketed, it should be accessible to all buyers—across all platforms, including Zillow,” the company said in a statement. “Hiding listings creates a fragmented market, limits consumer choice and creates barriers to homeownership, which is bad for buyers, sellers, and the industry at large, especially in this inventory and affordability-constrained environment.”

“Our listing access standards are designed to ensure transparency, equal opportunity, and broad visibility for everyone so sellers can maximize price and time to sell and so buyers have access to all available inventory,” the statement continued. “Limiting visibility hurts buyers and sellers, disadvantages smaller brokerages, and undermines an open market. Our focus remains on creating a level playing field that serves the best interests of everyone in the home buying and selling journey.”

Update: This story was updated after publication with additional background and details from the lawsuits. 

Email Lillian Dickerson

As spring heated up, more agents dealt with opportunistic clients

As spring heated up, more agents dealt with opportunistic clients

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

In the first spring since new rules went into effect, agents told Intel they were more likely to field a hard bargain from a buyer or seller — a trend that squeezed buyer-side commissions from multiple angles.

This report is available exclusively to subscribers of Inman Intel, the data and research arm of Inman offering deep insights and market intelligence on the business of residential real estate and proptech. Subscribe today.

As the spring market built up momentum ahead of real estate’s busiest season, buyer’s agents found their rates increasingly squeezed from multiple angles, new Intel survey results suggest.

The large majority of agents surveyed each month as part of the Intel Index survey continue to say that their commissions have not changed, or have declined only slightly, since the NAR settlement rules went into effect in August.

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But the share of agent respondents who have been spared of negotiations with buyers has steadily eroded since the start of the year, the May survey results show. And more agents are dealing with sellers who want to attempt a hard strategy of not paying the buyer commission, Intel found.

Taken together, the results paint a picture of a market where an ongoing downward tug on commissions continues to strengthen, a reality with limited short-term impact but unknown long-term consequences.

Intel breaks down the findings in this week’s report.

Rising exposure

In late August, the first weeks after the National Association of Realtors settlement rules went into effect, roughly 3 in 4 agents said they hadn’t yet dealt with any buyers or sellers trying to take advantage of the new rules to drive a hard bargain.

Today, fewer agents are fully insulated from the change.

The first shift happened from August to September, as more buyers and sellers wrapped their heads around their options.

But Intel has observed a more recent shift in buyer behavior as well, coinciding with the start of the spring season and continuing through the most recent May results.

Intel: Over the last 3 months, what portion of your prospective buyer clients tried to negotiate a lower commission than what has been traditionally paid to buyer’s agents in your market?

December survey % → May survey %

  • 66% → 57%: None tried to negotiate below the typical range
  • 19% → 26%: Some, but fewer than 10%
  • 9% → 10%: More than 10%, but fewer than half
  • 6% → 7%: More than half tried to negotiate below the typical range

As we can see above, the share of agents who have no exposure to commission negotiation in recent months has dropped to a little over half of recent survey respondents.

Still, for the vast majority of survey respondents, these negotiations with buyers remain rare — making up fewer than 1 in 10 of the buyer clients with whom they ended up doing business.

For 17 percent of agent respondents, however, buyer negotiations have increasingly become a fact of life, affecting a significant share of their clients.

Intel also found evidence that sellers have taken the spring market as an opportunity to benefit from the new rules.

Intel: Over the last 3 months, what portion of your seller clients actually took a hard-line approach against covering the buyer’s agent commission?

December survey % → May survey %

  • 74% → 64%: None
  • 19% → 25%: Some, but fewer than 10%
  • 2% → 6%: More than 10%, but fewer than half
  • 4% → 5%: More than half

Here, too, we see that more agents have had experience with listing clients who were dead-set against the longstanding U.S. real estate practice of covering the buyer’s agent commission.

While these cases remain rare, it’s clear that the practice is not going away any time soon, even as agents largely advise their sellers against taking a route that might hurt their listing’s appeal on the market.

And the overall effect of these changes on commission rates? Not much, at least for most agents.

  • Just over 47 percent of agent respondents in May said that they have observed no change to commission rates in their markets since the rules went into effect, and another 33 percent described the decline as slight.
  • Only 5 percent of agent respondents told Intel that their compensation rates had decreased “significantly.”
  • That’s even fewer than the 7 percent who said they have been able to negotiate higher rates as a result of the changes.

Intel will continue to monitor these trends in the months to come.

Methodology notes: This month’s Inman Intel Index survey was conducted May 20-June 3, 2025, and received 529 responses. The entire Inman reader community was invited to participate, and a rotating, randomized selection of community members was prompted to participate by email. Users responded to a series of questions related to their self-identified corner of the real estate industry — including real estate agents, brokerage leaders, lenders and proptech entrepreneurs. Results reflect the experience of the engaged Inman community, which may not always match those of the broader real estate industry. This survey is conducted monthly.

Email Daniel Houston

I’m going back into production. Here’s the tech helping me do it

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

After years being out of production, Troy Palmquist is going back to sales, and he’s betting big on this platform to help him maintain consistent, smart communication with his sphere.

Since the NAR commission suit settlement, buyer agents have faced new rules, new documents and a new normal. This month, Inman drills down on Today’s Buyers Agent with the fresh marketing strategies, skills and tools buyer agents are using to prosper in changing times.

After years in brokerage leadership and consultancy, I’m getting back into production. I’m a big believer in the pendulum swings of the real estate market, and after the past couple of tight years, I believe that the time is now to focus on the untapped potential in the current and upcoming landscape. 

Getting back into the day-to-day means focusing on what drives relationships and revenue rather than chasing shiny objects. That starts with consistent, smart communication with my sphere of influence. 

It means rebuilding my pipeline, my brand and my audience. The first move? A smarter, sharper newsletter that’s not just a listing showcase, but a real channel for value-added content that educates and nurtures new leads. After testing a few tools, I landed on Constant Contact, which offers terrific tools for real estate pros.

You’re not just sending emails. You’re building a brand

If your current email blast only goes out on holidays or when you have a new listing, you’re doing yourself and your database a disservice. A newsletter is for building a voice, delivering value and staying top-of-mind, even if the folks in your sphere aren’t currently in the market for a new home. 

If your only touchpoint is “just listed,” you’re missing out on the long game. And playing that long game is what keeps you top of mind on the day that someone has a question about their market or their home’s value. 

Newsletters work even when you have nothing to sell

A newsletter shouldn’t be an extended advertisement for you or your listings. It can and should include: 

  • Market insights 
  • Homeowner tips 
  • Community events 
  • Real stories and case studies
  • Reviews and testimonials 

It offers you the opportunity to display your expertise and to drive traffic to your website, blog, YouTube, social channels and other digital platforms. 

Not sure what to write about? Consider the following: 

  • Explain the meaning of (don’t just list) the latest market data 
  • Answer the questions you hear clients and colleagues discussing right now 
  • Give a heads-up on new development projects in your market 
  • Talk about changes to zoning regulations in your area 
  • Provide tips on DIY home improvement and maintenance 
  • Spotlight local luxury or historic properties 
  • Share photos from a recent community service or volunteer event 

The point is to give your mailing list a chance to get to know you, while they get to know more about your local market. 

Forget basic blasts. Be strategic

Working with a platform like Constant Contact gives real estate agents the chance to see what’s working and what isn’t in their newsletter planning. Three of my favorite features include: 

  • A/B testing that lets me experiment and optimize my email campaigns based on real engagement 
  • Auto-resizing that helps me repurpose one piece of content for use across a variety of platforms 
  • Templates that are already dialed in and optimized for real estate, cutting out the guesswork

For brokerages and teams, there’s flexibility and scalability, whether you’re a solo agent or collaborating with a 50-agent team. Enterprise-quality tools help organizations centralize branding, content and insights without slowing down production. 

As a broker, I’ve always worked with content and design specialists to provide marketing collateral to my agents for email blasts and outreach, but my input ended with the content itself. It was up to the individual agent to format it and send it out in a timely manner. 

With the scalability of Constant Contact’s platform, team leads and brokers have an enhanced ability to collaborate and ensure that the content it’s providing is optimally distributed — ensuring their branding is consistent.

Look for a do-it-all tool

If you’ve been cobbling together generic tools, a powerful and flexible newsletter platform like Constant Contact is going to be a game-changer for you. It’s like having a marketing department overseeing the look and function of your newsletter because many of its templates and tools have already been optimized for use by real estate industry professionals. 

It offers free education so that you and your team can learn more about multichannel marketing, generating leads with email and even content creation that utilizes AI. It was the winner of Inman’s 2024 Best Use of AI in Marketing Award, so it lives on the cutting edge of this technology, and you can trust that it has made it easy for real estate pros to use. 

I’m really excited to use Constant Contact to develop consistency in my newsletter routine, amplify my content to followers on social media and generally get more done with less effort.

Here are some of the ways I’ll be planning ahead for each edition of my newsletter:

  • Instead of sitting down and trying to come up with a month’s worth of content, I’ll be gathering stories, stats, videos and other shareable content every day and putting it in a dedicated folder for later reference. 
  • I’m not forcing myself to write every Thursday at 4 p.m. I’m prioritizing the newsletter when I’m in the zone and have something compelling to share, possibly even doing some batch writing for multiple editions. 
  • I’m going to use Constant Contact’s AI tools to iterate on ideas for new content and email design, and I think I will learn a lot about the best times to send my newsletter. Nobody likes a guessing game, and Constant Contact will solve that problem for me.
  • I’ll be working from one of Constant Contact’s professionally designed email templates so each newsletter looks consistent and follows a familiar pattern. That predictability is good for engagement.
  • I’ll repurpose what’s working on other channels, like social posts or videos that get great engagement. That way, I’m not always reinventing the wheel. 
  • I’ll invite engagement with a clear call to action for each edition — schedule a consultation, download a guide, RSVP to an event — so readers know what to do next and how to reach out. 
  • I might also experiment with automated reminders and SMS messages — both of which are great touchpoints for new clients and repeat buyers who want to make sure they don’t miss one of my updates.

Whether you’re rethinking your current business model, rebooting after a slow season or just getting started in real estate, I want to hear about your experiences as well. What are you doing to get in front of your SOI now? What’s working and what’s not? What’s keeping you from creating the content you need to engage with your audience? Drop a comment below.

Troy Palmquist is the founder and principal at HomeCode Advisors. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

The secret to making your clients love you: Save them money

by | Jun 23, 2025 | Industry, News Feed

Saving clients and prospects money is the best marketing you’ll ever do, trainer Bernice Ross writes. You’re building trust and creating an unbeatable personal connection. Here’s how to do it.

Since the NAR commission suit settlement, buyer agents have faced new rules, new documents and a new normal. This month, Inman drills down on Today’s Buyers Agent with the fresh marketing strategies, skills and tools buyer agents are using to prosper in changing times.

Let’s face it: Your clients don’t care about your Instagram followers or whether you or your company is No. 1. In today’s tough market, what they care about most is money. If you want to build a database of raving fans, here are seven ways you can help save them serious money. 

1. Save them an average of $18,000 

Down Payment Assistance (DPA) programs remain one of the least-used tools in most agents’ financial arsenal. According to Rob Chrane of DownPaymentResource.com, over 80 percent of all non-homeowners believe they need 10-20 percent down to purchase a home. 

The reality? There are more than 2,400 DPA programs across the U.S. that offer grants, forgivable loans, matching savings plans or subsidized mortgages to help buyers get started with far less.

Moreover, over 84 percent of the homes in the U.S. (and in some cases mobile homes) are eligible for DPA. Here’s what you need to know: 

  • The average amount of DPA granted last year was $18,000.
  • Two-thirds of the DPA programs are for first-time buyers or those who have not owned a home in the past three years. The other third is available to those who currently own homes, provided they meet certain financial requirements. 
  • Veterans, teachers, first responders and low- to moderate-income buyers may qualify for grants as high as $40,000.
  • Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCCs) offer up to $2,000 annually in dollar-for-dollar tax credits for the life of the loan. This is not a deduction, but a direct reduction in the amount of how much you pay in taxes. In some markets, this can add up to $60,000 in savings for a homeowner paying off their mortgage over 30 years. 
  • You can “stack” DPA programs. One savvy agent in Seattle stacked five programs to help her buyers buy a property worth almost $1 million. 

If you aren’t already working with a lender who specializes in these programs, now’s the time to identify these companies/organizations in your market.

An easy way to see what DPA is available on any active listing on Realtor.com or Zillow is to navigate to the mortgage payment information on that listing. If DPA is available, both sites will list the programs and the resources available for that specific property. 

2. Show clients how to eliminate PMI early

Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI) is an invisible money leak for many buyers. Most of your clients and prospects will have no idea they can eliminate PMI, not when they have paid down 20 percent of their loan, but when they can demonstrate they have a 20 percent equity position in their property. (This will require an appraisal.) 

If you’re in a market that has appreciated 20 percent since any of your clients purchased their home or if they have added square footage, updated the kitchen or even improved landscaping significantly, that new value could eliminate their PMI now rather than years from now.

PMI typically costs hundreds of dollars a month. Canceling it early puts thousands back into your client’s pockets, turning you into their financial hero. 

Check out Bankrate for an excellent guide to cancelling PMI.

3. Give your new listings more market time

Did you know that Friday is the best day to put a new listing on the market? The reason is that most people look on the weekends, plus on Saturday and Sunday, there is no new competition coming on the market until Monday.

I’ve seen numerous studies over the years showing that this approach almost always nets the seller more money as compared with listing on any other day of the week. 

4. Boomerang buyers

“Boomerang buyers” are former homeowners who lost their homes in foreclosure, sold in a short sale or who may have had to move into a rental due to a loss of income from a divorce, illness or other event.

Many don’t realize that they can qualify to buy a home as a first-time buyer (provided they haven’t owned a property in the past three years) with a reduced down payment and down payment assistance.

If any of your past clients have experienced this situation, advise them that they may now be able to become a homeowner again and to stop paying their landlord’s mortgage rather than their own. 

5. Maximize credit scoring strategies before preapproval

Credit scores not only influence whether a borrower will qualify for a loan but also the rate and terms. To help your clients maximize their credit score before applying for a mortgage pre-approval, have them do the following:

  • Check their credit score on Equifax, Experian and Transunion for errors. Correct those before applying for a loan.
  • Make sure all their payments are made on time. 
  • Advise them to avoid applying for any other type of credit, especially before closing, because along with increased credit comes an increase in payment obligations, which in turn can destroy their ability to qualify.
    For example, when we purchased our new home, we only had one car but needed two. Nevertheless, we postponed picking up our new SUV and ordering new furniture until the transaction closed and we had our keys in hand.
  • Do not close existing credit card accounts. Instead, advise your clients to buy a small item on the card every couple of months and pay it off immediately. While having a card that has no balance is great, it’s even better for your credit score when you use it periodically to purchase one item and pay it off. 
  • Explain how to improve their “credit utilization ratio.” While this sounds complex, it’s simply a matter of them paying down their existing debt. Banks typically like to see a credit utilization ratio of 30 percent or less when assessing mortgage applications. This means using no more than 30 percent of your total available credit across all credit cards and other revolving credit accounts. Keeping your credit utilization low demonstrates responsible credit management to lenders.  

A better interest rate and terms translate into lower monthly payments, and the potential for long-term savings in the tens of thousands.

6. Leverage energy rebates and tax credits in 2025

With the Inflation Reduction Act in effect, there are now dozens of federal, state and utility rebates available for energy-efficient home upgrades. Sadly, most buyers are completely unaware of them. 

The IRS has published a comprehensive list of options as well as a series of articles on this important topic. Some of the most notable ones cited include: 

  • Be efficient by saving on your energy bills by upgrading your appliances. Water heaters, air conditioners and certain stoves qualify for a 30 percent tax credit when you upgrade to newer more-efficient models. 
  • Don’t wait — insulate. Having air leaks or poor insulation in your home is like watching money literally escape through the cracks. Don’t let it happen to you! Weatherize your home with a 30 percent tax credit on insulation, doors and windows.
  • Under the Inflation Reduction Act, you can get a tax credit for 30 percent of the cost of installing clean energy systems in your home, including solar panels, wind turbines, battery storage and more.
  • Heat pumps are rapidly gaining popularity as an energy-efficient option for home heating and cooling. With a 30 percent tax credit available for a range of heat pump solutions (up to $2,000 per year), it’s a great time to investigate if this clean technology is right for your home.
  • Local utility companies often offer their own rebates. Check their websites for what’s available now, and share it, not only with your current buyers and sellers but also with past clients and your sphere. 

7. Help your global buyers save tens of thousands of dollars

If you’re working with buyers who are from outside the U.S. and they do not have green cards, you absolutely must advise them to see an immigration attorney who specializes in tax law for foreign investors in the U.S. prior to writing an offer on any property. Here’s why. 

  • If your buyers purchase and take the property in their own name, they will be unable to deduct depreciation if this purchase is an investment property, nor will they be eligible to do a 1031 tax-deferred exchange. 
  • In addition, the entire amount of their sale proceeds when they sell, whether it was an investment or their primary residence, will probably be subject to both state and federal income tax.
  • Here’s the biggest challenge, however. Failing to use an offshore LLC could result in their offshore income being taxed by U.S. authorities in some states. The most notable case is in California, where, if this issue is not addressed, it could result in a substantial part of all their offshore income becoming subject to California state income tax. 

The bottom line is that saving clients and prospects money is the best marketing you will ever do, whether it’s helping them obtain DPA, cutting their PMI, finding rebates or helping them obtain a more favorable mortgage at a better rate. Not only are you helping them, but you are also creating connection and trust, the foundation for building raving fans, referrals and repeat business.  

Bernice Ross, president and CEO of BrokerageUP and RealEstateCoach.com, the founder of Profit.RealEstate and a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,500 published articles.