Regarding your business’s website, it’s often said that we must keep our conversions high and bounce rates low, but what does that mean? How do we go about it in the real estate and title industry?
If you’re getting plenty of traffic without a good conversion rate, ask yourself this question: Is your bounce rate too high? Your bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who land on your website, then leave, or “bounce” off, after viewing a single page. For example, if sixty people visit your website and thirty leave after viewing the first page, your bounce rate would be 50%. Google Analytics is the most common helpful tool for gathering site data, including your bounce rate.
Why do visitors bounce? Could it be that they found everything they were looking for and didn’t need to linger? It’s possible but unlikely. Even if they did get the answer they were searching for, you still want to keep them engaged in hopes they’ll check out more of your content. After all, you want their business, right?
It can be tough to determine why visitors leave; is the content irrelevant to what they’re searching for? Are they struggling to navigate your landing page? Are there functionality issues? Whatever the reason for their abrupt departure, the good news is there are strategies to reduce your bounce rate and keep users returning for more.
What’s a “good” bounce rate? This is tricky to pinpoint because it’s relative. It depends on your industry and where your traffic comes from. What matters most is how your bounce rate compares to your industry average. It’s more about understanding what your average means within the context of your business and ensuring that it aligns with your goals. The average real estate and title industry bounce rate hovers around 41%.
Tips for reducing your bounce rate to keep visitors coming back for more:
These are just a few practical tips for engaging visitors to keep them coming back for more. While it might seem overwhelming to consider everything - start small when trying to maximize your website to reduce bounce rates and, in turn, boost conversions. Above all else, know your audience while focusing on the big picture.
Your client is looking forward to owning a home without the hassle of lawn care, and you found a new condo they’re dying to move into. The Condominium Association handed over a thick stack of papers that covered rules and regulations. Maybe your clients just skimmed through them, but it’s time to look closer.
Understanding rights and responsibilities before signing the dotted line is essential for clients to enter their homes with peace of mind. Condo association agreements cover…
Condo associations have many powers spelled out in this paperwork, but they are not unlimited. Knowing their limits is crucial, so knowing condo owner rights is critical. (Check out this condo owner’s dilemma.)
So before closing on condos, encourage clients to read the association agreement thoroughly so they can live happily ever after in their beautiful new home!
The United States' largest generation, Millennials aged 27-41, is a diverse group with various needs and desires. One thing most of them have in common…they're looking to buy their first home. The median age of first-time home buyers in 2022 was 36, right in the middle of the Millennial pack. To sell a home this year, you must understand and connect with them through marketing efforts. Realtors are using time-tested tactics to speak to these new homebuyers, so we want to give you some tips on using them too.
Marketers have used Dale Carnegie's strategies for over 100 years because they work. To target Millennial homebuyers, you must try his AICDC sales strategy to reach Millennials and help them close on their dream home. Here are five steps:
Using these steps, you can effectively target Millennials needing your help to find their dream home, but you don’t have to stop at Millennials. While the real estate market will continue to evolve, using these proven strategies will always be vital to reach any demographic you desire.
Be aware that there’s a company out there offering a cash advance to homeowners willing to provide them the exclusive right to list the property for a period of 40 years. The interest is recorded in the public record. And three lawsuits filed against the company allege that the agreements the company provides their customers give the brokerage the right to foreclose on their clients homes if the homeowners’ heirs don’t assume their liability upon death.
The state of Florida has recently asserted that these kinds of agreement are illegal under Florida law. Real Trends (registration required) did a nice job shining some light on the process, and it’s not just happening here (nor is it only illegal here). The states of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts have now joined Florida in filing suit against a brokerage called “MV Realty,” alleging, among other things that the company targeted low-income and elderly homeowners and that they used deceptive and misleading marketing.
The article continues:
“The Attorney General in Florida stated that these liens are illegal under Florida law. MV Realty made more than 9,123 public record filings that might ‘cloud’ homeowners’ titles and Hillsborough County is one of the counties with a high number of public record filings, according to the attorney general’s office. At least 588 people in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia have signed up to the program.”
In addition, shortly before the time of this post’s publication, a Massachusetts court had granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting “homeowner benefit agreements” such as these from being offered or enforced until the pending case is resolved.
As always, we’ll keep an eye on this at FAN and continue to work with our real estate partners as well. We’ve already begun training our employees about where and how to spot the issue, and what to do. As we’ve always said, an up-front title search is the one of the most effective ways to protect all parties, especially when it comes to programs of questionable or unproven value. If you’d like to learn what to look for or how we can help you help your clients, don’t hesitate to drop us a note or give us a call.
By now, you may have heard about “The Chainsaw Brothers,” our own CEO, Aaron Davis, and his brother Nate. When Hurricane Ian devastated the Port Charlotte community in Florida, they felt compelled to show up, toting 30 new chainsaws, ready to get to work helping others to clear the debris and wreckage.
But both Aaron and Nate want to be very clear that this really isn’t about them. They received the publicity, but that’s not why they did what they did.
Instead, this is about the Florida Baptist Disaster Relief organization, a non-profit serving some of the hardest hit areas of Florida. This is the group that was among the first into Port Charlotte. Nate tells us there were volunteers in the group whose own homes had been affected by the same storm, and yet, here they were, helping others with hot meals and other services.
If you take one thing from this blog, please think about making a small donation. They don’t promote themselves, nor will they. And they go largely unheralded. Aaron and Nate would rather you express gratitude to these fine people.
If you take two things from this particular posting, please consider this—especially in a world where people are more likely to pull out their phones to take personal video than help someone in need. Aaron and Nate were raised in a small town on a small farm. They were raised to simply step up when the community was in need. No need to tout one’s own good deeds. Just do it. It’s part of the responsibility of being a part of the community.
And yet, it’s a lesson lost in this volatile times.
So the next time you see someone in need, or something terrible happens in your neighborhood—it need not be as big as a hurricane—consider stepping up. You don’t have to buy chainsaws. You don’t have to be wealthy. There’s always something that can be done. Nate reminded us that both he and Aaron aren’t contractors or construction people, just businessmen working behind laptops. But that didn’t stop them. So rather than thanking them, consider stepping up in your own small way the next time someone in your community finds themselves in need.
Pull up a chair! It’s time to get cybersecurity aware!
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and the crew at Florida Network Agency is on board to share tips that can protect your most important asset…YOU!
Freddy McFraudster would like nothing more than for us to sit back and let him have his way with our money and joy, but with a few tips and the five Cs, we can send him packing with transactions intact and closings complete.
Scammers and fraudsters should be scared of YOU at this point because you are armed and dangerous regarding cybersecurity awareness, but don’t save it all for October. FAN encourages you to remain vigilant year-round. If you have any questions or ideas about cybersecurity, please contact us today.
The title insurance industry has been ripe for mergers and acquisitions since the national underwriters began gobbling up smaller underwriters and agents across the country decades ago.
After the Great Recession decimated the real estate industry, picking up the pieces in the title insurance industry led to a lot of shifting of assets and territories through many mergers and acquisitions.
It also led to a lot of displaced title professionals banding together to form new title agencies out of the ashes, sometimes led by young, tech-oriented agents wanting to rethink how a small or regional agency could improve process and service by tapping into the burgeoning landscape of title technology.
All of these factors led to brisk M&A activity in the title industry over the past decade, but will that pace continue in light of an anticipated softening in the real estate industry?
What happens to M&A activity in a downturn?
Traditional wisdom would say that M&A activity tanks in a recession, but if we’ve learned anything the past few years, we’ve learned how often traditional economic wisdom simply unravels in this day and age.
According to PricewaterhouseCoopers Company research, companies that continued to make deals during a downturn actually outperformed their peers.
While PwC acknowledged that deal volume is likely to decline in a downturn, they also noted that there could be extraneous factors “driving a decoupling of deals from the broader economy;” meaning, a softening economy could actually include elements that enhance the prospect for M&A activity.
This could be especially true in the title insurance industry.
For instance, title agencies that sprang up in response to the high volume of refinances could now be ripe for acquisition, especially if the agency offers an array of technology that an under-teched company could view as a value add.
The PwC report also offered three major elements that could contribute to a continued healthy activity, all of which could readily apply to the title industry:
This third point is most applicable to the title insurance industry.
Marginal players always enter a hot real estate market and experience short term success due to the sheer glut of available business. But if they are not properly capitalized for the long haul, they will be the first to exit by seeking a quick sale to a more established company.
In addition, with the graying of the title insurance profession, long-term owners who are contemplating retirement could make the leap a little earlier than planned, rather than to try to ride out yet another real estate cycle.
The bottom line is M&A activity is likely to continue in the title insurance industry. But anyone contemplating jumping in should not try to do it without the help of professionals qualified and experienced in M&A. Our experienced team at AMD Enterprises can help with planning, evaluation and due diligence. Contact us the next time you have a potential merger or acquisition in your sites.
Recommended LI posting: Surprisingly, a down market cycle is exactly the right time for many to enter the M&A circle. Here’s why.
There are many documents discussed during the closing process. One of those documents is the deed.
A real estate deed is a document designed to transfer a property from one person, known as the Grantor, to another person, known as the Grantee.
Regardless of the type of deed, it must contain basic information to be considered valid, including a legal description of the property being transferred, the identity of the person selling the property, and the identity of the person buying the property.
Still, there are various types of deeds that you may see, and each one grants the new owner certain promises from the previous owner.
There are several different types of deeds that can be used during the sale of a property, including the following:
WARRANTY DEED
A warranty deed is a transfer of title where the seller pledges to the buyer that the property is owned free and clear of all liens.
This deed is the most commonly used deed with the issuance of title insurance.
SPECIAL WARRANTY DEED
A special warranty deed is a deed to real estate where the seller of the property warrants only against anything that occurred during their physical ownership.
In other words, the seller does not guarantee against any defects in clear title that existed before they took possession of the property.
QUITCLAIM DEED
A quitclaim deed is used to transfer an interest in real property from the Grantor to the Grantee if the Grantor has any interest in the property.
The Grantor does not, however, give any guaranties or “warranties” about the title and may not even own any interest in the property. The name comes from the fact that the Grantor “Quits” any “Claim” to the property.
This deed is often used to clear up defects in title and for transfers between family members or spouses.
Remember, we are always available to answer questions about your client's file and have attorneys on staff to assist you in choosing the right deed for your client.
We've created a digital document with the deed descriptions to help your client better understand these terms during the closing process.
