As a listing agent, sellers depend on your knowledge and expertise to sell their homes as quickly as possible. Since some listings are easier than others to market, we've put together 4 ideas every real estate professional can use when selling a house.

1. Lights, Camera, Action!

If you aren't using video in your listing marketing strategy, you're missing out. According to Biteable, real estate listings with video receive 403% more inquiries than those without video. Including a walk-through video gives potential buyers a better idea of the home's layout and helps them imagine living in that home.

Utilizing videos on different platforms, not just in your listing or on your website, can help expand your listing's marketing strategy. Creating video content for social media attracts even more potential buyers to your listings. There are many different ways to utilize video. One of those ways is by showing off the home's community. Is there a park? Did a new restaurant open nearby? Is there a festival or farmer's market in the vicinity? Think of the different features potential buyers might want to see near the property. Does the home offer a beautiful sunrise/sunset view? Are there customized features in the house? You can show potential buyers all of these special differentiators through videos.

Creating videos doesn't have to be complicated. We highly encourage hiring a videographer to help create an impressive walk-through video for your listings. However, hiring a professional isn't always in the budget. There are multiple apps you can use to help create videos. For example, Animoto and Powtoons offer video templates, stock videos/photos, and animations for users to utilize in making customized videos.

2. A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words

Poor listing photos reduces the chances of selling a listing quickly. The longer a home sits on the market, the more likely you'll have an unhappy seller and lose out on future business.

Again, we suggest hiring a professional to take listing photos. Professional photographers have a large collection of equipment and know the best ways to capture a home's beauty. However, if you don't have photography expenses in the budget or would prefer to master listing photography yourself, you have options. With a few keywords in a Google search, anyone can find all sorts of information on real estate photography tips and tricks. And, if you're in a time crunch or don't feel like learning Photoshop, you can find apps on your phone like Snapseed or Pixlr to edit all your photos.

3. Show the Data

Create infographics, videos, or pictures with market data and neighborhood statistics that correlate with your listing(s). Sharing this information helps educate potential buyers and make you the neighborhood expert. Sharing market data brings valuable insights to both sellers and buyers and empowers them to make wise investment decisions.

4. Discover the Neighborhood!

Another great way to boost traffic to your listing is by showcasing the neighborhood! Is your listing in a dog-friendly area? Does it have a high walkability score? Share that information with a video or picture of the surrounding as you're walking through the area or visiting the dog-friendly establishments. Do you have a listing perfect for a foodie? Or, in the perfect school district? Create content promoting that information.

You can take it one step further by writing blogs about these property benefits to feature on your website. Doing so helps boost credibility with clients and fellow real estate professionals.

We’re all experiencing an unprecedented time in our history; most of the country and large parts of the world are under some type of stay-at-home orders. While our team members at Hillsborough Title are working hard to make sure your transaction closes on time, unfortunately, there is an army of unscrupulous people that are using this time to attack you financially.

As the world has turned to online services for financial transactions, 22% of Americans have been the target of fraud attempts in the past few weeks. They hope that you’re too preoccupied with the immediate need of social distancing to notice that the threats of fraud are still quite high.

With that in mind, here are 5 ways to stay safe financially during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic:

1. DOUBLE CHECK YOUR CLICK – At least half of all COVID-19 related websites that have registered during this time are suspected of malicious activity. Be wary of ANY coronavirus specific website and pay attention to your clicks on social media or the internet. Before your click, check that the link is going to the expected website – preferably one you know already and trust.
2. BE AWARE OF FAKE NEWS – Scammers are creating fake news stories on contaminated websites in hopes that you’ll not only read them, but share them online - all to get you and your friends to visit their malicious websites. While some of these websites may look legitimate, they can hide spyware or be phishing for your data. Check all news stories to ensure they are from mainstream media sources.
3. VERIFY THE SENDER – The FBI warns of a significant threat of phishing emails relating to economic stimulus payments, charitable and relief contributions, fake cures, vaccines, and testing kits. If you’re not sure, click on the sender’s EMAIL ADDRESS (but not any links in the email) to see if the email matches the sender. If you’re not 100% sure who the sender is and that you were the intended recipient, do not open or forward the email.
4. CHANGE YOUR PASSWORDS – While you should always be cautious about your passwords, it’s good practice to change them during times of accelerated fraud activity. Some experts recommend using pass phrases instead of complicated passwords, which may be easier to remember. Also, it’s not OK to share passwords among websites and other places to prevent your passwords being stolen from one website and used on another.
5. DON’T TEXT BACK – Have you heard of SMISHING? It’s a new form of information phishing that hackers are using to send you text messages that include links or will appear to be from legitimate sources. Remember the same tips from your emails and don’t trust anything unless you’re SURE who the sender is. Delete anything you’re not sure about. Also, no one will ask for your password via text messages, so if you get a text asking for ANY passwords, it’s delete-worthy!

Those are just a few ways to help you stay safe while we all are trying to keep our distance from one another. Remember, while you should always use caution when banking, communicating or shopping online, now is the time to be EXTRA vigilant.

A few things in life are certain, and taxes are one of the least enjoyable ones. For real estate agents that are guiding their customers through one of the most important financial decisions of their life, it’s vital to understand that they are likely to have tax implications when buying or selling a home and to know how to get them started on the right path to properly file.

Jake Alexander, President of Action Accounting in Clearwater, states that "it’s very important for real estate agents to advise their clients to know their dates and know their numbers, so they can file properly the first time and not have to deal with a surprise letter from the IRS years down the road."

Luckily, Hillsborough Title is equipped with a secure portal that allows YOUR buyers and sellers to pull their documents in the privacy of their own home.

Both buyers and sellers can login to the same portal they used when purchasing or selling their home and navigate to the documents section to find their tax documents.

• Buyers should pull their ALTA statement from the "SETTLEMENT STATEMENT" section of the portal. They should also keep track of purchase documents and improvements they make to their home to reduce their tax liability within the 24-month exemption of capital gains in case of the sale of the property.
• Sellers will need to pull the 1099 forms provided on the portal and report those on their taxes. The issue of tax liability when selling their home will rely on many factors, and they should seek the advice of a tax professional to answer any questions.

Be sure to mention the availability of these documents to your buyers and sellers throughout the year and consider setting up a calendar reminder to touch base with all of them at tax time. They'll appreciate the reminder!

As always, if you need any assistance with helping your customers locate their documents, please feel free to reach out to the Hillsborough Title team!