What Happened to Cambridge?!? I keep a pretty close tab on market stats which helps me catch trends generally faster than most.  But that quickly changed when I had a potential seller client that I spoke to last year reach out. They were thinking that this Spring market made sense to move forward with the sale of their condo. So I pulled the data and reran an analysis and almost fell off my chair.  What happened to the Cambridge market? Has it spread to Boston?  Oh, Real quick. My name is Jeff Chubb and I am a retired investment banker turned real estate agent that has sold more ..read more

Add a Zero to Your Income by doing this one thing! This one killed me. Because it was so stupid and I couldn’t believe I wasn’t doing this my entire career in Real Estate.  And the worst part is that even after all of those years and all of the transactions… I didn’t even think about it. I stole the idea when I was visiting a friend and learning about his operation.  I immediately started to think about all the buyer clients that I had lost over the years because quite frankly… I was doing a crappy job working with them.  Millions of dollars in lost fees. And it could have been ..read more

Best Seller Lead Sources Working with seller’s has generally always been sexier than buyers, but with this new lawsuit… The attractiveness of working with sellers has gone up ten fold! I personally have done a 100% pivot in my new client lead generation to seller leads. But keep in mind that I have a 30,000 person database and am very strong with buyer SEO rankings.  In other words, I am not suggesting for others to necessarily go 100% all in.  So what are the best seller lead generation sources? I am also going to talk about a must do in order to get a positive Return on Investment ..read more

Is being a luxury agent a good thing? Or because of these upcoming changes… Are there some headwinds on the horizon and it may actually be a… bad thing.  For years, agents that operate in the luxury market have been looked up to. Almost idolized. Heck, there are a bunch of HGTV Luxury Real Estate shows… Real Estate agents… TV Shows! Ha.  I mean the big paychecks just make other agents drool… And some agents hate… And the general public as well...  So does this new economic climate spell a doom and gloom scenario for some agents.  I think the answer is yes… With a big asteri ..read more

Maybe you or a friend or family member is  behind on their mortgage and are trying to figure out what it all means. Know it’s overwhelming. It’s confusing. And that help is available.  So let’s answer the question about what the difference is between Pre-Foreclosure and Foreclosure. And as a bonus, let’s also talk about what REO stands for and means.  Okay, let’s say that I am not able to afford the mortgage on my house. Most people believe that if you miss the mortgage payment on the 1st of the month then you are late. This is not true. You have a grace period until the 15th of ..read more

Best Lead Sources I have spent well over $2 million dollars in my career on leads. They are expensive, but ultimately they are an investment in yourself and your business.  Some lead sources are better than others. Others convert higher than others while others may cost less.  It’s about creating a strategy. Giving that strategy some time and staying consistent.  So let’s talk about a lot of lead sources. Let's talk about the pluses and minuses. And then in the end, I will talk to you about how I built out my company and where I saw my success. And we will talk about the lead so ..read more

Just Starting - Should you Join a Team?  A question that I get over and over again revolves around teams. And if you are new to real estate, then does it make sense to join a team?  It’s a tough question to answer for a couple of reasons. The first is that not all teams are created equal. So, quite frankly if it is a crappy team whose existence is to just feed the team leader that you are looking at, then it may make more sense to go it alone.  And then if you have a little bit of undisciplined natural tendencies, then being on your own may be your own worst enemy.  We are ..read more

The Best Option for Independents - REAL Private Label Have your cake and eat it too. That is what REAL has created with their Private Label program that is specifically designed to allow independent real estate agents to keep their identity while plugging into a larger model that is tech driven and eliminating liability.  I am getting a little ahead of my skis here. First let’s talk about what it is.  The REAL Private Label is a program that allows a brokerage to keep their name and their independence, but also allows them to be part of the REAL network.  It is essentially set u ..read more

Which Real Estate Companies Survive the Next Downturn? There is about to be a lot of change in our industry. So the question becomes, who survives? Everyone is talking about that. There is a lot of disagreement on what and how much is going to change. But time will tell with the best ideas and the best changed business models ultimately winning.  So let’s talk about what so few are wanting to talk about, let alone admit. A reduction in agent count AND a reduction in the amount of real estate companies.  I have heard some talk on the agent count, but no one has talked about the reduct ..read more

National Association of Realtors Settlement Myths The National Association of Realtors settled in a class action lawsuit. Once approved, the settlement will take effect in July. There have been declarations in the media about what the outcome of this settlement will be. The media has had a consistent drum beat that transacting real estate will become almost free, it will protect consumers and make homeownership affordable again.  This lawsuit does not do this. Let’s break down what they are saying and shine a little truth on the matter. Because the bad information is only adding to the ma ..read more