Spotlight Podcast

We’ve spent the past several episodes discussing the “Pillars of your Business”. We’ve covered "setting up your CRM", "taking advantage of open houses" to expand your sphere of influence, and "geographically farming" to again, expand your sphere of influence. You’ve got your sphere of influence growing, you’ve got a business plan in place, you’ve got an advertising budget and you’re farming an area. Today we’re going to talk about focused prospecting. How can you maximize your time and energy prospecting to ensure that you get the best results?

We’ve spent the past several episodes discussing the “Pillars of your Business”. We’ve covered "setting up your CRM", "taking advantage of open houses" to expand your sphere of influence, and "geographically farming" to again, expand your sphere of influence. You’ve got your sphere of influence growing, you’ve got a business plan in place, you’ve got an advertising budget and you’re farming an area. Today we’re going to talk about focused prospecting. How can you maximize your time and energy prospecting to ensure that you get the best results?

This week we’re going to continue our discussion on the “Pillars of your Business”, setting up the foundation of what’s required to have that solid foundation for success and growth as a real estate salesperson. Now that you’ve got your sphere of influence setup, you’re actively engaging in open houses and you have some money coming in, the next logical business decision you need to make is where you spend your money to continue your growth. The third pillar that we’re going to be talking about on today’s show is Geographical Farming. There is so much emphasis put on generating leads and maintaining relationships through connected methods like email marketing... but we shouldn’t lose sight of the physical. The tried and true method of farming a geographic area. It’s a method that’s been used by agents for decades, and with good reason. That being said, geographical farming doesn’t have to be limited to the physical, as an agent you can also take advantage of virtual geographical farming.

Today's show was filmed live at CENTURY 21 Canada Conference in Quebec city, and we had the pleasure of talking to both Kristie Cavanagh from Kenora, Ontario and Mark Fagan from St. John's, Newfoundland, both members of Century 21's Future Leader's network. We discuss the future of real estate, technology trends, and more, hope you enjoy the show!

Last week we discussed the first “Pillar of Business” for real estate agents. You sphere of influence… Setting it up and growing it to start cultivating your future sales opportunities. This week we’re going to continue the discussion with the next pillar… Open Houses. Open houses can be a great source of leads generation for all agents, especially for new agents hungry to find business and expand their network. So how do you maximize your effectiveness at open houses and convert people walking through the door into future leads?

Every successful real estate agent, new or old, has a solid business foundation upon which they’ve built their business. This foundation may have been carefully planned and executed when the agent first got into the business, or it may have been carefully curated over time, slowly growing over the course of their career. By establishing solid “Pillars of your Business”, any agent will find the path to success in real estate. It doesn’t matter if you’re fresh to the business, or if you’ve been in the business for 40 years, it always pays to take an introspective look into your business plan on a regular basis, and patch it up as needed. What we’re starting on today’s show is the first part of a multi show segment on establishing the pillars of your business. We’re going to be covering many pillars over the course of many weeks.

Multiple representation in the provinces that still allow multiple representation is being examined with a fine toothed comb. There has been a lot of negative press regarding sales representatives improperly respecting the boundaries between customers and clients in these scenarios. Changes to the rules restricting multiple representation are inevitable, and in Ontario specifically, they’re close to becoming a reality. On today’s show, we’re going to discuss the nature of multiple representation, and how the rules regarding it are about to change. On the back half of the show, we’re going to talk about how Century 21 awards have been presented, and how to take advantage of Online Office and how to present your awards to your sphere of influence in the most optimal way.

The real estate market over the past couple of months has been anything but predictable. We’ve seen drastic price swings in areas as there have been large shifts in supply and demand, especially in many pockets in the Greater Toronto Area. Through the Spotlight Marketing Program, we’ve seen a record number of price changes on listings over the past month, just yesterday, Eryn and I were discussing a listing that came to the market with one price, had a price reduction a week later, and then had a price increase a couple weeks after that. The market can be so price volatile that it can be difficult as a real estate agent to assess the value of a home. When home prices are in constant motion, past sales data from comparable properties may be outdated after even a couple of weeks. So how can you confidently price a home in a market like this?

Real estate agents and their clients rely on professional home inspections to make crucial home purchasing decisions. It’s one of the most common conditions in the offer of purchase and sale for a good reason, you want an expert to look over the large financial commitment your client is making to make sure that they have all of the information available to them before the offer goes firm. But did you know that until recently only BC and Alberta were the only two provinces to regulate Home Inspectors and issue licenses? The Toronto Star phrased this the best…. ‘Anyone with a flashlight and a business card’ can promote themselves as a home inspector across most of Canada. Well, just recently, Ontario passed legislation to start regulating the industry. We’re going to talk about home inspection, and what to be careful of when selecting home inspectors in provinces without (and even with) regulation in place.

You’re a new agent. This business can be daunting to get started in… You’ve got the drive, but little experience, very few leads and the feeling that you’re a fish out of water. Who do you turn to? Brokers, management and trainers are great resources, but what about your peers? Other agents at your office are invaluable assets when starting out in real estate, so how do you leverage them as a resource? On the flip side, if you’re an experienced agent, how can you utilize new agents to help further your business? Mentoring has its benefits for both sides. On todays show we talk about the important of peer networking among your fellow agents and the advantages that this brings.

Advertising on the internet can be a daunting task. Most agents don’t know where to start… Some might first look towards Google and advertising through AdSense, but is that really the best way to spend your money? Social media networks, particularly Facebook, have grown drastically over the past few years on the back of advertising revenue. As it turns out, Facebook is a great platform for generating leads and improving your exposure. But how do you advertise on Facebook, and how do you most effectively spend your money to create those coveted leads? On today's show we talk about paid advertising on Facebook and some strategies all agents should be implementing to get the most out of this social media network. We also discuss recent news coming out of Toronto. To curb the hot housing market in Southern Ontario, the Ontario government has decided to institute a 15 per cent home purchasers tax as well as some policies meant to ease rental affordability in Toronto. We discuss the implications of these policy changes and how they will affect real estate agents in the area.

We all know that farming a neighbourhood can be a great source of leads. We also know that farming an area is tedious, time consuming and can take months or even years before you get any tangible return on that investment. How are you farming your neighbourhood? Door-knocking? Sending out postcards to the area? What about getting involved in the community? Hosting community events, sponsoring community events, volunteering at community events, general networking in the community among residents and businesses. These are all solid ways to enhance your image in the community, but yet many agents avoid getting involved and stick to the more ‘traditional’ farming methods. Today we’re going to talk about the advantages of getting involved in the community, and how it can not only get you more visibility and brand recognition in the neighbourhood, but be personally rewarding as well.

Most agents don’t deal with commercial real estate transactions on a regular basis. Every commercial listing has its nuances, and even agents that specialize in specific types of commercial listings can take years to become experts in their field. Commercial agents deal with niche industries, restricted buyer pools, governmental restrictions and regulation, intricate business financial statements and projections... The information required to deal with all of this can be overwhelming. If you have a seller interested in using you for a commercial transaction, where do you start? Do you try and tackle these hurdles yourself, or is there a more elegant solution. Sit back and listen to our discussion on the topic.

Online reviews have changed the way that consumers shop for products. Whether you’re buying a new TV, renting a room at a hotel you’ve never been to, or dining out at a new restaurant, it’s highly likely that you did your research online before making your purchase. Are there any reviews of the TV online? what’s the hotel’s rating on TripAdvisor? What are people saying about that restaurant on Yelp? This begs the question, what are home buyers and sellers doing online to check on, or compare real estate agents? How do they do their research on you online, and why should you care? We discuss this topic, along with some interesting trends Eryn is seeing at the CENTURY 21 Global conference he's currently attending in Las Vegas.

Saying the real estate market has been hot for the past few years is an understatement. We’ve seen unprecedented growth in most markets across Canada in both volume and housing prices. We’ve also heard for years that we’re creating a real estate bubble that will inevitably burst, however, the market continues to be hot, and despite the doom and gloom, many experts are predicting a more gradual market slowdown. Now that we’re a couple of months into 2017, what is happening in the hot markets in Canada. Are things slowing down? We’ll be discussing the 2017 trends we’ve seen so far, specifically for the Toronto area later in the show. Also coming with the new year is awards season. The Golden Globes, The Grammy’s, and most importantly, Century 21 Real Estate awards are being doled out at both the franchise and the company level. This raises the question, are awards important? Is it just for recognition among your peers, or can you take advantage of awards to further your real estate business?

First impressions are important. But, how important are they when you’re trying to sell a home? It can be tedious and time consuming to renovate or stage a home prior to sale. When the market is hot, and you know the listing is going to sell within days, is it worth the trouble for you or your client to put the effort in to improve the initial opinion of prospective buyers? If you’re going to spend your or your client’s money on staging and renovation, how much do you spend? At some point, the return on investment diminishes, in some cases, there may be no return on investment in the first place. On today’s show we discuss the benefits of staging and renovations, and how best to assess whether or not they are in your and your client’s best interests.

We’ve all heard it over the past 15 years…. Print is dead. Or is it? Online advertising is certainly a powerful tool when used effectively, but print marketing can still be used very effectively. Print marketing is great for selectively farming areas and developing name recognition. Brand marketing can be expensive, and the value of this type of marketing may take months or years to bear fruit. So is it worth the cost? There are endless ways that you can put money into print marketing. On today’s show, we discuss the most effective ways to market yourself through print.

Door knocking… Most agents would love to do just about anything other than door knocking. Homeowners have a built up barrier for any solicitor that comes knocking on their door that you have to penetrate to make this prospecting technique effective. It can be frustrating and demoralizing, but only if you aren’t doing it properly. It turns out that this traditional method of prospecting can be very effective if done properly. It doesn’t have to be tedious, it doesn’t have to be thankless. It can get you a significant number of leads, and maybe even... dare I say it? A little enjoyable.

If you’re listening to this show, there’s a good chance you’re in the real estate industry. Being in this industry, it’s very likely that you or one of your clients have considered investing in real estate. If your client asks you whether or not it’s a good idea to invest in real estate, what’s your answer? Being in sales, it’s probably ‘yes’, but it shouldn’t be so simple. There is a spectrum of types of real estate investments, and some are better suited for your clients than others. So on today’s show, we’re going to be talking about the best ways to tackle real estate investment advice for your clients. Profiling your client to come up with the best advice that’s tailored specifically to them.

It’s almost the end of the year, snow is blanketing a solid chunk of Canada, everyone is rushing about getting ready for the holidays. Naturally, during this time of year, the real estate market starts to slow down. With this drop in business, agents often find that this is the perfect time to organize their business by planning for the new year. Develop a business strategy that will help them increase their earnings in the new year. Maybe this is also a good time to reflect over the previous year and evaluate your business decisions. What did I do right? What did I do wrong? What would I have done differently? On today’s show, we’re going to be talking about just this. Developing your business plan for the upcoming year, and good strategies for deciding where to spend your time, effort and money to best help grow your business. Eryn's Business Plan Template:: http://spotlight.century21.ca/media/blog_media/y6lgG60Jiv.pdf

On today’s show, we’re going to be talking about the advantages and disadvantages of creating a brokerage within a brokerage. Creating your own satellite office within the brokerage, perhaps incorporating your "brokerage within a brokerage" to benefit from the tax advantages that come along with incorporation. Are these good ideas that will save you money and grow your business in the process? The answer isn’t as clear cut as you would think. Eryn and Linas discuss this topic and where best to spend your money to grow your business.

On today’s show, we discuss video content on the web. Video media has become increasingly popular all across the Internet as it becomes easier and more accessible for people to create content. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and various other social media platforms are seeing drastic increases in the amount of video being created, produced and consumed by the general public. As a real estate agent, what's the best way to take advantage of this demand for video content? How would you get started generating content? We discuss these topics and more on the show. Bomb Bomb is discussed on the show as an enabler of video content emails. Bomb Bomb's services can be found at bombbomb.com

On today’s show, we’re going to cover a topic that has recently come into the limelight with a recent exposé by the CBC. A couple of weeks ago, CBC released a story where they showed the results of their undercover investigation. They sent in consumers posing as prospective buyers without representation. These people were recording both video and audio of the conversation with the listing agent, and it showed that 6 out of the 10 listing agents that were caught on tape were in clear violation of rules set out by RECO on multiple representation arrangements by sharing confidential information with the buyer side. Promises of controlling the offer process to ensure that their buyers got the home, promises of disclosure of the value of other offers… Clear cut violations of the Real Estate and Business Brokers Act were clear and plentiful. In this episode we discuss the ramifications of this story and how it may affect real estate in the future.

So we unfortunately don't have a show this week, and for that we apologize. However, the reason is a good one. We would like to send out our best wishes to my regular co-host Eryn Richardson with regards to the birth of his new son. We will be back to our regularly scheduled programming during the week of November 14, and we've got some exciting news to cover with the recent news coming out of Ontario regarding realtor abuse of multiple representation arrangements. It'll be an exciting show, we look forward to seeing you next week!

This week's episode was a very special episode of the Spotlight Podcast, as the show was filmed for the first time in front of a live audience at CENTURY 21 Canada Conference 2016 in Vancouver. While Eryn couldn't fill his usual spot as co-host this week, filling in for him was Brian Rushton, Executive Vice President of CENTURY 21 Canada. We talked to Brian along with our other guests (Rob Vivian, owner of Rob Vivian Coaching and Chris Leader, Master Trainer and Owner of Leader's Edge Training) about their 'origin stories'... Where they started out, and how they ended up in their current positions they've found themselves in today. Find out more information about our guests on their respective websites below. Both Rob and Chris have deep roots in the CENTURY 21 system, and are well respected trainers in the industry. Rob Vivian Owner of Rob Vivian Coaching https://robvivian.ca/ Chris Leader Master Trainer and Owner of Leader's Edge Training http://www.leadersedgetraining.com/

In our most recent episode we talk about something that all agents want.... leads. We delve into some strategies on how to effectively get more leads, and more importantly, the best way to handle and convert incoming leads to make sure you're spending your money on acquiring online leads effectively. There's no one better to discuss this topic with than our guest on the show, Paul Baron. Paul is the broker of record and owner of the #1 CENTURY 21 firm in Canada by both production and units. Paul heads 9 branch offices and 6 satellite offices with over 680 Sales Representatives and Brokers located throughout Toronto and surrounding areas.

On this week's show we cover two main topics. Eryn and Linas discuss the recent news coming out of Ottawa to "address factors that could lead to excess risk" in the real estate industry. We focus on the two main financial policies soon to be implemented federally: making the "stress test" for mortgage approval more rigorous and closing the loophole where foreign owners could claim a capital gain tax credit on home sales in Canada. The second segment on the show discusses real estate virtual tours, and where they are headed in the future. Virtual Reality and Interactive Virtual Tours have been hot topics over the past couple of years, and it appears that the "perfect storm" is brewing to help these technologies to take off in the marketplace. One of the technologies discussed on today's show can be found at http://matterport.com

On this week's show, we discuss strategies for setting up and executing your professional presence on the web. We emphasize the importance taking advantage of your fully featured and well designed (might I add free?) century21.ca website. We also discuss a variety of other topics, including generating content for your site(s), improving your websites' performance for search engines as well as purchasing multiple websites for the purpose of generating leads.

On today’s show, we’re going to be discussing a newer practice that’s been cropping up in the real estate industry of late, especially in the hotter markets. Promotion of your listings before putting them on MLS. These listings are often presented as ‘Coming Soon’ in attempt to attract interest, and potentially sell your client’s home prior to putting it on the market to save on commission. Is this in everyone’s best interests? Does this potentially prevent your client from getting proper market value for their listing? How do you best leverage this strategy to maximize the value of the home? We discuss all of these questions, along with addressing some more recent news on the success of the Vancouver foreign buyer's tax in the show. APP OF THE WEEK Collaborate is a system implemented by the Toronto Real Estate Board that could potentially be a game changer for the industry. In a world where access to listing information online is quick and easy, home buyers are often finding properties they are interested on their own. Collaborate helps salespeople get more involved in the buying process with their buyers, bringing the real estate salesperson back into the process. This is a great tool, and one that you should present to your local board for integration.

The listing presentation. Even if you’re a brand new agent, you’ve likely got one. Listing presentations come in all sorts of colours and flavours, but what makes for a good one? What are the common pitfalls that most agents find themselves in when crafting, or giving a listing presentation? On today's show, Eryn goes over the best ways to craft a listing presentation, and more importantly, how important it is to be flexible and adaptable while presenting. If you're a new agent or an experienced veteran, you're going to want to tune in. APP OF THE WEEK Google Drive's suite of office productivity applications, Google Docs, Google Slides and Google Sheets are valuable tools for any professional. Real time collaboration, easily accessible cloud document storage, and it's all completely free. Break free of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint with these refreshing alternatives. https://www.google.com/drive/

On today’s show, Eryn and Linas talk about one of the most under-utilized and underrated tools in a realtor’s toolbox, the buyer’s presentation. The ying to the listing presentation’s yang. Why aren’t buyer presentations more popular? How can I craft an effective buyer presentation? Find out why Eryn strongly believes that implementing a buyer presentation into your buyer workflow can improve your professionalism, gain the trust of your buyer, and help prepare your client for the buying process. APP OF THE WEEK Hootsuite is a must-have app/service for anyone who juggles or manages multiple social media accounts. It gives you one central service from which to manage your social media posts, and helps you spend your time efficiently in the world of social media. https://hootsuite.com/

On today’s show, we’re concluding our mini series on building the foundations of your real estate business. Over the past couple of shows we’ve gone over getting started in the industry and how to make that ever important transition to becoming a top producer. Today, we’re going to talk about planning your endgame… making sure you’re financially secure for retirement. As a real estate agent, you probably know by now that there’s no pension the day you retire… How much money do you really need to retire comfortably? Are you on track to get to that number? Do you understand the rule of 72? What should I be doing now to get to where I need to be? And who better to answer these questions, than Kevin Stanley. Kevin has been working with Century 21 for 31 years in many roles - Salesperson, Recruiter Manager, Real Estate Trainer, and now his current position is the director of Knowledge and Learning at Century 21 Canada. APP OF THE WEEK Tired of remembering hundreds of passwords for all of your web services? Maybe you use the same password for all of your accounts, which is horribly insecure. Have no fear, LastPass is here to securely store, organize and generate all of your user credentials for all of your websites and apps across all of your devices. http://www.lastpass.com/

This week's show is the third of our four part series on building your business foundations in the real estate industry. So you’re an agent that’s been in the industry for a while, you’ve got a healthy amount of business coming in… You’re so busy that there simply not enough hours in the day to properly service your clients and balance your own quality of life. Business is good, but you’re becoming a slave to your career, and maybe even your personal life is suffering as a result. Today, we’re going to talk about how to manage your business, your time and resources effectively to not only help grow your business, but to make sure you’re running your business, and your business is not running you. Maybe you need an assistant? Maybe it’s time to form a team? We discuss all of these questions with our guest this week Brad Miller, team leader of the Goodale Miller Team from Century 21 Miller in Oakville, one of the top teams in the country. APP OF THE WEEK Go Connect is a mobile CRM app that is great for scheduling and managing your CRM workflows, available on both iOS and Android. http://www.goconnectapp.com/

This week's show is the second of our four part series on building your business foundations in the real estate industry. So you've been in the industry for a while, but you've hit a ceiling. You're struggling to take that next step, ramping up your business to become a 'top producer'. How do you take your business to the next level? Our guest this week is Pam Prescott, Broker/Owner of Century 21 Heritage Group. Pam has mentored hundreds of agents, turning them into top producers over the past 30 years. We pick Pam's brain to figure out what makes a top producer, and how you can make the jump.

This week's show is the first of our four part series on building your business foundations in the real estate industry. So you're a new agent. Where do you start? Real estate sales is one of the most competitive industries, and you have no sales history and no industry experience. It's easy to get discouraged, overwhelmed and disheartened. Eryn and Linas discuss several tips and strategies for getting started in the industry, from setting up a plan to managing your sphere of influence. All it takes to pave the road to becoming a top producer is drive, talent and a solid business plan. APP OF THE WEEK What better app to talk about on a podcast than podcasting apps? We discuss the various options for podcatching apps for both iPhones (iTunes) and Android devices (Google Play Music, Pocketcasts). iTunes (iOS and OSX) https://itunes.apple.com/ Pocketcasts (Android) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=au.com.shiftyjelly.pocketcasts&hl=en Google Play Music (Android) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.music&hl=en Google Play Music (Web) https://play.google.com/music/listen

There's no show this week, instead we're announcing the upcoming series of shows we're going to be doing over the next few weeks that are focusing on building the foundations of your real estate career. Whether you're new to the industry, or looking to take your business to the next level, you'll want to make sure to tune in. We've got great guests and shows lined up, so we'll see you next week!

This week’s show Eryn and Linas discuss the ongoing drive in the real estate industry towards creating a ‘paperless’ office. Fax machines, filing cabinets, stacks and stacks of paper… These are all quickly being replaced by emails, PDFs, scanners and online storage. Technology is enabling us to allow for quicker and more efficient workflows, easier and more universal access to documents… essentially making our lives easier and more efficient. The only problem is that policies of local real estate boards, provincial and national real estate associations are taking time to catch up to the technology to make a truly ‘paperless’ office possible. Today’s show we’re going to look into the challenges of going paperless, what we can do to further this goal, and the common pitfalls and obstacles agents and management are likely to encounter along the way. APP OF THE WEEK If you're going to go paperless, you'll need some help from software along the way. Our app spotlight this week is on one specific app that is tailored to help you create electronic signatures right on your iPhone. PDF Expert 5 allows you to import PDF files and sign them electronically, avoiding the mess of scanners, printers and faxes. Check it out in the iTunes Store today: https://readdle.com/products/pdfexpert5

CENTURY 21® Canada Conference in Vancouver, celebrating the 40th anniversary of CENTURY 21 Canada™ is just around the corner. Who better to talk about it than our guest this week... Chiyoko Kakino, the Vice President of Marketing for CENTURY 21 Canada. We talk to Chiyoko about the exciting content you can expect in Vancouver in October, including the compelling reasons why all of the members of the CENTURY 21 family should attend. Eryn provides insight on his past experience from an agent and manager's perspective, and we all talk about our excitement and anticipation of this milestone event. For more information about the conference and to register, please visit: http://century21.ca/cc2016 As mentioned in the show, here are the updates to today's release of Online Office 3.0 (Note that you will have to be logged in to Online Office to view this page): https://onlineoffice.century21.ca/versions/0220217c-084d-42bb-837f-802332757cec APP OF THE WEEK Paper.li is a fantastic news aggregation website that takes all of the news content from your favourite websites and uses that content to creates your very own personalized online newspaper. This online newspaper not only a great summarized content of news for you, but you can also send weekly newsletters based on the content of your online newspaper to your contacts to maintain that ever important communication with your past and future clients. http://paper.li/

How important is it to have a healthy and welcoming office environment? This week we talk office culture with Joanne Evans, one of the most widely respected and loved brokers in the CENTURY 21 family. We go over the strategies that Joanne employs at her brokerage (CENTURY 21 Millennium Inc) and that Eryn uses at his brokerage (CENTURY 21 Heritage Group Ltd.) to promote a healthy working environment and keep their agents happy and feel like part of their brokerage's family. Find out why their brokerages are seen as two of the most agent friendly in the industry. APP OF THE WEEK Many of your favourite websites may be core to your day-to-day business activities, but may not have their own standalone "app". This week, we share a pro tip that helps you take any website and turn it into an icon on your home screen, making it just as accessible and convenient as any native application. We cover the procedure for this for both iPhones and Android devices.

Eryn and Linas are taking a couple of weeks off from doing the show. The Spotlight Podcast will return the week of June 27th.

To conform, or not to conform? That is the question facing many home owners when determining whether or not they should bother with registering their basement apartment with the municipality. As an agent, what advice should you give? What are the legal, safety and monetary concerns involved. In our tenth episode, Eryn and Linas discuss this common situation. The competition tribunal is at it again. Linas and Eryn discuss the recent news breaking in the saga between TREB and the competition tribunal regarding what historical sales data should be visible to the public online. APP OF THE WEEK Waze is a popular GPS navigation app available on both iOS and Android that can really help get you from A to B in the most efficient way possible. Listen to the show and find out why you should consider this over the more traditional map applications that you likely use. http://www.waze.com

In our ninth episode, Linas and Eryn discuss Facebook, the largest social media network in the world. Most of you use Facebook, but have you leveraged the platform to help generate business? We discuss Facebook advertising as a strategy to generate leads in a targeted and easy way. APP OF THE WEEK Fiverr.com is a great website if you need graphic design, content creation, audio transcriptions, video editing and more. Fiverr easily connects you with professionals that can help you with those one-off quick jobs that you may not have the time or expertise to pull of. http://www.fiverr.com/

In our eighth episode of the Spotlight Podcast, Eryn and Linas examine the importance of strategically using Google to grow your business as a real estate agent. We discuss how to effectively use pay-per-click advertising to maximize your leads conversion, how to optimize your online efforts to get your web pages performing better in organic Google search, and we shed a light on the under-utilized, yet very powerful Google remarketing advertising that is becoming more increasingly popular on the web. APP OF THE WEEK Property Evaluator is a great app available on both iOS and for your Mac that is used to quickly analyze real estate investments, create reports and impress your clients. http://www.propertyevaluator.com/

In our seventh episode, we are joined by special guest Sue Heddle, sales representative with CENTURY 21 Miller in Oakville, Ontario. We start the show by discussing the common pitfalls regarding negotiating a lease, specifically how the ‘Offer to Lease’ agreement may or may not be as binding as you would expect. In the bullish real estate markets in Toronto and Vancouver, home buyers are continuously pressured to present offers without any conditions in order to secure the purchase of the home. This disturbing trend places increased risk on the purchaser as well as the agent… In the main segment of our show, we discuss counselling your clients and protecting yourself as a realtor in the case that your client encounters something unexpected. TREB/OREA Form 127 (Mentioned in Show) http://spotlight.century21.ca/media/blog_media/b0gNM3EdGB.pdf Sue Heddle (Today's Guest) Sales Representative CENTURY 21 Miller Real Estate Ltd. http://SueHeddleHomes.com http://FreeHomeStaging.ca APP OF THE WEEK Magical Miles is a great app for iOS that helps you 'magically' log the kilometres driven in your car. Throw away that log book, and let this app take care of everything for you. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/magical-miles-automatic-mileage/id817598888?mt=8

In our most recent episode, we invite our special guest Bryn Jones of Centum Mortgage Professionals to discuss with us a recent article published by Maclean's magazine that investigates the impact of foreign investment on the Canadian real estate marketplace. Is the mass influx of foreign investment responsible for the rapid home price increases we're seeing in Toronto and Vancouver? Are we on the verge of an inevitable major market correction? Is foreign investment in Canadian real estate propping up our economy? Watch the show and find out our thoughts on these issues. Link to Maclean's Article - http://www.macleans.ca/economy/economicanalysis/chinese-real-estate-investors-are-reshaping-the-market/ APP OF THE WEEK "Turbo Scan" is one of the most popular and highest rated business productivity apps of all time. Scan your documents with your cell phone or tablet in a convenient and easy to use manner. You can find Turbo Scan is available for both Android and iOS devices. Android - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.piksoft.turboscan&hl=en iOS - https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/turboscan-pro-document-receipt/id342548956?mt=8 Bryn Jones (Today's Guest) Direct - 416-884-1421 http://www.centum.ca/bryn_jones

In the main segment our fifth episode we talk about getting started in the real estate industry. Setting up your sphere of influence, effective prospecting, and using CENTURY 21 Canada's Client Connect system to effectively cultivate your client base. We also discuss the recent ruling by the competition bureau regarding TREB's restricted MLS policies and CENTURY 21 Canada's Future Leaders Network. Our app of the week is one that is integral for the productivity of the modern agent. "Dropbox" is online storage solution that can be used to store all of your important documents in a decentralized, always accessible manner. Links to suggested training programs mentioned during the show: Rob Vivian - www.robvivian.ca Chris Leader - www.leadersedgetraining.com Brian Buffini - www.buffiniandcompany.com

In our fourth episode we discuss the recently released CREA DANGER report, which highlights the potential threats to the real estate industry's salespeople, brokers, boards, associations and MLS systems. APP OF THE WEEK Our app of the week is "Open Home Pro" (openhomepro.com). A fantastic CRM tablet app for open houses. Check out their app for iOS and Android.

In the third episode of the Spotlight Podcast: NEWS In our news segment, we discuss CREA's recently released real estate market numbers for March which highlights the seemingly never-ending increase in home value across most of Canada. Is there any end to the unsustainably rapid increase in the cost of homes across the country? REP MAGAZINE In our main segment this week, we discuss the misleading nature of statistics in REP Magazine. How do they get their numbers for their 'Top 100 Agent' lists? You may be surprised to find out that sales numbers provided to the magazine are not audited and can be freely inflated by real estate representatives and brokerages. APP OF THE WEEK Our app of the week is "AskForTask" (www.askfortask.com). A fantastic resource for agents looking to connect with and book local service providers to do work on a home. From movers to cleaners to tradespeople, AskForTask seemingly has you covered. Check out their app for iOS and Android. Coupon Codes for AskForTask: Weekly cleaning: CNCleanW16 Biweekly cleaning: CNCleanB16 Monthly cleaning: CNCleanM16

In our second podcast episode, Linas and Eryn welcome our special guest Ritchie Bisnauth, an experienced certified Home Inspector. We discuss how there has been a big push nationwide to start regulating and licensing the home inspection industry. In all provinces and territories in Canada (with the exception of Alberta and BC), the requirements to practice home inspection is virtually non-existent. This has led to many high profile cases in the media of sub-standard home inspectors costing home owners thousands of dollars in unexpected home repair. We talk to Ritchie about his experience in the industry, including the steps that are starting to be taken to properly license and regulate the industry. As per usual, we take a few tangents in our discussion, including the importance of WETT inspection in homes with fire burning stoves and fireplaces as well as the increase in popularity of testing for high levels of radon in homes. Richie Bisnauth has been a highly respected and recommended certified home inspector and WETT inspector for the past 6 years. He owns a home inspection company that serves all of York Region. If you're looking for home inspection services in the area, please contact Richie at: Bisnauth Home Inspections ritchie.inspection@gmail.com 289 221-0032 The Home Inspector Panel Recommendations made to the Ontario Government that was mentioned in the show can be found at: spotlight.century21.ca/blog_media/fXawuqwWj2.pdf

In our inaugural podcast episode, Linas and Eryn discuss the benefits of being a CENTURY 21® real estate agent in Canada, examining some of the key systems that are available through their Online Office system. They also touch on web presence as a real estate agent, including social media, Facebook advertising and more.