The Best Way To Increase Your Credit Score...

...and get the best possible interest rate on your home loan

is to understand how the credit bureaus actually determine your score

if you knew the answers to the test

would it be possible to do better on it?

I think that we can all agree that the answer would be yes

there are a number of places to check your credit online

without having a hard inquiry that lowers your score

several different credit models exist that lenders use to qualify borrowers

for things such as car loans, store credit cards, insurance

and yes for home loans to buy a house

the credit bureaus will take into account a large number of things

in order to determine how risky (or not risky) a borrower might be

• on time payments
• length of credit history
• types of credit in use
• overall percentage of credit balance vs the limit
• late payments
• collections
• charge offs
• foreclosures
• bankruptcy

are among the most common things reviewed

when applying for a mortgage

its very common for all credit inquiries in a 30 day time period

to count as 1 credit hit as buyers are allowed to "shop rates"

today's show gets down and dirty with the details

and offers a number of helpful tips to get a boost in your credit score

Buyers Agents Need To Attend Home Inspections...

...not doing so is a growing problem in the real estate industry

A number of agents that I respect are talking about this recently

and the consensus among them is very clear

they attend all of their buyers inspections as a standard

if they have a schedule conflict, they make arrangements

for a team member or a licensed agent that they know to attend

they are very vocal in saying that its NOT OK

for an inspector to be there with the buyers with no agent present

any number of things can go wrong

and I am not going to be convinced that its acceptable

a buyers agent signs up for the whole job, right???

not just the convenient parts of a sale

as far as the "reasons" they offer - they are garbage

• the home is too far away
• I am too busy
• I never attend inspections
• the buyers can handle it themselves
• its not part of what I offer

Its absolutely mind blowing to hear this from licensed professional agents

but now that we have this information out in the open

consumers can add to this to their list of questions to ask

as they interview agents when they are going to make a home purchase

todays show gets a little edgy...

you will want to listen to this one twice

Launching Your Rental Ads Too Soon...

...Is The BIGGEST Mistake that property owners are making

days on market is a crucial factor in rental profits

the longer a rental is on the market

the more likely it will be that tenants will try to negotiate the price of the rent

We are seeing way too many properties hit the market

that are nowhere near move in ready

• repairs in progress
• property not clean
• pest control service not done
• no window treatments in place
• appliances not working properly
• a visible punch list of things that need attention

While its understandable that property owners want ads running

as coming soon rentals to get prospects

the problem is that they miss the fact that

the 1st impression of the home is not very impressive

most will believe that the home is not well maintained

the majority of renters will pass on this type of property

and move forward with homes that are more visibly appealing

todays show gives you some real life scenarios that owners could have easily avoided

If I Was Starting My Real Estate Career Today...

...I would do a number of things differently

that doesn't mean that I would change the way that I started out

I made the right decisions back then

based on my skillset at that time

and also the type of market that we were in

it was right after the Financial Crisis in 2008

• I studied scripts and did a lot of role play sessions
• I did 2 open houses per day for 100 days
• I called expired listings and FSBO every day
• I did marketing videos and market reports every week
• I read books on team building
• I attended a ton of training sessions
• I got a mentor on Day 1

back then I did it as a solo agent

today I would join a team right away

and learn those things from the leadership

I would let them know that I would want to run my own team someday

and be very transparent about this

most teams do not have a succession plan in place

and for the ones that do - they aren't always viable

it may just turn out that I would be a candidate to take over the team I joined down the road

I would definitely do all the things that I listed above

and be a Student of the Real Estate Game

I would get into production super fast

by getting more at bats right away

real estate hasn't changed as much as people think

if you embrace the fundamentals

and do the hard work consistently over time

you will be able to have all the success that you envision

The Summer Selling Season Is Pretty Much Over...

...if you are a seller that is not under contract now

as we push into the month of August

home sellers that get acceptable offers

will be looking at a September closing date in most cases

and with the school year quickly approaching

a large pool of home buyers will exit the market

its a real possibility that some home sellers

may be looking at October, November, December closings

while some may not sell at all

The Fed held rates where they are at this weeks meeting

and soon enough we will be entering into the mid term elections season

and while that has little or no effect on real estate values

it does cause many people to pause due to the uncertainty

today's show breaks it all down for you

3 Bed AirBnb Can Outperform a 4 Bed Property...

...if you know how to maximize the ROI

we are seeing "news" that people are selling

their STR (Short Term Rental) properties

makes me laugh because the are being bought by people doing STR

lets call it neutral

zero sum gain conversation

what I really have noticed

is that there is a growing community of investors

that are "plussing" their properties

• adding more themes and activities to their homes
• adding in more photos and videos
• adding in more nearby things to do

and the results are paying off big time

I personally owned an STR property for 5+ years

so this is from real life activity

not some theory concocted in a basement

additionally - we rent them out quite often when we go on vacations

so I have a sizeable working knowledge of each side of STR

proximity to places we want to go to during our stay does matter

but a home with great amenities and awesome views

can win out over homes that are closer to what we want to do

we recently rented a home 30 minutes from a boating activity

there were many homes that were closer

but this one had a great outside space for the kids to play

and it was a 3 bedroom as opposed to the 4 bedrooms were really wanted

• inground pool
• basketball court
• soccer field
• putting green
• outdoor pool table
• summer kitchen

I totally understand that the number of bedrooms can be key

for large families or 2 families traveling together

but a bunk room can solve a lot of those concerns

having a little vision can make a huge difference in your owner profits

and if you are looking for a place to rent

check out the places that have more/less bedrooms

than you think you really need to make the vacation perfect

today's show tells a few more stories from personal experience

It's Possible That Interest Rates Increase Next Week...

...my suspicion is that they will remain the same when the Fed Meeting is over

looking for clues on what is going to happen?

watch the rates for the next week ahead of the meeting

we have seen a pattern of lenders pricing in rate changes

ahead of the decision in order to gain a competitive advantage

if rates are moving up each day

then its an indication of a rate increase

conversely if rates are trending down

its a signal of a rate decrease

and once the Fed announces its decision

the change in rates would be minimal in the week after

as they moved to that rate in advance

make sense?

today's show explains what has happened with rates this year

and why home buyers have made the decision not to wait around for them to drop

we dig deep into what goes into the actual rate that you are offered

you will want to listen to this episode twice and bookmark it

Florida Real Estate Is On A 10 Month Winning Streak...

...data released this week shows year over year home sales are up once again

when comparing June 2026 to June 2025

single family home sales are up over 9%

condos and townhome sales are up more than 14%

the trend is irrefutable

more properties are being bought and each month for nearly a year

and this is taking place in a market where interest rates have steadily increased

February average rates were 5.98% and currently they are in the 6.5% range

which leads us to ponder

what affect will this have on home prices

it also is a conversation starter for the type of real estate agents

that are succeeding in a market where most are struggling

its a very competitive market

and whether you are choosing a home, and agent, or both

making the right choice will set you up for success

for many years to come

today's show break it all down for you

3 Things That Might Mess Up Your Closing Date...

...that you're probably not thinking about

The 1st commonly overlooked item is the property survey

this is typically ordered the week before closing

it's required for the vast majority of properties that are financed

The 2nd thing that might delay your closing date

is called an estoppel letter

these are needed when there are dues paid to a home owners association

while most people associate them primarily with condos

this also applies to single family homes in an HOA

this is used determine if the fees are up to date

and also determine prorations of those fees based on the closing date

any special assessments would be noted here as well

A 3rd thing that stop your closing is a lien search

the most common liens are tax liens

we also find municipal, utility and contractor liens on properties

these will need to be paid/resolved prior to the closing

today's show goes through each of these scenarios in detail

Something Just Accelerated In Real Estate Sales...

...and the market is now at an inflection point

homes that are priced to sell are moving super fast

which one might argue isn't exactly news

yet we have found that a significantly sized group of sellers

continue to price above the market hoping for a miracle

the old school strategies are costing sellers time and $$$

• I can always drop the price if it doesn't sell
• I want to have room to negotiate
• I don't want to give my house away
• I don't really need to sell
• I know what my home is worth

and what really happens is that these sellers have homes

that they are unable to sell for long periods of time

and even if they eventually sell

its almost always for a lower sales price

than they would have received

if they had priced it correctly at the beginning

personally speaking

I have worked with 2 sellers in the 1st half of July

that received full price offers that will close within 14 days

they got everything they wanted - and more

the benefits of doing so are compelling

• more showings right away
• the possibility of multiple offers
• quicker closing
• cash in their pocket to make their next purchase
• the ability to dictate terms

tune in to today's show as we walk you through this shift