More Couples Say "I Do" To Home Ownership Help
New research about engaged couples found that their wedding registries include much more than toasters. More couples than ever — around 20% — are adding home purchase funds as one of the gifts that their family, friends and wedding guests can opt to provide.
According to the popular engagement website The Knot, the share of couples asking for home funds has increased 55% since 2018.
"Home funds were one of the most popular wedding registry cash funds on The Knot in 2022 — the second, in fact, right behind the honeymoon fund," said the site's Deputy Editor.
Additional data found that half of all current home buyers are first-time buyers, the highest percentage yet recorded. The use of gift funds to make a down payment rose as well, with 43% of first-time buyers using funds gifted by family and friends for a portion of their down payment.1
Social Media Mistakes to Avoid
If your office has a dedicated social media manager, congrats! However, most agents create and handle their own Instagram and TikTok postings. Here are a few common mistakes to avoid.
Links in Instagram Captions. You may not have realized this, but they're unclickable. Also, they're visually unappealing to readers. To make matters worse, you're not able to copy and paste a caption, so the likelihood of you remembering the URL is small.
QR Codes Within Social Graphics. Adding these tends to be a Call to Action (CTA) dead end.
Lower-case Hashtags. Hashtags are as important as ever, and they should be typed out in all caps. Capitalizing each word in your hashtags makes your content more accessible, including those with vision impairments.
TikTok Watermarks on Instagram Reels. While there's nothing wrong with cross posting your videos, be sure to remove the TikTok watermarks for seamless reposts to other social media accounts.2
Deepfakes Spreading to Real Estate
While the introduction of the internet and social media have transformed how we do business, it's also been used to spread false information. We've seen Photoshopped images and heard from scammers who want to share an inheritance.
More recently, the internet has been invaded with "deepfakes". This web site contains some deepfake examples you may have seen, with everyone from Tom Cruise to Mark Zuckerberg appearing to say or do things they'd never really consider.
Deepfakes have now spread to real estate and maps, with users creating phantom settlements or paper towns. While some are created as pranks or to protect copyrights, these real estate deepfakes have the potential to fool others into believing that a neighborhood or town is real when it only exists in a hacker's mind. Some recent deepfakes include the town of Argleton in the UK, which made its way into Google Maps, and the Ohio towns of Beatosu and Goblu. Others add non-existent streets called "trap streets".
While deepfake imagery has yet to pose the same threat as wire transfer scams, it may be only a matter of time before scammers put it to use. In the meantime, point clients and prospects to verified MLS data.3
Five YouTube Channels to Check Out
Whether you're in the mood for some new sales tips, humor, minimalist lifestyles, or mansion tours, these YouTube channels have what you're looking for.
When it comes to real estate humor, The Broke Agent leads the pack. This channel posts inspired, funny content with new videos appearing almost every day. It's also home to Hot Sheet, a daily livestream covering the latest news and trends.
Want to hear from top producing agents? The Keeping It Real channel, hosted by Real Geeks, is a fast, fun way to learn from agents who are genuinely crushing it.
In the mood for some serious coaching? Legendary coach Tom Ferry offers agents daily wisdom, mindset hacks, and interviews with inspirational people from the real estate industry and beyond. A 10-minute investment here will earn you some new strategies for building your business.
Want some mansion tours with a dose of British humor? Producer Michael's channel goes around the world, producing some highly entertaining videos. One of his most popular presentations: a home in California's Bel Air neighborhood touted as the most expensive home in the world. (It's owned by a man who made his fortune selling "fast fashion", including dresses that begin at $6.00.)
Want some viral content to share with your audience? Check out Kirsten Dirksen's channel. She's become a YouTube sensation with her video tours of whimsical homes, DIY projects, backyard gardens and minimalist life philosophies. Her featured properties all have plenty of Wow factor, from shoebox-size Manhattan apartments to Hobbit homes in the woods of Oregon.4
Think Twice Before Listing These Three Homes
508 E 2nd Street, Villisca, Iowa: This American Queen Anne home is currently known as the Ax Murder House, as the owner, his family and two guests were killed in 1912. While the ax-wielding killer was never identified, the home is currently open for tours and sleepovers. Guests report hearing children's voices and a door that opens and closes on its own.
4308 Franklin Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio: Wealthy banker Hannes Tiedemann built a 20-room Victorian mansion here, complete with gargoyles and hidden passages. Instead of enjoying their new home, three of his children, his mother and first wife died soon after move-in. Another daughter died aged 15, while a son died at 41. Some locals claim that Hannes was responsible for at least two other deaths, including a 13-year-old niece.
108 Ocean Avenue, Amityville, New York: Yep, it's the famous two-story home that inspired the movie The Amityville Horror and was the scene of a family mass murder in 1974. Although the 1975 tenants moved out two months after moving in, the current tenants aren't reporting any hauntings. It last sold for $1.46 million earlier this year. In addition to changing its address, the property is fogged on Google Street View to help deter trespassers.5
Sources: 1themreport.com, 2later.com, 3theamericangenius.com, 4theclose.com, 5hgtv.com
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