Customer reviews and testimonials are a powerful—and free!—marketing tool, which means they should be top of mind for every real estate professional. Start the conversation about reviews and testimonials early with your clients.

Whether you're a rookie in the real estate business or branching out into an unfamiliar market, learn how to overcome potential objections from clients.

REALTOR® John LeTourneau discusses how the philosophy of service he learned while studying for the priesthood informed his real estate career. Read his and other real estate pros' personal stories in "REALTORS® Up Close."

Influencer marketing can help a brand's social capital, but choosing the right influencer is what will make or break the campaign, according to Jason Miller, CEO of Strategic Advisor Board. Companies should figure out their marketing goal, whether that be increased sales, lead generation or brand awareness, and honestly communicate what they want to accomplish to the influencer for the best results.

On top of insurance increases, property managers are facing escalating property taxes, utilities and labor costs. As a result, managers are closely monitoring costs, bidding out contract work and negotiating where possible to find savings.

Vermont-based agent Jenifer Hoffman uncovered a land-selling scam when she sensed a deal was proceeding too smoothly and discovered the supposed seller had stolen the identity of the actual landowners. Hoffman emphasizes the importance of verifying property listings with the town and public records, ideally meeting sellers in person to confirm their identity.

New ad safety tools from Google let marketers select topics to avoid, see the effect of their settings, adjust ad placements on YouTube and use artificial intelligence to flag content similar to material YouTube has previously removed. The Media Rating Council certified YouTube's brand safety at the content level for the third year in a row, and the platform has expanded its suitability inventory to YouTube Shorts and other areas.

Fear is the primary motivator for one-third of corporate leaders, resulting in psychologically unsafe and less efficient workplaces that lose $36 billion each year in productivity, according to research by Love Leadership and First & First consulting. The unconscious fear-based emotions driving such leaders include blame, suspicion, aggression and avoidance and 90% of them confessed to a decrease in productivity from their employees.

Voters in Santa Fe, N.M., have overwhelmingly approved a "mansion tax" on home sales exceeding $1 million to fund affordable housing initiatives, with the tax expected to generate about $6 million annually for the city's affordable housing trust fund. The measure is seen as a way to help teachers, service workers, and other residents who struggle with housing affordability in the face of a national shortage and the influx of high-income remote workers.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has reported that the Federal Home Loan Bank system requires modernization in its structure and operations to better delineate its role in supporting bank liquidity for mortgage lending from the Federal Reserve's function as an emergency liquidity provider.