Happy Tuesday!

If Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton decides to hang up his helmet after Sunday’s dramatic loss, at least he has a back-up career option: flipping Tribeca real estate. Hamilton’s stunning penthouse, a converted 19th-century bookbindery, features a rooftop pool, 20-foot ceilings, and a private elevator. He purchased the property for $44M in 2017 and just sold it for $49.5M. With that price tag, it's the biggest known downtown sale of the year. How fast do you think he raced to sign that deal?

– James and David

Today's Blueprint:

• Keep an eye on these emerging tech trends

• Time to get well-versed in the metaverse

• Let’s talk gains: crypto vs. real estate

• How to host a progressive open house

These 2021 tech trends aren’t going anywhere

As housing demand hit historic levels this year, a whole swarm of real estate startups and tech solutions elbowed their way into the market. While many of these eager beavers will fade away in the coming months, these real estate tech trends emerged in 2021 and might have some staying power:

1. Everyone’s launching their own home showings service. And dozens of them are vying for partnership offers from their local MLSs. With many MLSs hesitant to keep using ShowingTime now that Zillow owns it, there’s more room than ever for a showing-services-shakeup in 2022.

2. Mergers are on the rise. Throughout 2021, MLSs consolidated their listings platforms and mega companies like Zillow, CoStar, and Compass made headlines with their major acquisitions of tech solutions. Expect to see a host of new alliances next year as tech platforms and industry realize we’re all better together. 

3. MLSs turn inward. Rather than risk partnering with a third-party tech provider that could get bought out in the future, many MLSs are now hiring internal talent to develop their own custom tech solutions.

Our take

Industry tech is always going to be evolving and impacting how we communicate with clients, book showings, send listings, and more. If you can take advantage of these tech trends, that can be a huge benefit to you. But that one-on-one relationship with your clients will always be your biggest value. All the tech in the world can’t replace relationships. 

Not to get all “meta” here but…

The most lucrative real estate market might just be the most digital. In the last week of November, more than $100M worth of metaverse properties were sold. Most of this land is located in The Sandbox and Decentraland. Metaverse land investors use the same strategies they would in the real property market. They study location, accessibility, nearby attractions, local comps, and property size. 

Some call the metaverse the next Manhattan. Others call it speculation. And some just can’t quite wrap their heads around it. But Facebook’s recent rebrand to Meta coupled with the rising popularity of NFTs sent the industry through the roof in recent months.

Our take

The metaverse industry is complex and still in its early stages, but it does add an interesting opportunity for investment diversification. Keep a close eye on these kinds of opportunities. It’s your responsibility to stay up to date on real estate, whether that land is real or not-so-real.

Is Bitcoin or real estate better for investors?

According to this recent investment comparison report, over the past five years Bitcoin has undoubtedly outperformed real estate in the top 100 largest U.S. cities. For over a decade Bitcoin has beaten everything from stocks and bonds to commodities and real estate. But that stellar performance comes at a high cost: wild volatility. 

Real estate has offered investors double-digit returns in 96 of the 100 largest cities, at just a fraction of the risk and volatility that accompanies crypto. While crypto is fun to talk about, real estate continues to be a top-recommended investment because of its comparatively steady growth, major rental income potential, and tax benefits over time.

Our take

Investing in crypto, like metaverse real estate, does help diversify your client’s portfolio. But even with home prices at all-time highs, there’s still value (and less volatility) in owning real property. Your buyers’ first priority should be to own their own home. After that, they can weigh the risk and return of crypto versus investment properties. 

Schematics 

The news that just missed the cut

• Long live the Queen and her royal real estate

• Here’s what $1.5M looks like in California

• The 10 biggest real estate funds have raised a whole lotta dough lately

• Check out the cheapest home listing in the top 100 priciest zip codes

• After this record-breaking metaverse sale, Snoop Dogg has a new (virtual) neighbor

Foundation Plans

Advice from James and David to win the day

As your potential buyers begin traveling for the holidays, you’re going to find it harder to draw a crowd to a physical open house. But social media makes it easier than ever to host back-to-back live open house tours. Here’s how we use this “progressive open” strategy to drive interest towards our listings:

• Team up with other agents at your firm to choose several houses for your progressive open on Facebook and Instagram live

• Make it fun and quick so interested buyers can’t wait to get in the door when they come back from holiday

• Before going live, make sure every agent has a charged phone, knows what they want to share, and has their route mapped out

• Tease some features of the home, like the amazing backyard or beautiful curb appeal so you leave watchers wanting more

• Finally, don’t forget to promote your live event on social media! The more eyes on your listings, the more deals you can close this month.

The best part about progressive opens is that you can break your recorded event into bite-sized pieces to post on social media throughout the week. 

Just in Case

Keep the latest industry data in your back pocket with today’s mortgage rates:

You’re a knowledgeable agent with a lot of potential. We believe in you, so get out there and get to work! 

– James and David

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