Top 10 Most Popular Articles of November

With Thanksgiving behind us and the major winter holidays just ahead, we're sprinting towards the year's end. Before we settle in to our December routines, let's pause and take a look back at our most read articles of last month. From apps to advertising and lead gen ideas, November offered helpful advice for powering through the winter months ahead.

1. 3 Apps for First-Time Home Buyers
Owning a home for the first time can be scary. With that new set of keys comes concerns about property upkeep that former renters have never had to worry about before. If you sense anxiety from first-time buyers that you work with, direct them to the following apps. They ease the apprehension by helping new homeowners understand how their home works and offering actionable steps for keeping up with critical maintenance tasks.

2. 7 Funny Things Real Estate Agents Do
Real estate agents mean serious business... most of the time. But every now and again we have to take a minute to laugh at ourselves. Probably no other job can be as stressful, as rewarding and, happily, as humorous. And now, as the joke goes, you might be a real estate agent if...

3. 5 Ways to Find Buyer and Seller Leads
When it comes to real estate, there is one unavoidable truth: leads are life. Of course, if leads were easy to come by and, more importantly, close, you wouldn't be reading this post. That's why we'll be going over buyer and seller leads today, giving you the information you need to...lead. See what we did there?

4. The 3-Shot Approach to Better Listing Photos
Not sure what to focus on when taking listing photos? Even if you have a solid grasp of lighting and composition fundamentals, it can be easy to overthink how to best capture the essence of a home. Enter this three-step method for telling the "story" of a home. Inspired by photojournalism, this technique lets you convey the essence of every room in a house with three easy shots. You'll never be stuck deciding what to photograph again!

5. New Facebook Advertising Features to Grow Your Business
Facebook advertising, when properly managed, provides a low-risk, high-reward way to promote yourself and your posts on social media. Thanks to Facebook's recent ad updates, you have more opportunities than ever to promote your business. Here are the four most recent Facebook ad changes and how they can promote your real estate business.

6. The Quick Way to Boost Your Computer's Start-up Time
Does it take too long for your computer to start up in the morning? When a few dozen or more programs are all checking for updates at the same time, it's no wonder that things get a little slow. Rather than keeping your computer perpetually turned on to avoid a slow restart, just disable programs from running at start-up. Here's how.

7. November Checklist: Four Tasks Every Real Estate Agent Should Complete
The days are getting shorter, the weather is getting chillier, and suddenly you're craving a hot mug of your favorite beverage and a cozy seat by the fireplace. Welcome to November! Since this month is dedicated to sharing the comforts of hearth and home with your loved ones, it's a fitting time to share those same comforts with your clients by developing your impact as a neighborhood expert.

8. 6 Ways to Get More Real Estate Leads From Zillow and Trulia
Lead generation is a business task that the best agents dedicate time to every single day. It can take months, sometimes years, for the effort to pay off. How can you get results sooner? Leverage your Zillow and Trulia agent profiles. Once you set up your profile, there are a number of ways you can use Zillow and Trulia to get more leads.

9. The Ultimate Real Estate Road Warrior Survival Checklist
As a REALTOR®, your car often serves as your second, or even primary office. You're either heading to a listing appointment or out with a buyer, maybe somewhere in between. While your daily schedule changes based on the needs of your clients from day to day, it's easy to forget something you might need. To make it easier, we've put together a checklist for your road warrior work style.

10. Mistakes to Avoid with Your Hot Prospects
In the midst of your prospecting phone calls, marketing efforts, and referral seeking, what you're really hoping for is to connect with more motivated buyers and sellers, or what we call hot prospects. While it's good to be aware of what you're seeking, are you guilty of these common mistakes that many REALTORS® make when it comes to their best real estate leads?