News and Insights

When the market is fast and hot like it is this spring, it can be hard to find the time to work on your business and not just in it. 
 
But enhancing relationships, building skills, and staying abreast of trends and topics that affect the industry and your community are essential to creating a vibrant, sustainable business. 

By Cynthia Adams, co-founder and CEO of Pearl Certification

How well do you think you know what the average buyer wants in a home? Elevate Energy recently hosted four focus groups of Chicago homeowners and real estate agents to better understand what features they prioritized when purchasing a home and how Pearl Certification’s materials impacted their view of the home. What they learned was surprising!

Talk to any veteran NAR Green Designee, and they'll tell you that keeping up to date on industry changes is critical to building and sustaining your green niche. 

That's just what the newly updated GREEN Designation Course: People, Property, Planet, Prosperity helps you do. 

In mid-February, architects, builders, prospective buyers, and REALTORS® were among those who came out to learn about and see progress on a net-zero development, Array, that Jodi Bakst is developing in Orange, NC. 

The event was the culmination of nearly four years of work on Bakst's part that included assembling the land, establishing a vision, and choosing a design and construction team.

Christina Laney Mitre, REALTOR® ASSOCIATE, GREEN, CRS, SRES®, with Corcoran Pacific Properties, Honolulu, Hawaii, recently expanded her real estate business scope to include green real estate services. 

She works alongside her mother and mentor, Yumi Laney, who has been in the real estate business for 43 years.