Real Estate Career • July 15, 2025

Becoming a Realtor!

by Julia Wallner

Realtor: a person who acts as an agent for the sale and purchase of buildings and land

What was your first occupation?

I am sure you remember memories from your first work experience. However, memories of this employment can leave stories for all the right or wrong reasons for years to come.

First Bad Job Memories:

1. Scooping Rats Hair out of vats of chocolate

2. Any restaurant job that starts with “I was a dishwasher at….”

3. If you are unsure what a lousy job looks like, watch “The Devils Wear Prada.”

The median age for Realtors in the United States is 54.

The median age of the workforce in the United States is 43 years old. The median age keeps going up every decade. Why are realtors still working at ages above the median age? It might be because the leading reasons people leave a job, retire, or move to another career do not issue for real estate agents.

Top Reason Why People Leave A Job:

1. No Flexibility: Work-Life Balance

2. Not Appreciated by their superior or customers

3. The work is not exciting.

People think money or benefits is the driving reason for someone to leave a job. But, on the contrary, fulfillment to the community, work, and life is a leading reason people stay at a job.

Age over Beauty;

This phrase “age before beauty” means that old people should be served first, and the beautiful and young should be served or assisted later. However, it is mostly used by old people in a funny way to flatter the young people. A seasoned pro can make the difference when buying or selling a home. The average income for a realtor working 20-40 hours is $46,000 a year. The real estate career allows you to work in the place you call home, for the community you love, and for as many of the years you choose.

Become A Realtor

Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, helping others can be a gratifying experience. At ERA Real Solutions, we are committed to helping people fulfill their dreams by providing expert guidance and support throughout the home-buying process. As one of the top-10 ERA franchise systems brokerages, we take pride in our boutique approach, which has helped us achieve a 98.7% customer satisfaction rating. Our full-time agents are highly skilled and dedicated to providing the highest quality service, making us “The New Standard in Real Estate.” Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us to learn more!

Sellers • June 15, 2025

How to Stage a Backyard to Sell

by Julia Wallner

When people choose to buy a house, if a yard is on their wish list, you must show off your prospective property in a way that makes them love your backyard at first glance. As crucial to staging a house correctly, curb appeal and your yard can be your most significant selling point.

5 Tips to Success:

1. Touch up the mulch. A simple way to make it clean and modern.

2. Look at the Sun Patterns. If your yard is hot in the afternoon, ensure shade for your possible new buyers.

3. Upgrade your shed- A cute shed can win the females’ purchase and have a lot of say in the purchase.

4. Add Outdoor Lighting – Some solar-paneled outdoor lighting in the backyard can give a great touch.

5. Realvitalize: TeamERA uses our Realogy program to use money in the closing cost to help you make your backyard shine.

Using an ERA Real Solution agent, you have a professional to help you navigate staging your backyard to make every buyer’s wish list. The realvitalize program allows you to use funds from your seller’s budget at closing to revamp parts of your home to help it sell faster.

Sellers • May 15, 2025

Spring Cleaning: Selling Your Home

by Julia Wallner

It is no secret that Spring is coming, if we are ready or not. Are you prepared to sell your home? Spring is a great time to get everything to make the change. There are some great secrets to selling that everyone should know. The top three are below.

Secrets to Selling Your Home

1. Biggest Secret: The first impression is the only impression.

Everyone has different tastes. Your home on display to others has an impression with or without you present. People associate the house with the surrounding objects. Making sure you give your home’s first impression top priority.

2. Second Secret: Spring Cleaning is a great place to start.

There are few rites of Spring more satisfying than the annual deep clean. For many people, however, the pleasure comes only after the work is finished. Attached is a Spring Cleaning Checklist from Martha Stewart.

3. Secret Third: Find An Agent to Help Make Your Spring in a New Home.

Hiring an agent to help you find or sell your home this Spring will alleviate many lost hours of sleep. It will allow you to enjoy the new yard, kitchen, or neighborhood you always wanted.

Secure Your Sale with An Secret Agent;

Have Our ERA family on your side.

ERA Real Solutions Realty is a top-10 ERA franchise systems brokerage. Our boutique approach allows us to run at a 98.7% customer satisfaction rating. Our high-quality, full- time agents have quickly made us “The New Standard in Real Estate.”

Seasonal • April 15, 2025

April Showers Bring May Flowers!

by Julia Wallner

Spring Cleaning is synonymous with April. We open our windows for fresh air and look outside to see our neighborhood’s blooming pops of colors. Having a home ready for the Spring is the same attribute as preparing your home for selling or what you desire when searching for your new home. Everyone thinks about Curb Appeal, but it is much more.

From Green to The Colors of Spring

The color of a green yard is undeniably the first thing people see when coming to a home for the first time—using flowers to give a home a little pop of color outside with some well-placed perennials is a great idea. Better Homes and Garden offers you a list of their top favorite perennials to give you a Spring look that will make every house’s curb appeal better year after year.

Our Favorite Peony

The colors should not stop there. Adding a little pastel to the home’s interior is a great welcome to your guests.

How NOT to overdo Color

If you do not know how to match color, do not worry about HDTV and the internet; the experts can promptly bring even the most straightforward home buyer to a trendy setter. No one wants their home to look like a pastel Easter Egg. You can add subtle tones of color that still reflect Spring but make your home feel like you.

We liked this color advice the best. We are partial to some Red.

IF YOUR WALLS ARE CRISP WHITE, TRY…

TULIP RED

We have made the house visibly appealing. Do not forget to make sure it smells like a Bright Spring day. Air Ventilation is an essential aspect of a home. Proper insulation, airflow, and ventilation are vital to keeping heating and cooling bills at a minimum. Or you can do what everyone does in the Spring, open a window for ….

A little Fresh Air

How a green home really “breathes.” Six Great Tips!

There is so much to understand when buying or selling a home. Why not make it easier with some help from us?

“Have Our ERA Family on Your Side” is a slogan of ERA Real Solutions Realty, which is among the top-10 ERA franchise systems brokerage. Our personalized approach to real estate services has enabled us to maintain an outstanding 98.7% customer satisfaction rating. Our team of experienced and dedicated agents is committed to providing high-quality services that have made us “The New Standard in Real Estate.”

Seasonal • March 15, 2025

The March Madness of Spring

by Julia Wallner

If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. Is there any truth to this saying? Weather folklore sayings are as colorful as our imagination. But if you agree with the Farmer’s Almanac or not, most people start stirring just like the hibernating animals for the warmth of the spring sun.

Some people can not wait for the sun to get warm to fulfill their needs. They instead engage in the time-old tradition of Spring Break or vacation to get away.

Did You Know?

Spring break started in the mid- 1930s when a swimming coach from Colgate University in frigid Upstate New York decided to take his team down to Florida for early training at a brand-new Olympic pool in sunny Fort Lauderdale. The idea clicked with other college swim coaches, and soon the spring training migration became an annual tradition for swimmers nationwide.

Maybe the stirring for you isn’t about the sun at all; perhaps it is the March Madness of college basketball. Filling in the brackets, watching the upcoming talent emerge, and hoping the Cinderella team you picked make you proud.

Did You Know?

The first NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament was played in 1939. It had eight teams. Oregon is the first NCAA tournament champion, beating Ohio State for the title.

Or – Are you a Wee Bit Irish or Not? Wearing green and celebrating the Irish tradition has been officially a Christian feast day since the early 17th century. It is a holiday across much of the world for many religions.

Did You Know?

Records show that a St. Patrick’s Day parade was held on March 17, 1601 in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida.

Breaking out of the winter funk to the spring happens if we engage in the Madness of March, St. Patrick’s Day or a personal holiday. If you realized over the long winter haul that you need to move your home to Florida to an open concept, or maybe you decided you want to go tiny. ERA Real Solutions Realty can help you with your home needs.

ERA Real Solutions is a top-10 ERA franchise systems brokerage. Our boutique approach allows us to run at a 98.7% customer satisfaction rating. Our high-quality, full-time agents have quickly made us “The New Standard in Real Estate.” With offices in Florida, Kentucky, and Ohio, we can help you wherever your March takes you.

Buyers • February 15, 2025

BUYING YOUR HOME

by Julia Wallner

As the school year begins from college to elementary, we remember that planning for the first day of school takes preparation. Purchasing a house is a considerable expense and decision for most. Researching homes is the start of the homework, but asking the right questions of those involved can make all the difference. From the final offer to the neighbors, doing homework on your dream home purchase is not only about the house wish list.

Three Things You Need to Know!

1. Don’t Try to Time the Market

Waiting for the market to be ready for your perfect house will never give you your dream home. The dream home has nothing to do with timing. The best time to buy is when you find your perfect house, and you can afford it.

2. The Prior Owner: Why did they purchase the home?

The home you purchase could have been someone’s dream home before they placed it on the market. Why not ask them all the critical questions about the home you are about to buy from the person who loves it too?

3. Make precise demands. Be upfront about extras, such as curtains, light fixtures, or appliances that you want included with the house. If it is included in the offer, you get what you want in the end. Your dream home means you need to do your homework to know what you want and need ahead of time.

Do you Love:

1. your neighborhood?

2. your community?

3. helping others?

Check out our checklist.

Become a realtor. Join our team.

Whether you are an introvert or an extrovert, people get great satisfaction most days by being altruistic to others. Making people’s dreams come true by helping them easily navigate one of the most significant purchases of their lives is the definition of the word realtor—contact ERA Real Solutions.

ERA Real Solutions is a top-10 ERA franchise systems brokerage. Our boutique approach allows us to run at a 98.7% customer satisfaction rating. In addition, our high-quality, full-time agents have quickly made us “The New Standard in Real Estate

Buyers • January 24, 2025

BUYING YOUR HOME

by Julia Wallner

Buying a home can be stressful. First Time Homebuyers or not, trends in society can be unpredictable, but if you start with this list as a guideline, the process becomes a checklist for each stage of the purchasing process.

How to Get to A Contract on a House?

Here are the things you need to do to succeed:

Preliminary

People like to skip one or all of these steps. Ultimately these three tasks give you the best approach to finding a home.

Get Finances in order: Do you honestly know your credit score or monthly expenses?
Obtain a pre-approval for a mortgage: Setting realistic expectations starts here.
Pick a real estate agent: It takes a village and a villager who knows how.

Start the Search

The internet has given us a fall sense of expectations regarding shopping. Unfortunately, these steps can take longer than your Amazon Prime orders.

Have an agent schedule showing: Some listings only make it to realtors.
Find your dream home: Finding a home has some compromises.

Make an offer

Making an offer does not mean you will hear “yes.” This stage might be repeated more than any of us like during the purchasing process.

Review Contract and Terms: Please read a legal document.
Negotiate purchase price: No one likes no, but “yes” would be a reason to ask.
Choose a Title Company: Ask your realtor for a referral.
Shop for Home Insurance Options: Start with your rental insurance company.
Prepare for the down payment/earnest money: Be able to have the funds accessible.
Choose Target Closing Date: Make it work for you.
Sign the Offer: Best Part

Under Contract

This is the checklist needed before you can close, divide and conquer.

Deliver Escrow Check: Running an errand.
Secure a home loan: Unless you are paying in cash, critical step.
Acquire home insurance and send proof to the lender: Follow the directions.
Schedule a home inspection: Real estate agent can help with this.
Order an Appraisal: Get the information before this stage to have it ready.
Conduct a Title Search: The title defines your property in a legal document.
Verify Funds for Closing: Cart Review
Schedule Closing: The Deadline

Our checklist can help but sometimes, having a trusted professional who has the experience and a team selling homes for over 50 years on your side makes this checklist come with a seasoned coach.

Contact ERA Real Solutions to help you find your next home.

Uncategorized • November 7, 2024

Having Our Home Holiday Ready: Crib Edition

by Julia Wallner

During the holidays, there are expectations about when to put up the Christmas tree, the best appetizer to bring, and what you can tackle before the holiday begins. From the smell of pies to the light twinking in the newly darkened sunset skies, the holidays come with fun, challenges, and the making of memories.

Things to Remember About Your Home Needs During the Holidays

Start Now!

No matter how you spend your time, starting early and working towards your goal is excellent advice from The Spruce. Some of us are procrastinators. Some of us are social butterflies. Time flies during the holiday season. If you plan now, the holidays can be exactly how you pictured, as perfect as the Hallmark Channel movie you wanted last night.

You shouldn’t plan a home renovation just because guests are coming. Still, if you’re already itching to get new appliances or replace your floors, the finite timeline that comes with holiday hosting might be the nudge you need to make those updates finally.

2. Declutter and Get Ready!

Pottery Barn has excellent tips and tricks for holiday fun in your home, and it brings us to one of the more important things we forget cleaning out the drawers for guests and decluttering in general. The irony is no one uses these items much anymore, but our memories sometimes hold us for decluttering. How can you declutter and keep the memory; Be Creative!

3. Hire a Professional

Sometimes hiring someone who likes the holidays, knows the industry, or can help you navigate a crazy time is a great way to help you with the nerves on the holidays. The holidays pull out our most potent memories of families, and moving from a house during this time can be even more stressful to pack your home during a time that evokes a large amount of happiness. Having a family or team behind you and helping you find what you need to succeed during the holidays is essential.

Ordering dinner, hire a personal shopper and a realtor if you are selling your home during this holiday to make sure someone is on your side when finding a house that will give you the same feelings as you as the home you are selling.

TeamERA is here during the holidays or any time of the year to help our community deal with the changes that come with finding and selling your home. We love the communities we call home, so we are happy to help families feel the same feelings they might miss.

Uncategorized • October 7, 2024

Show Me The Money; Recruiting Real Estate Agents

by Julia Wallner

The time real estate agents hear Show Me the Money, like the screen in Jerry McGuire, is more than most people can handle. However, the clientele works with their life’s most significant purchase or sale. Yelling louder and louder for your client to get everything on their wish list makes the best real estate agents.

At ERA Real Solutions Realty, our real estate market strategy to have the best agents for our clients is the heart of our mission, culture, and team mentality. Creating the best team for each market is how we succeed. If these things are in place, we show our agents the money.

Five things we consider when recruiting:

1. Not Always About the Money:

Changing jobs isn’t all about the money, either, as 74 percent of younger employees would accept a pay cut for a chance to work at their ideal job, and 23 percent of those seeking a job wouldn’t need a pay increase to take a new position.

2. Leadership is accessible.

Leaders are visible and accessible: Employees support leaders who are transparent, accessible, honest, authentic, and who invest in them. When an organization’s leaders are front and center and make themselves available to everyone, it creates a sense that “we’re all in this together,” and employees are much more likely to feel good about the goals they’re working towards and the company’s mission.

3. Give the employees the recognition they deserve.

“Having a positive culture and workplace environment helps a lot, as it encourages teamwork and communication, which increases engagement and opportunities for teammates to learn from each other. We also do regular shoutouts to people at all levels of the organization for great work or superior effort. These kudos cost nothing but provide important public recognition for a job well done, effectively compensating people in the form of social currency, which is highly valued.” – Gary Beasley, co-founder and CEO of Roofstock

4. Foster a collaborative environment, not a competitive one

People, in general, want an enjoyable place to work. For millennials, that means a site that is not cutthroat. According to The Intelligence Group, 88% of millennials prefer a collaborative environment to a competitive one. Working with enthusiastic, positive, energetic people who’re at the same time professional at their fields and share professional values is like a gift from heaven.

5. Opportunity to Advance and Learn

Employees like to know that there is a pathway that will allow them to move up the organization’s ladder. They do not want to be stuck in a dead-end job with no possibility for career growth and development. Employers that promote from within and offer development opportunities will have a higher rate of employee retention than those that do not.