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Does a Contest Count as Soliciting Referrals?

I saw a Facebook ad. In fact, a broker pointed it out to me where they were wondering if the agent was soliciting referrals in a way that was illegal here in Utah. Hey, I'm Danny, the ethical realtor. In Utah, there is a rule that says a real estate professional cannot pay for referrals as in for someone who's not licensed. So, as a broker, I can't go out and say, “Hey, I'll give you 100 bucks if you bring me a referral that turns into a property sale,” because that enters into the realm of people getting [...]

Does a Contest Count as Soliciting Referrals?2026-08-03T21:20:51-06:00

Are buyers interested in the interest earned on Trust Deposits?

What do you do with the interest that accumulates on money that's being held in a trust account? In real estate, it's often that we are holding money for a client. Usually trust money for a transaction, that's being held just in escrow until the transaction completes. So, for example, if I put in an offer on a home that I want to buy, I usually put in an amount of money toward earnest, which you would talk to an attorney to see how much you want to do. But say, for example, you choose to put in 1% [...]

Are buyers interested in the interest earned on Trust Deposits?2026-08-03T21:44:08-06:00

Is Meth Cleanup Something Buyers Need to Know?

Meth contamination. Do you need to disclose when you're selling your house? The idea of a home being contaminated by a substance that could make you sick, that could damage your health, is a very scary thing. Very big problem. And when this was new, when certain individuals were creating the drug and manufacturing it in their home, and it contaminated the walls and the carpet and the floor and everything, and just by entering the home you could absorb this and get sick, really big deal. I’m really glad that we have really good meth testing now and [...]

Is Meth Cleanup Something Buyers Need to Know?2026-08-03T21:40:55-06:00

Are Ghosts Material? What is a Material Fact?

Are ghosts material? Talking about real estate we pretty much always have a requirement, as real estate agents, brokers, sellers, to disclose all known material defects on a property and pretty much disclose any material facts about the property. But that sort of brings up the question, what is a material fact? And a lot of that's easy to define, like the physical structure of the home. If the roof's leaking, if there's a foundational problem, you know, easy stuff. Those are all physical things. If there's a problem with it so it's not functional to live in the [...]

Are Ghosts Material? What is a Material Fact?2026-08-03T21:33:12-06:00

3 Reasons to Choose the Institute of Real Estate Education

Hey! I'll give you three reasons to choose the Institute of Real Estate Education. Number One We answer the phone when you call. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. We're here to answer your questions and help you with any part of the real estate process of getting your license. And if it's after hours, drop us an email and we will answer. Usually within an hour or so on the weekend or overnight. We're happy to help you in any way we can. Number Two We have the most up to date classes. We update the [...]

3 Reasons to Choose the Institute of Real Estate Education2026-08-03T21:26:59-06:00

Utah Pass Rates for Licensees are Dropping!

I noticed a very disturbing trend in Utah real estate pass rates over the last six months. And this is very concerning to me. The real estate school that you choose to get your real estate license matters a lot. There are a lot of different options out there, and they have different programs, different ways for you to get your education. And you have to pass your license exam to get your license. And so, we all prepare people differently. We all prepare our students in different ways. And here at the Institute of Real Estate Education, we [...]

Utah Pass Rates for Licensees are Dropping!2026-08-03T21:23:57-06:00

Wooden Foundation, Does the Seller Need to Disclose?

A realtor posted a story about a potential material defect that wasn't disclosed to a future buyer. And that created a big question. In this story, they said they had a client that was going to buy a property. And during the due diligence, during their inspections, they found out that there was an addition on the home and the floor of the home was placed on top of a wooden foundation, rather than like a concrete slab or something like that. And so that was one of the reasons that their buyers decided not to purchase the property. [...]

Wooden Foundation, Does the Seller Need to Disclose?2026-07-17T10:28:11-06:00

4 Ways to Make Agents Better in the Industry

If you have an agent on the other side that's not doing what they should do, if they're not communicating properly, if they're not keeping track of the conversation and things, this is something that agents complain about each other online constantly about. But I have four tips on ways that we can work together to increase the professionalism in our industry and help, agents to do a little bit better. 1. Hold brokers accountable for their agents’ actions. Already, sales agents can't work in the industry unless they're supervised by a broker. That broker needs to know if [...]

4 Ways to Make Agents Better in the Industry2026-07-17T10:20:38-06:00

Home Price Inflation is Way Higher than Other Prices!

How much have home prices inflated over 250 years since our country was founded? Hey, I'm Danny, the ethical realtor. Happy birthday, America! 250 years, amazing, love it! Great country to live in, I'm glad I'm here. I saw an infographic going around showing price inflation on various things. One of them was home prices, one of them was commodities, like coffee, one of them was things like livestock, one was the price of gold, since that's like a currency over the years. And one thing stood out to me immediately. Home prices have inflated way more than any [...]

Home Price Inflation is Way Higher than Other Prices!2026-07-17T01:25:31-06:00

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, what is it supposed to accomplish?

Hey, my name is Danny, the ethical realtor. I want to talk about something called DEI. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. But that has gotten a little bit political in the last couple of years, so I want to try to leave the politics out of it and talk about it as a society, as a community, about what the purpose of it is, why we would want to do a thing like that and whether it's working. So the programs such as the DEI, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, one of the main reasons that these started to come into [...]

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, what is it supposed to accomplish?2026-07-17T10:05:21-06:00