Tech with Ty

[T]echnology: Black Friday Deals
[E]ducation: Accountability Is Here
[C]oaching: YouTube to Billionaire
[H]ow To: Not Be Deceiving

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[T]echnology: Black Friday Deals

We’re creeping up on one of my favorite holidays… Black Friday. While everyone else is chasing 85-inch TVs and $29 air fryers, I started thinking about something way more fun…The perfect closing gift. (Don’t worry, I’ll still send out a buying guide!) 

Because what says “Welcome home” better than handing your clients the keys… and a smarter house?

Let’s talk Smart Home Starter Kits.They’re affordable, impressive, and far more memorable than another bottle of wine.

💡 Smart Home Kit for Under $50 

Goal: Make their new place feel smart without breaking your budget.

1. Smart Plug Instant magic. Lights, coffee makers, even Christmas trees… all voice-controlled. Try the TP-Link Tapo P125M for around $13.99 or the Meross Matter Smart Plug MSS315 for about $44.99 for a two-pack. 

2. Smart Bulb “Hey Google, set the lights to cozy vibes.” Instant mood shift. Check out the Philips WiZ Color Bulb for around $12.99 or the Nanoleaf Essentials A19 Matter Bulb for about $19.99.

3. Motion or Door Sensor Walk in, lights pop on. Like magic. Look for the Aqara Motion Sensor P1 for around $14.99.

Pro Move: Add a mini setup guide with your logo and a QR code linking to a 60-second welcome video. “Hey, it’s Ty! Congrats on your new home! Here’s how to make it smart in five minutes.”

That’s how you stay unforgettable.

⚡ Smart Home Kit for Under $100 

Goal: Go full Tony Stark mode without the billion-dollar suit. 

1. Smart Hub (Matter-Ready) Brings everything together and works with Alexa, Google, and Apple. Try the IKEA DIRIGERA Hub for about $39.99 or the Aqara Hub M3 for around $129.99 if you want to go premium.

2. Two to Three Smart Bulbs Now we’re lighting up the whole house. Go with Nanoleaf Essentials Bulbs for about $19.99 each or TP-Link Tapo Smart Bulbs for around $12.99 each. 

3. Smart Plug Same as the $50 kit, but this one tracks energy usage too. The TP-Link Tapo P115 Energy Monitoring Plug is a great pick at around $19.99.

4. Smart Sensor A door, window, or motion sensor that makes the home feel alive. Check out the Aqara Door and Window Sensor P2 for about $14.99.

Presentation Tip: Bundle everything in a clean white bin labeled “Welcome Home, The Smart Way.”

Add your card and a handwritten note. 

While everyone else gives candles and cutting boards. You're giving convenience, tech, and bragging rights. 

Every “Hey Siri, turn on the lights” reminds them of you.The agent who made their home smarter before the boxes were even unpacked.

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[E]ducation: Accountability Is Here

Ohio finally did it. 

Lawmakers just passed a bill that puts real rules in place for real estate wholesalers. ⚖️ The people who get a property under contract just to flip that contract for a profit.

For years, wholesalers have been operating in this gray zone. They’re not licensed, but they market properties (most of the time in violation of licensing law), negotiate terms, and often confuse sellers who think they’re working with an agent. Those days are numbered. ⏳ 

The new law says wholesalers must give sellers a written disclosure that clearly states they’re a wholesaler, not an agent, and they might assign the contract for a profit. In plain English, they have to be upfront about what they’re doing. 💬 

If they skip that step, the seller can cancel before closing, and the wholesaler could get hit for deceptive practices. It covers residential properties with one to four units, which means it affects almost every transaction we touch. 🏘️

This matters because we’ve all seen it play out. A wholesaler comes in hot with a “cash offer,” ties up the deal, shops it around, and when it falls apart, everyone else gets caught in the mess. The seller’s frustrated, the listing looks bad, and the reputation of our entire industry takes a hit. 

Now, at least, there’s a little accountability. This law won’t stop wholesaling, but it will stop some of the shady versions of it. Sellers will have more protection, and licensed agents won’t have to compete with people pretending to be professionals.

So, when you see a contract that smells like a wholesale deal, slow down. Ask questions. Make sure the disclosure exists. And if your client gets one of these offers, help them understand what it really means.

Transparency is always the best move. This new law just makes it mandatory. 🏠🇺🇸

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[C]oaching: YouTube to Billionaire

This guy made 660 million dollars off YouTube… and he doesn’t even make videos. 💰

His name’s Scooter Braun. Back in 2002, he dropped out of college with zero connections and decided to crash the music industry party. 🎤 Literally. He started throwing his own events…concerts, raves, fashion shows…until every big name in the business started showing up. One thing led to another, and Scooter landed a record label job, learned everything he could, then walked away to start his own company with eighteen hundred bucks and a ton of nerve. 💪💡

That’s when he stumbled across a kid named Justin Bieber singing on YouTube. Scooter tracked down his mom, flew them to Atlanta, and got him signed. Then he did something no one else was doing in 2007. He went all-in on social media. Posting, promoting, and building a fanbase online when everyone else thought YouTube was just a hobby site. 😅

Three years later, Bieber was selling out arenas. Scooter had built a machine. Then he replicated it. Ariana Grande. Demi Lovato. J Balvin. One success turned into a business. And when the checks started rolling in, Scooter didn’t just spend the money, he invested it. Uber. Dropbox. Spotify. He turned his hustle into an empire, and when a billion-dollar company called HYBE came knocking, Scooter sold for 1.1 billion. His cut? 💸 660 million. 

Now, why should you care about a music mogul in a real estate newsletter? Because Scooter did what every great agent needs to do, he saw what others didn’t. He leveraged attention before anyone understood its value. ⚡ 

Every open house, every social post, every listing video is your version of YouTube in 2007. The question is: are you waiting for someone else to figure out how to use it, or are you going to be the one to do it?

Scooter didn’t have connections. He had curiosity. He didn’t have resources. He had resourcefulness. He didn’t chase clout. He built systems that attracted it.

💭 That’s the real lesson here. 

You don’t need more leads. You need more leverage. Build your audience before you need it. Build your systems before you’re too busy. Build your brand before someone else owns your attention. 

🎯 You don’t have to be a music mogul to think like one. 

This week’s challenge: find one area of your business where you can create leverage instead of effort.

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[H]ow To: Not Be Deceiving

Now that AI has become more universally used, I’ve started to hear and see many agents complaining about people catfishing their listing photos. 🎭 Ever since the creation of Photoshop, agents have been “enhancing” listing photos—but with the rise of AI, those tools have become much more accessible to people who don’t necessarily know how to use Photoshop.

So, how do you know when you’re going too far—and what’s acceptable?

When using AI for virtual staging, it’s important to remember that enhancement should never cross into deception. Adding furniture, décor, or lighting adjustments is fine—but altering the home’s actual condition or structure is NOT. If you’re digitally removing ceiling cracks, refreshing worn carpets, or making wood floors look newly remodeled, that’s a BIG no. Those edits misrepresent the property and can mislead potential buyers, putting you at risk. ⚠️ 

The National Association of REALTORS® has already cautioned that using undisclosed AI-generated or altered images could breach its Code of Ethics—and now, state law is following suit. ⚖️ Beginning January 1st, California’s Assembly Bill 723 will make it unlawful to share edited or AI-enhanced property photos without proper disclosure. 

Real estate professionals will be required to clearly notify buyers when images have been digitally modified and must include either the original, unedited version or a link to it. Failure to comply could result in fines, license suspension, or even revocation—since undisclosed AI imagery could expose agents to potential fraud or misrepresentation claims.

If this hasn’t happened in your state yet, trust me—it will soon. ⏳ 

Regardless, whether it has or hasn’t, you should disclose AI use simply to protect yourself.

So, how and when should you disclose that you’ve used AI?

Honestly? Every single time. The way things are heading, this will become the standard anyway—so you might as well start making it a habit now. The disclosure should be clear and easy to understand. Phrases like “AI-generated” or “created with an AI tool” are widely recognized and effective. 

This also applies to video content. Even on social media, I expect it will become increasingly common for posts to be flagged or reported if AI content isn’t labeled. TikTok, for instance, has already started automatically tagging videos that are AI-generated. 🎬 

I highly recommend making transparency with AI a habit moving forward.

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-Ty Morton + Abby G