WTF is a Touring Agreement

Tech with Ty.

🤖 [T]echnology: Dang, I want an AI Clone

🎓 [E]ducation/Entertainment: WTF is a Touring Agreement

💪[C]oaching: More Than a Handshake and a Smile

📹 [H]ow To: Navigate Canva

[T]echnology:

As a control freak, I find it hard to let go of even the most trivial tasks. As CEO and janitor, I’ve often joked that I wish I could clone myself. 👥

Well, I may be able to do that in the near future using AI.

I’ve talked about using AI avatars with software like HeyGen, but adding a large language model trained on stuff you’ve already written or videos you’ve been in to train it would be mind blowing. 🤯
 

Imagine if I could feed my avatar all of the YouTube videos I’ve done, all of the Tech with Ty emails, and all of the legal policies and regulations for the states in which I’m a broker. When you think about it, that’s still a relatively small set of data compared to what OpenAI and Google are trying to train their models on. 🤔

I thought this might take a while, but AI gonna do what AI gonna do and move at warp speed…⏩⏩
 

Check out this video of Reid Hoffman interviewing the AI version of himself:

Dang, I want an AI clone…I guess I’m going to push that FineTune button on HeyGen. Did I mention they have a streaming option now? Stay tuned…for an update next week.

[E]ducation:

Look at Zillow being all innovative and sh*t…

I know what you’re thinking right now. This is what NAR should’ve done…

WRONG. ❌❌❌❌
 

This doesn’t help with transparency. It only helps protect Zillow’s online lead revenue.

This is not good for the consumer or the agent…this makes agents glorified door openers. 🚪👋
 

I get it, they’re going to send this via dotloop after a friendly conversation between a consumer and someone from their call centers, and they’ve essentially covered their ass, but bad…this devalues the agent value proposition.

The agent, in this case, has no fiduciary responsibility to that perspective buyer and can use any information gathered to the advantage of other clients, potentially in a dual agency situation.
 

Meanwhile, the buyer also has no contract with the agent/broker, creating a procuring cause nightmare. 😭

I’m not an attorney, but I can see these types of agreements used in an open house situation. Otherwise, under the new NAR rules you can’t represent buyers coming through your open houses (on the purchase of that property).

Until then, remember, Zillow is not your friend. They are your competitor and are owned by companies like Vanguard and BlackRock. 🤢

[C]oaching:

Often overlooked, NAR puts out some amazing resources and data for agents.

Here’s how to leverage that data…⬇️⬇️

Sure, homeowners can try selling their homes on their own, but let’s face it: unless they’ve secretly mastered the real estate market overnight, they're likely leaving a hefty chunk of change on the table. Homes agents handle fetch around $405,000 on average, while those FSBO adventures? They average about $310,000. That's nearly $100k that could have been in their pockets. That’s not just a small difference—it’s a new luxury car or a year’s college tuition kind of difference! 😮

As I’ve mentioned in my NAR video updates and possibly in Tech with Ty, we are in a country that spends over $52 billion per year on lawn care. Consumers want the easy button, a seasoned pro who can navigate these tricky tides and ensure the sale doesn't just go through but that it sticks the landing financially and legally.

So, when you roll out your pitch, don’t just talk about putting up signs and hosting open houses (maybe). Tell them about the real stuff—maximizing their sale price through expert marketing, deep market knowledge, and airtight compliance with the latest laws. ✍🏻

(insert broken record message about how agents should be doing videos on these exact topics)

You’re not just selling a service; it’s financial security, legal assurance, and, yes, a heck of a lot less stress. 😟😟
 

Isn’t that worth more than just a handshake and a smile? 🤝😊

[H]ow To:

For some of you, you have never touched Canva before. Others use Canva almost every day. (or every hour like me) 😏

Canva is truly the best graphic design tool to ever come out. Yes I am including all Adobe products. Canva is just so affordable, extremely user friendly and gets right to the point. Canva took me about a half hour to really figure out the first time I used it. Adobe was a different story. I watched countless YouTube videos and even took college courses and I STILL don’t know even 50% of what it is capable of. 🫨

Canva brought graphic design to the average business owner or real estate agent. Going back to its affordability, you can sign up for FREE. In my opinion the Pro version is more than worth it at just $120 a year. 

If you have never used Canva before, it is time for a basic lesson brought to you by moi. If you have used Canva before, sit back, read through, maybe you’ll learn something you didn’t know. 🤷🏼‍♀️
 

We are starting at the basics. The homepage. 

Let's just go top to bottom here.↕️

If you look at the top left where you see three straight lines, you can click to toggle the sidebar in and out. 

Underneath that you have the button to “Create a Design”. 

There are sooooo many options to format your designs. Whatever you need, just type it in and see if they have it. Yard signs, business cards, Facebook posts, brochures, see if they have a format. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Next, we have Magic Studio. Magic Studio is just their code word for AI. All of Canva’s AI tools are labeled under “Magic”✨. If you want a quick tutorial on how to use their tools, I already made a video. 

Below Magic Studio, you can browse all of Canva’s already created Templates. Whether that be presentations, social media posts, print products, search away to find what you need!

Up next is "Brand". To be quite honest, I have never really used this option before but if you don’t have the marketing brain and want to start creating your own style, try it out. You can pick out your brand colors 🌈, stylized voice, logos, or even slogans you have created to generate content based on your brand. 

Below Brand is "Apps". Apps is more of a playground of all the different editing assets Canva offers. You can check out what is popular, what most people are using and think of ways to bring them into your designs. They also promote any partnerships they have with other platforms such as the social media posting platform “Later”. 📱 
 

Last but not least we have “Add Members” and “Trash”. If you want to add members to your Canva so they can access all your designs and also play around with your stuff, you are able to do that here. ($7 a person). I have to mention the trash button as if you ever accidentally click trash on one of your designs you can access them here and bring them back to life. (It is actually easier to trash your designs than you may think lol) 🥴🥴

We have just scratched the service of Canva but this is a good foundation to get yourself started. Stay tuned for next week’s part 2! 

-Ty Morton