Blog - Laura Smith

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I’m Back and So Glad to Be

I have to simply laugh. My last post was on January 1st, 2024. While our industry might suggest I paused my blog due to time constraints and navigating change, the truth is there’s a bigger reason-my blog has also been on pause because I couldn’t log in. It was many moons ago that I set […]
Friday Post

WA State just leveled up our industry. You are ready. We are ready. Stay curious, always.

Hello 2024 it is nice to finally meet you! We’ve been anticipating you for some time now. We are ready. Broker Services Agreements are here. While having Buyers sign Agreements were once previously suggested, they are now required – modernizing the 25-year-old “Agency Law”. Your office is ready, will continue to educate and will help […]
Friday Post

Laughter & marshmallows.

Pictured above 👆 circa holidays 2022 with me atop the ping pong table pushing a marshmallow across its surface with my nose – holiday dress & heals on included. We have a teacher in the family and yes, she brings silly games to all that we do. While I can’t remember the exact rules to […]
Friday Post

A cheat sheet for January 1, 2024

Welcome to Friday everyone! As I sweep this past week I bring to you a cheat sheet for preparing for January 1, 2024 with respect to how to handle Existing Agency Relationships and Pending Transactions. I went direct to the NWMLS counsel to confirm how to handle each specific scenario. Hope this helps! As I’ve […]

Uncategorized I’m Back and So Glad to Be I have to simply laugh. My last post was on January 1st, 2024. While our industry might suggest I paused my blog due to time constraints and navigating change, the truth is there’s a bigger reason-my blog has also been on pause because I couldn’t log in. It was many moons ago that I set […]

Friday Post WA State just leveled up our industry. You are ready. We are ready. Stay curious, always. Hello 2024 it is nice to finally meet you! We’ve been anticipating you for some time now. We are ready. Broker Services Agreements are here. While having Buyers sign Agreements were once previously suggested, they are now required – modernizing the 25-year-old “Agency Law”. Your office is ready, will continue to educate and will help […]

Friday Post Laughter & marshmallows. Pictured above 👆 circa holidays 2022 with me atop the ping pong table pushing a marshmallow across its surface with my nose – holiday dress & heals on included. We have a teacher in the family and yes, she brings silly games to all that we do. While I can’t remember the exact rules to […]

Friday Post A cheat sheet for January 1, 2024 Welcome to Friday everyone! As I sweep this past week I bring to you a cheat sheet for preparing for January 1, 2024 with respect to how to handle Existing Agency Relationships and Pending Transactions. I went direct to the NWMLS counsel to confirm how to handle each specific scenario. Hope this helps! As I’ve […]

Friday Post A FFT moment. Laura, what is a FFT? Laura, what is an FFT? Good question. Let’s go back to March 19th, 2020 for some context and an “Unlocking Us with Brene Brown” podcast Episode. Why is Laura going to the vault and taking us back to 2020? Another good question… As we all continue to prepare for Agency Law Changes we are preparing […]

Friday Post Taking inventory. No left turns… This week my days overflowed with industry chatter as we further prepare for Agency Law changes come Jan 1st, continued refinement in drafts back and forth with Demco on Representation Agreements, deeper conversations on best practices in implementation, hosting business planning sessions, reviewing Standards of Practice summaries, teaching our new broker group & brainstorming a […]

Friday Post It’s Friday, let’s sweep this week! *Did you know?* Welcome to Friday everyone! A few “did you know” odds & ends to sweep this week – let’s see how you do with these statements as we round out the first full week of November 2023… Did you know… …Veterans Day was first recognized in 1918 and is celebrated on November 11th every year. We […]

Friday Post Control what we can control. Facts. Timelines. As I’m sure many of you have seen in the media, our industry got some fairly shocking news this week out of Missouri. The industry is nowhere near knowing the final outcome of this week’s events. The verdict has already been appealed by the defendants and that process could take years. While news like this creates […]

Friday Post A Monday post – a NWMLS hack, health insurance & “I rise.” Good morning & welcome to a fresh new week! Friday was simply full thus a Monday morning post. Packing my bags today and traveling to our annual Windermere Owners meetings for the week. Looking forward to the collaboration & connection across our entire network. I am packing my curiosity for all of us; per usual! 💭 Before I go…sharing […]

Friday Post A formula to sustained success. And a smile & hello formula. Curiosity x (Competence + Congruence + Connection) = Confidence. Last week I left you with the formula above to think about. This will be a theme I will keep in front of us as this is where I observe sustained success. Confidence is a powerful lag result derived from lead measures of curiosity x (competence […]

Friday Post Double Down Ep. 28 “luxury lab” & beyond Excited to share Ep.28 of my Double Down podcast – “Luxury Lab & beyond”… Before you begin listening – approach this episode by removing “luxury” from the title & inserting the “client experience.” Windermere brokers, Susan Stasik, Carmen Gayton, Valerie Hwang & Narcisa Kaminski mic up with me and continue the conversation from this years […]

Friday Post It’s Friday, let’s sweep this week! A look around the corner… It’s Friday! As we bookend this week, let’s take a look around the corner and have a conversation about ethos. And yes, it appears that a beautiful Pacific Northwest weekend is ahead, both for work and play! After last night’s game, it seems our Seattle Mariners are still in the hunt for playoff baseball! What’s […]

Friday Post It’s Friday, let’s sweep this week! Hello Friday! I bought my comedy night ticket (focus of last weeks blog post) & now back to back to market antics, ideas to refocus business in the 4th quarter and interest rate predictions from multiple sources. Let’s begin with the answer from last week’s trivia question as it describes so very well “The Lock-in […]

Friday Post To give & to laugh – that is the question this week! This week we welcomed an uptick in new inventory post summer market, I had a chance to talk with Matthew Gardner on his interest rate prediction and yes, tickets to laugh our butts off and raise for the Windermere Foundation became reality! Next week, I’ll pen commentary on inventory & rates. Today my focus is […]

Friday Post Tuesday “first sips” * back to school, #’s, AI & a ruler Whether you have kids heading back to school or not – we all have one thing in common – Labor Day 2023 is behind us and the seasonality of real estate is underway. I hear of title orders being up (slight surge in orders roughly 3 weeks ago) & stagers busy which points to fresh […]

Friday Post Monday “first sips” * In the film room. It’s in the air – fall & football. A Monday note on both “fall & football” to start a fresh new week… Let’s start with football. Our family has enjoyed this season’s Hard Knocks – a reality sports documentary television series produced by NFL Films and HBO. First broadcast in 2001, the show typically follows a NFL team through its […]

Friday Post Fridays with Laura – is back – hello! “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Anne Lamott Paused the blog, caught a few more sunrises & sunsets, roasted a few more s’mores, somehow made it to Taylor Swift, paddled the lake often, ate the ice cream, traveled for hoop tournaments, took the walks, read the […]

Friday Post It’s Friday – welcome summer! | one approach to focused work. No, I’m not sitting under a palm tree as I write this yet I did have reason to travel to Palm Springs for a couple nights recently. What traveled with me was my current read – “Deep Work – Rules For Focused Success in a Distracted World.” – Cal Newport. As I pen this blog […]

Friday Post It’s Friday, let’s sweep! In community. Market commentary. Proud everyday. Van life. It was a short week after the long holiday weekend yet plenty of content I’ve observed to share as we sweep this week from my desk. Thanks for being here, thanks for being a reader and thanks for being in community. I’ll start with a story…in community. As we (hopefully) each carve out time next […]

Friday Post Memorial Day weekend | In remembrance. Did you know? On Memorial Day, the red poppy is a symbol of remembrance for those who died defending our freedom. Behind each poppy is a story of a life that was lived. Welcome to Friday of Memorial Day weekend! No sweep of this week or prep for next; instead – a nod in remembrance to […]