Archive for March, 2008
Real Estate Radio USA Podcast Interview
March 28th, 2008 Categories: real estate radio usa
Yours truly was interviewed on Real Estate Radio USA yesterday…
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26 minutes of me babbling away with Barry and Barry…
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Sphere: Related ContentRedfin Isn’t Going Away, They Are Shaping The Business of Tomorrows Real Estate Brokerage
March 27th, 2008 Categories: Redfin, Social Networking, alternative real estate commission models
Redfin published their 2nd annual business findings on March 24th, The Redfin Advantage: Year Two A Comprehensive Analysis of Redfin’s Second Year of Real Estate E-Commerce. From 50,000 feet, the fact that a real estate brokerage puts out these statistics for all to see is unheard of. Diving in for a closer look reveals how this much maligned industry player is laying the ground work for tomorrows real estate broker and brokerage business model and motivations.
Redfin uses technology to address the inefficiencies of the traditional real estate model and works the industry like a business, using proven business strategies, better than any other major brokerage I know of. Maybe there are brokerages out there who focus on (and reward) customer satisfaction while implementing technology to improve efficiency, but none get as naked as Redfin. As far as I can see everyone else is playing catch up, attending the swelling sea of industry conferences and seminars trying to wrap their heads around (or sell) what players like Redfin are doing. Say it ain’t so, but it is.Real estate professionals on all levels ought to pay attention to what is a well funded experimentation in Web 2.0 real estate business strategy. Granted, they’re VC funded so they can afford to experiment with their ‘ideas’. Redfin -The Business Plan must have been pretty compelling or people smarter than you or me wouldn’t have thrown Other Peoples Millions behind it 
Regardless, they are blazing a path to redefine the brokerage level business and commission model the way Zillow and Trulia have blazed the mucho-million dollar path toward ‘open-listing distribution’. There will be many people who try to dismiss and mitigate the numbers and statistics into irrelevance but the writing is on the wall, two years running now. A computer doesn’t beat an agent nearly as much as it augments their abilities to the point where they can afford to charge a fee more in tune with practical economics.
I’m purposely not getting into the specific statistics in their report, since they will be analyzed and interpreted on many levels and called everything from self-serving to Arringtons tongue in cheek suggestion that a Computer can replace an Agent. However, you cannot ignore what is the most comprehensive work of it’s kind. IMO Redfin obviously uses these reports to self-serve, but they are what they are, I don’t think they’re lying. If the numbers weren’t so good, you may have had to ‘request a copy’ (based on their promise to deliver the annual report).
In todays soft market Redfin posseses what most real estate professionals do not, good positioning. Redfin may be serving a niche market today but I don’t think it’s too much longer before that niche grows out of being called so. Consumers, especially ‘new’ ones, definitively like what Redfin has to offer.
Their model isn’t perfect nor is it meant for everyone (one size does not fit all) but I have to believe that aspects can be gleaned from this body of work and implemented for the betterment of the individual agent as well as the consumer on a broader scale. It’s only a matter of time before the defection from tradition becomes highly sought after. Many agents are already walking down this road using media rich blogs, highly augmented blog-sites (Incredible Agent, Realivent and Blueroof360) and a host of other social networking strategies. Will you have the tools to satisfy the ever discerning, enlightened consumer? How long is it before your business looks more and more like Redfins? How long is it before retaining a client requires you to do so?
Also See:
Sphere: Related ContentBest Real Estate Blog I’ve Come Across in a Long Time
March 27th, 2008 Categories: 4realz, Notorious R.O.B.
R.O.B. and J.E.F.F. are cut from similar cloth, except he’s smarter than me. Once again, wisdom found via the church of Luther.
Rob’s blog has existed for a little more than 2 months and already contains an impressive cache of thought…
Sphere: Related ContentThe XBroker Has Made It To The VARBuzz Finals!!
March 26th, 2008 Categories: Blog Brawl, Social Networking
Its down to the final four over at VARBuzz’s Blog Brawl. The competition has been stiff, the XBroker has been ballin. We are a well coached experienced team with solid front and back court play. The X’s (nice!) and O’s are drawn up, so expect a strong game plan consisting of compelling content with a sprinkle of TXB laced venom
Although there were no shameless plugs for votes this week, you may expect a plethora of such lobbying in the coming days.
If TXB wins the whole shebang, I’m starting a seminar circuit on how to win blogging competitions. All voters for TXB shall receive free admission.
San Mateo Real Estate and The Wilkas’ must go down, Lenore and Alex are good people (I appreciate the drink at Inman NYC 08) but this is competition…Cinderella I may not be, but the shoe fits…
**Update. It’s National Championship time folks. TXB is in the finals, taking on FosterCityBlog for ultimate bragging rights.
Show your love for TXB, voting ends Sunday at 11:59 est. Time to pull out all the stops and leave it all on the cyber-court. I’m going deep for votes, no-holds barred…
Sphere: Related ContentRandom Perceptions About The Mortgage Industry
March 26th, 2008 Categories: Mortgage News, Random
Column like I seem them…
Bankers are entitlement minded elitists, Brokers are street level hustlers.
Presented with an identical deal, a consumer will routinely choose a Bankers offer, much to the Brokers chagrin (read ‘Why I need to be a hustler’).
Bankers don’t have to disclose how much margin they are making, Brokers do but usually don’t (until you arrive at the closing table, then maybe).
Bankers would like to eliminate Brokers. Brokers would like Bankers to play by the same rules they have to.
Consumers are almost as guilty as the ‘professionals’ for the mortgage mess.
‘Stated Wage Earner’ programs are an oxymoron, and a moron invented them.
Yield Spread Premiums are legally defined as ‘an option for the consumer to use to finance all or part of their closing costs. Their real life definition is ‘cha-ching’.
If a mortgage professional tries to rationalize their compensation with a Wal-Mart analogy, hang up the phone, go to Wal-Mart and try to buy a mortgage.
Mortgage rates have nothing to do with T-Bills, the Fed Rate or any other financial index. They have to do with the cyber-hormone emotional marketplace called Wall Street.
Trying to predict what mortgage rates will do next is like trying to predict what a bi-polar crack head will do next, sans meds.
Wall Street + Washington = The rich get richer and the middle class gets bent over.
A ‘write down’ is not a loss, its an unrealized gain. There is a difference.
There’s no such thing as a ‘no cost, no fee’ mortgage, duh.
You will pay through the nose for what you don’t know.
‘Transparency’ is still theoretic rhetoric in the world of mortgage.
People don’t trust mortgage professionals, period.
The credit crunch is akin to the industry choking itself out today for the mistakes it made yesterday.
Option ARM’s don’t deserve the reputation they’ve gotten. A bullet can’t be fired without a gun.
Last weeks used car salesman is yesterdays mortgage broker is todays used car salesman. (I personally know more than 10 people who have followed this path, nothing against used car salesman, just pointing out the corollary)
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