Housing News
AG Flash Poll results – real estate brokerage models
This week’s AG Flash Poll asked what our readers thought of real estate brokerage models and the results were quite interesting. While most people who answered the poll questions were currently licensed at a traditional, full service real estate brokerage, not all seemed to have faith in that model.
While 64% would start a traditional, non-rebate, non-discount, full service brokerage if they had to set out on their own in 2011, 16% would offer full service at a discount with the least popular option being the rebate model. Although the rebate model gets a lot of press, especially on the coasts, our readers deemed it to be the least desirable model in which to be the broker.
All of those answers are relatively predictable as where you hang your license is typically where your comfort zone already is (so why change?). What did surprise us, however is which models were believed to go extinct first with answers all over the place. Nearly 30% believed that discount brokers who offer partial service would go first, but the remaining respondents were almost equally split between traditional full service, discount full service and rebate real estate models.
So what does the future hold?
Last week, we discussed the rise of the independent broker but drilled down into more detail this week to learn that if AG readers had to open their own brokerage today, most would stick to the traditional full service real estate brokerage model, but there is nowhere near a unanimous vote for which model will die off first.
One respondent opined that “brokerage firms will further move toward niche marketing. Some brokers with experience will charge monthly or hourly fees, or will charge by a predetermined negotiated fee for services to be performed.”
Tell us in comments what real estate model you think will outlast the others.
Click the images below to enlarge.
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
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Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Matt Thomson
January 14, 2011 at 1:21 am
The agent-centric model is the one that will last. Agents want to be self-sufficient, thus the popularity of independents. However, agents benefit from tools and systems offered from big box companies and most agents, admit it or not, thrive in an actual workplace and suffer when working from home or in their cars or in a coffee shop. Synergy is a real thing.
Thus, a big company that offers great tools, great support, great training, positive synergy, yet is focused on the agent and not on themselves and lets the agent brand themself and not the company, will survive.