Housing News
Century21 Realtor in China, dead from overworking says family
(China) Zhou Yu, 28, a Jiangsu Province native and Century21 branch manager was found dead in his apartment earlier this week. Family members claim Yu’s death was caused by overwork and fatigue, although no determination has been made yet as to the official cause of death.
Relatives tell the Shanghai Daily that the Realtor often worked until midnight and rarely kept a healthy routine, while Li, a company spokesman says, “The family, who wants more compensation, are overreacting” and denied Zhou’s death was triggered by overwork. “We have never asked our employees to work overtime, but we cannot rule out the possibility that people will voluntarily stay late.” “We always regard employees as our most important resource.”
Realtors are known to work seven day work weeks, and days that typically extend late into the night, and this unhealthy lifestyle can take its toll coupled with stress and family life. This problem extends around the world and whether it’s a down or up market, this problem may lie solely on the shoulders of the agent to manage themselves as tightly as they manage their business, however, it stands to reason that sales managers and senior executives need to recognize possible warning signs and take action as well as raise awareness within their franchises.
In the U.S., Realtors are more often self-employed contractors and it is difficult for Broker operators to mandate or regulate sales agent work routines which are often dictated by consumer demand rather than the Broker themselves.
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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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John Perkins
April 16, 2011 at 1:39 pm
This is a reported timeline: "Zhou left the office at 17:00 (5PM) on Tuesday and he did not arrive home until 03:00 (3AM) on Wednesday. Four hours later (7AM), he went to take driving lessons and returned home at 11:00 (11AM). He could not be contacted after 13:00 (1PM) that day.
The time line shows he wasn't at work most of that time and had apparently stayed out till 3AM (doesn't explain where but he wasn't at work) and then on 4 hours sleep he takes a driving lesson. A normal 28 y/o doesn't die from overwork but more likely a condition he had or because he lead an unhealthy lifestyle. The family blames the Real Estate company but this would appear false based on the evidence provided. I have serious doubts that C21 has anything to do with his death. Its a sad day for the family though so prayers out to them.