Comments on: Future of Real Estate Brokerage: Part 1 – Why Change Is Coming

By: Steve Mattison

Steve Mattison — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:46:49 +0000

What, change is coming, and we need to be ready? I am old and old people do not like change, change bad, we need to stop with the new ideas and trying to do things differently, we have always done it this way and it works so why try to fix something that isn’t brokennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

By: Brad Nix

Brad Nix — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:11:17 +0000

Great insight in to how the industry may change. As a small broker/owner myself I have already made many of the adjustments you outline to raise profitability. (trim staff salary, less sf/agent, sublease office space to create multi-tenant environment with cpa, attorney, stone salesman and of course brokerage)

Our web site has become a great bulletin board, forms desk, office water cooler, and marketing resource on the back end while maintaining quality exposure and lead generation for agents on the front end. The free or inexpensive web apps available today make it so easy for the small broker to compete with big brokers. But you know this stuff already, which is why I like you (the liquid tylenol is just a bonus).

And ditto what Sherry says about “The current economic situation has actually helped move things in the right direction.”

By: Sherry Chris

Sherry Chris — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:10:46 +0000

What a wonderful opportunity to be able to be involved in what the future of the industry will look like. I couldn’t be more excited! Eric, look forward to working together on this project…

By: Eric Stegemann

Eric Stegemann — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:51:55 +0000

Clearly the office style is not the only answer here although it is part of a solution. SQFT per agent needs to drop immensely, it’s the 50sqft/agent (or less) companies that are the winners in a downturn and will be the big winners in an upturn. The large 5000 sqft office with $90-200k/month in expenses is clearly out the window.

And the process of shifting to different models won’t happen overnight, but big shifts will be visible by 2012 and then by 2020, we won’t recognize what we have today.

But it’s a challenge that should be looked at with open arms on how to get from here to there. The willing participants that enjoy change will be those that have the most success long term (Either through short term failure or through wild success.)

By: Sherry Chris

Sherry Chris — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:57:27 +0000

Clearly, the industry is poised for tremendous change. The current economic situation has actually helped move things in the right direction. We need to end up in a place of broker profitability and agents utilizing technology and adopting a consulting type of service model. With over 1M agents currently licensed, the changes will take time. They won’t happen overnight, and are not as simple as developing wireless cafe-like offices. They need to begin at the core of the industry. An exciting challenge for some, but not for all.

By: Eric Stegemann

Eric Stegemann — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:05:44 +0000

Any agents reading this, I would love to know what you would think of being paid on a salary basis + Bonus + benefits. I will include comments in the next posting on salaried based Realtors.

By: Diane Guercio

Diane Guercio — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:39:07 +0000

Great, insightful post. As an agent who has been in real estate only two years, I have seen these consumer-driven changes being forced upon this industry. I think you are right on the money.