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Real Estate Talk

Last week, on May 22, the Bob Rivers radio talk show brought up the topic of Refin and the MLS turf war. The debate was mainly about information and consumers affinity for companies that provide it.  You can listen to the show via podcast from the show website.

Listening to conversations, where ever they take place (radio, Starbucks, blogs) provides a look inside the mindset of today’s consumers. If you listen without becoming defensive, you hear what is really being said. Check out The Buzz Machine by Jeff Jarvis and John Cooks Venture blog for more examples. 

If you follow the common thread through these discussions, consumers are saying that they want access to information. They like Zillow. All the discussion about how bad it is – how far off the zestimates are – doesn’t really make a difference to consumers who like using Zillow and its features. Most consumers want to gather information on their own. They like Redfin.  The more information a company gives, the more the consumer trusts them. At this point, consumers are just happy with information. They don’t seem to care that it isn’t “as good” as the agents CMA or the agents great depth of knowledge about the local area. An agents knowledge is meaningless to a consumer if they have to pick the brain to get a piece of it out.

There are conversations happening all around us. Listen closely.

The Aftermath

A couple comments on the Redfin 60 minute interview.

From a consumers perspective Redfin came out looking like a great alternative or at least something to check out. Those who are saying “when Redfin fails”, just don’t get it. The gaping void is the gap between what consumers think and what real estate agents think they think. Redfin, is stirring up the market because they are appealing to the cravings of the connected consumer. To a large extent, the connected consumer is young, tech-savvy and a niche group that is easily overlooked. But this connected generation is changing the rules, reinventing the infrastructure of the marketplace, and shifting revenue models and expectations.

Lisa Johnson explores new rules of engagement with the connected consumer in her book, Mind Your X’s and Y’s, in which she writes, “Imagine for a moment that the market has always been a play-ground-a place where people go to buy, sell, learn, engage, share, and socialize. The the past, this playground had a few toys and lots of rules. There was always someone carrying whistle, ready to stop the fun. Today, a new model is infusing this stagnant market with life, and in many cases creating new opportunities that no one imagined possible.”

Today’s consumers have a desire to get out there and try new activities, explore, have a part in the process. Redfin understands this. The traditional agent on 60 minutes doesn’t get it. Experience is the new currency. The conversations at cocktail parties have shifted from talking about material possessions to exchanging information about engaging activities. It turns out there are a lot of consumers that want to actively participate. People are tired of being treated as if they are incapable of learning on their own. They are tired of auto-responders and fake conversations. They don’t like being treated as a prospect and are leery of the hard sell. Today’s consumers are savvy, innovative and looking for ways to stop unnecessary, interrupting, or irritating messages.
There’s been a lot of discussion between agents about Redfin and the debate over full service vs discount service or limited service. The real question is what are consumers saying? What works for them? A model like Redfin will appeal to consumers because Redfin invites participation, they have a clear value proposition, and they have features that make the home buying and selling process more transparent and consumer-friendly. Perfect? Absolutely not. Appealing to the connected generation? Absolutely. Of course Redfin isn’t for everyone. But talking about its demise is like talking about the demise of the traditional agent.

Who’s going to win? The Clue Train Manifesto puts it best. “We ask questions about the future of the Web because we think there’s a present direction that can be traced into the future. But in fact, the questions we ask aren’t going to predict the future. They will create the future.”

Bottom line is this isn’t an either or conversation. It’s learning how to bring the off-line world and on-line world together. It’s learning how to be a professional on-line and off-line to serve the needs of clients and boy, do we have a lot of work to do. New models, competition, new ideas and thoughts eventually makes us all better, in our own way. What would happen if we responded to Redfin entering the market as a source of ideas and inspiration, not one of intimidation and defensiveness?

Redfin wishes you all a Happy Mothers Day

Evening Magazine recently ran this feature, glorifying the use of technology and specifically Redfin. “At Redfin, we consider ourselves a customer service organization” Glenn Kelmen says, looking sweetly into the camera.

See video

Now it looks like “60 Minutes” will add some fuel to the fire!

According to Inman News

“60 Minutes” is turning its lens on the real estate industry with a segment Sunday night investigating some familiar topics.The television network has been snooping around the industry, crisscrossing the country interviewing brokers, agents, discounters and government figures.

In January at the Real Estate Connect conference in New York, “60 Minutes” sent a crew to film a debate between Move’s Allan Dalton and Redfin’s Glenn Kelman.”

What is your response? Should there be more stories about “traditional real estate agents”?

And do you even want to be called a “traditional real estate agent” or “full-service agent”? What do you think it means to consumers?

I’ve had a few friends who are real estate agents (and darn good ones) ask me about my thoughts on this growing press and buzz about the new innovators.

I have to say that your best response is to embrace change! Be excited about both real estate and  innovation. Be excited about what you can do for people and about the value you bring. If you feel like you can’t compete – you won’t. This is Darwinism; survival is dependent on adaptation. Bigger (the dinosaur) is not always better – think adaptation again.

Your most connected, influential customers are part of the digerati. They embrace innovation and efficiency and will notice you (and promote you) if you can enter in their conversations. Here’s the catch. Your most connected, influential customers are also time-stretched and want the best in personal service. As long as you can move beyond thinking about what’s best for you, and start building a customer-centric business, you will be able to offer what Redfin can’t.  So… don’t fight innovation; bring it! Add it to your niche. Put yourself in the shoes of a time-stretched, savvy, consumer – you’ll find the answer.

If you still want a good response to Redfin – consider this:

Mark Hurst, the founder of Good Experience once wrote,

“Technology doesn’t need to actually help users, or improve their lives in some way, in order to look really, really cool. Something that looks cool and exciting to me (as MIT-trained geek) can also be largely irrelevant to me (as user advocate). The love of technology isn’t, by itself, for or against helping people- it’s a different interest altogether. Now for the most part I do think that technologists tend to have an interest in helping people – but technology itself doesn’t have a bias…and what you choose to love defines your outlook. It’s important to draw that distinction, I think. What some techies call great, cool, exciting, slick, compatible, – all those have nothing to do with whether the technology is useful, productive, simple, valuable, indispensable. Sometimes – here’s the real heresy- sometimes the best option for users might be less technology. It’s less cool, and makes for a decidedly less exciting press, but it could very well be the more useful option.”

That’s a good response for your customers.

While Redfin enjoys its press, you can have a happy Mother’s Day!

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