On Monday morning, RE/MAX leadership hosted a live town hall on Facebook to address the role of technology in real estate, the evolution of business and various aspects of Zillow’s recent acquisition of ShowingTime.
Town hall host and RE/MAX Chief Customer Officer Nick Bailey, who has over 20 years of industry experience, offered a unique perspective as he proactively answered agent questions. Being a licensed real estate broker himself and having previously worked for Zillow, Bailey provided a breadth of knowledge and some guidance for RE/MAX agents, who continue to lead the industry with professionalism and expertise.
According to Bailey, Zillow’s purchase of ShowingTime is part of the evolution of business and isn’t cause for panic.
“Take a deep breath,” Bailey advised the thousands of real estate agent who had tuned in. “It’s fine.
“It’s a tech company acquiring a tech company to make the process better for access to homes. That’s it.”
He pointed to the fact that everyone is trying to solve for points in the process during which consumers may become frustrated. Putting consumers first is always a sound strategy, he reminded viewers before noting that despite the presence of iBuyers in the industry, 94% of all real estate consumers in 2020 used an agent to complete their transactions.
“More consumers are needing a trusted advisor and they want your help more than ever before,” Bailey explained. “Millennials [are] a great example. They want to do research, they want to participate in the process [and] they want to use technology throughout the process, but they want you – a professional agent. That is not changing anytime soon.
“What I’ve found is that independent contractor top-producing agents, like so many of you REMAX agents, outsell the competition two-to-one. And I do believe that the consumer is best served by a full-time top-producing real estate agent,” he said.
Bailey also addressed concerns over Zillow being a brokerage and encompassing more space in a market already grappling with low inventory.
“Anyone can get in our business – getting a real estate license is easy [and] the barriers of entry are low,” Bailey explained. “I have a saying: ‘The barriers of entry to get a real estate license are low, [but] the barriers of success to be a great real estate agent are high.’ And here’s why: 87% of agents in our business fail – 87% of those that get a [real estate] license do not have [that] license within five years.”
Bailey’s advice? Agents shouldn’t be fazed by these headline-grabbing acquisitions or by an influx of new agents and should proceed with more drive, vigor and determination than ever before.
“I will put our RE/MAX sales force up against anyone that wants to get in this business. I’m not afraid of competition,” he said. “We welcome competition to this business. “[But] we’re going to compete on getting listings and we’re going to compete on getting buyers. Same as we’ve always done.”
Bailey went on to say that he doesn’t believe Zillow wants to put real estate agents out of business. In fact, he thinks the opposite is true, especially when considering the $13 billion real estate agents spend on advertising in a year.
“I think they want you to be successful and sell more so that you earn more so that you can you can spend more buying advertising from them,” he said.
Like with all things, agents have a choice in where and how they spend their money. But similar to printed listing magazines in the past, online platforms help agents capture buyers and sellers.
“We are an industry of cooperation and sharing. That’s what we do,” he said. “And that’s what we’ll continue to do, and [RE/MAX agents will] lead from the front.”
The industry, he said, will continue to evolve – and agents must evolve with it. As many changes as there are, there are an equal number of things that stay the same.
“There are sellers that want to sell; there are buyers that want to buy. Coming into 2021, our job is to help them,” Bailey said.
“Our job is to cast as many nets as we can in many different ways. It’s possible through marketing, through our sphere – there’s generally more business in the palm of your hand with repeats and referrals than people even know,” he said, alluding to the RE/MAX exclusive First app.
The AI-powered platform analyzes behavior and produces leads, whose movement may be up to a year away, and gives RE/MAX agents a leg up above competitors, especially in a seller’s market.
“I personally think [First] is the absolute strongest tool for an agent in this market because [there aren’t] enough listings,” Bailey shared. “It’s a great example of how data is out there, but it’s how you pull it together to use it to create a better experience for real estate agents, who then in turn can make a great experience for a home seller.”
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Written by RE/MAX News
