We have the best readers on the planet — I really believe that. Inman readers are engaged, focused and just plain entertaining.
I read the comments you all leave every day, and we thought we’d start highlighting the best of the week. Below, in no particular order, are the top comments from the week of January 29-February 4.
Ninos Hernandez · Commented on A seller-focused discount cloud brokerage: just a business plan | Inman
The higher commissions on higher priced real estate is also justified because the brokers potential liability is proportional to the size of the deal. Higher priced properties also stay on the market much longer, often times 18 months or so, with no guarantees for the listing agent. So a listing agent may spend thousands of dollars on advertising, drones, virtual tours, open houses, overhead operating costs… etc … and lose it all if the listing expires and the homeowner hires another listing agent. Comments like those are clearly from individuals who have no clue how independent contractors work. We don’t get paid until deals close, and it is a competitive business.
Trudy Van Dyk · Commented on Zillow recording phone calls between agents and leads | Inman
I just listened again to a phone call I received from a “client” last Saturday before an open house. She was inquiring about my new listing and acting very excited about it and said she was coming to my open house. I noticed that she never showed up. The next day I received an offer written by her for one of her buyers that she sent through. I was able to figure this out because I had the recording to reference back to. Without the recording, I would have questioned by memory of the conversation. I found it interesting. From listening to the recording, I find I need to ask better questions. It was educational in many ways.
Cheryl Spangler · Commented on ‘Transparency, Disruption & Collaboration’: Watch Brad Inman’s ICNY keynote | Inman
Love all the general sessions, very informative, funny, entertaining and lots of gold nuggest obtained from things people said on stage and comments off stage in the audience! Thanks Brad for such an amazing, learning, educational and most of all “Welcoming event”. I have been to conferences over the last 14 years of being in this business and in conferences in the IT and Telecom business for 10 years before that, both third party and with companies I have been affiliated with, all very motivational, but the one thing INMAN has that none of the other had, was the openness of all participants, all those that attended, whether speaking or NOT… is that ALL people walk up and talk to each other, share with each other, to be NON-EGO, to just be “Real”, to say “hello”, to want to “get to know you”. The back in highschool dance mentality is GONE! maybe you laugh at this but this goes on every day in business. People keeping to themselves, not sharing, acting bigger than they are. We are in this world to connect and that is what Inman promotes! Thanks Brad Inman because it can only come from the top down to truly be effective! IF anyone reads this post and has ever thought about going to an Inman event but never made the jump, stop procrastonating and just DO IT!
Dan Heschmeyer · Commented on Zillow to buy NYC rental site for $13M | Inman
There are 8,000,000 stories in the naked city and this has been one of them…
Zillow may be in for a big surprise with this purchase. On-demand showing technology sounds all consumer-centric and a new techy godsend to save the real estate industry. But let me share one of the secrets of the science of human behavior.
I have been a full-time high-producing real estae agent for over 25 years and a broker owner for nearly 15 years. I have personally sold almost 600 homes. However before I entered real estate i tought statistical research psychology in college. Coming from a backround and knowledge that human behavior can be measured and predicted I applied my own research to the psychology of buyers and sellers. And here is one of the things I found:
We all know what a positive coorelation is, I think; a statistical relationship between two variables. For example the more cigarettes you smoke, the higher the incidence of lung cancer. The more food you eat the more weight you gain. The higher the education the higher the annual income and so on
A negative correlation is just as important; two variables are related but negatively. For example, the more school absences the lower the GPA. as more snow falls the fewer drivers are on the road. Over many years of keeping track like a nerd I have found a very very strong negative correlation among buyers behavior and it is this;
The quicker a buyer wnts you to show them a house the less likely tey are to buy ANYTHING. This has really been quite an amazing discovery for me and has saved me tons of time working with worthless buyers.
So basing a new technology on this rather interesting negative correlation doesn’t sound too promising to me. Not to mention it certainly discourages the loyaty factor agents need when spending countless hours with buyers.
Rob Hahn · Commented on 26 questions about Upstream answered | Inman
Great work, Andrea, thank you. But um, there is one gigantic question now because of this article:
““We do want to keep it very lightweight. We’ll lead with revenue, I promise.”
Revenue, eh? Who is paying whom and how? And how much? Could you maybe followup on that one please? grin emoticon
Hank Miller Team/Harry Norman Realtors · Commented on Keller Williams still adding agents at break-neck pace | Inman
That’s a lot of kool-aid to drink….
Some would say that the model is more about adding bodies than selling homes. More recruiting means more “stream” for the recruiting agent and more monthly fees and cap fees for the office owner. Of course all of this depends upon someome transacting business. I’m certain KW will claim #1 status for whatever matters just as ReMax, C21, BHGR, BerkHath or any of the others will.
Fascinating how in the normal world there is a single #1 at something; in this world seems everyone is #1 no matter the stat.
Whoops, I almost forgot we’re talking real estate where pesky facts never get in the way of a good tag line or story.
Sam DeBord · Commented on 26 questions about Upstream answered | Inman
If it works as intended:
-Reduction in duplicative costs of entry in multiple MLS, vendor, franchisor, and portals systems
-Greater flexibility and control of distribution via broker or agent
-Greater protections on listing data and media via fair display guidelines for all downstream recipients
-Deeper analytics to measure the effectiveness of the outlets to which brokers are distributing their data
-Improvement in national data standards/normalization, which allows for faster innovation in tech products and services
Shelley Falk Rossi · Commented on Stop it with the politics on Facebook | Inman
This is BRILLIANT!! Where were you a month ago when I had to send out a company wide memo to all 7,000 agents and 300 owners telling them this exact same information? Boy did I get some nasty responses. Some people just don’t get it. Thank you for writing this!
Morgan Carey · Commented on Who Will Be Upstream CEO? 15 Potential CandidatesInman
I think I’d go with Pete Flint, not only does he have huge tech chops (and I think this is needed far more than industry contacts as those will come from the many supporters of upstream) but he’s been through hell and back in this industry with MLS’s, giant broker franchise, M & A etc – some of the folks on the list I think are just far too junior to take on such an executive role (I do think you need some C Suite experience that consultants often lack) – definitely a challenge – should be interesting (smile emoticon)
This would actually be a super interesting job for a tech entrepreneur / real estate insider. If I didn’t have 6 other companies to run, I might be interested too (smile emoticon)
Becky Boomsma · Commented on 33 zingers, pithy observations and tidbits of advice from ICNY | Inman
These snippets are terrific, Bernice, each one part of an interesting story or presentation. I’ll add these, “There are more men named John running companies than women with any name.” “On demand services are like assisted living for millennials.” -Kara Swisher. Now we just need one more category: Cocktails at Connect and Beyond. It was terrific to see you at Inman Connect!
