Launched in late 2020, Forbes Global Properties is a luxury real estate marketplace utilizing cutting-edge software and marketing platforms to connect buyers with the world’s finest homes and the elite agents and brokerages that represent them.
I recently sat down with Alex Lange, CEO of Forbes Global Properties and Propertybase client, for a candid conversation not only to learn more about Forbes Global Properties but to garner his insights about the current real estate landscape, the state of software, and the importance of brokerages playing to their strengths.
What makes Forbes Global Properties so well-positioned to be at the forefront of revolutionizing how luxury brokerages reach and engage with consumers?
Alex Lange
There are four tenets that we focused on when developing Forbes Global Properties that we believe positions us well.
First, we wanted to partner with a brand that resonates with today’s affluent buyers and sellers. That cohort has grown dramatically but is skewing younger and younger. Forbes is a 100-year-old iconic brand that resonates with the entire range of established affluent families to those seeking to be on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Second, we wanted to bring qualified buyers to the table. The Forbes brand is excellent in helping a firm acquire a luxury listing. However, when you can tap into the 130M+ unique monthly visitors, incubate them, and generate inquiries for the agent, it becomes a significant value proposition for all involved.
Third, we wanted to provide tools and analytics that not only help agents market luxury listings but provide meaningful visibility to brokerage, agent, and the seller. The firm can rationalize ROI, the agent can adjust their approach based on insights, and the seller is confident that the agent is going “above and beyond” to market their home.
Finally, we believe alignment between Forbes Global Properties and our members is imperative. We are broker-owned and managed and the entire membership base participates in decisions regarding building for the future.
What is your opinion of the current technology landscape and what drew you to Propertybase?
There are great products in the market that help practitioners cultivate and transact with prospects, clients, and listings. Each has its strengths and weaknesses.
We knew we had uncommon requirements as our members specifically focus on the unique needs of affluent buyers and sellers. We needed a solution that had a solid foundation but could customize it to our needs. We knew Propertybase would scale and have the infrastructure that [the Salesforce Edition] provides, but it was the development team’s skill and confidence to create such a unique flavor that drew us in.
How should brokerages look to embrace technology?
I often hear brokerages use the phrase, “We’re a technology company who happens to do real estate.” It’s a terrible mantra akin to, “I’m a technologist who happens to do heart surgery.”
Technology companies are designed to operate in an agile manner, get economies of scale from their resources, and glean best practices from their clients. Real estate firms can’t approach that efficiency operating in a vacuum, and they are diverting “energy” from improving their real estate practice. I can’t tell you how many firms are “building a data warehouse” while still sending just listed postcards with the same headline from five years ago.
Play to your strengths and partner with technology firms that understand your business and will adapt with you. Key phrase… “adapt with you.” Propertybase worked with us and changed entire workflows versus requiring us to force agents into an unfamiliar one.
What role has Propertybase played in bringing Forbes Global Properties’ vision to life?
Simply put, it was the way Propertybase allowed our [management] team to integrate with their [software development experts] that was the cornerstone to our success. We leverage their requirements and project management platform. We have weekly Sprint meetings. The [Propertybase] management team empowered the developers to make decisions “in-flight” that may or may not have been in scope but were imperative to our success. By launch, we could finish each other’s sentences. It dramatically reduced iterations and unnecessary meetings.
Finally, what is next for Forbes Global Properties?
There are many items on the roadmap that are exciting. However, improving our instrumentation and mining the data to better curate and qualify buyers is an area that I find most compelling. We have ultra-luxury listings where sellers don’t want a barrage of people walking through their homes. Often, we can’t show the price or the address! Additionally, the agent doesn’t want 100 registration leads. They’d rather have three qualified people who can and will purchase a $20M or even a $200M estate.
Propertybase is the leading global real estate and mortgage software provider with lead generation, award-winning websites, CRM, compliance-driven transaction management, mortgage business growth platform, and more. To find out more about our flexible Propertybase Salesforce Edition, visit www.propertybase.com.