A massive sellers’ market has persisted for several months and has totally upended the North American real estate market. Agents are running themselves ragged trying to secure homes for their buyers, but the supply of listings is desperately low. More than ever, agents are having a hard time getting those listings. In this extremely low-inventory market, many homeowners are going the “for sale by owner” route.
For homeowners that don’t want to go the FSBO route, many turn to upstart “discount” real estate brokers. As a result, these nontraditional brokers are able to obtain a much higher volume of listings. For example, companies like 1 Percent Lists take a different approach by using a full-service, low-cost value proposition to acquire a large volume of listings. They then leverage those listings to generate organic buyers.
A different approach to disruption
According to founder and CEO Grant Clayton, 1 Percent Lists is different from the other low-cost disruptors that are rapidly infiltrating real estate markets.
“We are full-service, and we provide agents with a ton of technology and tools to meet each need individually, he said, ”We leverage our tech and tools to create a higher agent profit. Our company was created by agents, for agents. Our way of doing business is easier and more profitable for agents, which is why we are growing so quickly.”
Being an agent-focused, full-service, disruptive brokerage has allowed 1 Percent Lists to open 14 new franchise territories in 2021. Many more are in the pipeline for the 2nd quarter. The company, which began selling real estate franchises in Louisiana in 2020, opened 20 locations in states throughout the Southeast. Interested parties span both coasts.
A pro-agent discount brokerage
“Our agent retention is incredibly high because we are driven by agent profit, said Clayton. “Agents at 1 Percent Lists make more money than their traditional counterparts because they have great splits, better tools that we offer for free, and a better value proposition, which leads to an easier path to higher volume. Our agents make a little less per transaction than their peers but they do a lot more deals. Most importantly, they find it a lot easier to get those deals.”
Many new brokerages offer the technology and tools for their agents to provide a full-service experience, and others advertise discounted listing commissions. However, 1 Percent Lists is unique in their attempt to offer both. When pressed about how this is possible, Clayton simply says, “We have to be more efficient than everyone else. The only way this works is to keep agent splits low, and customer value and service high. Our suite of tools and tech gives brokers and agents everything they need to continue to be among the best in their professions.”
A best-of-breed suite of technology
1 Percent Lists partnered with One Click SEO in 2015. Their primary focus has always been their digital reach. They have been doing search engine optimization nationally for years to increase their brand recognition in all markets.
Dean Cacioppo, founder of One Click SEO says, “Early on, no one searched Google for “discount real estate brokerage” kinds of terms, but we took an ‘if you build it they will come approach. And it has paid off! In a market where listings are slim to none, we literally have people reaching out from across the country to ask us if we will list their houses.”
They also focus their digital marketing at the local level to help brand their franchisees and agents in all markets. According to Cacioppo, “For our agents and franchisees, we can cost-effectively offer local SEO services. Local SEO is all about establishing your business’ official digital presence.
We also provide fully managed pay-per-click and retargeting campaigns for a fraction of what most digital marketing agencies charge. We utilize Google and Facebook Pixel to target and retarget potential clients based on the websites they visit across the web.
For the price most agents pay for single-buyer leads, we can effectively drive hundreds of people to agents’ websites. This not only generates buyer leads but also promotes brand recognition because many of those buyers are also sellers.”
The future of discount brokerages?
Are agent-friendly discount brokerages a legitimate solution for real estate agents?
Clayton maintains that “because creating new relationships is more difficult than ever, agents are already in a situation where they are paying huge fees for leads and referrals. They are already voluntarily making less to get a lead. My argument is that if that tactic works, why not leverage that as your full-time value proposition to get a lot more listings instead of just one buyer? Why not shout that message to the world?”
Many agents disagree with this philosophy, but it is hard to ignore their growth. 1 Percent Lists is rapidly spreading across the country with our low-cost franchise. By the end of 2021, they expect to have over 50 franchises operating from coast to coast. Learn more about opportunities in your area.