Byron Lazine and Nicole White are two agents in Connecticut who give us their thoughts on the week’s news every Friday in “The Real Word,” a weekly video column on Inman.
This week, Byron Lazine and Nicole White talked about the bombshell lawsuit that has been “hanging like a dark cloud” over the industry. This week, the claimants were given class action status. Real estate agents know that commissions are negotiable, said Lazine, but according to the suit, some of the homeseller plaintiffs say they did not know this. They are asserting that this amounts to a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act.
NAR and Realogy say they will fight while Keller Williams says they will defend themselves vigorously. “Stop saying your services are free,” said Lazine and White. “This class action lawsuit is welcoming those Instagram posts. Eliminate that from your verbiage immediately.”
Zillow’s April 2022 forecast of home values has been adjusted downward from their earlier projections. White does not see a cooldown happening in any significant way and still sees strong numbers in her local market in Connecticut. “It continues to be a strong sellers market,” she said, and Lazine noted that one of the data points Zillow is basing their forecast on is traffic and inventory levels from their own site.
Marketeer of the Week
Ryan Serhant spoke at Inman Connect New York about finding the “and” in agents’ personal brands. Find authenticity, lean into your passions and think about your future self, said Serhant. Lazine said that this resonated with him because he sees significant responses when he posts about his own work, life and interests.
Want to nominate a “marketeer of the week”? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below, or shoot us an email.
