by Robert Palmer | Aug 15, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
The second quarter of 2024 showcased a varied landscape for real estate and related sectors, highlighting ongoing volatility. While companies like Zillow and CoStar Group reported solid revenue growth, driven by strong performance in residential services and online real estate platforms, others such as RE/MAX and Offerpad struggled with declining revenues and agent losses.
Several companies are refining their strategies to navigate an unpredictable market. Rocket Mortgage leveraged AI to enhance operational efficiency, while Redfin increased revenue despite nearly flat losses. Digital mortgage lender Better saw increased loan production but continued to face mounting losses, reflecting ongoing challenges in the mortgage sector.
The quarter also saw significant developments in the brokerage landscape, with eXp Realty and Compass posting revenue gains despite ongoing agent turnover. Meanwhile, cloud-based service providers like Real Brokerage and Blend showed resilience by achieving positive earnings in a tough market.
Overall, the Q2 earnings underscore the diverse strategies and varying outcomes across the industry, with companies continuously adapting to meet market demands and overcome sector-specific challenges.
Fathom Realty, a flat-fee brokerage, reported a 12 percent increase in its agent count, reaching 12,224 by the end of the second quarter. Despite the growth in agents, the company faced challenges with elevated mortgage rates and home prices, leading to an 8 percent decline in transaction volume to 10,137 deals.
Fathom introduced new commission plans that allow agents to earn a percentage of the revenue generated by agents they recruit, positioning the company for continued growth. However, the quarter ended with a $1.3 million net loss, an improvement from the $4.3 million loss reported a year earlier.
Blend Labs Inc., a cloud banking software provider, grew both its mortgage and consumer banking businesses during the second quarter, reducing its net loss by 53 percent to $19.4 million compared to a year ago. Although the improvement from its $20.7 million net loss in Q1 was modest, Blend secured a $150 million cash injection in April from Haveli Investments, giving the company more time to reach profitability.
The funding was used to pay off debt from its 2021 acquisition of Title365. Blend’s Q2 results exceeded analysts’ expectations, leading to a 23 percent increase in its stock price, which closed at $3.30 on Friday.
Expedia Group met the high end of its earnings expectations for the second quarter of 2024, despite a challenging macro environment and softening travel demand. The firm reported total lodging bookings of $20.7 billion across all its platforms, including Expedia, Vrbo and Hotels.com, marking an 8 percent increase from 2023.
Revenue for the quarter rose 22 percent to $3.6 billion. Room nights grew by 10 percent, totaling 98.9 million, with Brand Expedia showing nearly 20 percent growth. The company recorded a net income of $386 million, with an adjusted net income of $469 million.
Digital mortgage lender Better increased loan production by 45 percent during the second quarter, reaching $962 million and projected it will originate over $1 billion in mortgages in Q3 for the first time in two years. Despite this growth, investors were skeptical, as shares in Better dropped nearly 20 percent after the company reported a $42 million net loss for Q2 and announced a 1-for-50 reverse stock split to avoid delisting from the Nasdaq.
Revenue grew 41 percent quarter-to-quarter to $31.4 million, and by keeping expenses flat at $73 million, Better reduced its net loss by 18 percent from Q1, ending the quarter with $507 million in cash, restricted cash, short-term investments and self-funded loans.
RE/MAX reported a 4.8 percent decline in revenue during the second quarter compared to a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive quarter of falling revenue as the down market continued to impact the company. The franchisor’s U.S. agent count fell by 6.3 percent, losing just under 1,000 agents in Q2.
The agent count in North America dropped even more sharply, with a 4.4 percent decline in the U.S. and Canada, bringing the total to 78,599 agents at the start of Q3. Despite these challenges, RE/MAX Holdings CEO Erik Carlson described the Q2 results as “better than expected.”
Realtor.com parent company Move Inc. reported a 2 percent decline in fiscal fourth-quarter revenue, dropping to $143 million year over year. The decrease was attributed to higher mortgage rates and other macroeconomic challenges, as stated by News Corp, which owns Move Inc. Real estate revenues, accounting for 80 percent of Move’s total revenue, also declined by 2 percent.
Realtor.com’s lead volume and website traffic remained flat during the quarter, with 74 million average monthly unique visitors. Despite these setbacks, News Corp’s digital real estate services segment overall saw a 21 percent revenue increase, reaching $448 million, driven by strong performance from the Melbourne-based REA Group.
New York-based brokerage Douglas Elliman saw a slight revenue increase in the second quarter of 2024, providing some relief after facing pressure from shareholders due to its shaky recent performance. Consolidated revenues rose from $275.9 million in Q2 2023 to $285.8 million in Q2 2024, while gross transaction volume increased from $9.9 billion to $10.6 billion year over year.
The company also improved its net loss, which decreased to $1.7 million, or $0.02 per diluted common share, compared to $5.2 million, or $0.06 per diluted common share, a year earlier.
Zillow Group’s strong second-quarter performance was driven by better-than-expected results in its residential segment, which helped boost revenue by 13 percent year over year to $572 million, surpassing the midpoint of its outlook range. The company’s mortgage segment led in percentage growth, with a 125 percent increase in purchase loan origination volume, driving its revenue up 42 percent to $34 million.
The rental segment also saw significant gains, with a 44 percent rise in multifamily revenue pushing overall revenues up 29 percent to $117 million. Although residential revenue growth was more modest at 8 percent, this segment, including Premier Agent, ShowingTime+ and Follow Up Boss, contributed the most to Zillow’s success, bringing in $409 million for the quarter.
The Real Brokerage posted surprisingly strong second-quarter earnings in a challenging market, with revenue hitting a new high of $340.8 million, up 82 percent year over year. Gross profit also reached a record, growing 79 percent to $31.9 million.
The company improved its net losses, reducing them to $1.2 million, down from $4.1 million a year earlier, with a loss per share of $0.01 compared to $0.02 in Q2 2023. Chairman and CEO Tamir Poleg credited the firm’s results to the resilience and appeal of its business model, along with the efficiencies provided by its unique technology platform.
United Wholesale Mortgage, the nation’s largest mortgage lender, posted a solid $76.3 million profit in the second quarter, paid down debt and positioned itself to capitalize on dropping mortgage rates. Shares in the company are now trading at a three-year high.
Mortgage originations increased by 6 percent year over year to $33.6 billion, the highest level since Q1 2022, with gain margins improving to 1.06 percent from 0.88 percent a year ago. UWM expects third-quarter originations between $31 billion and $38 billion, with gain margins ranging from 0.85 percent to 1.10 percent, consistent with recent performance.
Spatial data company Matterport saw its total revenue grow to $42.2 million in the second quarter of 2024, up from $39.6 million the previous year, as the company focused on expanding its market share. According to an earnings report released Tuesday, subscription revenue contributed $24.2 million, a 16 percent increase year over year.
Services accounted for $10.9 million, while product revenue totaled $7.2 million. The company’s net loss was $0.45 per share, with a Non-GAAP net loss of $0.02 per share, reflecting a 71 percent improvement from the previous year. Matterport’s gross profits also increased, reaching $19.4 million, up from $15.9 million a year earlier.
Redfin saw its revenue rise by 7 percent to $295.2 million between April and June 2024, according to its second-quarter earnings report. Despite the revenue growth, the company posted a net loss of $27.9 million, slightly more than the $27.4 million loss from the same period in 2023. The report also noted that Redfin’s web traffic remained steady, with nearly 52 million average monthly users, the same as in Q2 2023.
Airbnb continued its strong performance in the short-term rental market during the second quarter, with revenue growing 11 percent to $2.75 billion, driven by robust travel demand and international expansion, according to its earnings report. The company reported a net income of $555 million, a 15 percent decrease from the previous year due to higher income taxes.
Airbnb and its hosts generated $21.2 billion in total bookings, an 11 percent increase from a year ago, with travelers booking 125.1 million nights and activities. CEO Brian Chesky expressed optimism about the upcoming summer travel season during a call with investors.
Shares in iBuyer Offerpad dropped to a new all-time low in after-hours trading Monday after the company reported trimming its losses but also anticipating further declines in revenue and homes sold. Offerpad posted a $13.8 million net loss in the second quarter, a 21 percent improvement from the previous quarter’s $17.5 million loss and a 38 percent reduction from its $22.3 million loss in Q1 2023.
However, revenue during the spring homebuying season fell 12 percent from Q1 to $251.1 million, with home sales also down 12 percent to 742. Offerpad expects Q3 revenue to decline further, projecting between $185 million and $225 million, with home sales expected to drop to between 550 and 650. Executives are pivoting to a buyer’s market by narrowing the scope of homes they evaluate for purchase and adopting a more conservative approach in their underwriting model.
Rocket Companies saw its net income rise by 28 percent to $178 million in Q2 2024, as the company leaned heavily into artificial intelligence tools to scale its business and grow market share. Rocket Mortgage, the Detroit-based fintech’s subsidiary, increased mortgage originations by 10 percent year over year to $24.7 billion, with gain on sale margins improving to 2.99 percent, up 32 basis points from a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter grew 5 percent to $1.3 billion, while expenses remained flat at $1.1 billion. CEO Varun Krishna highlighted the company’s significant investments in data leadership and infrastructure and its strategic partnerships with industry leaders.
IBuyer Opendoor reported a 24 percent decline in revenue year over year to $1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2024, as the company faced a slow market. This was a 28 percent improvement from the previous quarter, with 4,078 homes sold.
Opendoor recorded a net loss of $92 million, a sharp drop from the $23 million positive income it saw in Q2 2023. However, this loss improved from the $109 million loss in the previous quarter. The company’s gross profit was $129 million, down from $149 million a year earlier but up from $114 million in Q1.
Real estate franchisor Anywhere reported flat revenue year over year in the second quarter of 2024, as the company made significant payments toward settling a commission lawsuit and resolving a 1999 legacy tax issue related to its former parent company, Cendant. Despite these challenges,
Anywhere saw a 3 percent increase in combined closed transaction volume, with units down 5 percent but prices up 8 percent. This marks the second consecutive quarter of rising transaction volume. The company’s net income increased by 58 percent to $30 million, with adjusted net income up 37 percent to $37 million year over year.
EXp World Holdings saw its revenue grow 5 percent year over year to $1.295 billion in the second quarter of 2024, according to an earnings release on Wednesday. The company reported a 3 percent increase in net income to $11.8 million despite facing higher taxes on continuing operations. Adjusted EBITDA also rose by 22 percent to $32.8 million year over year.
The brokerage’s agent count continued to decline, but at a slower rate, with a 1 percent decrease to 87,111 agents and brokers, an improvement from the 2 percent decline reported in Q1.
Compass saw its revenue rise to $1.7 billion between April and June 2024, adding thousands of real estate agents to its ranks, according to its Q2 earnings report released Wednesday. Despite uncertainty in the housing market, Compass reported significant gains in revenue, transactions and agent count.
The 14 percent year-over-year revenue increase was driven by an 11.4 percent rise in transactions, even as the broader residential real estate market saw a 3.3 percent decline in transactions. This revenue boost enabled Compass to profit $20.7 million in Q2, a sharp turnaround from the $47.8 million net loss it posted during the same period last year.
CoStar Group reported a 12 percent year-over-year revenue increase, reaching $678 million in the second quarter of 2024, according to its earnings call on Tuesday. The Homes.com Network saw significant growth, with traffic rising 73 percent year over year to 148 million average monthly unique visitors.
Despite the strong revenue performance, CoStar’s net income dropped to $19 million, down from $101 million in Q2 2023. CEO Andy Florance highlighted the company’s success, noting that Apartments.com and CoStar achieved double-digit revenue growth despite market challenges.
Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to grow their net worth in the second quarter of 2024 despite a sluggish spring homebuying season. Both companies increased their profits as firm home prices and low default rates allowed them to release billions of dollars previously reserved for losses.
Although Fannie and Freddie don’t make loans directly, they guarantee payments to investors who purchase mortgage-backed securities, which fund most U.S. home loans. In Q2, the mortgage giants guaranteed $172 billion in single-family mortgages, a 44 percent decrease from the $310 billion they guaranteed a year ago.
Jessi Healey is a freelance writer and social media manager specializing in real estate. Find her on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Threads.
by Erin Krueger | Aug 14, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
Homesellers have found themselves in quite a conundrum over the past two years as they’ve weighed the benefits of record home price appreciation against the risk of trading a sub-3 percent mortgage for a higher rate. Although moderating mortgage rates have eased some of those concerns, as evidenced by an uptick in new listings this summer, homesellers are still hesitating.
So, what’s a listing agent to do?
Keller Williams leaders Gary Keller, Jason Abrams and Jay Papasan sought to answer this question during a Wednesday morning Mega Agent Camp session featuring four leading broker-owners who’ve mastered MOFIR (i.e., Make Offer For Immediate Response), a key lead generation strategy in Keller’s SHIFT book.
“It’s okay to have long-term nurturing to generate leads. Of course, it is,” Keller said. “But at the end of the day, making an offer for an immediate response is the way your brain should be wired, right? Not make offers for someday response. Why would you do that? Right? Make an offer.”
Tim Heyl Group and Homeward founder Tim Heyl said the foundation of a successful MOFIR is a streamlined business focus and value proposition. Generalists, he said, have a hard time creating MOFIRs because they try to serve everyone instead of mastering a smaller set of skills that make them invaluable to a specific group of consumers.
“If you can make your brand about solving a very specific problem, you will own that market,” he said. “It’s very tempting in real estate to be a generalist of everything. Think about it: buyers and sellers come in all different flavors, and we wanna say, ‘Well, I can help all of you with everything,’ but then we become part of the noise of the other 20,000 agents in our market who are saying the same thing.”
“If you can be the guy that does ‘that thing,’ you will own that market; you will get referrals beyond belief. People will talk about you; people will click your buttons [and] people will come into your funnel,” he added. “But you have to be willing to lose some of the other stuff so that you can win on that.”
For Heyl, Jose Medina and Associates owner Jose Medina, and The Young Team owner Ryan Young, lead generation strategies center on cash offers and buy-before-you-sell programs for homesellers. These two programs, they said, solve two main concerns for sellers — getting the maximum value from their home and getting a quick, seamless closing process so they don’t miss out on their next home.
Young, who’s also the CEO and co-founder of seller lead gen platform Fello, said his team starts with offering homesellers a free home valuation. Valuations are low-intent; however, they help build a robust seller database and can be used to spark a high-intent offer — a cash offer.
“We do an upfront cash offer, we do a backup cash offer, and we do a worry-free listing,” he said. “The reason why we like the backup cash offer is because, if you choose not to take the upfront cash offer, we have the upside of listing your home traditionally, but with the protection or the safety net of that backup cash offer.”
“What we found is leveraging the cash offer message in front of all these homeowners in our databases is where we’re having a ton of success,” he added while mentioning Fello and Homeward’s new partnership. “We actually show what Homeward is willing to offer on every consumer dashboard with Fello. You get an email from Fello that says, ‘Check out your home’s value,’ and right below there, there’s a number from an actual preliminary offer from Homeward. It’s such a compelling message.”
In addition to cash offers and buy-before-you-sell programs, Medina said his MOFIR includes the Homeowner Enhancement Loan Program (HELP), a program that enables homesellers to get a small personal loan to make needed repairs before listing.
“We come into a house, and we notice they need new carpet, and they need new countertops,” he said. “We’re going to give them a personal loan to get that house up to the condition [where] it’s going to net them more money. It separates us from the other Realtors and puts us in the driver’s seat to get the listing.”
Stacy Esser Group owner Stacy Esser said she’s taken a different approach to MOFIRs that’s informed by 17 years of experience as a fashion and merchandising expert. Esser said she focuses on shifting homesellers’ focus from “How much can I get for my house?” to “How can you help me get more money for my house?” The second question, she said, gives listing agents the perfect opportunity to flex their strategy skills.
“We’re going to do something called the value-up method. Now I’m going to tell you about my strategy,” she said. “You guys are not salespeople. You are strategists. You’re going to go in and provide them a strategy of how you help them get more money for their house, and you start that valuable opportunity as early as possible with your database.”
“We go in, and we do a room-by-room evaluation. We identify their target buyer, and then we educate,” she added. “You all have to educate. We are professionals in this market. You just tell them something, and maybe they’ll listen to you. Maybe not. But [we] have to think like today’s buyer, to win like a seller, because today’s buyer is not who you were.”
Email Marian McPherson
by Zillow | Aug 14, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Teachers can now afford 47.9 percent of rental apartments within commuting distance of their schools, an increase from 40.7 percent the previous year, Redfin reported on Wednesday.
Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
A modest increase in teacher salaries and stable asking rents have enhanced rental affordability for educators, but it remains below pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report.
Teachers can now afford 47.9 percent of rental apartments within commuting distance of their schools, an increase from 40.7 percent the previous year, Redfin reported on Wednesday.
A Redfin analysis of July rental listings across 33 U.S. metropolitans and median teacher salaries for K-12 public and private schools from 2023 reveals that, despite the progress, the market is still experiencing the aftereffects of the pandemic.
In 2019, teachers could afford 58 percent of available apartments within commuting distance of their workplaces.
In 2023, the median U.S. teacher salary increased by 3.8 percent year-over-year to $64,266, surpassing rental price growth, which has stabilized after a pandemic-induced surge. Asking rents fell in 2023 and have only risen 0.4 percent compared to the previous year.
This rent stability is due to the high rate of new apartment construction, which has kept rent growth in line. However, with apartment construction now slowing, rents may start to increase in the near future.
Many teachers continue to struggle with rental costs as the median asking rent is just $50 below its peak, and increases have not kept pace with inflation. According to the National Education Association (NEA), teachers are earning an average of 5 percent less when adjusted for inflation compared to a decade ago, contributing to a high turnover rate.
“The small improvement in housing affordability for teachers who rent is only a drop in the bucket,” Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said.
“Homeownership remains out of reach for a lot of educators, who, unlike many workers today, don’t have the flexibility to work remotely from somewhere more affordable. Building affordable housing near schools should be a priority for U.S. policymakers, but that’s only half the battle, as teacher salaries have faced years of underinvestment.”
In Portland, Oregon, the average teacher can afford 91.3 percent of rental apartments near the workplace, the highest among 33 metros. Portland’s high teacher salaries and declining rents contribute to this affordability. In contrast, Miami teachers can afford only 0.2 percent of nearby apartments, the lowest among the metros Redfin analyzed.
Teacher pay has declined in four metros, with Miami experiencing the most significant decline, an 11.9 percent decrease year-over-year to $53,297 last year. Florida metros rank the lowest in teacher pay among the top 50 cities surveyed, according to the NEA, and teacher employment fell 10.7 percent last year.
Homeownership remains a challenge for teachers as well.
Teachers could afford only 14.3 percent of homes for sale within commuting distance, a slight decrease from 14.4 percent the previous year, and significantly down from 39.1 percent in 2019. Rising home prices and elevated mortgage rates contribute to this strain.
According to Redfin, median monthly mortgage payments increased 4.7 percent in July year-over-year compared to the sub-1 percent increase in asking rents. Mortgage payments were 90.7 percent above pre-pandemic levels, while asking rents were 21.4 percent above pre-pandemic levels.
Among the 50 largest metros, Cleveland offers the most affordable homebuying options for teachers, with 61.1 percent of homes within reach. In contrast, California cities like San Jose are the least affordable, with teachers able to buy just 0.1 percent of homes due to high prices, despite having the highest teacher salaries in the survey.
Recent trends show Hartford, Connecticut, and Kansas City, Missouri, experiencing the most significant declines in homebuying affordability, while San Antonio and Atlanta saw notable improvements.
Teachers in Hartford can afford 22.1 percent of homes, down 34 percent from 2023, an 11.9 percentage point drop, while Kansas City dropped 7.9 percentage points.
San Antonio teachers can afford 20.6 percent of homes, up 6.4 percentage points from the previous year, followed by Atlanta, up 4.6 percentage points.
Email Richelle Hammiel
by Victoria Kennedy | Aug 14, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Whether it’s refining your business model, mastering new technologies, or discovering strategies to capitalize on the next market surge, Inman Connect New York will prepare you to take bold steps forward. The Next Chapter is about to begin. Be part of it. Join us and thousands of real estate leaders Jan. 22-24, 2025.
Nearly 5,000 Keller Williams agents descended on Austin, Texas, this week for the franchisor’s annual Mega Agent Camp, a three-day conference aimed at educating and training agents to navigate the market. While the usual conference fare is on the agenda — social media tips, buyer and seller lead generation strategies, and lessons on work-life balance — the upcoming deadline for buyer-broker commission changes underlies every session as agents brace for an uncertain future.
Jason Abrams
Ten minutes before hitting the stage for Gary Keller’s State of Housing Market address, Keller Williams Head of Industry and Learning Jason Abrams spoke to Inman about the “perfect timing” of this year’s conference and the franchisor’s gameplan for helping agents not only survive but thrive through commission changes.
Inman: What are you most excited about for this year’s Mega Agent Camp? What is the main focus of this year’s conference, and what’s the main message you hope agents will walk away with after these next few days?
Abrams: I have two messages. The first one we covered yesterday at our CEO event. We spent a lot of time covering this idea of [being] antifragile. This was an idea that was laid out by a famous economist, and the idea is that there are some things that they’re not just tough, but they’re antifragile, meaning that when they are put under stress, they actually get stronger.
We made the argument that it’s not enough to just weather the storm, and it’s not enough to just get through it. If you really wanted to thrive and be antifragile, you would be growing and you’d be stronger [with] the more stress that you deal with. Then we laid out this whole concept of how to actually train for it.
The second idea we discussed is, “Win the morning, win the day.” This is the idea that when you look at your life [and] the things that are important to you — your job, your business, your spirituality, your physical health and key relationships — all these things end up having one thing that you can do each day to move them forward.
As long as that one thing is done before 12 o’clock every day, then you’re going to win. It doesn’t matter what happens in the afternoon. Have a great day by noon, and if you add up a ton of days like that, you’re going to have an amazing career.
We’re going to touch on that throughout the whole week.
Being ‘antifragile’ is such an interesting idea, and it certainly seems like a timely message as the industry nears the Aug. 17 deadline for procedural changes listed in the National Association of Realtors’ buyer-broker commission settlement. How are you tying the idea of being antifragile into helping agents navigate these big, upcoming changes?
Change is inevitable, but participation is optional. We’re asking our agents to lean in to change so that in the end, they end up with stronger businesses and better careers. We’re also making sure they get all the accurate information, as opposed to passing off opinions that they might be seeing on social media as facts because that’s very dangerous.
We’re also making sure that they understand exactly what the rule changes are, they’re 100 percent in compliance, and understand how their local boards and multiple listing services are embracing these changes. That’s the most important thing for us because we believe that real estate is a local business driven by local relationships.
We’re teaching agents to follow all the rules and then wait for best practices to emerge. This idea of running and making wholesale changes prior to understanding what the best practices are doesn’t make any sense to us.
That’s a great point. For months, industry leaders have been discussing the myriad of ways this could play out, but we truly won’t know how this will turn out until after Aug. 17. That’s when the journey really begins. In the meantime, I see that your agenda is really focusing on helping agents go back to basics and hone those core skills. With all that’s happening, what’s the core skill or business strategy you want KW agents to latch onto?
We wrote the class Value² [in March], and I think we were the first real estate company to kind of come out with a full-blown course that says, ‘OK, great. It’s value that a consumer is always willing to pay for’ and understanding what your value is and how that value actually leads to helping the buyer or seller accomplish is the primary goal.
We can’t do this in a loose way; we have to be able to directly tie to it, so we have all kinds of panels featuring buyer’s agents and listing agents who have designed unique value propositions. They’ve gotten the results they’re looking for, and they’ve documented it. We’ve always been in a database-driven business, and I believe we still are, which means that these real estate agents have anywhere from 500 to 300,000 people in their databases.
Those people [in those databases] need to get their real estate news from their real estate agent. So how do we empower our agents to go and do that? We’re going to be explaining how to do it best on social media. We’re going to explain how to do it best with their sphere of influence and powerful touch programs. We’re going to explain how to do it best at educational events as well as just a fun party event.
We’re going to go methodically, step by step, so that they can explain their value at scale.
That’s needed. When I talk to my friends and family about what’s happening, there’s still a lot of confusion, and they’re going to be looking to agents for guidance. We’ve talked about how you’re guiding agents to handle change, but how has KW leadership prepared itself for this change? How is KW, as a company, prepared to evolve?
At the end of the day, we’re a people development company, and your question is so sage because we asked the same one. How would a people development company go about helping people work through change? The first thing we did was set up all-company open houses. We’ve done two of them where we explain what’s actually changing and went through the settlement.
The next thing that we did was we started writing courses specific to agent value because that’s at the forefront of the change, and that course is called Value². We then said, ‘OK, well, what are the best practices for agents to show value?’ We actually published this week a new playbook, the Millionaire Real Estate Agent Playbook Volume 2, which has over 71 pages of plays that a real estate agent can run all the way from: How do I generate more buyers and sellers to talk to? to “How do I provide them more value? and How do I scale my business?
And then, finally, sometimes we just get lucky with timing. Getting all of our top people together in Austin for Mega Agent Camp this week is perfect, and we’re going to spend the next three days talking about the changes that are ahead. I couldn’t be more excited about the timing, and I really think our people are prepared.
Email Marian McPherson