by Stephen Brobeck | Jul 31, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
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Brad Inman revealed that he’s embraced longevity in the past year, even enlisting the assistance of a Chinese healer.
One of Inman’s new morning routines includes eating more fruits and vegetables — and cockadoodledoo-ing at the sun, like a rooster.
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As he demonstrated, to the audience at Inman Connect Las Vegas on Wednesday, he encouraged others to try it — but without much success, based on the quiet response.
Regardless of that sleepy reaction, Inman was excited to translate that same kind of morning energy to navigating the industry’s biggest hurdles today — and hoped the audience would join him for the ride.
“I’m going to try to be honest about what I see happening, but I also want to give you the hope, excitement and energy that I have when we get through this perfect storm,” Inman said.
Inman noted that, even though many of the factors plaguing the industry right now — high mortgage rates, low inventory, commission lawsuits, NAR leadership disruptions — are largely out of agents’ control, many may still have the tendency right now to be hard on themselves about navigating this “perfect storm.”
Inman guided the audience to pat themselves on the back for surviving the recent industry difficulties. This time, many took him up on the opportunity.
“You deserve it!” Inman declared.
“Life isn’t always perfect, even for those of us who are perpetually optimistic.”
Inman detailed how he went through his own perfect storm recently, facing a trifecta of setbacks, including some bad business news, the deaths of some close friends and dealing with a new health issue.
“At a moment when I thought everything was perfect, nothing would go wrong, I had foolishly persuaded myself, ‘this is so great,’” Inman told the audience.
One of Inman’s friends who had passed away was Jennifer Berman, a name well-known within the industry for her leadership, particularly in the luxury space, and her participation at Inman Connect events over the years.
“She was a force. She was a positive force, no matter the circumstances,” Inman said. “So let’s give a round of applause for all the generous contributions Jennifer Berman gave to the real estate industry.”
The three setbacks, though unpleasant, helped Inman learn how to tackle such unexpected challenges in the future. And he encouraged agents in the audience to bring these tactics to the challenges they’re facing in the industry now.
With his business setback, Inman was decisive. When he faced an unexpected health problem, he embraced self-care. And when his friends passed away suddenly, he took the time to be present — something he had neglected as a younger man.
“With my friends dying, I did something I didn’t do when I was younger,” Inman said. “I wasn’t present … This time, I leaned into my grief, and I really tried hard to be present.”
But perfect storms have touched down in other parts of the world today too, Inman noted, pointing to the recent volatility in U.S. politics.
“In three-and-a-half weeks, we’ve had three historic events happen in the political world,” Inman said.
Those events included the epic debate fail between President Biden and former President Trump, the assassination attempt on former President Trump and the decision by President Biden to pull out of the presidential race.
“So we are stricken with anxiety and it’s very, very difficult,” Inman said. “Someone was saying last night at dinner that it’s affecting homebuyers’ confidence to even buy a house.”
In real estate, the perfect storm that’s been brewing for months is comprised of a frozen market, driven by high rates, low supply and a lack of affordability; the class action commission lawsuits; and a lack of leadership.
“We had the commission lawsuits, and we also had, at a time when most needed, a lack of leadership,” Inman said. “The leaders that we may have depended on to guide us through were all being sued. And the lawyers put duct tape on all our CEOs. And then the mothership, the National Association of Realtors, had a series of scandals, and all kinds of changes in leadership.”
But Inman also noted that all of these challenges seem to be moving in the right direction. Rates show signs of dropping in the next few years, inventory is finally starting to grow with the construction of more homes and new zoning laws in select cities that allow for ADUs are opening up more affordable housing.
But Inman encouraged those in the audience and the industry at large to put their thinking caps on to come up with even more solutions.
“We have so many underutilized structures,” Inman said. “What if we devised a system to get all that land, all those buildings and just gave it to the public, and said ‘all you have to do is fix this house, clean it up, and go to town.’ What we need now is a huge initiative.”
“We have thought big in the past when it comes to affordable housing; we can do it again,” he added. “Let’s get NAR straightened out so that we can [use] their force to get this done.”
Inman also expressed admiration for Kevin Sears, NAR’s new president, who spoke at ICLV on Tuesday.
“Let’s talk about leadership,” Inman said. “I don’t know about you, but that Kevin Sears was impressive. He was here. He was present. I’ve gotten up here too many times and trashed NAR. I am rooting for the new CEO (who came from the newspaper business, which I think is great) and I am rooting for Kevin.”
On Thursday, Inman noted, Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will speak at ICLV about real estate policy and more. Inman teased that Kennedy will lay out his own housing plan and that everyone in the audience should be thinking about their own ideas for creating housing solutions.
“Think big [and] act big,” Inman encouraged. “Because the goddamn problem is very big.”
Inman went on to share how he believes the class action lawsuits are going to result in the commission pie being less per agent. But, because the costs for consumers are going to be less as well, Inman surmised that that will translate into more transactions — and less experienced or eager agents will also likely drop out of the industry.
“For the eager, the opportunistic, the hardworking, the clever, there’s going to be a way to make even more money as a real estate agent,” he said.
The innovation to come out of all these challenges will be the “biggest win” for the industry, Inman added. And even though he now calls the portal wars the “potty wars,” he believes the competition between big players like Zillow and Homes.com will just make the process of looking for a home better for the consumer at the end of the day.
When it comes to AI, Inman also said that he expects that it will improve humankind “in ways that we cannot imagine,” and it will ultimately make buying and selling a house easier on consumers and seem like a more positive experience — something that will be good for agents, too.
In closing, Inman expressed his gratitude to the ICLV audience.
“I am just grateful for seeing people like you here, wanting to learn, connecting, and I know you’re going to come through the perfect storm,” he said.
“Lastly, remember, stop beating yourself up.”
“Thank you; I love you.”
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by Matterport Editorial Team | Jul 31, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
The waterfront homes was first listed for $53 million in January and discounted to $39 million in April. The new owner will need to do extensive work since the interior has been stripped of all finishes.
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Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, has found a potential buyer for his half-finished Tadao Ando-designed home in Malibu, The Real Deal reported on Tuesday. The pending deal made it the priciest property under contract last week in LA County.
In January, Ye put the waterfront property on the market for $53 million with Jason Oppenheim of The Oppenheim Group. By April, the asking price was cut to $39 million.
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Whoever ends up taking ownership of the property will need to do extensive work on it since the home has been stripped of all its interior finishes, the listing description notes.
Spanning about 4,000 square feet inside the home, the property also includes about 1,500 square feet of outdoor decks. It includes four beds and five baths, and boasts ocean views from every room. The home was constructed out of concrete and steel reinforcement with AD100 architecture firm Marmol Radziner.
After Ye bought the property in 2021, he reportedly went on to tear out several of the home’s components in a renovation, like windows, doors and wiring, but was unable to see the project through to completion. The rapper was also sued by one contractor who was working on the home for alleged brutal working conditions that included working 16-hour workdays and sleeping on the floor near open insulation.
The property was the priciest home to go under contract between July 22 and July 28, according to the Eklund Weekly Luxury Report LA. The report tracks all signed contracts in the MLS listed above $4 million in LA County.
A total of 16 contracts were signed during the week that ended July 28, down from 19 the previous week.
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by Chris Pollinger | Jul 31, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Jackie Soto led a panel at Inman Connect Las Vegas on Tuesday titled “Top Tips for Generating More Listings in a Crowded Market.”
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Moderator Jackie Soto started off a panel discussing listing lead generation by asking the crowd at Inman Connect Las Vegas on Tuesday how many people have been experiencing a tough market.
She then turned to a group of panelists including Gary Ashton, founder of The Ashton Real Estate Group of RE/MAX; Mahsheed Parsons, broker-owner of Mahsheed Real Estate; and Delinda Crampton, team leader of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, for insights and strategies.
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Each panelist said they’d endured their share of challenges in their role. Parsons specifically addressed the shift in speed within the market.
“I have a lot of listings, and a lot of them are not moving. Even though inventory is low, they’re not moving because we have so many sellers who want a price pretty high, because they see there is no inventory,” Parsons said.
“Everyone’s aiming pretty high. And then when you do that right now, at a time where you know interest rates are high, there’s a lot of uncertainty in the economy.”
Parsons has been operating her Las Vegas real estate brokerage for over 18 years and expanded to Southern California in 2020. Parson’s boutique brokerage consists of about six agents and serves a luxury clientele.
Crampton is also based out of Las Vegas and heads up a team of seven agents who sell everything “from condos to castles,” as she put it.
Expectations to sell are putting pressure on those in the market. Building relationships through feeder markets, building an online presence and developing a loyal clientele are traditional strategies Crampton leans on used to generate listings.
“You know, Los Angeles, the Bay Area, those are big feeder markets. And I go to lots of events like this, where I’m developing relationships with Realtors.” Crampton said.
“At one of the events, I became friends with the CEO of one of the two largest real estate companies in the Bay Area. And now when I go on listing appointments, I can talk about these relationships that I’ve got in California and the feeder markets, and how I can market directly to them and help sell their listings and have a source of buyers that some of the other agents don’t have, she said.”
Ashton has been leader of the No. one RE/MAX team in the world for approximately six years. His team is based out of Nashville, Tennessee, and includes more than 180 agents.
When Ashton became licensed back in 2021, SEO, pay-per-click and IDX helped him become one of the heavy hitters in the market, along with investing in himself.
“So it’s all investment in the business, in myself, and then continually reinvesting that back in the processes,” Ashton said. “And then, you know, it snowballs. After a while, you start to build that presence.”
Parsons invested early on in her career in geographic farming, and now regularly sends out postcards to over 3,000 homeowners, including luxury homeowners. She has used billboard advertising as well, but postcards are where she saw the most return on her marketing dollars.
Parsons said that she’s gotten some of her biggest listings from those postcard mailers, including an $8 million listing. “I mean, that’s not bad bank, but this is Vegas. Yeah, the return always pays off.”
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by OB Jacobi | Jul 31, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
Executives at Redfin and Zillow made the case at Inman Broker Connect that consumers would benefit from more universal standards of data sharing by MLSs. But the path to such a future is rocky, they said.
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In the cutthroat world of listing portal market share, it’s rare to see top-level executives at rival firms walking in lockstep.
However, that’s just what industry relations chiefs for Redfin and Zillow did on Tuesday, taking aim at what they described as a mountain of red tape by hundreds of MLSs across the country that has greatly limited what features their nationwide portals can offer to consumers.
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The comments from Joe Rath of Redfin and Matt Hendricks of Zillow came at Inman Broker Connect, taking place this week in Las Vegas. Sam DeBord of the Real Estate Standards Organization added his perspective as the CEO of an organization working to simplify how data is used and distributed by MLSs.
“Sometimes older rules look like the old tag on the mattress that said, ‘Do not remove this or go to jail,’” DeBord said. “We don’t sometimes know at a certain point why we’re still following a certain rule — for example, ordering the photos.”
At the core of the listing portals’ complaints is the fact that their data comes through contracts with hundreds of multiple listing services across the nation. Each MLS has unique and carefully crafted rules to protect its data and, in many cases, limit how it is used by third parties like listing portals.
“When we have to deal with 500-plus different feeds that all may have a different set of rules,” Hendricks said, “it makes it tough for me, for Joe, for anybody out there, to tailor that 500 ways over, or 300 ways over.”
Hendricks said that some of the MLS rules — such as requirements that exterior shots of the home be presented first for all listings — are a carryover from the days of paper records. Rules like these often make it impractical to customize the home search process to the preferences of the user, he argued.
Rath said Redfin has a host of news tools it knows it could roll out or existing tools it could improve on with the right nationwide data environment. The data exists, the tools are there, and the permissions are all that is missing.
“In some cases, we’re just trying to cut through the red tape to be able to do it ourselves,” Rath said.
Still, Rath said, the limitations are not a huge factor holding back listing portal traffic and revenue. User activity on listing portals is driven more by overall inventory trends, he said. The limitations placed on MLS data mainly hurt consumers, appraisers and others who might benefit from more universal access to the data, and better tools to make sense of it.
Both said they were looking to leadership from MLSs, real estate brokers and groups like DeBord’s RESO to help chart a path to more universal standards of real estate data.
“Think of it as this is a chance for us to evolve a whole set of rules as opposed to, let’s all lock down more than we already have,” Hendricks said.
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by Bernice Ross | Jul 31, 2024 | Industry, News Feed
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Continued economic growth in the face of cooling inflation may yet produce the “soft landing” that Fed policymakers have been shooting for, but the stark affordability crisis created by rising home prices and mortgage rates may continue to frustrate many would-be homebuyers for some time.
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That’s the view of a number of housing industry economists in a nutshell — including Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist on Zillow’s economic research team.
But unlike many economists, Divounguy — who earned his doctorate from England’s University of Southampton — has some advice for agents on how to bridge what he sees as the “big disconnect between buyers and sellers” in many markets.
Speaking to real estate agents and brokers attending Inman Real Estate Connect Las Vegas on Tuesday, Divounguy noted that first-time homebuyers “are essentially renters,” who saw their housing costs increase by about 33 percent during the pandemic while their wages lagged. He said about half of all renter households are cost-burdened by housing, meaning they’re spending 30 percent or more of their income on rent.
“Some of them are spending 50 percent of their income or more on rent, which doesn’t leave much for anything else, let alone saving for a down payment, right?” Divounguy said.
Contrast that with what happened to potential sellers, who thanks to rising home values are sitting on “near record home equity” and also saw their monthly payments decline in real terms during the pandemic, Divounguy noted.
One example of how bad the affordability situation has gotten is that in Los Angeles, a renter earning the median income could need to come up with a $780,000 down payment in order to buy a house with a monthly mortgage payment equal to 30 percent of their income.
“And so you have kind of a ‘haves and have not’ situation, where potential sellers are in a very comfortable position, whereas potential buyers are not,” Divounguy said. “I think agents have to begin to stress the magnitude of the affordability challenges that are out there.”
Agents can help would-be buyers by pointing them to affordability hacks like down payment assistance programs, or a “BuyAbility” search tool Zillow rolled out in May that shows how ups and downs in mortgage rates affect their options by filtering for homes that fit their budget.
The BuyAbility tool, “basically allows the agent or the potential first-time homebuyer to put in their credit score, and the tool will actually show you the likelihood that you can afford the payment on the home you’re looking at on the Zillow map,” Divounguy said.
“Zillow also has down payment assistance programs on every single listing,” he added. “That’s a great tool to use, especially in those markets where the down payment is really out of reach.”
When it comes to sellers, Divounguy said it will be up to agents to bring those with unrealistic expectations about what the market will bear back down to Earth.
“How many of us know of a seller, a prospect that wanted to list their home for tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars more than similar homes that were selling in the neighborhood, right?” he quizzed the audience. “I think working with sellers to help them appreciate the magnitude of the affordability challenge is going to be important, and there are great tools that agents should lean into.”
Agents should think of technology as their ally in working with sellers, “Right from pinning down the right list price to 3D home tours and virtual floor plans that will help you sell the home faster and deliver more value,” Divounguy said. “I think that’s really how we get the job done.”
Economists at Fannie Mae and the Mortgage Bankers Association predict national home price appreciation will cool by half next year, to around 3 percent by the final quarter of 2025. Zillow’s latest forecast envisions a more abrupt deceleration, with home prices rising by just 1 percent during the year ending in June 2025.
That means home prices are likely to come down in some markets where buyers don’t snap up homes as fast as they come on the market — a trend that’s already starting to emerge in a handful of Sunbelt markets.
Zillow data shows home prices continued to appreciate in 46 of the 50 largest metro areas in June, with San Jose, California (12 percent), Hartford, Connecticut (10.5 percent), San Diego (9.4 percent), Providence, Rhode Island (7.7 percent), and Los Angeles (7.6 percent) leading the way.
But Zillow reported home values were down from a year ago in June in four markets where supply exceeded demand: New Orleans (-6 percent), Austin, Texas (-4.6 percent), San Antonio, Texas (-2.7 percent), and Birmingham, Alabama (-0.6 percent).
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