The Future Of Real Estate… Matt’s thoughts

I recently had the opportunity to share my thoughts on the Future of Real Estate. This blog includes just one section from that talk — a piece I felt compelled to pass on.

Last financial year, we (Independent Agent) sold $229 million worth of property and in that $229 million there were a total of 259 properties sold. Just a drop in the ocean sure, but a much bigger drop than the year before. 

I got thinking beyond just the figures and started thinking about impact at ground level. 

Every listing, every sale, and every review that went up under our agency, or any one of the ‘independents’ is one less piece of support for the big brands. As this is a growing trend, I have to ask, will the scales tip? 

The change won’t happen overnight, but it is on a trajectory. This chart shows our growth over the past five years with the number of sales and dollar value of real estate sold. 

One thing that I have noticed (and yes I know that this is not exclusive to ‘Independents’) is that at the heart of it, the successful agencies in this space are here to support agents. 

Agencies with strong support and service will remain, the others working on some other ulterior motive will be weeded out. This is very much personal, but a genuine desire to serve is going to win over a genuine desire to take over the industry. 

When I am explaining our business I say there are three main practical elements that it is built on, and I think this applies to other agencies in our space. These are the elements that will continue to refine and define independent style agencies into the future. 

• Remote Work
• Own Branding
• Higher Pay

Remote work is able to continue to develop as information communication technology evolves. Getting the balance between how much support is provided and how it is accessed is a major factor to be considered as we progress. One of the challenges is ‘support when you need it’ which of course can be any time day or night. 

Freedom around branding aligns with the global movement to personal brands. We have been seeing real estate agents develop personal brands for years, but now more and more support is available literally at our finger-tips to enable this and to spread the brand and the messaging.  

Technological advances and AI are making remote work and own branding more accessible. In some ways, AI may well democratise some real estate branding and marketing – but only for those who lean in and use it.  

Often these three elements will be in some kind of balance – more hands on from the office = slightly higher charges to salespeople. There might be a little more care in branding, and so there is a little more money required to make that happen. 

Which brings me to higher pay. Simply put, with the removal of corporate layers, franchise fees, alongside the advance in communication and marketing technologies allows more money for salespeople. There is no reason for this not to continue – and I think it won’t take you long to find other areas where technology has allowed people to get more service for less money. Same situation here. 

My personal take is that we have to be very careful that we are not playing too fast and loose with our compliance and supervision, and to ensure that clients are being cared for. Some of these items are at risk if the margins get too skinny on the agency side of the ledger and I for one don’t see a future where the rules are relaxed. The opposite is more likely and remote agencies must be considering that as we head into the future. 

Alongside taking care with legislative requirements, it is essential that systems and processes are clear and dialed in. We have a responsibility to our salespeople as well our vendors and sellers. To make exceptional systems happen exceptional leadership, management and administration is also required. Cutting corners is not an option, the value position needs to be good and the standards need to be high.

And it is not like challenges don’t exist for businesses and salespeople in this space. Certainly there is a flip side to being the only person flying a certain colour flag in a target market – but there are also huge benefits when you get it right. 

Personally, it is exciting to be part of a new way of operating in our industry. I think that this way of doing business will become more mainstream. I would not be at all surprised to see one of the big brand franchises make a move into this space, as the small almost un-noticable irritations become a little harder to ignore.