I recently wrote a blog post about the “Future of Real Estate Franchising.”   I received a number of comments from people, but one in particular really stood out.  It was written by a person I met via social media. Her name is Judy Moriarty and her credentials noted below speak for themselves. I wanted to share Judy’s thoughts with you because I think she is spot-on in her view of the industry and where it’s going. I didn’t change a single word of her email to me. Here it is:

Thank you so much for sharing this with me Mike. You have summed up so perfectly just about everything I’ve been thinking about over this past year regarding the state of flux this industry is in.

A bit of backstory on me (just so you know, I’m not talking out of my, umm, hat).   Prior to going into RE, I worked in corporate finance in NYC – my last position being a consultant at a turnaround and crisis management firm.   I spent 3 years managing an office for a mid-sized local traditional broker (about 600 agents company-wide).   I then built a local office of a national franchise from the franchise agreement up to a full functioning office of 60 agents as the managing broker.

So I have lived two very different types of business models.   This year, I moved my license to a boutique firm to do some listing and selling and re-grouping.   A time-out as it were, to really figure out where the industry was going and what my role would be moving forward.  I have spent the year basically listening to the people who know (i.e. people like you, and Jay Thompson, Bill Lublin and Lani and Benn Rosales, etc.). And here we are..

I agree 100% that the real estate industry, if we are to remain a viable career option, needs to radically shift. The old brick and mortar business model will never work in this technology and information heavy age.

I have often said that if we (meaning broker owners) do not adapt (think shoes and Zappos), we will go the way of the travel agents.   Remember those folks, with the nice little storefont businesses…Expedia took care of that.   The problem with our industry is that we are chock full of status quo thinkers -  Broker owners who watch their profits diminish and think, “Oh I need to hire more agents or I need to fire my manager, they obviously are not doing their jobs”; or the agent who thinks desk duty or an open house are going to reap them a huge return on their time investment.   The forward thinkers are, at this point in time, still few and far between.   One of the questions that I have pondered over the year is does one even bother trying to change mass perception or does one just forge ahead and lead the industry to where it is headed – wrangling up the “haves” as they go?   I’m thinking it is the latter.

To that end, I also agree that standards for entering this business must be changed.   70 hours in a basement of a local real estate office doesn’t cut it.   No one would take advice from an attorney with 70 hours of schooling and who would let a doctor anywhere near them with only 70 hours of school?   Unfortunately, I think this is another behemoth area that cannot be changed universally until lots of other things change – i.e., the National Association of Floats and Such.

My belief is that the same player who comes up with the ideal business model for this new age will also come up with their own standards of entry for their company.   And there is nothing wrong with that.   In fact, it’s a fabulous marketing point to consumers.   Which then also leads me to agree with your point about creating better relationships between brokers and agents.   I think this same environment of higher standards for agents, lower overhead costs for broker/owners, increased profits which in turn can be shared with agents via bigger splits and some type of residual income (that is a whole other story though…) that will naturally morph into a better, truer, partnership between agents and brokers.

The future of the business is going this way – whether we want to go along with it or not.  Consumers (our bread and butter) have spoken.   They want information.   They want it now.

They don’t care who provides it as long as it is out there.

They don’t care about awards or sales volume.

They don’t give a hoot about whether you have a balloon or a yellow jacket or are part of a Family, they want their needs met.

Period.

The agent that meets those consumer needs the quickest and most accurately will win the business.   And the brand that can support that agent most effectively will attract the talent.   We are on the cusp of becoming either travel agents or Zappos.   The RE biz model that can be the Zappos of this industry will be the one that thrives in the upcoming years.   In my humble opinion.

Thanks again for sharing your writing, You are spot on my friend and if what you are doing with your franchise is even close to what you spoke about – you will be incredibly successful!

Thanks, Judy, for your thoughtful commentary! It goes without saying that I agree with all you’ve said. I think there are a LOT of people out there like us who have been waiting for others to come along and blaze a trail to a better place, to a higher standard, to a context of real professionalism. And there has never been a better time than RIGHT NOW to make this happen. Let’s do this, shall we?