For 2009, the playing field will certainly be changing in terms of the number of people working in the real estate industry and related fields. I’d heard in one of my local REALTOR membership committee meetings that as of mid-year we were down some 5,300 active licensees in WA State which is quite a few. Some people think this is a good thing as it is purging the system of those that were here just for the boom days and who can’t make it when the “real work” begins. In other people’s views, we (the USA) are paying for our greed and it is being lampooned in a variety of ways online from YouTube videos to PowerPoint slides via email. I love these caricatures, although they are a little too close to the truth in many instances given what we’ve learned about the financial markets over the past 6-12 months and the greed that took us to these new lows. I hope to look back on these spoofs some day with different eyes and use them as a reminder of what can happen when people in power aren’t in check.
In some cases it will mean business model adjustments and one that was a bit interesting to me was the admission by Redfin that its former model didn’t work under the pricing strategy that they’d originally started with – and which I never personally thought would continue – so they are raising their prices. A recent online notice from Redfin gives the details. Looks like rebates are being reduced and they are raising prices on the costs of listings, but they are eliminating the costs of showing properties, an at one-time very contentious practice for their clients ($250 a pop after 2 free ones).
Surprisingly, what brought the pricing change to my attention was the posting of a challenge from another similar start up company made up of Redfin deserters called findwell. You can read the customer service challenge at this post. Why is it surprising? Mostly due to the fact that for a few years Redfin had a lot of local press, including online at Rain City Guide where I am a co-contributor, and I would have expected to see something about it there before anywhere else partly due to some of the other writers who followed their development closely – it seemed to be the personal joy of many who yearned for a change in how real estate was done. I was never hot or cold on Redfin, but rather just welcomed them as one of the many business models that exists in the very, very competitive landscape that is real estate – plus focusing online made sense, and as I already stated, I was a techie already so they weren’t really doing much of anything different than I was anyway in my own business at RE/MAX.
Oddly enough, I had joined the real estate industry 5.5 years ago having left the tech sector after watching a former CEO of a firm I worked with take it into near ruins by fleecing the firm of millions of dollars via forgivable loans. It was during the time of Enron and WorldCom and I hoped that starting my own business would assure I could take control of my own destiny. But, alas, the people in higher places got greedy yet again but this time in the lending industry and my working world was yet again impacted.
Thankfully, this time, I do have more control over my own destiny and my team will survive this change. Plus, we expect this change to help us grow stronger as we are picking up market share from those that are leaving the industry and we are finding our investment business picking up again after the years of being cautious with our clients with a lot of that due to the increase in foreclosures and short sales. Yes, much like Warren Buffett, we are being aggressive with our business growth while others are afraid and shrinking back. I’m looking forward to 2009 and what it will bring, just as much as I’m excited about what I will bring into 2009!Cheap Premarin
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