Real Estate Coaching

It is obvious to anyone with a pulse that many Real Estate Brokerage firms had a terrible 2007.
It was so bad that many consolidated their offices and cut back on staffing.

Others lived in denial and thought things would turn around and did not cut back on overhead.
Unfortunately those firms are now in a panic with many closing down permanently.
Some can now be seen giving their franchises back to their respective Franchisors and finding a new affiliation.

Some Brokers and Agents in Florida are heading North to the Charlotte market. It is only one of a few markets actually showing growth.

It has been said that nothing changes until the pain of remaining the same is greater than the pain of change.

The demands put on some franchisees as it relates to affiliation or contract renewal fee’s have taken it’s toll.
The cost of doing business and the cost of keeping unproductive agents have become truly unbearable.

Vendors such as the NAR Realtor community and MLS organizations have raised dues to their memberships in a time when they can least afford it.
While some feel it’s important to continue the same cash flows earned in previous years knowing that there is a fall out on membership, they don’t want to take a pay cut or share in the suffering of it’s membership.
The MLS’s want more revenue so they can keep merging and paying ridiculous salaries to their CEO’s and staff.

The good news is that we are now witnessing the emergence of the State Wide MLS Movement I referred to in previous blogs. It must happen and it must happen soon. The Real Estate Industry is now going through the fastest adaptation of transparency in it’s history.
Look around, so many services on the internet are FREE. Yet the Realtor community wants to eat it’s own for dinner.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again. Google could buy every single independent real estate brokerage company in the United States tomorrow and become the most powerful competitor that Realogy, RE/MAX, or Prudential has ever seen.
I would go so far to say that many existing Franchisees’ would jump ship in a heart beat at contract renewal time to be with a Google or Yahoo which could be Microsoft and Microsoft could buy Yahoo and Google could buy Microsoft. Think about that!

In this day and age anything is possible!
Certainly this would be much better than a bank getting into the business. After all it was the greed of the lending institutions that created the sub-prime fiasco.

Intellect Matters and the Search Engine Kings have it all.

It is not will it happen but when will it happen.
With the massive loss’s reported by the Real Estate Franchise Operators you may see something transpire by the end of the year.
Asset values are dropping within the Real Estate Companies as well as the Venture Capital players who have funded buyouts such as Realogy.

So having said all that, only time, pain, bankruptcy and suffering will tell the real story. After all look what happened to Bear Sterns this past week.

The crystal ball is clear and shinny. He who wants to look into it can realistically see a solution to what real transparency can provide the Real Estate Profession. A business without barriers providing cost savings to the public and Real Estate Brokerage business. Once this evolves the Realtor organization would have no conflicting relevancy at that point. They certainly do not need a Credit Union and would not need Realtor.com and all the loss’s incurred by past corruption and management incompetence.

In closing this Blog I really do believe there is room for the Independent Broker in the business as well as the Single Office Operation.
I still have clients earning 7 figures in this market. The reason being they had not let their ego cloud their business objectives.
They are true leaders and their success is a direct result of the concern they have for their agents.
After all a Real Estate Broker is not in the Real Estate Business, they are in the Sales Associate Business.
The Agent is the Customer! Without the Agent there is just a one person, the Broker and maybe a secretary.

By the end of 2009 the market should start to move up again. Let’s work now to attack the problems impacting our business and view the future with a clean slate. The buying and selling public will always need the service of good professional representation. Perfect your services now so you can be there for them tomorrow.

If you looking for great customers they are everywhere. My job is to teach you how to find and capture them for you company.

If you are looking to grow and not just survive call me.

Michael J. Stefonick

610-659-1173