Welcome to the first Real Estate Industry Yankee Blog Swap! Today 34 of the most influential real estate bloggers are trading blogs for the day to offer a full spectrum of information on everything from current market conditions to the future of online real estate services. The full blog swap list is at the end of this post, be sure to join in the fun!
Visiting Redfin’s blog today is the one and only queen of Seattle real estate bloggers … Ardell DellaLoggia!
REDFIN and the “Wings of Change” by ARDELL DellaLoggia
For over 16 years, I have worked in an industry that is OVERLY “Sensitive (regarding) their dependency on initial conditions”.
“initial conditions” being, SAME OLD, SAME OLD–STATUS QUO
For those who are already “with me”:
Attractor D in the graph represents the Realtor organization.
Attractor C is REDFIN, getting dangerously close to piercing through the “Old Guard’s” falling curve.
Attractor A is Zip Realty.
And last, and most least, is Attractor B…the “bottom feeder” sites, “whose name is Legion and of which there are many.”
The “equilibria” point for the Realtor Organization represents the day the organization acknowledged the buyer’s right to separate and equal representation. Until that time, all agents represented the Seller, ALL agents wrote offers FOR buyers (as customers and not clients) with the hidden agenda of doing so, from the standpoint of the best interests of the seller. Odd but true, and apparently still true in some remote, far away places like…New York City!?!? that still has no MLS System. No MLS System, doesn’t mean we are “backward” and have no computers. No MLS System is a means of “controlling the inventory”. Even the many and most who have MLS Systems, are arching back toward the “blue square initial state” where “He who listed…lasted” and buyers should be grateful for the opportunity of…any crumbs the powers that be chose to leave for them on the table.
In all fairness, REDFIN was 2nd, and Attractor A/Zip Realty, was the first to make strides in “Empowering the ‘Buyer Consumer’,” with its offer of 20% to the buyer. I’ll let the curve in the graph speak for itself with regard to Zip as Zip did not do, in all its time to date, a smidgeon of what REDFIN has been able to do in its short history.
REDFIN carries us forward on its “Wings of Change”, just as a “butterfly’s wings create tiny changes in the atmosphere, that ultimately cause a tornado to appear”.
It is Glenn Kelman, and “Glenn Kelman’s REDFIN”, that means most to me. You only have to meet Glenn once to know that it is in the purity of his vision for the consumer, be that a buyer consumer or a seller consumer, that the “Truth Does OUT”. The Truth that the RULES were in fact made to be broken. Funny thing is, Glenn really doesn’t know that he is breaking the rules, nor do the blog staff writers. Glenn is approaching the industry without the burden of the industry’s pull toward it’s “initial state”. Glenn hasn’t a clue what the “initial state” was. He looks at the here and now. He looks at what people want and need and how technology can get them what they want and need, without regard to the forces that pull back toward “the initial state”.
Whether or not REDFIN succeeds as a business is ultimately irrelevant. Their tiny wings of change will bring forth the tornado that moves Attractor D back up on its course, toward a balance of power between the buyer and seller consumer. A marketplace that recognizes the buyer’s right to equal and separate representation…EVEN IF THE BUYER SAW THE HOUSE FIRST, WITH THE SELLER’S AGENT. NEVER, EVER CAN OR SHOULD A BUYER BE FORCED INTO BEING REPRESENTED BY THE SAME PERSON WHO REPRESENTS THE SELLER…NEVER AGAIN. If they WANT to do that, to KEEP all or a portion of the Buyer Agent fee, that’s OK. But some RULE that says they HAVE to?? Glenn is blind to that rule, he doesn’t remotely “get it”, nor should anyone “get it”…cause IT has to CHANGE along with lots of other “ITS”. “ITS” BROKE – FIX IT! You don’t like the way Glenn is “fixing it”…oh well, you had plenty of time to fix it on your own, and you DIDN’T!
So Glenn and the DOL and the tornado behind them, will fix it for the consumer, who needs for “IT” to be fixed.
Be sure to vist all the Yankee Blog Swappers:
Transparent Real Estate’s Pat Kitano vs. Zillow Blog’s Drew Meyers
RSS Pieces’ Mary McKnight vs. Future of Real Estate Marketing’s Joel Burslem
St. Paul Real Estate Blog’s Teresa Boardman vs. Phoenix Real Estate Guy’s Jay Thompson
3 Ocean Real Estate’s Kevin Boer vs. SLC Real Estate’s Nigel Swaby
Issaquah Undressed’s Larry Cragun vs. Maury Properties’ Andrew Maury
Chicago Home Weblog’s Geno Petro vs. NY Houses 4 Sales’ Christine Forgione
Phoenix Arizona Real Estate Blog’s Jonathan Dalton vs. Real Estate Snippets’ Bonnie Erickson
The boys of Sellsius vs. Real Estate Tomato’s Jim Cronin
ML Podcast’s Michael Price vs. FamousAgents.com’s Elise Wright
My Tech Opinion’s Reggie Nicolay vs. Ubertor’s Steve Jagger
Redfin’s Glenn Kelman vs. Rain City Guide’s Ardell DellaLoggia
CondoDomain’s Anthony Longo vs. miOaklandCounty’s Maureen Francis
The San Diego Home Blog’s Kris Berg vs. Urban Dig’s Noah Rosenblatt
The Property Monger’s Jon Ernest vs. XBroker’s Jeff Corbett
Realty Blogging’s Richard Nacht vs. The Mortgage Reports’ Dan Green
Christian Real Estate Network’s Justin Smith vs. Wanna Network’s Tony Senna
Sacramento Voice’s Gena Riede vs. Max Sell’s Brad Nix
For an overview of the event and all its participants, please visit www.YankeeBlogSwap.com.