Great post Ardell, and kudos to Glenn for having the courage to shake things up. I am in full agreement that regardless of whether or not REDFIN ultimately succeeds, they have certainly caused a shift that will impact the entire industry long term.

I would like to make one observation however, call it a disagreement or whatever,.. and that is this:

I don’t think that the big issue at hand is whether or not the industry is “seller centric” with the buyer “getting the crumbs” of representation.

I think at the heart of the matter is the challenge that the current paradigm of the real estate industry is that of an entirely “Agent Centric” industry, as opposed to the “consumer centric” (as in buyer or seller) industry that it ought to be.

It’s about giving the consumer choices, and about brokers being more concerned about their consumers rather than their agents.

This is why I would not count ZIP in as a Real Estate 2.0 type firm. Their business model is every bit as Agent Centric as that of Coldwell Banker. The fact that they offer a 20% rebate to buyers (or 25% to sellers) does not change this. It’s a step into the right direction, but it’s not where I would like see the future of the industry heading.

I think that the paradigm shift will not be ‘equal representation of the buyer’ and ‘buyer’s ability to negotiate their fees’, but rather a shift from the current Agent Centric business model, towards a Client (or consumer) Centric business model.

Keep up the great work.

Thomas Heimann, CEO
Bravo Real Estate
Sarasota, FL

Looks like my response to Thomas came up, but Thomas’ comment vanished…odd.

However, in it’s existing form the industry is, and always has been, seller consumer centric. Most agents put themselves at the same level as the seller. So I think the Agents and the Sellers are both “covered” moreso than buyer consumers, under the existing models. Seller discount models have been available for as long as I can remember…and that’s a very long time. Buyer options are just starting to emerge and agents clearly do not treat buyers the same as sellers regarding client status.

I don’t “do world”, but I do do windows :-)

Here’s the Deal, “THEY” are “THEM”! They think like PEOPLE and not like AGENTS. AGENTS need to think differently, and stop going back to “blue square one”.

Man on the Street (Redfin, Zillow, most people who didn’t drink the NAR Kool-aid) say “What the heck!?!? I hired you to sell my house and you don’t want to open the freakin’ door??? What’s up with that??”

Now Kevin, don’t bother giving me the agent side of it…I know it and I “get it”, but maybe WE are wrong on that. Maybe Redfin is correct. Maybe an agent hired by the seller to sell his house has to just stop whining about having to show it.

Now, I’m still glad Redfin offers showing, because guess what? If I have twenty offers on the house, I’m not necessarily going to run over there to open the door for anyone, cause me and the seller don’t need no stinking 21st offer. That would put the Redfin client at a disadvantage.

So sometimes the listing agent will show it. And clearly if the buyer saw it at an Open House, I don’t want to hear about no Procuring Cause for the house sitting agent of the day. But Redfin needed to open up the option of showing…which they have.

Everone go back to the round black dot and rethink the whole industry please. The rules were not re-written enough at that black dot, and are starting to regress back to buyers being “lambs led to the slaughter”.

The Traditional Industry is MUCH more WRONG than Redfin. Time to “take the plank out of thine own eye” and stop looking at the alternative models through a microscope.

They do not have to BE US. They see the world through “consumer colored glasses” and maybe we need to take a peek through their glasses with them.

P.S. The graph comes from Wikipedia “butterfly effect” wings of change. For my application, Seller Represntation is the vertical axis and Buyer Representation is the horizontal Axis.

Physics Shmysics – it’s all real estate to me.

The beauty of Redfin — and the angst it causes our traditional community — are both, quite simply, because they started with a different set of assumptions. Their model may work, or it may not…but they definitely have the consumer front and center.

The change I am looking for is simply in the agent “mindset”. Geno says, “I try not to…” and “I sell in a state that allows for…”

The beauty of Alternative Business Models, such as Redfin, is that they start at the consumer and work backwards.

Both of you, like most agents, start at laws and agents and never get to the consumer part.

Geno,

Yes, your State permits Dual Agency, but I’m sure not without the written consent of both of the consumers. That you can slide a paper under them and get them to sign it down on paper #15, is not the issue. Nor is the issue what you do or do not “want” to do with regard to Dual Agency.

The issue is that written consent is required of BOTH consumers, because it is THEIR issue and not yours. If THEY both want it GREAT!!

It ain’t always about us! Loved the piece on your blog from Christine, especially the photo and your intro.

Jay,

The indsutry needs to stop obsessing over itself and start obsessing over the consumer. Frankly, they never had a problem with seller consumers, not as much as with buyer consumers. Time to stop the “lip service” to buyers and time to talk commissions with the “client” and view the buyer as “a client”. Long overdue.

So overdue that Redfin doesn’t understand how it couldn’t be so, and that naivete makes them GREAT! They have zippo propensity to return to the “intitial conditions” that heavily favor the seller’s best interest and the agent’s best interest.

I don’t give a rat’s ass how much money they do or don’t make. They don’t have their heads up their butts, and that’s good enough for me.

Nice post. Wouldn’t expect anything less from Ardell…