The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

Lately, there has been some very interesting trends taking place in the real estate industry. 2014 and beyond is proving to be a transitional era. At the dawn of this year, there already has been some historical events that have taken place that are in the pursuit of reshaping the real estate industry. Popular publications, National media, Noted mergers & acquisitions, Zillow hiring Ex-Realtor.com Chairman Errol Sameulson, and rumors that Redfin is about to file for their IPO is News that we all should be paying attention to. But what's really at stake? What's NEXT for Real Estate?

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

Recently, I had a very direct, intense, and respectful dialog with a Traditionalist that works with one of the Major Brands here in Houston, Texas. We were chatting back and forth about a post that was on the wall of my Facebook page. Her questions was: "What do you see happening to Realtors? Are we going out of business? Bobby, what's the NEXT chapter in Real Estate?" Admittedly so, her questions were also in reference to our(iBuy Realty) business model.  

I responded by saying, "Realtors are not going out of business! However, we are going to see hundreds of thousands of Realtors throughout the United States retreat from the real estate industry due to dated tactics and inferior Brokerages that can't afford to compete with Multi-Million Dollar Technological Platforms. For those that stay in the industry, their role is going to drastically change. You see, the last few years we have been in this Consumer Centric Mode. However, technology is rapidly compounding on itself at such an aggressive rate that we will soon be in a Consumer Direct Era."

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

You may be asking, "What is Consumer Centric and What's Consumer Direct?" I'm glad you asked!

Consumer Centric: The customer-centric principle bases itself on the idea that the firm's success depends on its customers. The firm, therefore, has to make the customers its focus in all stages of its interaction with them. The firm hopes that the customers will appreciate the effort and show loyalty to the firm's products or services.

Consumer Direct: The customer-direct principle bases itself on the idea that a firm is able to provide a technological platform that gives superior information with easy application(s) that allows the consumer to some degree surpass interaction and order/purchase a product or service without having to hire or drastically reducing the need for human interaction by providing a more efficient and economical alternative. The firm or organization hopes that the customers will appreciate having access to superior information via technology, efficient service, and be able to save money by being involved in the process via their own research.

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

Now that you have the definitions of Consumer Centric versus Consumer Direct, I want to give you examples of businesses/industries that have gone Consumer Direct: Redbox, Netflix, Amazon.com, Zillow.com, ebay.com, Zappos.com, orbitz.com, KAYAK.com, Merrilledge.com, TDAmeritrade.com, Thegrocerystation.com, Cars.com, etc...

But I can hear the Traditionalist right now reading this blog! "You can never take the personal touch that a Realtor gives to a buyer or seller. This business is built on relationships!"  Sure! Moving forward, year over year I want you to tell me how your relationship(s) and personal touch is going with Generation Y, and Millennial buyers and sellers. This group is NOT like Baby Boomers. They are techies! In addition to that, they are techies that saw their parents suffer during the recession. They saw their parents or someone they love lose their house to foreclosure. With that said, they want two(2) things: The Best Service, at the Best Price! You see, it's all about them and they don't care about you and your relationship. You want to talk, they want to text!

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

Real Estate within the next five(5) years will be Consumer Direct! What does this mean? The consumer will not only have superior information, they will be able to log-in to a website, submit offers, and upload properties to the MLS on their own and save a-lot-of-money! Realtors will become Facilitators during this phase of our industry. Our jobs at this point will be to assist these techies by helping them avoid the pitfalls and facilitate their deal to a successful closing. It will become increasingly difficult for Realtors to sell their personal value to a consumer hoping that they will pay them a 6% commission, no more paper presentations, no more Realtors(Buyers Agents) driving around showing a buyer properties because now there are Hosting/Showing Companies, no more poor pictures, no more horrible property descriptions, everything is on Video, and Realtors will NEVER leave the office because everything will be done face-to-face on Skype or ooVoo.com. Real Estate Firms will start providing more of an Advertising and Media Service to market properties and attract buyers to their website(s).  

The NEXT Chapter in Real Estate: Consumer Centric vs. Consumer Direct

You see, I have always stated that our industry is an idea and the monetary resources away from being flipped on its ear. I dont' know why Traditionalist are so arrogant and naive to believe that none of this can't happen when the process has already started. For some reason, the obvious is invisible for Traditionalist because they actually think they can keep putting new labels on their Eight Track Sales Pitch and that consumers are going to stay stupid enough to keep paying FULL PRICE! I'm entertained... The real estate industry has been the ONLY industry that has been able to historically keep their fees the same, in-spite of technology. Until now, Consumer Direct!

Like APPLE, once a real estate brokerage successfully is able to hit a tipping point and demonstrate to the masses that there is now a technological platform that allows them to save money by going directly to a website to get superior information, submit a contract, and upload properties, the GAME IS OVER!

By Bobby Bryant

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