Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Must Go: 1000WATT Brand & Marketing Summit

I’m so looking forward to attending 1000WATT’s Brand & Marketing Summit in April. I couldn’t make it last year and had major FOMO. The buzz was incredible so it was one of the first events I signed up for this year.

In this new world where it seems our old value propositions have disappeared I think it’s even more crucial to shake off the dust and look for new ways to show value.

If you attended MLS Reset you saw Brian Boero talk about how MLS organizations need to get better at marketing. So if you’re an MLS executive send your marketing department, or at least bring someone from your marketing department with you, this is THE event to get their creative juices flowing.

The summit is being held at Giley’s in Dallas, Texas, so I might have to learn the “two step” before I go.

See you there for a bottle of Lone Star! Here’s a special link if you want to join me. => Special Deal for 1000watt Brand & Marketing Summit

1000WATT’s Brand & Marketing Summit

I just wanted to make another plug for 1000WATT’s upcoming Brand & Marketing Summit. As many of you know Brian, Marc and their merry gang of creatives are legit. Having attended many of their other events I can assure you that you are in for a treat. But unlike other events this one feels like they are going to get even more strategic, and even more tactical in their agenda and content. Plus their speaker list is stacked!

Who should go? Well check out the website.

  • Executives and marketers in proptech, brokerage, franchising, mortgage, title, MLSs, and associations
  • Real estate team leaders
  • Solo agents who are eager to build market share
  • Brokerage and franchise leaders who want to lead their teams through a time of change with confidence
1000WATT

So buy a few tickets for you and your staff, mark your calendars, book the hotel rooms, buy the plane tickets and put your two stepping boots on and head to Gilleys in Dallas June 25th-June 27th.

1000watt announces new event

1000watt Brand & Marketing Summit

“It’s time to focus

Brand building and marketing are everything in any business. They are especially important in fragile times when survival and growth require sharp claws, tenacity, and a plan.

Winners rise out of markets like this. It’s trite, but true. We want to help them — you — be out ahead. So we’re bringing together some of the brightest brand and marketing minds from both inside and outside of real estate to exchange ideas, strategies, and action items for what to do and what to say, right now.”

-1000watt

This is going to be good. Who better to put on a conference about brand and marketing than 1000watt? 1000watt has been delivering the goods on high quality marketing, branding, design and content for way over a decade. If you aren’t reading their Friday Flash and newsletters you’re missing some of the smartest takes and analysis in real estate. Also excited about one of their speakers, April Dunford, her book on positioning, titled “Obviously Awesome” is a must read.

My advice, bring a few people from your company that need to get recharged and inspired. It’s time. I’m sure tickets will go fast. Get Yours => 1000watt Brand & Marketing Summit

Event: Turn On

As one does, I was going through my inbox and came across a gem from Marc Davison of 1000watt. The piece is entitled, The harpoon and the row boat. Marc is a great writer, and for some reason when I read anything he writes I hear the voice of Bono from U2 in my head. Are they really going to perform without Larry Mullen Jr.?? But I digress.

The article is an example of the deep thinking the guys at 1000watt put into real estate. In this case “recruiting”. But it’s more than “recruiting”. It’s coming at a problem with a design mindset. It’s asking question after question after question after question until you get to the essence of the problem you are trying to solve.

What the article also reminded me of is an event 1000watt is hosting next month in Portland, Oregon. It’s called TURN ON. I’m going and I CAN NOT WAIT! And what I have written about this event before is still true today.

“So if you want to cleanse your palette of the normal, because in 2023 we are all going to need new ideas and inspiration, then you should sign up too.”

The guys at 1000watt have been generous to give me a couple tickets to give away at a phoneomal discount. But only to those who haven’t registered already.

So if you are interested in joining me and other truth seekers be one of the first ones to reach out to me I’ll send you a link.

5…4….3…2…1

Event: Turn On

Register=> https://1000watt.net/turn-on/

A lot of real estate conferences blend into each other, and it’s hard to tell them apart. You get a lot of “what year was that” vibe? There was a ballroom, a lobby bar, a steak dinner, and mindless presentations of vendors and agents giving commercials from the stage.

I’ve attended two Turn On events from 1000watt and I remember each of them distinctly (Dan and I were lucky enough to be participants in one of 1000watt’s first events). The content is unmatched. Maybe it was the weird/cool swag (rolling papers with the 1000watt logo, yes please). Or the incredible band playing music between speakers and breaks. But most of all it was the presenters. One sticks out in my head of an actual bonafide film director ( I think one of Marc’s neighbors) showing the audience how he would shoot real estate listing videos. I also had a chance to play poker with Tom Ferry and a real professional Poker player (spoiler alert, I lost my ass – but it was all for charity).

So naturally, when I heard 1000watt was doing it again I signed up. The event is in Portland, Oregon – March 20-21 ( a beautiful time of year in Portland).

So if you want to cleanse your palette of the normal, because in 2023 we are all going to need new ideas and inspiration, then you should sign up too.

Click this link to register —-> Turn On produced by 1000watt

See you there!

1000watt announces promotions

Some 1000watt news

“Bigger I don’t care so much about. Better is everything.

Sometimes those things go together, sometimes they don’t. But if you’re not getting better at your thing, what the hell are you doing?

At 1000watt, we are better at what we do than we were last year. We are far better at what we do than we were five years ago. I love that.

Great people make that happen. 1000watt is not just the Brian and Marc show. We are a team of 14 pros who produce amazing creative and strategic work for our clients.”

The real estate industry is a better place due to Brian, Marc and the rest of the team at 1000watt. Congrats to Natasha Jones on her promotion to President, Patrick Sanders on his promotion to Chief Creative Officier and last, but not least the wonderful Jessica Swesey on her promotion to Chief Content Strategist.

Opendoor weirdness

Friday Flash: The year things got weird

“No, 2019 was the year consumers, also known as people, began to do very strange things in very significant numbers.
 
Two years ago, many in the industry thought the idea of a home seller paying 7-10% in fees for the privilege of getting a low-ball offer on their home was crazy, a pathway only for the desperate. 
  
Turns out lots of people were willing to do this in 2019. “

Brian Boero, 1000watt

Over the holiday break, I kept thinking about this insightful post (as usual) from Brian Boero of 1000watt. It pairs nicely with a webinar I did with Tyler Hixson, Opendoor’s Director of Real Estate Partnerships & Strategy.
You can watch the replay of the webinar in the video below. But one of the more “weird” things that came out of the discussion is that a vast majority of consumers were willing to pay the fee from Opendoor AND the agent’s full commission. They saw value in both. They appreciated the certainty and speed that Opendoor provided but also saw value in the guidance they received from their agent.

Think about that. In an age where many business models are trying to push commissions lower, or get rid of them entirely, many consumers are willing to pay more.

The fact that iBuyer offers have gone from “lowball” to fair market value might also be a factor. Here’s a quote from a recent article in the Wall Street Journal.

“The new study from Mike DelPrete, a scholar in residence on real-estate technology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, found Opendoor and Zillow typically purchase homes for just over 1%, or around $3,800, less than the value of the home as determined by First American Financial Corp. , a real estate title insurance company.”

These two shifts are more significant than people realize. iBuyers are not an either-or proposition, but something entirely different.

Things definitely got weird in 2019, hell I would include the entire decade. What weirdness this new decade will bring is what I’m excited about.

Back to work.

Industry Relations Episode 41: 10 Defining Moments & Trends in the Last Decade of Real Estate

On January 1, 2010, organized real estate was still reeling from the recession. Dale Stinton was steering the ship at NAR. Zillow was seen as the enemy of the MLS. Real estate software was meh. Agent teams were rare. Nearly all brokerages took a split. Selling your house online seemed outrageous. And we still signed documents in pen.

On this episode of Industry Relations, Rob and Greg are looking back at the last 10 years in real estate. They discuss the passing NAR’s MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy, debating the significance of the office exclusives loophole and how it might lead to government involvement. Our hosts also express their disappointment around the Newsday investigation in Long Island, Testing the Divide, challenging brokerage leadership to make a strong statement against the egregious racism it uncovered. 

Greg and Rob go on to share their top 10 defining moments and trends with the biggest impact on the industry over the last decade, describing how the rise of agent teams, 100% commission brokerages, the iBuyer model and consolidation have transformed organized real estate. Listen in for insight into how NAR’s decision to fund RPR and Upstream changed the way the MLS saw Zillow and explore how the space has evolved from 2010 through the end of 2019.

Editor’s Note: We did record an Episode 40 that was never aired. It was about Policy 8.0 but wasn’t ready before the vote. After the vote passed we decided it didn’t add to anything to the issue.

What’s Discussed: 

NAR’s passing of the MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy

Rob & Greg’s take on the Newsday investigation in Long Island

How the loophole in 8.0 could lead to government involvement

The 10 defining trends/events in the last decade of real estate

  1. The end of poorly designed software
  2. The rise and domination of agent teams
  3. The transition in leadership at NAR
  4. Opendoor pioneering the iBuyer model
  5. Zillow’s acquisition of Trulia
  6. 100% commission brokerages
  7. Consolidation and the influx of capital
  8. The practice of buying agents/agent teams
  9. The mainstreaming of digital signatures
  10. NAR’s decision to fund RPR + Upstream

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Resources:

MLS Clear Cooperation Policy

Compass Pre-Litigation Letter to Bright MLS

Bright’s Response to Compass

Newsday Documentary: Testing the Divide

Rob’s Blog on the Newsday Piece

1000watt Article on Real Estate Software

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan

Ben Thompson Interview with Rich Barton

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CMLS gets a new look

Have you seen the updated Council of MLS (CMLS) website yet? It is just terrific!

I love, love, love the new site. They’ve simplified everything, even the CMLS logo. Gone are the puzzle pieces and now just the letters in sturdy Helvetica custom font made by 1000watt designer North Bryan.

Word is CMLS reached out to creative agency, 1000watt for the redesign, who they also hired to help create their “Making The Market Work” campaign.

Bravo!

Flipping the switch

I’ll be in Portland starting Monday late afternoon attending 1000watt’s “Turn On” event. I had a great time at their last event and looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us this year. DM me if you are going to be there.

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