Real Estate Industry News

The word "realtor" describes only one aspect of working in the real estate industry. Professionals who own their companies must have a firm grasp on every element that impacts operations - whether the commodity is land, housing or commercial property. The sections that follow span a broad spectrum of subjects key to growing a healthy business.

• 5 Ways Technology Is Overhauling Commercial Real Estate

  By Alex Kopicki

  In the commercial real estate industry, it’s easy to get tunnel vision when racing from one deal to the next. Right now there is a major intersection between traditional commercial real estate and the fluid technology industry that will affect the way brokers and clients do business. Here are five things every commercial real estate professional should know about the shifting landscape:

  • Mobile takeover: You know the importance of smartphones because, if you’re like me, you’re constantly on yours. There were 1.75 billion smartphone users in 2014, according to market research firm eMarketer. Not only is that a lot of devices and users, but that’s also a lot of time spent on these devices. So what does this mean for commercial real estate professionals? Quite simply, if your company doesn’t have a mobile strategy, you better get one — quick. With a mobile strategy you can work from anywhere, resulting in less time in the office and further space consolidation for businesses.
  • A new way to work: Co-working continues to grow and is here to stay. The number of co-working facilities across the globe has nearly doubled every year for the past five years. Small Business Labs projects that more than 12,000 global co-working spaces will exist by 2018 with over 1 million members. The convenience of short-term rentals, the attraction to community, the hip-to-be-small attitude and new business formation are all positive trends that will lead to the continued growth of co-working facilities.
  • Big data: This enables powerful decision-making. While data can’t predict the future just yet, big data can tell us the probability of future decisions, which can lead to actionable decision-making. If you are a commercial leasing agent, a landlord or a service provider, what touch points are you recording about your clients? And what can they tell you about your effectiveness?
  • Crowdfunding: It’s everywhere and it’s all about allowing investors access — mostly to opportunities previously reserved for a privileged few. Today accredited and non-accredited investors, through a multitude of platforms, have the ability to invest in early-stage companies. What this means for commercial real estate is that everyone’s customer base broadens as fractional “ownership” increases. It also results in more capital outlets and providers for a more competitive landscape. Let the games begin.
  • The Internet of Things: This is a simple concept; it’s all about connecting everyday devices such as your home thermostat to the Internet. Why would you do this? The better question is: Why would you not do this? More connectivity leads to more control and customization, leading to more convenience. For example, if I’m a leasing agent who can unlock a space for a showing with my phone, I’m going to be able to access spaces for customers after hours or even show spaces on a whim— no keys required. The Internet of Things is digitizing more data and connecting environments in commercial real estate that were previously fragmented.

  The next time you find yourself racing from deal to deal, take a moment to embrace technology as a new way to work; your clients and your business will benefit.

  Source: Boston Business Journal, January 2, 2015 (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/real_estate)

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• Survey: Address Book Is Agents' Real Estate Gold

  By Real Estate Weekly Staff

  Despite spending an estimated $33 million securing new leads from sites such as Zillow and Trulia, brokers view leads that their agents already have in their address books as being far more valuable.

  “A real estate agent’s best lead is organic,” said Renwick Congdon, chief executive officer of Imprev, a real estate technology company.

  “It comes directly from his or her sphere of influence, company or personal web site, and through local marketing, such as yard signs, flyers, and open houses.”

  Imprev conducted a Thought Leader survey asking which leads were most valuable to more than 270 broker-owners and top executives at leading franchises and independent brokerage firms that were responsible for nearly half of all U.S. residential real estate transactions last year.

  Eighty-six percent of those responding said organic leads from an agent’s sphere of influence — past clients and referrals — offer exceptional value (based on quality of the lead or return on investment), compared to only eight percent citing Zillow, seven percent citing Realtor.com, five percent citing Craigslist and four percent citing Trulia.

  “Real estate leaders are telling us their agents already have the gold — they just need to mine it,” Congdon said.

  “The nurturing of organic leads from capture to transaction is crucial, and an area that I believe is not adequately embraced by the typical real estate agent.”

  The Imprev Thought Leader Survey showed that organic lead sources dominated the list of most-valuable lead sources: An agent’s sphere of influence ranked first, followed by the broker’s website, with 32 percent of the real estate leaders rating the quality or ROI as exceptionally valuable; in third place was local marketing, (flyers, walk-ins, signs, open houses) with 27 percent.

  Other key findings about lead generation:

  • Lead generation is a top concern for 2015: 42 percent of real estate leaders cited the creation of “systems for more effectively competing against the RE portals for generating leads” as among their top two technical challenges as they plan for next year, second only to “getting our systems to work together,” which topped the list with 54 percent.
  • Social media topped Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com for online lead generation: 70 percent of real estate leaders rated social media (Facebook, etc.) as having “exceptional” or “reasonable” value, compared to 58 percent for Zillow, 49 percent for Trulia and 46 percent for Realtor.com.
  • Craigslist topped the zero-value list: 32 percent of real estate leaders said Craigslist has “no value” as a lead-generation source, as measured by quality or ROI.
  • Other key findings of the survey were:
  • Recruiting topped the 2015 to-do list: “Recruiting agents” was the top business challenge for 86 percent of the real estate leaders when planning for next year.

  “Retaining agents and teams” was second, with 54 percent; “attracting younger team members” was third, with 50 percent. When asked, unprompted, “What’s your firm’s single-biggest challenge today?” nearly one in four cited recruiting and retaining agents as their biggest challenge, followed by growth (15 percent), profitability (13 percent) and an aging work force (7 percent).

  Foreign home buyers aren’t high on most leaders’ lists for 2015: Despite substantial industry news coverage on real estate purchases by international home buyers and broker conflicts with MLS firms, only eight percent of real estate leaders said “tapping into foreign home buyers” is among their most critical challenges as they plan for next year, tied for last place with “my MLS competes against us.”

  Source: Real Estate Weekly, December 26, 2014 (http://www.rew-online.com)

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• When It Comes To Agent Safety, Real Estate Industry Will Just Have To Place Its Bets On Education

  Why agents aren't being required to vet strangers before meeting them for the first time

  By Andrea V. Brambila

  Do not expect real estate agents nationwide to be required to vet strangers before meeting them in homes anytime soon. Realtor associations and multiple listing services are betting on education, not mandatory policies, to boost agent safety.

  In the wake of the kidnapping and slaying of Arkansas real estate agent Beverly Carter, some have called for MLSs and associations to institute “rules of engagement” for dealing with prospective clients in order to standardize protocols and get all consumers in a market to accept that agents will not show homes without knowing who they are.

  In a video released at the end of October, Edgerton emphasized that members should check with state and local counsel to make sure that their safety policies are in compliance with state and local regulations. For instance, states have different rules about carrying firearms or pepper spray.

  Independent contractor laws also vary by state. “Brokerages should always be cognizant of the amount of control they are exerting over their agents from an independent contractor standpoint,” Edgerton said.

  June Barlow, vice president and general counsel for the California Association of Realtors, noted that independent contractor status does inhibit brokers from exercising control over the specific actions of licensees unless required by law.

  “We are unaware of any law that requires such safety measures to be implemented by sales associates,” she said.

  But she doesn’t believe that is the main reason education rather than requirements have become the industry’s chosen tack when it comes to agent safety. MLSs and associations enforce rules having to do with business, she said — it is the agents themselves who have the most to gain from following safety measures.

  “You typically put a rule in place where there’s no self-interest in doing it,” Barlow said.

  “Prudence and self-preservation interests should be compelling enough for them to act on their own to take measures for their own safety. Fear of harm is much more effective than any specific MLS or association membership sanctions would likely be.

  “I suspect that is why most associations have taken an educational role instead, using their communications to get the word out,” she added.

  Moreover, she didn’t see how mandatory policies would be enforced. She doubted associations or MLSs would be willing to level fines for not being safe.

  “If someone foolishly put themselves at risk, you’re going to fine them? It’s kind of their risk to take,” Barlow said.

  The role of MLSs

  Most MLSs Inman contacted for this story said they focused on education and left it up to their broker members or shareholder associations to create safety policies.

  “Our role as an MLS has been in helping to increase awareness about Realtor safety. We support NAR and the associations in helping to promote safety tips and advisories,” said MLSListings President and CEO Jim Harrison.

  “It’s not within the MLS role to create policy for brokerage business practices, but we encourage all brokers and agents to take the issue seriously and take the extra time and steps to insure they are safe in their work. “

  Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) said safety education for real estate professionals has traditionally been the province of its association partners.

  “MRED does not have any specific safety policies or rules in place,” a spokesman said. But “on a board level, should the issue be brought to the table, our leadership would be open to taking some type of action consistent with the close working relationship we have with our partner associations.”

  Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. (MRIS) offers members education, but is also currently working with real estate mobile app company Homesnap to develop security tools for the brokers and agents in the field, a spokeswoman said.

  Liability issues

  Brokers, associations and MLSs that offer safety tools to agents should take appropriate steps to protect themselves from liability, NAR’s Edgerton said.

  She advised brokers to make sure any trainers hired are properly certified and insured; that third-party contracts include appropriate indemnification clauses; and that anything offered complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and makes accommodations for agents with special needs.

  Also, any policies or procedures put in place must be implemented across the board, Edgerton said.

  “So if you ask for ID from one person, you ask for ID from anyone, for example. Discrimination would be an issue that could come up,” she said.

  NAR’s upcoming safety program

  NAR’s program will include an optional three-hour continuing education course that states will be encouraged to offer. In part, the course will recommend safety apps and tools for agents, but NAR does not plan to publicize the tools for fear of alerting potential perpetrators, according to Polychron.

  The program will also provide safety tip cards agents can carry when showing homes and articles warning of the dangers of holding open houses alone.

  Most Realtors are aware of safety measures they should take when meeting strangers, Polychron said. So why don’t they?

  “Comfort level. Nothing happens for years. There’s not a Beverly Carter case. We get lax. I’m guilty myself,” he said.

  “I had a cold call at my office on one of my listings. Went out to meet the guy and had no clue who it was. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have had that person come to the office. I should have qualified who it was.”

  Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that NAR has not considered mandating national safety policies.

  Source: Inman, December 3, 2014 (https://www.inman.com)

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• Realtors Increase Focus On Community Service

  By Wilkes Journal-Patriot staff

  Members of the Wilkes County Association of Realtors are stepping up their involvement in service projects and in other local efforts not directly associated with real estate sales.

  Dee Mastin, co-owner of Grand National Realty in Wilkesboro, said this was a major focus of the association while she was president in 2014, and John Ward, co-owner of Ward and Ward Properties LLC in Wilkesboro, said he will continue in his term as president in 2015.

  Mrs. Mastin and Ward said the association has a goal of participating in at least four community events per year as part of a National Association of Realtors grassroots campaign.

  “We want people to see that we do more than sell houses,” said Ward, while at the same time helping association members more fully appreciate their blessings.

  He said association members plan to help paint a Wilkes Habitat for Humanity house in North Wilkesboro in December.

  Ward said they also plan to visit people at a local nursing home and sing for them in 2015. He said there also are plans to support the Communities In Schools’ Backpack program, which provides needy students in the Wilkes schools with weekend food. The association has supported the Backpack program in the past.

  He said Realtors Delynda Ward, his wife and Ward and Ward co-owner, and Chris Johnson, also of Ward and Ward, are co-chairman of the association’s Community Service Committee in 2015.

  Association members donated almost $3,000 for buying gifts and collected toys this year for the Wilkes Ministry of h.o.p.e.’s toy store for young children and teens who otherwise likely would get little or nothing for Christmas.

  [In November], said Mrs. Mastin, association members helped serve Thanksgiving meals at Celebration Baptist Church in the Cricket community.

  At an association booth at the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival on Oct. 4, Wilkes Realtors gave out N.C. Homeowners Alliance flyers explaining the alliance’s support of policies that protect home values, its opposition to higher tax burdens on real property owners and similar positions.

  The booth also had a petition for people to sign asking that land records at the Wilkes Register of Deeds office be available online.

  Also this year, Wilkes Association of Realtor T-shirts were ordered for members.

  Mrs. Mastin said the association added 15 members in 2014, including four new real estate companies. The association has 112 members, which includes companies and individuals involved real estate but not as brokers.

  She said there was an emphasis on having guest speakers with valuable information to share at the association’s monthly meetings this year. These included the president of the N.C. Association of Realtors, and Wilkes Inspections Department Director Keith Walsh.

  Although Wilkes has one of the smaller Realtor associations statewide, it ranks among the largest contributors to the Real Estate Political Action Committee, which she said lobbies in the state legislature for the interests of homeowners and real estate professionals.

  Brittani Cowles was hired as association executive in May. She replaced Chrissy Triplette, who moved across the hall in the Wilkes Chamber of Commerce building when she accepted a job with the chamber.

  In addition to president, Mrs. Mastin served the association as a director, state director and secretary/treasurer. She chaired the association’s grievance, Realtor of the Year, nominating and personnel committees and served on the multiple listing service and budget committees. She was the association’s “Outstanding Realtor of the Year” in 2007.

  Mrs. Mastin has been a real estate broker since 1986 and broker in charge of Grand National since 1993. She holds designation of Graduate of Realtor Institute and attended professional standards and code of ethics workshops and mediation training.

  Mrs. Mastin served as a Wilkes Chamber of Commerce vice president and was on the chamber’s Small Business Committee. She is a member of Wilkesboro Baptist Church, where she has served as a Sunday school teacher, volunteer in the prayer room and nursery and co-captain of the Relay for Life team. Mrs. Mastin also served as a “block person” in her neighborhood.

  She volunteered at the North Wilkesboro Kiwanis Club’s barbecue stands at the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival, sponsored families at Christmas through the Wilkes Department of Social Services and has been a member of the Gideon Auxiliary.

  Ward has been a member of the Wilkes Association of Realtors since 1995 and the N.C. Association of Realtors and National Association of Realtors since 2001. He was the association’s Outstanding Realtor of the Year in 2013.

  He co-chaired the Wilkes association’s Professional Standards Committee and has served on its Lockbox Committee, Fact-Finding Committee, Grievance Committee and Arbitration Committee and chaired it's Community Service Committee.

  Ward holds the designation of Graduate of Realtor Institute. He is an Accredited Buyer Representative, Certified Residential Specialist and Certified Relocation Specialist; holds Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource Certification and has completed other real estate sales training.

  He has a bachelor of science degree in business management and administration from Union College in Kentucky.

  Ward has served on the Wilkes Family YMCA board and on local Y committees. He is an ordained Stephen Ministry counselor, with a special interest in teen counseling.

  Source: Wilkes Journal-Patriot, Wilkes County, North Carolina, November 26, 2014 (http://www.journalpatriot.com)

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• Real Estate Industry Focusing On Safety

  By Joel Aschbrenner

  Prospective homebuyers shouldn’t be surprised if a real estate agent asks to photocopy their driver’s license or meet at a coffee shop before going to a home showing.

  Those are some of the precautions becoming increasingly common, as the real estate industry puts a greater focus on agent safety following the September murder of Arkansas real estate agent Beverly Carter.

  “The public needs to understand we may have to change the way we interact with them,” said John Stark, managing broker with West Des Moines-based Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group. “We might ask them for an ID, or at very least ask them to meet us in public first.”

  Stark, a retired Air Force major, recently held safety training classes for all of Coldwell Banker Mid-America Group’s roughly 200 agents in the Des Moines area.

  Agents can be particularly vulnerable at home showings, where they are often alone with a stranger in an empty house. Stark encourages Realtors to research the prospective buyer beforehand, meet them first in a public place and take a photo of their ID or license plate. His training included tips on how to avoid situations where a prospective buyer could trap an agent in a room or stairwell.

  Agent safety was a prevalent topic at the National Association of Realtor’s annual conference last week in New Orleans. Vendors were selling stun-guns, self-defense courses and other safety training packages, Stark said.

  Stark said he proposed the safety training in response to Carter’s murder. He had met her through the National Association of Realtors and the crime hit close to home for many Des Moines-area agents.

  “Where she was killed was so similar: a mid-sized Midwest city,” he said.

  Carter, 49, had been last seen headed to a home showing near Little Rock. Her body was found several days later. Police have arrested and charged a 33-year-old man with her murder.

  The high-profile crime made national headlines and elicited comparisons to the murder of Ashley Okland, a 27-year-old real estate agent who died in 2011 after being shot in a model home in West Des Moines.

  No one has been charged in Okland’s murder. West Des Moines Police spokesman Sgt. Ken O’Brien said Tuesday that the department is looking into the Arkansas case but so far has not found any connection.

  Source: The Des Moines Register, November 12, 2014 (www.desmoinesregister.com)

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• Real Estate Broker Confidence Slips in New York

  By Ryan Hutchins

  New York real estate brokers—coping with an exceptionally tight credit pipeline and a general lack of inventory for middle-income buyers—say they are less confident in the housing market than they were three months ago, according to a survey released on Monday by an industry trade group.

  The Real Estate Board of New York’s third-quarter broker confidence index fell from 8.88 in the second quarter to 8.80 at the end of September. It remained, however, above the 8.75 score recorded for the same period last year. Commercial brokers, while more confident than those on the residential side, also contributed to the decline.

  REBNY president Steven Spinola, the industry’s chief lobbyist, said the big picture is still positive.

  “The broker confidence index still remains high and above levels seen in 2013, despite some concerns,” Spinola said in a statement. “Brokers are maintaining an optimistic outlook thanks to the volume of economic and investment activity, job growth and new construction.”

  Still, those concerns—particularly from residential brokers—are very real and tangible, based not on gut feelings but on actual experience on the ground. It may look to some as if New York is in the midst of an enormous residential building boom, with towering condo buildings rising across the boroughs, but much of what is being built is out of reach to the vast majority of buyers.

  There is a significant shortage of market-rate housing for middle-income residents. Even some buyers who can afford to live comfortably struggle to find homes in their price range.

  “We need some middle-income housing,” one broker wrote in the survey. “It's great that all of these high-end developments are coming on the market, but let's get middle-income housing on that chain.”

  Said another: “If inventory levels stay low, I think sales will continue to be extremely competitive at high prices. New construction will be released at a much higher price point than existing inventory, creating a more elite buyer pool but not necessarily impacting the established building inventory levels.”

  Even for those who manage to find the perfect place they can afford, there’s no telling whether they will actually get a mortgage. The credit markets are so tight even former Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke was unable to refinance his house.

  “It is difficult to get mortgages for customers, and all cash trumps all best and final offers, making the first-time home buyer less competitive in our Manhattan market,” another broker wrote.

  At the top end of the market, where brokers have been making a fortune selling ultra high-end units in exclusive buildings like One57, there is also cause for concern.

  Mayor Bill de Blasio has indicated he would consider supporting a so-called “luxury tax” on pied-à-terres, a proposal made in September by the left-leaning Fiscal Policy Institute and first reported by Capital. State Senator Brad Hoylman of Manhattan has since introduced a bill that would create the tax.

  Such part-time residences account for a huge segment of the top-end market and dominate some entire neighborhoods. The scope of the trend, which is driven in large part by wealthy foreigners looking for a place to dump their money, was documented in a New York Times column that ran on Sunday.

  At least one broker who responded to the REBNY survey views a possible tax on those units as a major factor in what the future of the market will look like. REBNY, which has publically opposed the tax, placed the comment at the top of a short list of broker responses.

  “The biggest impact on sales is the proposed luxury tax on pied-à-terres,” the broker said. “This will have a massive effect on the market and will particularly impact luxury developers if the proposals go through.”

  Overall, the residential market confidence index fell from 8.30 to 8.23 between the second and third quarters, with confidence in both the current and future situations dipping from a quarter earlier. While residential brokers are more positive about the future than they were a year ago, their confidence in the present market is lower today than it was at the end of the third quarter last year.

  Meanwhile, commercial brokers—still more bullish than their residential counterparts—also recorded a dip in confidence, though their remarks did not illustrate a particular reason for the decline. The commercial broker confidence index fell from 9.45 to 9.38 from the second to third quarter. Those are both very positive measures. Broker comments released by REBNY noted the growth of the technology, advertising, media and information sector as a boost to office markets, continued job growth and increasing leasing activity in Midtown South.

  Still, commercial brokers are not as confident in their present situation or their future prospects as they were a year ago. In a way, there’s a feeling of in with the new out with the old. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on whom you ask.

  “The impact of the technology, advertising, media, and information sector (TAMI) is certainly affecting the market,” one broker wrote. “New construction will also have an impact on secondary and tertiary buildings.”

  Said another: “Lease rates in Midtown will begin to look attractive as compared with the other two major sub-markets, Midtown South and Downtown.”

  Source: Capital New York, October 27, 2014 (http://www.capitalnewyork.com)

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