Comments on: Market Bummer = Owner Ops http://realonomics.net/2007/08/market-bummer-owner-ops/ real estate business models in the consumer-centric era Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:10:14 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: jim merrion http://realonomics.net/2007/08/market-bummer-owner-ops/comment-page-1/#comment-1980 jim merrion Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:54:25 +0000 http://realonomics.net/2007/08/market-bummer-owner-ops/#comment-1980 Having been in this business for a long, time, I am very enthused about the opportunities which currently exist to acquire weaker competitors in the marketplace . There are scads of small companies who opened their own shop when the market was booming and are now facing the harsh realities of losing money with their offices each month. Several of these offices have some excellent Brokers and Agents who are entrepreneurial, self-starters, and who would be welcome additions to a larger office. The "team" possibility opens up yet another vista for them to join the larger office and still have their own identity. I am encouraging our Broker Owners to invite these qualified offices to join them, as rampant consolidation will be an inevitable side-effect of the contracting current real estate market. Having been in this business for a long, time, I am very enthused about the opportunities which currently exist to acquire weaker competitors in the marketplace .

There are scads of small companies who opened their own shop when the market was booming and are now facing the harsh realities of losing money with their offices each month. Several of these offices have some excellent Brokers and Agents who are entrepreneurial, self-starters, and who would be welcome additions to a larger office.

The “team” possibility opens up yet another vista for them to join the larger office and still have their own identity. I am encouraging our Broker Owners to invite these qualified offices to join them, as rampant consolidation will be an inevitable side-effect of the contracting current real estate market.

]]> By: Robert Barringer http://realonomics.net/2007/08/market-bummer-owner-ops/comment-page-1/#comment-1624 Robert Barringer Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:05:42 +0000 http://realonomics.net/2007/08/market-bummer-owner-ops/#comment-1624 Step 1: "Don’t diminish Internet investment, expand it." It is amazing that the Internet is second only to yard signs when it comes to reaching the consumer. Over 80% of real estate buyers search the Internet prior to ever contacting an agent. Yet we still average as brokers to spend 70% of our marketing budgets on non-Internet advertising, and most brokers average less than 10% for their Internet marketing and advertising. If we were to would double our Internet investment to 20% and reduce our non-Internet investments by 25%, we could increase our presence where the consumers are actually searching for us, and at the same time, reduce our overall costs by 7.5% . Make sense? Step 1:
“Don’t diminish Internet investment, expand it.”

It is amazing that the Internet is second only to yard signs when it comes to reaching the consumer. Over 80% of real estate buyers search the Internet prior to ever contacting an agent.

Yet we still average as brokers to spend 70% of our marketing budgets on non-Internet advertising, and most brokers average less than 10% for their Internet marketing and advertising.

If we were to would double our Internet investment to 20% and reduce our non-Internet investments by 25%, we could increase our presence where the consumers are actually searching for us, and at the same time, reduce our overall costs by 7.5% . Make sense?

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