As Vice President of Business Development & Sales, Mark is responsible for the strategy development and operations of the online real estate business, including agent/broker relations, data contracts and sales.
Mark is a 19 year sales, business development and marketing veteran. Mark has spent over 10 years working in the real estate technology space for companies including Bamboo.com Virtual Tour Company, iPix, Connecting Neighbors, Reply, Inc., and now HomeFinder.com. Over the years, he has built, trained and managed many remote sales and account management teams in the roles of Director of Sales and Business Development. He has also participated in speaking engagements at industry events, featuring topics on MLS syndication, online marketing and more.
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As an "industry visionary", what do you see as the major changes occurring in the real estate industry?
You don’t have to be a “visionary” to recognize the two areas that are challenging the status quo, social media and agent ratings.
Social media phenomena like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way agents and brokers market themselves and their properties. For a very long time, there was nothing new in Real Estate Marketing/Advertising. Social media has taken the local cocktail party and put it online. The great news is this can be leveraged to help grow your business very quickly, especially for new agents. The bad news is, if you’re an established agent that doesn’t use social media, you may lose the next generation of buyers and sellers.
Lastly, agent ratings could change the way we choose a Realtor. There are a few sites out there that are experimenting with agent ratings, HAR, RedFin and HomeThinking are the few that come to mind. Relatively speaking, it’s not that difficult to become a licensed agent, however, it is difficult to stay in the business and be successful. The easier it is for consumers to differentiate agents, the harder it will be for many at the lower end of the skill/experience spectrum to stay in the game.
What major "corporate players" are driving change and what may be their impact?
On the discount brokerage side, Redfin is definitely pushing the status quo. They have a very good Web site, with nice search capability, an easy to understand pricing model and lots of personality. Again, if successful in tough economic times, they could be formidable competition for the traditional brokerage model.
Who are the "individual trendsetters" that are shaping the future real estate industry?
In 2006, Time Magazine’s person of the year was “You.” It was the year of the individual with the advent of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. I think this still holds true in 2009. It could be the agent that has a large following on Twitter or Facebook, the blogger on ActiveRain that gets referrals from other agents or the Broker that embraces online advertising that drives email and phone leads to their brokerage for a positive ROI.
What are the expectations of the emerging real estate consumer?
Consumers want to work with trustworthy Realtors and Brokerages that can sell their home quickly with the least amount of aggravation at the right price. That hasn’t changed. But what has is that they are increasingly demanding proof of the capacity to deliver on this promise rather than the unsubstantiated claims that characterized a lot of old-style marketing.
How should the Brokerage and Realtor Association / MLS respond to these real estate consumer expectations?
Do not be afraid of new technology! Brokerages and MLSs need to facilitate social media venues rather than avoid them. Be cognizant of what your Realtors are doing to be successful, model it and promote it to your members.
What role do you see the Realtor Association/MLS playing to ensure Broker profitability?
Take expenses off the Broker’s plate. Lower MLS fees are not necessarily the answer as in many Associations, fees are reasonable. But MLSs and associations could be leveraging their scale, staff and new technologies to create efficiencies for members.
Based upon your vision of the future of the real estate industry, what are you doing to help influence positive change?
Hopefully my role in online advertising will be seen as a positive influence. My goal, and HomeFinder.com’s, is to help connect home buyers and Realtors to close a sale as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
What advice would would you give Brokerages and Realtor Associations/MLSs to assure they stay relevant and successful in the future?
Don’t be afraid of the future, embrace it and encourage it. Holding on to the past will only make you irrelevant to your members.
What changes should a Brokerage implement to ensure profitability in the future?
Reduce your overhead, office space, unnecessary expenses and Advertising that doesn’t have a positive ROI. Don’t be afraid of hoteling in your office space to give the agents maximum flexibility and decreased overhead. Plus, you need to invest in your agents. There may be more expenses in the short term but if you invest in the success of your agents, they will pay you back tenfold.
What books would you recommend as a "must read" that have influenced your vision?
Jim Collins, Good to Great. If you are responsible for a business, a group or a team this is a must read.
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