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Louis Cammarosano
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GM, HomeGain
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Louis Cammarosano is the General Manager of HomeGain and is responsible for the day to day management and strategic direction of the company. Louis joined HomeGain in January 2005 as HomeGain’s General Counsel and was subsequently promoted to Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and later to Chief Operating Officer. Louis is a graduate of Fordham University and Fordham University School of Law. Louis began his legal career at Cravath, Swaine and Moore and specialized in securities and mergers and acquisitions, spending the bulk of his 15 year legal career in London, Paris and New York. Prior to being admitted to the bar, Louis was a tenured school teacher in the South Bronx. Louis was recently named to Inman's Top 100 Real Estate Leaders of 2008.
Email Louis
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| As an "industry visionary", what do you see as the major changes occurring in the real estate industry? |
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| The leveling off of new players displaying listings. Listings have become a commodity and it’s not really profitable to display them in the hopes that you can sell ads around them. In addition, listings providers are not too keen to have their listings used as advertising bait. I expect the listings providers to require higher standards from those that they give their listings to, perhaps including minimal traffic requirements and a limitation on either the volume or type of ads that can be displayed around the listings. |
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| What major "corporate players" are driving change and what may be their impact? |
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| Scripps’ Front Door. I like what they are doing. I think they are on the right track as they are going beyond listings and user generated content and providing expert video and text content. |
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| Who are the "individual trendsetters" that are shaping the future real estate industry? |
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In the current environment it’s easier than ever for individuals to make a difference. Some that come to mind are:
Bloggers, Joseph Ferrara of Sellsius, Jay Thompson of the Phoenix Real Estate Guy, Brian Borero and Marc Davison of the 1000 Watt blog, Pat Kitano of the Transparent Real Estate blog, Ryan Ward, Eric Blackwell, Wayne Long and Mitch Ribak of Real Estate Industry Watch and Rob Hahn of the Notorious Rob Blog.
Small media companies like Real Estate Radio USA (Barry Cunningham and Barry Johnson) and Broker iptv (Mark Eibner and Dirk Freeman)
Marketing companies like Effektive solutions (Sarah Fields and Nicole Nicolay) which provides real estate marketing and technology training to title representative and real estate professionals. |
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| What are the expectations of the emerging real estate consumer? |
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Information and more of it! The issue in this trend, however is that consumers sometimes mistake information for advice and this has the effect of downplaying the role of the Realtor. At HomeGain we strive to connect our visitors to Realtors. We feature Realtors and their content exclusively in an advertising free environment. |
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| How should the Brokerage and Realtor Association / MLS respond to these real estate consumer expectations? |
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| They should promote their listings better such that they get a greater audience. More importantly, they should highlight the role of the Realtor in the transaction and the importance of selecting the correct one. |
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| What changes should a Brokerage implement to ensure profitability in the future?
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Higher standards for their agents such that consumer understand the value they are paying for. I would also introduce flexible pricing that matches the value added to the transactions conducted. Such pricing could result in higher or lower fees depending on the type of transaction. |
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| What role do you see the Realtor Association / MLS playing to ensure Broker profitability?
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It’s not an issue that I follow. I am focused on ensuring HomeGain profitability. |
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| Based upon your vision of the future of the real estate industry, what are you doing to help influence positive change?
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Educating consumers as to the value of having the right Realtor involved in the buying or selling of homes. Featuring HomeGain Realtors in an exclusive and advertising free environment on HomeGain drives home this point. Featuring Realtors or their listings content along side Weight Watchers or NetFlix ads distracts consumers and diminishes from this vision. |
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| What books would you recommend as a "must read" that have influenced your
vision?
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The Ultimate Question by Fred Reichheld |
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| What advice would you give Brokerages and Realtor Associations / MLSs to assure they stay relevant and successful in the future?
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PROMOTE REALTORS, not the brokerages or the associations. Make sure they are viewed as being on the side of the consumer. Constant statements like “now is a great time to buy a home” appear disingenuous and self serving.
Email Louis |
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The views expressed by the authors herein do not necessarily reflect those of eFrogPond, Inc.