I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! As you can see I managed to persuade my family to dress up like the Ted Lasso cast… well at least long enough to take this pic. Both boys quickly reverted to their preferred costumes post-photo. And my wife had me shave the mustache at the end of the night. Oh yes, that mustache is all me! It was glorious and very under appreciated by Jen.
This week mirrored the Halloween theme with its own share of scares and surprises. Let's delve into a couple of significant occurrences: the Sitzer|Burnett lawsuit outcome and Zillow's acquisition of Follow Up Boss. The Dbacks' World Series result, however, I'll reserve for a later discussion when the heartache subsides.
NAR Lawsuit
"There's two buttons I never like to hit: that’s panic and snooze." - Ted Lasso
In times of change, people typically divide into two groups: those who panic and those who accept change as inevitable and focus on what they can influence. Which category do you fall into?
Avoiding speculation, particularly on legal matters, is my usual stance. However, the implications of the Sitzer|Burnett lawsuit are too significant to ignore. Central to the case is the cooperative compensation rule enforced by many MLSs. My take? The requirement for buyer agent compensation may be phased out by MLSs across the country, though the majority of sellers will still opt to offer it. This really becomes some fundamental changes to best practices.
While the litigation could be entangled in appeals for years, I believe the notion of buyer's agents becoming obsolete is unfounded. The value of buyer representation—something you all know too well—remains essential.
My advice is to concentrate on what you can control: your mindset and activities. Throughout various market shifts and policy changes, this team has consistently been at the forefront of adaptation. Choose to proactively shape the future, rather than merely reacting to it.
What you can do to take charge:
Unlock more inventory
We're setting ambitious listing targets for 2024, and there's a prime opportunity for us to leverage our databases to discover potential sellers.
Our Lazy Man’s CMA texts have proven effective in generating interest. Let’s keep that momentum going.
Improve the quality of your buyer agency presentation
The agents that can best describe their value proposition will thrive.
Expect continued training to polish our skills in this area.
Zillows acquisition of FUB
On Friday, Billy and I joined Dan Corkill, founder of Follow Up Boss for a candid Zoom call about the recent $500M acquisition. Dan is a great guy! Genuine and as honest as they come. A tech guy at heart that really loves the product he puts out! I get the feeling his life won’t change much…in fact he said that. The exciting part for him was with the acquisition he was able to give all of his team members a healthy bonus. Pretty cool!
Dan was faced with the “Founder’s Dilemma”. Simply explained, it’s the choice between the founder’s primary goal of maximizing and improving the product or maintaining control over the decision-making in the company. Dan chose to make the move that would in the end create the best product for FUB users. FUB, from the beginning, has been completely bootstrapped by the founders. A remarkable accomplishment, but imagine what can be achieved with unlimited resources. Let’s be real, Zillow’s AI budget alone rivals some country’s GDP.
As a Zillow partner, we've naturally wondered about the implications for our SOI client data within FUB. I can assure you, the data remains ours, safeguarded under Follow Up Boss's terms and privacy policy. In addition, Follow Up Boss will work with a third-party validator to ensure the data stays safe and protected. This isn’t the first company Zillow has acquired; their past acquisitions of DotLoop and ShowingTime initially had many agents worried, predicting a "sky is falling" scenario. These acquisitions did not negatively impact the real estate agents' operations as initially feared.
That said, the critical question isn't about data security—it's about Zillow's long-term monetization strategy for FUB. I believe the model will become a suite of products that you can choose to bolt on to FUB. Most likely a subscription fee rather than a referral fee model.
Imagine the possibilities: FUB integrated with Zillow’s technology, enhancing our prospects' engagement tracking and incorporating AI efficiencies.
FUB with Zillow as it’s IDX site for all Flex leads. We can see all of our prospect’s activity on Zillow and priority rank your database by those people that are most likely to transact. Imagine getting off the phone with a client and that call being AI summarized and notes automatically added to FUB. Any action items from that call being forwarded to your TC or LO. All of this becomes more likely when adding the resources of Zillow and open integration technology of FUB.
In conclusion, while we navigate these industry evolutions, let's maintain our spirit of innovation and proactive strategy. Here's to embracing change and continuing our journey to the top together!
Still have questions about the acquisition? Here is a good article:
Must Read Book:
I’ve had a lot of learning experiences in my career. This book has been my go to after a big strategy fails to hit the mark.
Must Watch Video:
Great share from Juli Forsyth. Thanks Juli!
“But you can’t stop a hurricane, and you can’t keep me down”
The song suggests that while we cannot control these external events, we can control our reactions to them and keep pushing through the chaos.
~GL
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