After years of denying that they have any intention of displacing real estate agents, some agent groups and attorneys believe, Instant Offers®, is the smoking gun that shows Zillow’s true intent. Instant Offers essentially gives would-be home sellers the opportunity to solicit offers directly from buyers (mostly investors), thus circumventing agents from at least part of the process. Zillow says that investors would be required to use an agent to represent them in the transaction, but critics say this policy could easily change at some point. As the head of a real estate organization, I am required to represent their professional interests however, whether it is Zillow, Ten-X, Amazon or one of a hundred other aggressive tech companies, technology will transform the housing market the way it has transformed dozens of other industries. My advice to agents is to learn as much as possible about e-commerce and information technology and find ways to benefit from impending changes. Like all things in business, there will be winners and losers – find a way to be a winner. Rule of thumb – if a new technology makes things substantially cheaper and/or more convenient for consumers, there is a very good chance it will succeed. NAHREP 2017 President, Leo Pareja, and I will be discussing much of this during a general session at the NAHREP National Convention & Latin Music Festival in Dallas in September.
The usual solutions will not solve the current housing affordability crisis. Any solution that does not begin and end with a sustainable plan to radically increase housing supply is just noise. The barriers to increasing housing supply are complex and require the crucial cooperation of both public and private sectors, and more education.
It has been long understood that a nation of stakeholders makes for a strong union, and for that reason, closing the minority homeownership gap has been a goal and a topic of discussion for decades.
Between 2008 and 2012, more than six million people lost their homes to foreclosure, property values lost almost 40%, and non-distressed home sales fell to all-time lows. It was, without question, the worst real estate market since the great depression. Not surprisingly, the historic dip in the market was followed by a decade-long bull market, the likes of which we have never seen before. Residential real estate is a cyclical market. The...