The next big thing- retirement

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The Next Big Thing for Real Estate- Retirement?

Heading to NYC- being around all of that intelligence- always triggers a shift to big-picture thinking. At the last Connect that I went to, the question bandied about was, “What will the next big thing in Real Estate be?’ The problem with that question is that the next big thing is going to leap in and sideswipe us, probably sneaking in as simply as the online MLS, and 20 years we wake up to an entirely different industry. No one realized all of the implications, or without a doubt there would have been a lot more dragging of feet.

My guess is that the Next Big Thing is already here, and is either waiting for someone to apply it differently (think twitter) or we just don’t realize the effect it will have (think business blogging).

What struck me today, thinking larger, is Real Estate retirement plans. The best in the industry speak about selling their “Books of Business,” and I wonder how often that happens and how effective it even is. We, as an industry, sell ourselves not on our professionalism, but on personal relationships. I NEVER have seen an agent pointing out their average listed days on market as opposed to local industry averages, or initial list price or sales price compared to the same industry standard. Why not?

I DO hear about sales agents being invited to past clients’ weddings, and sending baby gifts. And this is really nice, this blurring of the personal and professional. But this means that you can’t sell this Book of Business (even if there was someone to buy it) because it is, in reality, a book of friendships. It only works when you yourself are actively involved in maintaining the relationships, and transitioning an entire group is near impossible.

I looked at the retirement plan that is being promoted by one national real estate franchise. It might be somewhat workable if you devoted a large amount of time bringing in agents that are much younger than you are, instead of selling. But really. How many agents has the average sales agent brought on board to his or her company? For the average agent- or the above average one, for that matter- is it honest to suggest that this is any kind of retirement plan?

So, what is the average retirement plan for a real estate sales agent? Not retiring? Alternate income stream, and if so, what? The average age of a real estate agent is 51, according to the Wall Street Journal- and this was written in 2008. What is that- 15 years until retirement?

And there’s this from the same article:

The Globe points out that Gen X and Gen Y buyers don’t want the hand-holding of the typical agent/home-buyer relationship. Many of these consumers prefer to do their own house hunting and research online, and some are skipping buyer agents all together to complete the entire home search and home purchase on their own.

I think that because of informational transitions, there has to be a change in the way that real estate agents conduct business. In other words: it will have to be treated more as a business. I had asked a question online the other day, and Debbie Kirkland mentioned (and I am paraphrasing) that she sees brokerages becoming training grounds for new agents only, and that experienced sales agents will get their broker’s license and work independently. I think this is a trend that we will continue to see, with the small broker being less of a General practitioner and more of a Specialist, and being made up of not only the broker, but also a team of support and specialized sales people. It would actually be easier to sell a practice like this than to try to sell a nebulous Book of Relationships.

Agents- what about you? What is your retirement plan?

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