A new twist on an old idea.
That pretty much sums up Diamond Dwellings. We are taking the traditional real estate business model and turning it on its bead, but at the same time, we aren't changing it at all.
Real estate has always been about knowing the market, and the market leaders have always been the ones that understood their environment. And while it is always about houses and neighborhoods and communities, it has also always been about knowing the people and the personality of a certain area.
For a while that seemed to drop to the wayside as agents got tied up in the World part of the World Wide Web. Many of us forgot that we needed to know our community and not worry so much about the rest of the planet. And that doesn't mean ignoring the world... it just means keeping in mind that in one way, the needs of the client around the corner, and the potential client from somewhere else both need an agent that really knows the area... the personality and the people.
They need the local expert... the market leader.
As I return from the Inman connect, I am awash in ideas and concepts and new ways to apply what I already know. I'm actually sitting on my flight back to Atlanta... somewhere over Kansas or Oklahoma... writing this on my phone. And despite the new technologies and products and applications... I kept seeing the conversation coming back to real estate being about the same thing it always was about.
One of the panelists recalled his father, a long time agent. He knew everyone, and was a walking Rolodex. He saw his job as connecting people that needed each other. Before FaceBook and LinkedIn, he was THE social network. The difference now is that we have a wider network and high tech tools.
In another session, we talked about social networking and our place in it. Again, it seems that online social networks are just a tool to connect with people, and help those that have complimentary needs to find each other.
Almost everywhere I turned, I saw this theme play out. Old school is cool... but with a twist.
Internet sites, blogging, social networking, text messaging, online forums and all of these other Web 2.0 features only help us do what we do better. And they don't replace things like knowing the market, the neighborhoods, trends, people and how to connect on a personal level.
If I haven't said it enough, earlier this month I moved to Diamond Dwellings. A large part of the reason is because of the application of technologies. But another part is that it is a brokerage that gets the basic idea that real estate is about talking with people, not to people.
Of course, there is another reason, too... and I saw this exemplified throughout Inman. Teamwork. Elevating all of us.
We are now ready to launch the franchise model across the country. It is going to be something else. I could to write a book to tell about all of the cool ways we have to deliver a better consumer experience, as well as a better agent experience.
My final reflection is a contrast. During Inman Connect, Better Homes & Gardens Realty was re-launched by Realogy. They were talking to brokers with hundreds of agents. They sponsored all sorts of events and sessions. I would guess that they spent ten if not hundreds of thousands of dollars, and will no doubt have an amazing result.
On the other hand, Matt Fagioli and I were chatting up agents and brokers we knew from across the country. We had some T-shirts and stuff. We talked one on one and in small groups. We talked with one person shops and small boutique brokers.
And no matter how big Realogy is, they can't really do what we can do... We are counting on building a network where every agent and broker is an integral part. It isn't about churning up as meany people as the company can find. It is about getting a few dedicated and like-minded people... and helping them with the tools that they need to be great... every single one.
