T3 Insight

Hiring Realtor association execs, using tech to increase efficiency + 2022 real estate trends

Articles in this Edition

In this edition of T3 Insight, T3 Sixty's latest monthly analysis of the residential real estate brokerage industry includes articles on Hiring Realtor association execs, using tech to increase efficiency + 2022 real estate trends. Take a deep dive below.

Released October 20, 2021

The high stakes of hiring the right local Realtor association executive

by: Clint Skutchan, Kelly White

3 technology areas brokerages can leverage to increase efficiency

by: Jonathan Peterson

Surf the industry’s massive trend wave with the 2022 Swanepoel Trend Report

by: Paul Hagey

What We're Reading

In addition to the articles, here are a few items we are reading from across the internet.

HomeSmart introduces revenue-sharing

HomeSmart, the nation’s 10th largest brokerage and 12th largest franchise brand both by 2020 sales volume, has introduced a revenue-sharing option for its agents. Agents can choose to switch from the company’s existing compensation structure in which agents pay flat fees and keep all of their commissions to one in which they split commissions 80/20 with the company but then gain access to the company’s new revenue-sharing program based on them earning a share of revenue the agents they recruit to the company produce. With this program, dubbed HomeSmart Plus, HomeSmart looks to leverage a strategy eXp Realty used to fuel its spectacular growth in recent years. This move provides an example of how the industry is evolving as newer companies introduce popular features.

Inman

Lower home prices attract buyers to more extreme climates

Many factors are pulling homebuyers to different areas of the country, with prices as one of the largest considerations. For example, the 50 US counties facing highest heat risk saw 5 percent growth between 2016 and 2020. Texas, where temperatures frequently exceed 100 degrees for much of the summer, is one example. Covid-19 and remote work also plays a big role in the way Americans are moving. T3 Sixty covers this as a complete trend in the 2022 Swanepoel Trends Report, which comes out in early December. Available for preorder at t3trends.com

NBC News

Homeownership gap between white and Black Americans still high

A 30-percentage point gap remains between the homeownership rate of white and Black Americans. Student loan debt plays a significant factor in this spread. At a median student loan debt of $40,000, Black homebuyers had the highest debt compared to white and Hispanic buyers, according to a NAR survey. This delays the homebuying efforts of Black Americans and plays a factor in them purchasing less expensive homes. The homeownership racial divide in America will take years to address. But organizations such as NAR, by producing studies that highlight the discrepancies and add information that can help influence change.

Howard Hanna founder and industry icon passes

Howard W. Hanna, Jr., who founded the nation’s seventh largest brokerage Howard Hanna Real Estate in 1957, passed away in late September. He represents one of the entrepreneur leaders who shaped the industry into what the industry is today. His legacy continues with his children and grandchildren who continue to run his company today. Thanks, Howard, for all you did for us.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Home price increases are complicating appraisals, and sales

The significant home price increases in markets across the country have been scuttling transactions due to appraisal issues at higher-than-average rates. In August, 13 percent of the nation’s appraisals fell short of the contract price, according to CoreLogic data. That’s nearly double the standard rate of approximately 7 percent. The rise of alternative finance companies, which include iBuyers and the increasing number of companies who help buyers make the equivalent of all-cash offers with the ability to waive financing and appraisal contingencies, are increasingly removing barriers that have traditionally caused transactions to fall through. These AltFin companies, as T3 Sixty has dubbed them, are ushering in a real estate financing revolution, a trend featured in the 2022 Swanepoel Trends Report, available for order at t3trends.com.

The Wall Street Journal

Zillow Group closes ShowingTime acquisition, FTC review continues

After announcing an agreement to acquire the nation’s most popular showing software ShowingTime in February 2021, Zillow Group closed the acquisition formally on October 1. A review by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission delayed the closing. While the transaction has closed, however, an FTC review remains active. As we discussed in the Opendoor-related summary above, industry participants are beginning to grow and operate in new and different ways, including Zillow Group. With its ShowingTime acquisition, the company now owns the industry’s most used showing app, which many MLSs use exclusively; it also has launched brokerage services to power its Zillow Offers program, provides digital transaction management services through its dotloop subsidiary, and owns the nation’s largest real estate portal in Zillow. The industry is embarking on a new era, with companies operating in new ways.

HousingWire

FTC continues investigation of Opendoor’s advertising

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has been investigating Opendoor’s advertising practices since August 2019, and in September 2021 the company reported that a potential settlement or FTC action is still possible. Details about exactly what the FTC is investigating were not disclosed. As AltFin companies and other brokerage industry participants innovating with newer business models, new messaging, consumer relationships and government scrutiny emerge. The fast-developing industry has many elements in flux now.

Inman

California Passes Major Housing-Related Zoning Laws

California passes a law that ended exclusive single-family home zoning in transit-rich and urban infill areas throughout the state. Until this law, it was illegal for property owners and builders to construct duplexes, triplexes, multifamily units or any other housing types on lots in areas zoned as single-family. Experts expect the impact of the new law will take time, but it signals a major step forward in making additional properties available for new-construction units, and a cultural shift toward encouraging increased housing density.

NAR to consider DOJ-inspired MLS policy changes

NAR’s MLS policy committee will consider several policies related to the U.S. Department of Justice’s review of NAR at its upcoming annual meeting in early November. These include the banning the word “free” for agents advertising their services to consumers and prohibiting the ability for agents to filter listings based on agent compensation. If the committee votes to send this for a vote and the NAR board of directors passes them, the changes would go into effect on January 1, 2022 with a March 1 implementation deadline. These proposed changes are just a few of many that the industry faces, thanks to lawsuits, DOJ and FTC review and more.

Inman

HomeServices of America sunsets Real Living brand

HomeServices of America is ending use of the Real Living real estate brand it took on in 2012, when it acquired a controlling interest in it and the Prudential Real Estate brand. In an email and video to Real Living franchisees obtained by Inman, Real Living CEO Allan Dalton said that the brands inability to realize growth caused the company to make the decision to sunset the brand. For years, HomeServices of America had been actively working to transition Real Living affiliates to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brand, which it introduced in 2013. Founded in 2002, the Real Living brand had over 2,800 agents who did over 28,000 transactions in 2020, making it the nation’s 19th largest brand by transaction sides that year, according to the Real Estate Almanac.

Inman