Real Trends: Real Trending

United Real Estate jumped 134 spots to number 10 by transaction sides in the RealTrends 500. CEO Dan Duffy offers insight into their evolving business strategy, building profitable core services and more.

Are we getting into the danger zone of a market that is overheated? Steve Murray, senior advisor for RealTrends goes through the data and tells brokerage leaders what to watch for to determine housing market health and focus on staying on the right side of the market.

Gino Blefari, CEO of HomeServices of America and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, says that the company is leveraging its size to put top-notch marketing, technology and innovation services in place. The company is changing strategy to no longer be the quiet giant.

Real estate brokerage buyers are plentiful and they’ve all got different goals and objectives. That’s good news coming out of the pandemic. RealTrends Senior Advisor Steve Murray shares an M&A update as well as some lessons learned that can help brokerages moving forward.

Tom Ferry, founder of Ferry International, takes his years of coaching brokers and boils it down to the top things brokers need to do today to increase per-agent productivity, why he thinks some brokerages have rocket-ship growth and how to manage teams.

There’s a red, flashing light at the current level of sales. What can brokers do about it? Steve Murray goes through the data to predict the market, talks about the new $15,000 tax credit and analyzes the audience for the aggressive, low-cost brokerage model.

In his first podcast since taking the role of Keller Williams Realty International president, Marc King answers the tough questions about KW’s leadership changes, where the company is going next and why he’s the right leader for today’s KW.

Steve Murray takes a forward look at the market from 2022 to 2024, offers his input on the recent litigation noise and gives brokers some insight into this year’s rankings.

Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp World holdings, addresses his critics about his agent referral program, where he is taking the company next, and growth limiters for the brokerage. 

In Episode 97 of the RealTrending podcast, Steve Murray, senior advisor to HW Media, discusses the lawsuit Rex Real Estate filed again the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Zillow, insight into this year’s RealTrends 500 top brokerages and what’s going on with inflation.

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Fiona Petrie, Executive Vice President & Managing Director of U.S. Operations for RE/MAX Integra who talks about ways to combat Zoom fatigue with just a few small tweaks. It’s not always about dressing up and playing games. Plus, she shares her lessons learned from a recent conversion of an independent into the RE/MAX Integra family that was done completely virtual.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Donny Samson, CEO of Samson Properties. The firm has over 4,000 agents in 30 offices, serving home buyers and sellers in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. According to RealTrends data, Donny's firm has grown from 7,200 sides in 2018 to 12,300 sides in 2020. That's a growth rate of a whopping 71% in just two years. His firm will undoubtedly be in the top one fourth of the Real Trends 500, launching this month. In this interview, Samson shares why agents join his firm, how he keeps them engaged, the services he offers and, most importantly, the secrets to the firm’s massive organic growth.

In Episode 95, Steve compares and contrasts the 2020 earnings for the publicly held national real estate companies, the impact of mortgage forbearance on single-family, investor-owned homes and analyzes the current inventory issue.

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Harma Hartouni, operating partner of Keller Williams Realty Encino-Sherman Oaks, Calif., and team leader of Harma Real Estate. In this interview, Hartouni discusses how his early adversity shaped his real estate career, how he spots opportunities in the market based on data, and what information he’s tracking to guide agents toward success.

Today’s RealTrending features Steve Murray, senior advisor to REAL Trends and HW Media talking about trends in personnel costs among brokerage companies, the potential impact of President Biden's $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers, and growth through mergers and acquisitions versus organic growth. 

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Ryan Gorman, President and CEO, Coldwell Banker Real Estate and Booker Pickett, broker/owner of Coldwell Banker Pickett Fences in Land O’Lakes, Florida. In this interview, Gorman discusses the challenges and barriers for minority brokers and a new program aimed at giving them a hand up. Pickett recently signed up for the program. He’ll discuss the challenges he’s faced building his brokerage and his special focus on underserviced communities.  REAL Trending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Victoria Wickham.

In Episode 93, Steve discusses: Mortgage Forbearance Impacts "These mortgages that are in forbearance, obviously simply are either going to get worked out or these homes are going to be put on the market and sold. As I said earlier, the good news for the housing market is any number, even a large number of those homes, those 2.7 million homes, where the mortgages are in forbearance." Work From Home and Impacts on Office Space "If we see tens of millions of office workers no longer going to an office routinely, there will be a similar downward spiral of the use of commercial office buildings of all kinds. Whether it's a 6,000 square foot building or a 600,000 square foot building, there will be tremendous downward pressure on the use of office space if these reports and research trends continue." Brokerage and Agent Segmentation "The market is now segmenting and agents are moving one direction or another and trying different models to find which one fits for them."

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Linda O’Koniewski, CEO of Leading Edge Real Estate in Boston. In this interview, O’Koniewski discusses lessons learned after finding out her franchise pulled the plug, and they had to rebrand overnight. Five years later, the company is on solid footing, regaining some of the agents they lost (which wasn’t many!) and introducing new initiatives like the LEAP program, which offers a plug and play system for virtual teams and brokers. REAL Trending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Victoria Wickham.

From REAL Trends, the trusted source for real estate industry trends, this is REAL Trending episode 92, we're analyzing some important trends affecting brokerage companies and their agents. I'm Steve Murray, senior advisor to Real Trends, and today we're discussing the focus for broker leaders in 2021 strength in valuations and beware the Black Swan. What do these trends mean and how can brokerage firms best deal with them?

  It's all about the people for Tami, so it's not surprising that she and her leadership team put together a corporate stimulus package for brokers and agents. Find out more about the stimulus package as well as how Tami effectively connects to brokers and agents via video in this week's podcast.