The Decline Of The Traditional Brokerage: Where Is Real Estate Heading?

The real estate brokerage model is facing a lot of disruptions especially from alternative business models who are offering strategies and technologies which emphasize on providing more information to the consumer than ever before. Even some brokerages want to bypass the agent as a concept. The author believes that real estate firms should begin to adapt to these changes and rethink their business models. Some ways to do this are: 1. Real estate brokerage firms should focus on specialization and less on relying on independent agents. Gone are the days when a firm will want to satisfy all manners of interests and tastes. 2. Branding is another area. Branding is becoming a key factor that determines where a real estate firm will be in a few years time and it is being intertwined with social media. 3. Technology when used outside the traditional model by real estate firms puts more power in the hands of customers and enables them to take informed decisions. These are some of the ways real estate firms can adapt and compete.

Key Takeaways:

The real estate brokerage service is now facing a lot of challenges because alternative business models are offering strategies that are new and disruptive.
The goal of the competition is to provide more information to consumers in better ways than before and sometimes even to bypass the agent.
Brokerage firms should rely less on agents and rely more on specialization of skills because gone are the days when they should want to be everything to everyone.

“As the industry continues to shift and buyers and sellers become more educated about how the traditional model works, consumers will begin to hold the industry’s professionals more accountable for their level of service, value and results.”