Rising to the Occasion: Real Estate Industry Leaders Share the Unexpected Opportunities of 2020
OJO Labs recently brought together executives from across the real estate industry — Ryan Gorman (President + CEO of Coldwell Banker), Adam Contos (CEO of RE/MAX), Stacey Onnen (President of Operations at eXP Realty), and Greg Harrelson (Founder of Harrelson Group) — to share their perspective on the state of real estate, and what the next few months might look like.
With all the tremendous challenges of 2020, it may come as a surprise to hear that these executives had a pretty positive outlook for our industry.
Consumers are at home more than ever, and remote work has inspired them to rethink geographical boundaries. Agents are experimenting with new technology and processes, fully untethered from the ways of the past. Inventory limitations have led to newfound creativity and problem-solving.
We’ve faced unprecedented challenges and have had to retool in many areas overnight. But 2020 has also driven us to collectively step up our game. Here are few of the opportunities we see for the industry going forward:
COVID-19 is raising consumer’s expectations. Agents are stepping up.
Consumers are looking at their lives with a more critical eye. A recent study from OJO Labs, titled Uncertainty, Captivity, and Opportunity: Homebuying in the Age of COVID-19, shows that from kitchen features to population density, everything is under scrutiny as the rise of remote work changes our relationship with our homes and physical location.
To that end, the homebuying calculus has changed for many people, and agents are forced to rapidly adapt to add meaningful value. Consumers expect even more education and adaptability from agents than ever before. To close sales, agents have to raise their game to meet these changing needs.
On top of that, restrictions on physical showings and meetings have forced agents to rapidly adopt new technology and processes. As Adam Contos notes, this moment is our industry finally catching up to video calling. That’s a good thing for agents, the industry, and consumers.
It’s actually a really good time to buy and sell a home.
On the selling side of the equation, we’re seeing a decrease in inventory. Houses that used to be on the market for three months are now selling in 30 days. On the buying side, consumers have access to some of the lowest interest rates we’ve ever seen. People are virtually being paid to take this money.
In fact, Stacy Onnen of eXp shared that they recorded the highest transactions ever this Spring. At RE/MAX, many agents report being the busiest they’ve ever been, according to Adam Contos. This is the first time in our collective memory that it’s a good time to both buy AND sell.
On top of that, changes in remote work and schools are leading to interesting seasonality trends. For example, Ryan Gorman at Coldwell Banker suggests we might see the Summer buying season elongated if schools remain remote in the Fall. That gives agents even more time to test the market, and maximize transactions.
This is a unique moment to reinvest in ourselves.
As Greg Harrelson of The Harrelson Group notes, 2020 has been a wonderful moment for leaders to re-focus on what matters: empowering agents to better serve consumers. When the economy is good, it’s easy to go on autopilot and not challenge ourselves to really grow. This year, we are forced to go back to basics, and reevaluate the way we work, and even the way we live.
Looking forward.
This year, “home” took on an even greater role in consumer’s lives. And as real estate professionals, we hold (sometimes literally) the keys to a consumer’s ideal home. It’s on us to find ways to provide the highest level of education, care and empowerment to consumers now — and I know we, as an industry, will rise to the occasion.
Chris Heller, Chief Real Estate Officer