ePartner USA, Inc

The Great American Real Estate Alchemy

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For centuries, the notion of turning lead into gold has captured the imagination of countless Alchemists, all of whom were doomed to failure.

The real estate industry’s economic model has been for decades akin to conjuring concoctions that claim to convert the weight of our tarnished enterprise models into shining bars of profitability.

We have not always understood the true alchemy of our industry and the relationship between the decline of profitability with the introduction and application of new technologies to our industry.

Each of the two great historical shifts (economic eras) in our industry have occurred with the rise of new technology, the independence of agents and the empowerment of the consumer. Consider the following diagram and then listen to the accompanying presentation.

The shift from the Broker-Centric era to the Agent-Centric era was created largely as a result of the introduction of a technology known as the Personal Computer (PC) to the daily work habits of agents, empowering them to globalize their reach. From that point on, Broker-Owners were not able to fully contain the spillage of property information into the streets of their marketplace.

Download a FREE copy or the First Economic Wave, the Second Economic Wave and the Third Economic Wave.

The loss of the MLS Book coupled with PC access to MLS data created a decline in the control of property information (always a key contributor to loss of profit) and the empowerment of the consumer who no longer had to enter a real estate office in order to see the Holy Grail.

Nor have we fully appreciated how technology has always defined each of the three economic eras of our history and most importantly how each increase in technology within the industry reduces profitability.

In 1994, along came the Information Super Highway and property data began to find its way to the Internet, where a hungry consumer was waiting. The Internet created a bridge from MLS sources to consumers who were also empowered with PCs. This was the beginning of a shift from the agent-centric model to the current new real estate economy where the consumer is now the central character.

“Pb” (lead) can become “Au” (gold). The alchemetrics (not sure that is a word but I’ll run with it) are simply undeniable. Technology creates the shift and transition from one real estate economic era to the next. With each transition three things always occur:

1. Technology always defines the shift, the model and the wealth in our economic models
2. Owner profitability declines as control over property information control diminishes
3. Information control is distributed over time to an increasing number of people thus, democratizing real estate

What does all of this mean? Simply, and yet rather profoundly, this means that ours is a history made up of transitions created primarily by the introduction of new technologies and a fundamental shift in economic control from us to consumers. It also means that the principle of alchemy is real.

Our lead-based model (forget lead-based paint for a moment!) is in the process of being turned into gold. However, in the alchemic (not sure that is a word either but I’ll run with it as well) process, we will not necessarily become the benefactors of the creation of new wealth being created by the introduction of new consumer-centric technologies. We could be but we are not, it appears, equipped to transition with the consumer into The New Real Estate Economy.

Watch the presentation and please, comment.

Awash in Paper! Part 3

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Paper, paper and more paper! Who can deny that the real estate industry is awash in paper? More importantly, what does the paper operation do to Broker/Owner profitability and what are the paperless tools available to us that can help eliminate unnecessary paper labor?

In this e-Partner Podcast Donald Teel, the Founder of e-Partner, addresses concrete ways that Broker/Owners can create streamlined transaction management systems that save time, create efficiencies, lower costs and bring benefit to consumers.

Click below to listen to Awash in Paper! Part 3.

Awash in Paper! Part 2

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In this podcast Donald Teel, the Founder of e-Partner asks three probing question related to Paperless Tools that can help Broker/Owners determine the value of adopting paperless transaction platforms.

Perhaps the most important benefits to adopting paperless operating systems are cost effectiveness, a decline in the amount of labor necessary to close transactions and most importantly, the value of paperless transactions to the consumer.

Listen to the following poscast:

Consumer and Agent Response to Brand

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Do brands work? If they do, for whom do they work?

Are consumers brand loyal when it comes to real estate purchases? Do they possess a predisposition to repeat transactions based upon brand loyalty?

What about real estate agents and the question of brand loyalty? Do agents seek affiliation with Broker/Owners out of a conciousness for brand?

Listen to this short e-Partner Podcast about consumer and agent response to brand and then, comment if you so desire.

Need help with your Internet business model. Call e-Partner toll free at 1-877-380-1000 or use our contact form.

Unlocking Franchise Economics – Part 3

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Syndicated from REALonomics

Have we ever wondered how the consumer views our real estate industry franchises? If we are going to unlock franchise economics and truly understand the value propositions inherent in franchising we must also see them (franchises) as the consumer sees them and we must ONLY value them as does the consumer.

If you were to create a list of distinctions…real ones…dynamic ones…that separate one franchise brand from another in the eyes of the only true client, the consumer, what would those distinctions be and how are they manifest in the process of transacting business?

Enjoy the PhotoBlog below. Read it carefully and ask yourself what might happen if the consumer could place all franchises into one blender and extract the best. What would the “best” be? What are the clear distinctions between franchise A, B and C?
Hungry? Read more and comment…

Factor 5 – Consumers at the Economic Joystick

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Where does the consumer fit into the new emerging real estate economy? We believe the consumer has control of the economic joystick and will dictate the brkerage models of tomorrow.

The consumer, joystick in hand, now drives the economic train. Armed with access to property information, multiple ancillary support services, online mortage and title services, the consumer has more power over the transaction than the broker and agent combined.

Today’s consumer will have a 70-80% chance of conducting research via the Internet prior to selecting a brand, company or agent.

e-Partner believes that the consumer’s appetite for information is insatiable and that brand, broker and agent are now secondary to real estate transaction.
Hungry? Read more and comment…

What if This is Now True: 2+2=5.439

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Syndicated from REALonomics

e-Partner is an exploratory quest for a New Model Math for use by brokerage firms operating in the Third Economic Wave of the real estate industry.

During the First Economic Wave, the broker-centric era, and for most of the Second Economic Wave, the agent-centric era, business models were predicated on old, predictable model math, where 2+2 produced four. In the current climate, where the consumer has control over the “economic joystick,” we are forced to pose the question; what if 2+2 no longer equates to four?

The Profitability Joystick

Let’s first discuss the “profitability joystick” I have mentioned, then the terms and conditions that now exist for a New Model Math.

Only if we first acknowledge that we are indeed operating in a consumer-centric era, can we then appreciate the imagery conjured by the phrase “economic joystick.”
Hungry? Read more and comment…

Social Media & Community Networking

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Business is transacted in a free-flowing context where real estate professionals network with consumers in conversations that take place in open markets.

These new freedom conversations have become the most powerful means by which owners can build brand power.

The emergence, acceptance and dominance of social media presents the real estate industry its greatest challenge and its greatest opportunities.

Online social media portals such as FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, YouTube and CityBlogUSA are eventually going to shape the way real estate Broker/Owners brand themselves with consumers.

Some of the above mentioned social media solutions generate in excess of 50,000,000 entries per month. This is the new “up desk” for Broker/Owners.

Despite this reality, we still encounter Broker/Owners who are waiting for the stimulous package to resurrect the “good ol’ days” of market mania. This is a self-delusion that if it were not so destructive it would be humorous.

e-Partner is drawing a straight line to the consumer through its inclusion of social media and community networking in its online models.

Indeed, we can deliver hundreds and even thousands of transparent portals to a Broker/Owner, train them and position them in the markets as a consumer-centric brokerage alternative to the stale, pale and outmoded lead generation models that are still mesmerizing too many companies.

Peruse this website/blog and discover the power of e-Parner and how it can transform your markets into revenue producting models.

Find out more about e-Partner by using our contact form, emailing us or by simply calling us toll free, at 1-877-380-1000.