What’s Happening to Our Industry?

Commentary by James A. Crumbaugh III

RISMEDIA, Sept. 9, 2008-What a wild ride the last several months have been since I set out to do something in the real estate Industry that has never been done before. I’ve received hate mail, “love” mail, a host of opinions, and also, the support of some of the most influential people in the real estate Industry in this country.

I want to share some of the things that have come as a real surprise to me and I believe will be a real eye opener for a lot of the Realtors® in this country. But, first I must say, we really have created a very unique business model. We don’t have brick and mortar offices.

Of all the 100% companies in this country that we’ve investigated in our ongoing acquisition and affiliation programs, we’ve found that we’re still a unique entity. Literally all the 100% companies in this country are still based around having brick and mortar offices.

I’m not going to get into our trade secrets, but we are more effective than most brick and mortar offices in the supervision of Realtors and the supervision of all contracts. We have developed a system where we touch all our Realtors three times a week, including a personal phone call a week, and, because the Realtor isn’t required to come to the office, we have found that they welcome our contact.

What I’m about to share really surprised me and will probably surprise most of us in the industry. The amount of 100% companies in existence is phenomenal. There are hundreds of them in the 50 – 400 Realtor range. However the surprising thing is how many 100% companies out there have 1,000, 2,000 even 3,000 plus Realtors.

This part of the industry business model is growing rapidly. There seems to be a new one springing up daily. So, this brings me to a glaring omission that someone is probably going to jump all over and make happen.

We have all the large National franchises, RE/MAX, Prudential, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Keller Williams, etc. out there. But, what we don’t have out there is a National 100% company. That is what we are striving to achieve. Furthermore, what we have come across in all our contacts with all these 100% companies across the nation is the fact that many of them would love to be part of a National Network like the big franchises, but don’t want to lose their own identity.

Essentially they would like to be part of a national franchise to bring to the table what national franchises do, i.e. national advertising and branding, national savings on signs, cards, etc. This is not what our company initially envisioned in our original business model, but we have certainly taken a closer look at it.

All in all after 8 months now since we opened our doors, I believe more than ever that the 100% concept is the future. And, in today’s world, we rarely run across a Realtor who doesn’t operate out of his or her home office, removing the need for the old brick and mortar office.

If you would like to hear more about my thoughts on this subject you may e-mail me at jcrumbaugh@allisonjamesestates.com

James A. Crumbaugh III is CEO of Allison James Estates & Homes.

For more information, visit www.allisonjamesinc.com.

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