Baron Briefs

It’s not uncommon for visitors to arrive at RealtyBaron.com after asking a search engine, “Are real estate fees negotiable?”. Notice the query is not “how” to negotiate, but rather “if” negotiation of a Realtor’s price is allowed.

That very question coupled with Redfin’s appearance on 60 Minutes has me thinking about upcoming listing appointments this summer. With 13 million viewers, 60 Minutes may have awakened the U.S. consumer—many who had previously assumed real estate fees where non-negotiable—and inspired them to bargin with Realtors while huddled around a listing presentation.

Consumers motivated to haggle (i.e. downward pressure on Realtor fees) combined with a weakening real estate market that requires more time and money from Realtors to market listings (i.e. upward pressure on Realtor fees) makes for a very, very long summer for Realtors.

“The average agent processes eight deals a year. We have an agent that can do that every week,” Kelman explains.

“Are you spinning me?” Stahl asks.

“I mean, seriously,” Kelman replies.

I reviewed the segment again this morning. I believe the key word Glenn used was “can”…. as in Redfin has an agent who can close eight deals per week if market conditions allow. If Redfin did have an agent who was closing eight deals per week, it seems Glenn would have said, “We have an agent who is doing that every week”. However, the impression of eight deals per week is certainly made. But it’s like a coach saying “we have a running back who can rush for 100 yards per game each week”. They’re both statements that speak of potential. In my opinion, Glenn was speaking to Redfin’s technological and organizational advantage over the average “traditional” agent rather than current performance.

Furthermore, “I mean, seriously” doesn’t seem like a confident response to the question, “Are you spinning me?”. I would expect “No”, “Absolutely Not”, or “Not spinning at all”.

In any event, I invite Redfin’s super-agent to publish his or her MyAgentRankâ„¢ badge on a website or weblog and allow their sales data to be vetted by the public.

Business 2.0 put real estate on the cover of their November edition which arrived in the mail this week. As with any real estate feature, I dove in immediately. The coverage is good because it doesn’t dwell on the bubble bursting. Rather, opportunity is the focus.

Within seconds, however, my eyes were drawn to a footer on page 85 titled “New Ways to Buy and Sell: The latest real estate websites go beyond just searching the listings”. Occupying one of only eight panels was none other than RealtyBaron.com:

It’s an awesome feeling to see a major business publication take notice of my creation. Thanks, Business 2.0.