RealTrending

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Chris Bentley, founder, broker, and owner of Bentley Fine Properties in Texas. Bentley’s 14-agent office serves the Dallas area. He talks to RealTrends about how he’s overcoming growing pains while trying to increase his agent count to 40 agents in 2022.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Brett Jennings, team leader of Real Estate Experts, powered by SIDE real estate. Jennings will share the roadmap he used to reach the goal he set for his team 10 years ago. That roadmap includes the different stages of success, key hires and the tools necessary to push you through that stage to the next.

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Lane Hornung, CEO and founder of 8Z Real Estate and proptech company zavvie. The original “disruptor,” Hornung talks about the evolution of the real estate industry, the new disruptors and how real estate brokerages must continue to adapt to a new way of doing business.

Today’s RealTrending podcast features Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends discussing Realtor Association membership and the correlation with agent productivity, real estate industry innovation and the dangers.

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Ryan Serhant of SERHANT, a New York-based brokerage. Serhant founded his real estate brokerage in September 2020. He speaks frankly to RealTrends about his opinion of the iBuyer business model, his ideal real estate agent, the future of real estate teams and more.

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass. While not backing off recruiting, Reffkin talks about a new focus on agent productivity as well as the firm’s commitment to core services as a profitability center and value-add for agents and consumers.

Today’s RealTrending podcast features Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends discussing brokerage priorities using Jim Collins’ “Good to Great” philosophy and business lessons learned.

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Adam Hergenrother, CEO of Adam Hergenrother Companies and founder of Livian in partnership with Keller Williams Realty. Adam talks about the blurred lines between brokerages and teams, the race to become the “Amazon” of real estate and how lead generation is evolving.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Tommie Wehrle, co-chair of the LGBTQ+ REALPRIDE Realogy Employees Relations Group, Coldwell Banker Realty instructor and a broker-associate at Coldwell Banker Realty in Milford, Connecticut. Wehrle, also a member of the LGBTQ+ Real Estate Alliance, offers advice on how to build diversity and inclusion into your brokerage firm.

Today’s RealTrending podcast features Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends and Tracey Velt, editorial director of RealTrends discussing the trends in real estate team valuations and the results of the 2021 RealTrends Team Profitability Study.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Steve Brown, president of residential sales for Crye-Leike Real Estate and chairman of the board for The Realty Alliance, a network of North American real estate firms. Brown talks about boosting core service capture rates, industry trends and the new changes the National Association of Realtors is making to the MLS.

Today’s RealTrending features Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends and Tracey Velt, editorial director of RealTrends discussing the profitability of real estate teams compared to the profitability of real estate brokerages, based on the results of the 2021 RealTrends Team Profitability Study.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, talks about possible parallels between the China real estate crisis and possible implications of proposed government regulations, innovative financing services and people challenges.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Realogy Expansion Brands, which includes ERA Real Estate and Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. She outlines what she thinks brokers can do to combat margin compression and how to market proof their businesses.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, talks about the competition for productive agents, brokerage culture and offers and update on the market for mergers and valuations.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Chris Kelly, president and CEO of Ebby Halliday Companies, part of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices of America in Texas and Christian Wallace, head of real estate for Better, based in New York. These leaders were featured on a panel at HousingWire Annual in Frisco, Texas, discussing the importance of core services in real estate brokerage today.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, talks about a new brokerage model emerging, the DOJ and FTC investigations and the role of institutional investors and iBuyers.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Sean Black, CEO and founder of Knock.com, a company that offers cash-backed buying and consumer financing to offer consumers options when buying and selling a home. Black discusses his partnerships with brokers, their desire to help consumers and opines on the transaction revolution as the next phase of disruption in the real estate industry.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Josh Harley, founder, chairman and CEO of Fathom Holdings. Harley opens up about the company’s plans to go head-to-head with Zillow, “without saying their name,” company growth and how there’s room at the table for all real estate models.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Thad Wong and Mike Golden, co-founders of @properties. A powerhouse in the Chicagoland area, the brokerage firm is now expanding to go other areas. Wong and Golden discuss their franchising strategy, their technology platform and their strategic plan for the coming year.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, offers insight on the ever-increasing real estate brokerage competition and how to solidify your position.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Gavin Swartzman, president and CEO of Peerage Realty Partners. Swatzman talks about recent acquisitions, their business model and some out-of-the-box ancillary services. Peerage has been slowly acquiring brokerage firms in many high end and luxury markets to bring into their “real estate network.” Swartzman explains his value prop in this educational podcast.

Today’s RealTrending features an exclusive interview with Pete Carroll, CoreLogic’s Executive of Public Policy and Industry Relations. Carroll talks about the housing shortage, who it impacts most, issues plaguing today’s real estate industry, and some possible solutions.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, explains the impact of a resurgence of COVID-19 on real estate, offers an analysis of recent earnings calls and talks about a new real estate team study launching soon.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Glenn Kelman, president and CEO of Redfin. Kelman addresses those who question his business model, talks next steps for the company and where he sees opportunity for brokerage leaders in the next year.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, explains the impact of iBuyers, institutional investors and mom-and-pop investors on the real estate market. He also discusses some opportunities for serving the senior market and how to benchmark your company by reading earnings reports.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Nick Bailey, president of RE/MAX LLC. Bailey talks about the company’s evolving growth strategies, how they hope to capitalize on machine learning and today’s digital transformation and shares some industry market trends.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, shares his thoughts the shifting market, the only real key to real estate success and the shift in how investors are valuing brokerage firms.

Today’s RealTrending podcast features three, powerful real estate leaders. Margy Grant, CEO of Florida Realtors, Christina Pappas, president-elect of Florida Realtors and vice president of the Keyes Company, Miami, and Juana Watkins, Florida Realtors General Counsel. Florida Realtors is backing a move that will guarantee that money flowing into the state’s affordable housing trust funds will be used exclusively for affordable housing. It could serve as a model for other states.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, shares his thoughts on the way artificial intelligence is impacting recruiting, how consumer choices are changing real estate brokerage competition and observations from brokerage leaders on the market.

With an emphasis on making the transaction easy, Vince Parlove, director of wholesale development for United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), talks about their findamortgagebroker.com service and offers some interesting insight into mortgage industry trends and the impact on the housing market.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Guy Gal, founder of Side Real Estate. Guy envisioned a white-label brand for top teams and agents that puts the branding squarely with the agent. Coming from the tech world, the backend platform was vital for their success. With two rounds of funding totaling more than $200 million and a $2.5 billion valuation, Side will enter some 15 markets in the next eight months.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, shares his thoughts on how the CEO trap, today’s housing shortage and what brokerage leaders need to know about the next big move in real estate tech.

While the pandemic slowed down global investment in U.S. real estate, it never totally stopped. And, says Anthony Hitt, CEO and president of Engel & Völkers Americas, despite the social unrest and contentious political scene in the U.S., it’s still a safe haven for global investors.

In this edition of RealTrending, Steve Murray, senior advisor to RealTrends, shares his thoughts on how to compete in today’s competitive arena. He’ll share a book review and reveal some insights into why agent productivity is flat even though growth in the agent rankings is at all-time highs.

United Real Estate jumped 134 spots to number 10 by transaction sides in the RealTrends 500. CEO Dan Duffy offers insight into their evolving business strategy, building profitable core services and more.

Are we getting into the danger zone of a market that is overheated? Steve Murray, senior advisor for RealTrends goes through the data and tells brokerage leaders what to watch for to determine housing market health and focus on staying on the right side of the market.

Gino Blefari, CEO of HomeServices of America and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, says that the company is leveraging its size to put top-notch marketing, technology and innovation services in place. The company is changing strategy to no longer be the quiet giant.

Real estate brokerage buyers are plentiful and they’ve all got different goals and objectives. That’s good news coming out of the pandemic. RealTrends Senior Advisor Steve Murray shares an M&A update as well as some lessons learned that can help brokerages moving forward.

Tom Ferry, founder of Ferry International, takes his years of coaching brokers and boils it down to the top things brokers need to do today to increase per-agent productivity, why he thinks some brokerages have rocket-ship growth and how to manage teams.

There’s a red, flashing light at the current level of sales. What can brokers do about it? Steve Murray goes through the data to predict the market, talks about the new $15,000 tax credit and analyzes the audience for the aggressive, low-cost brokerage model.

In his first podcast since taking the role of Keller Williams Realty International president, Marc King answers the tough questions about KW’s leadership changes, where the company is going next and why he’s the right leader for today’s KW.

Steve Murray takes a forward look at the market from 2022 to 2024, offers his input on the recent litigation noise and gives brokers some insight into this year’s rankings.

Glenn Sanford, CEO of eXp World holdings, addresses his critics about his agent referral program, where he is taking the company next, and growth limiters for the brokerage.

In Episode 97 of the RealTrending podcast, Steve Murray, senior advisor to HW Media, discusses the lawsuit Rex Real Estate filed again the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and Zillow, insight into this year’s RealTrends 500 top brokerages and what’s going on with inflation.

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Fiona Petrie, Executive Vice President & Managing Director of U.S. Operations for RE/MAX Integra who talks about ways to combat Zoom fatigue with just a few small tweaks. It’s not always about dressing up and playing games. Plus, she shares her lessons learned from a recent conversion of an independent into the RE/MAX Integra family that was done completely virtual.

Today’s RealTrending features an interview with Donny Samson, CEO of Samson Properties. The firm has over 4,000 agents in 30 offices, serving home buyers and sellers in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. According to RealTrends data, Donny's firm has grown from 7,200 sides in 2018 to 12,300 sides in 2020. That's a growth rate of a whopping 71% in just two years. His firm will undoubtedly be in the top one fourth of the Real Trends 500, launching this month. In this interview, Samson shares why agents join his firm, how he keeps them engaged, the services he offers and, most importantly, the secrets to the firm’s massive organic growth.

In Episode 95, Steve compares and contrasts the 2020 earnings for the publicly held national real estate companies, the impact of mortgage forbearance on single-family, investor-owned homes and analyzes the current inventory issue.

Today’s REAL Trending features an interview with Harma Hartouni, operating partner of Keller Williams Realty Encino-Sherman Oaks, Calif., and team leader of Harma Real Estate. In this interview, Hartouni discusses how his early adversity shaped his real estate career, how he spots opportunities in the market based on data, and what information he’s tracking to guide agents toward success.

Today’s RealTrending features Steve Murray, senior advisor to REAL Trends and HW Media talking about trends in personnel costs among brokerage companies, the potential impact of President Biden's $15,000 tax credit for homebuyers, and growth through mergers and acquisitions versus organic growth.