RealTrending

Today's RealTrending features Rich Hopen, broker-associate of Compass and co-founder of REAL-E in New Jersey and Susan Vanech, broker-associate of Compass and founder of Compass Coastal in Connecticut. Hopen is a self-taught expert in all things ChatGPT and artificial intelligence and built an AI-powered listing chatbot. Vaneck used that chatbot to market a multi-million dollar property. Today, th...

Today's RealTrending features Coldwell Banker Premier CEO and Founder Steve DuBrueler, whose company grew 76% by transaction sides over the past five years. Due to that growth, he was named a 2023 RealTrends GameChanger. Much of DuBrueler's firm's growth was attributed to strategic mergers and acquisitions; however, recruiting and attracting new agents is his focus today. Find out some of the less...

In today's RealTrending, we speak with Grant Muller of Grant Muller Team of Compass.  Grant’s team is ranked No. 66 by transaction sides and No. 84 by sales volume in Colorado in the small team category of the 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry America’s Best Real Estate Professionals and Teams. Grant talks about his strategy for finding success in any market and that is by building relationships. He dis...

In today's RealTrending, RE/MAX CEO & President Nick Bailey and United Real Estate Holdings CEO Dan Duffy offer a peek into their decisions to buy, build or partner for their brokerage technology platform. For Bailey, making the decision to let go of in-house tech to go outside made sense for the firm. Duffy, on the other hand, says that their firm is better for building a tech platform. Regardles...

In today's RealTrending, we speak with Laurie Finkelstein Reader, team leader of the Laurie Finkelstein Reader Team at Keller Williams in Florida. Her mega team has ranked No. 40 by transaction sides and No. 45 by sales volume in the Mega Team category of the 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry The Thousand agent and team rankings. Laurie shares her lessons learned as her team evolved into a teamerage and...

In today’s RealTrending podcast, we talk to Frances Katzen, an agent and team leader of The Katzen Team with Douglas Elliman in New York City. A former prima ballerina, Frances had to learn how to move from a natural-born salesperson to a leader when she started building her team. Perfectionism was expected in ballet and ingrained in her from an early age find out how she balances that mindset and...

Today's RealTrending features Matt Brown, CEO of Keller Williams Elite Realty in Owensboro, Kentucky. Brown was named a 2023 RealTrends GameChanger due to his firm's 334% growth over the past five years by transaction side percentage.  Brown shares that the majority of that growth was organic touting his firm as "learning-based and technology-enabled." He talks about the value proposition and syst...

In today's RealTrending, Jason Mitchell, CEO of Jason Mitchell Group in Scottsdale, Arizona shares the success secrets behind his non-traditional real estate brokerage model. Mitchell's company is built around servicing organizations through partnerships with lenders such as Zillow, Rocket Homes, Quicken Loans and Bank of America. Knowing that these companies are expecting top-notch service from h...

In today's episode of RealTrending we speak to 2023 RealTrends GameChanger Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens in New York. The brokerage grew by 163% by transaction side percentage over the past five years, 2017-2022. Part of that growth is due to an acquisition of Halstead in 2002 and Christie's International's New York office in 2022. However, her talent attraction strategy also plays a...

In today's RealTrending, Paul Benson, CEO, Engel & Völkers Gestalt Group, talks about recent consumer shifts that are causing real estate brokers and agents to look at business differently. From artificial intelligence to home as an investment, Benson offers a unique perspective on the issues most impacting real estate today. Benson and his company were named a 2023 RealTrends GameChanger, launchi...

Today's RealTrending features Liz Gehringer, president and CEO of Anywhere Franchise Brands. Liz talks about new trends in consumer behavior, how real estate leaders can innovate to create efficiencies in the transaction and how she's working to build collaboration between all of the Anywhere brands for maximum returns. Related to this episode: Connect with Liz on LinkedIn Anywhere HousingWire’s Y...

Today's RealTrending podcast features Will Holmes, head of partnerships for Opendoor. Holmes talks about consumer pain points in the transaction, the opportunity to innovate in the industry and build broker partnerships and the future of the iBuying model and how it's evolving. Related to this episode: Connect with Will on LinkedIn Opendoor HousingWire’s YouTube Channel Enjoy the episode! RealTren...

Today's RealTrending features Steve Capezza, president of Side Real Estate. Steve joined Side in January  2023 after a career with Zillow, most recently with Zillow's Premier Agent program. Tasked with national growth for Side, Capezza talks the power of a teamerage, what brokers should understand about the model, lessons learned from Zillow and the power of community and the initiatives Side is b...

In this episode of RealTrending, Tom Bretz, founding principal and CEO of CENTURY 21 Circle and CEO of Elmdale Partners, talks about how he skillfully managed acquisitions of different compensation models and cultures into his traditional model, what he sees as the smartest real estate brokerage investment in today's market and the trends he's seeing that are driving the industry. Related to this...

Today's RealTrending features Mauricio Umansky, CEO of The  Agency, and author of his new book, “The Dealmaker.”  Umansky discusses his company’s strategic growth plan, how he’s overcome adversity to build his company and offers his view of current industry trends. Related to this episode: Connect with Mauricio on LinkedIn The Agency HousingWire’s YouTube Channel Enjoy the episode! RealTrends Agen...

In today's episode of RealTrending, Logan Mohtashami, lead analyst for HousingWire talks all things economy. He offers his insights on the potential fall of the U.S. dollar and the potential impact on housing. He also discusses HousingWire's weekly Housing Market Tracker, interest rates, the Fed's questionable actions and what he sees coming in the next three months. His economic update as it rela...

Today's RealTrending features Russ Cofano, CEO of Collabra Technology, a digital marketing technology and analytics firm. Russ has more than 30 years of senior leadership experience in nearly all facets of the real estate industry, including brokerage, technology, MLS, associations and affiliated businesses. We speak to Russ about trends in real estate marketing, the pros and cons of artificial in...

Today's RealTrending features Austin Allison, founder of Pacaso, a co-ownership model that allows people to own a second home at 1/8 of the cost. Austin shares his insights on prop-tech innovation surrounding financing, talks about what's next for Pacaso and shares where he sees the opportunity in today's market. Related to this episode: Connect with Austin on LinkedIn Pacaso HousingWire’s YouTube...

Today’s RealTrending features J. Lennox Scott, president of John L. Scott Real Estate in Washington. Scott is the third generation of leaders of the company, and his daughter is in line to become the fourth generation. Scott talks about how each generation innovated and built on the success of the company. He offers his lessons learned in succession planning, the role of artificial intelligence in...

On today's RealTrending, Compass CEO and Founder Robert Reffkin talks next stops for his brokerage. The firm was recently listed No. 1 in sales volume for the second year in a row on the 2023 RealTrends 500 brokerage rankings. While it's been a difficult year, Robert is busy reinforcing the culture of the firm through in-person visits and a back-to-the-office mentality. We talk to Robert about his...

Today's RealTrending features Jose Medina, team leader of Jose Medina & Associates of Keller Williams Legacy Group Realty. Medina was named a 2021 RealTrends GameChanger due to the firm's 435% growth in transaction side percentage between 2016 and 2020.Now, in addition to running two brokerages, Medina leads a successful teamerage, powered by Impact. Impact is a solution for brokerage so they can...

Today's RealTrending podcast features Dan Elsea, president of Real Estate One, a RealTrends 500 brokerage. Elsea's company is in its fourth generation of family leaders. Elsea and his broker Stuart have led through many different housing markets and seen new competitors come into the business. The key to success, says Dan, is to be flexible in your business model and services that you offer. Dan d...

Today's RealTrending features Tamir Poleg, CEO of The Real Brokerage. Poleg founded the brokerage in 2014 and went public in 2020. The firm is now up to 9,000 real estate agents and growing rapidly. According to Poleg, in January 2023, they added 1,000 agents. But, with rapid growth comes challenges scaling company culture and systems to meet the needs to agents. Poleg discusses his lessons learne...

On today's RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt, senior director of data and content for HWMedia, talks to Patrick MacQueen, a real estate attorney and founder of Medalist Legal in Arizona. MacQueen discusses the top mistakes agents and brokers make with independent contractor agreements and franchise agreements. He'll go over best practices, what should be addressed in each contract, and the mo...

In this edition of the RealTrending podcast, OB Jacobi, president of family-owned Windermere Real Estate in Seattle shares his thoughts on generational succession planning. The lessons he and his family learned from the second generation are being put into play as the third generation of Windermere family members enter the business. Jacobi, who worked to create Moxi Works, before spinning it off i...