Latest / NOISE vs SIGNAL by Inman / Why Real Estate Agents Need to Get Back to Basics with Amanda DiVito Parle, REALTOR® and team leader with DiVito Dream Makers at REAL Broker

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Why Real Estate Agents Need to Get Back to Basics with Amanda DiVito Parle, REALTOR® and team leader with DiVito Dream Makers at REAL Broker · NOISE vs SIGNAL by Inman

0:00
Hey everyone, today I got to talk to Amanda DeVito
0:03
-Parle and she just recently got off a switch
0:06
from Re/max to Real and then only to have those
0:09
companies merge and change everything again.
0:11
She's here to talk about what that looked like,
0:13
what happened, and she also emphasizes the importance
0:17
of getting back to basics. This is one you don't
0:20
want to miss. Hey everyone, this episode is brought
0:22
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0:26
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0:49
Everybody in the business of home has a pitch.
0:51
Almost nobody gets asked a hard question. This
0:54
show fixes that. Welcome to Noise vs. Signal.
0:58
I'm your host, Inman CEO Tom Bohn. Each week
1:01
we sit down with the top producing agents, industry
1:04
CEOs, prop tech founders, and the people shaping
1:08
the future of the business of home. Then we break
1:11
down the week's biggest headlines and decide
1:13
what's noise and what's signal. Let's get into
1:16
it. Everyone, my guest today runs one of the
1:20
top producing teams in Colorado, and she runs
1:23
it inside a business her father started nearly...
1:27
40 years ago. Here is why I wanted her on today
1:29
though. Amanda just moved that team off of the
1:32
Re/max Alliance banner and onto the Real Brokerage.
1:35
10 days from today, real and real max shareholders
1:38
vote on an 800 plus million dollar deal that
1:42
would put both brands under one roof. So she
1:44
made the switch. A lot of team leads are quietly
1:47
weighing, but she may wind up right back to the
1:49
brand she left. So this is really interesting
1:51
time and an interesting topic. Amanda. It is
1:55
so good to see you. Thank you for joining us
1:57
here on Noise versus Signal. Great. And thank
1:59
you. Thanks for having me. Oh, absolutely. So
2:01
you moved your team off Re/max, but now on, I
2:03
think it's August 14th, is it? Right? Yeah. They're
2:06
voting on a deal that would put Remax inside
2:08
Reel. You left the brand, but you could be sitting
2:11
back in the same hall, in the same room with
2:13
the people you knew before. When you decided
2:15
this, did you know that? And tell me what this
2:17
means for you. How are you feeling about it?
2:19
I feel great about it. And no, nobody knew, really.
2:22
I think the most surprised were probably the
2:24
franchise owners inside the Remax Network. No,
2:27
when I left the brand, I was a very loyal, long
2:29
REMAX agent. 22 years of my career I spent with
2:32
REMAX Alliance on the west side of Denver. And
2:34
I had come through what I would probably categorically
2:37
call career burnout in most of 24 and 25. And
2:40
I took a sabbatical in the summer of last year,
2:42
which I recommend any real estate practitioner
2:44
do if they've been in the business for longer
2:46
than 20 years. And on the other side of that,
2:48
I was just ready for an adventure. And so I ended
2:50
up picking up what was a small team and moving
2:53
to the real broker platform in October of last
2:55
year. just on the heels of burnout, looking for
2:58
an adventure. And it was a good move. And then,
3:00
of course, to my surprise, six months into my
3:02
time at Real Broker, I learned of the acquisition
3:04
from Remax Holdings Companies. I will tell you,
3:06
though, I think I knew that the writing was on
3:08
the wall with corporate Remax. I could see that
3:11
agent count was diminishing quickly. You could
3:13
feel it locally, just in my franchise office.
3:15
You could feel it. And then you could also feel
3:17
it just whenever I attended Remax events. I could
3:19
see that there was a bigger global presence and
3:22
a smaller domestic presence. And so I began to
3:24
understand that the dynamic of the company was
3:26
shifting and Remax had a lot of debt. And I knew
3:28
that and I kind of had a sense they were either
3:30
going to have to restructure their debt under
3:32
bankruptcy or they were going to be acquired.
3:34
And so it was my time to just move out of there
3:36
for personal reasons, but it turned out to be
3:38
a good decision. And so we're excited about the
3:40
future of what they will call Real Remax Group,
3:42
which will be the new holding company. And that
3:44
will be operated under Tamir Poleg, who is running
3:46
Real Broker right now. I know Tamir, he's a good
3:48
guy and doing some really cool things. So Real
3:51
recruits on... You know, one of their big thing
3:53
is splits, revenue share and stock. Then they
3:55
announced the deal on it and it drops like, you
3:57
know, 25, 26%. Does that take you and your agents
4:00
or anyone on your team go, ooh, wow? Well, I
4:03
think, I mean, show me a real estate company
4:05
that's profitable right now and I'll show you
4:07
a good company. So. I think that can be said
4:10
across the board. I think that oftentimes whenever
4:13
you look at M &As across any industry, you'll
4:16
see that the exiting company, their stocks tend
4:19
to do very well and the acquiring company is
4:21
now taking on their debt and some of their liabilities
4:24
and their stocks tend to do. poorly at that time.
4:27
And I think the future will be just to be seen
4:28
what's going to happen in this industry. But
4:30
yeah, I'm not worried about what the stock is
4:32
doing right now. And that's just that wasn't
4:34
the reason I left Remax. There's a thousand reasons
4:37
why leaving Remax made sense for me as a team
4:40
leader. One is the revenue share. I was just
4:42
going to rebuild another team, which I have done.
4:44
And if you're a recruiter or a builder of any
4:46
kind, unless you own the franchise, you just
4:48
can't stay at Remax to do that. And so I knew
4:50
if I was going to build another team, I needed
4:52
to leave and do that in a place where I'd be
4:53
rewarded for that. And then the stock was just
4:55
a bonus. I mean, hey, I parked myself at a REMAX
4:58
franchise for my dad's 38 -year career in the
5:01
business and my 22 years, and I don't own a penny
5:03
of REMAX stock. Well, let's talk about that.
5:05
Taking over a business from your dad who had
5:07
a very storied, successful career, what does
5:10
that look like? Has that been hard? Was that
5:12
natural, that dynamic, sometimes difficult to
5:15
shift between father -daughter and new leader?
5:18
Oh, my dad's a wildly successful extrovert and
5:21
I'm a wildly successful extrovert and we could
5:23
have killed each other. And so there was certainly,
5:25
you know, the old lion roared for a really long
5:27
time. It took me 10 years to sort of really be
5:30
in a place where he was ready to turn the business
5:32
over. And we worked together for 17 years. And
5:35
then in the 10th year, I did buy my dad's business
5:38
out. And then in years 10 through 7, he actually
5:40
came to work for me. So I was paying him splits
5:42
in the beginning. And then in the end, he was
5:43
paying me splits. And so that worked out fine.
5:45
We were 50 -50 partners through the race. recession,
5:48
which was a necessary evil just to sort of maintain
5:50
profitability and just run a business and keep
5:52
an assistant. But it was in hindsight now, especially
5:56
given that my dad's 80 now. I mean, he's a much
5:59
softer, sweeter person than he was when he was
6:02
in his 50s running a business. He was a driver.
6:04
And so those were hard years. I mean, I did a
6:06
lot of crying in the front seat with him. You
6:08
know, it was like the family business is like
6:10
the therapy is going great. Yeah. When you guys
6:13
are at the dinner table, who's in charge still?
6:18
Now? Me, for sure. Yeah, now I run the roost.
6:22
I run the whole family. I love that. But for
6:24
a long time, it was him. Yeah. You know, for
6:26
someone who's been in it as long as you and your
6:29
family has been in it, does brand on the door,
6:31
whether that's Real or Compass or any of the
6:34
brands, does that matter? Isn't it really all
6:36
about you all and your local brand? Yeah, for
6:39
sure. I mean, I always just say the grass was
6:41
going to be green under my feet because I'd water
6:43
it there. So certainly for me, leaving Remax
6:46
was something I worried about. I was worried
6:48
about if. People just identified me with the
6:50
balloon so deeply that would affect them. But
6:52
I think the day we left there, people just came
6:54
with us because they love us, particularly in
6:56
a repeat and referral based business. I mean,
6:58
they didn't care where I hung my shingle. They
7:00
just wanted good service and people just want
7:02
to be taken care of. And so as long as we kept
7:03
doing that and it was good, it gave me a reason
7:06
to call my people. It gave me a reason to reach
7:07
out to folks and gave me a reason to call them
7:10
and tell them what I was doing. So it was great
7:11
for my business. And we're having a banner year.
7:13
We're having a terrific year in real estate.
7:15
And that's actually in a flat market you're in
7:17
there by you. So tell me about what do you think
7:19
the secret to that success is? What are you doing
7:21
differently than some other brokerages are doing?
7:23
Hey, listen, the best piece of advice I can give
7:25
every real estate practitioner is get back to
7:26
basics right now. It's a people business. What
7:28
are those? Tell me what those are. Yeah, it's
7:30
pick up the phone and call your clients with
7:32
regularity. I don't care in what cadence you
7:34
decide to call them, but you must call them.
7:36
And I don't mean text them, and I don't mean
7:38
email them, and I don't mean DM them. I mean
7:40
call them. So we're planning, we do two client
7:42
parties a year. We do four gift. pop buys per
7:45
year, one per quarter. We do notepad mailings.
7:49
Go ahead and laugh all you like, but nobody throws
7:52
a notepad away. And oh, yes. And so we deliver.
7:58
Oh, for sure. And nobody's mailing anymore either.
8:00
So this is the other thing you have to remember
8:02
is, you know, 20 years ago, people were hitting
8:04
mailboxes with real estate propaganda all the
8:06
time. Nobody mails anything anymore. And so you're
8:09
the only real estate agent they're getting mail
8:10
from if you're mailing something. And then we
8:12
just throw them something that they just won't
8:14
they won't throw away. So we throw them a notepad.
8:16
It's got lines on it and a checkbox. And I walk
8:18
through the grocery store and my clients are
8:20
there. And guess what? every time they have their
8:22
grocery list on my notepad in their hand. So
8:24
there's just some basic principles like this
8:26
that I think real estate agents think social
8:27
media is going to solve for them. And it's just
8:29
not true. How heavily invested are you on social
8:32
media? I know you have your show, but is that
8:34
getting deals for you? No, I mean, at the kitchen
8:37
table, which is my podcast, which was born of
8:40
the real estate business because I spend my life
8:42
at the kitchen table with people. That's a passion
8:44
project for me. Let's face facts like that's
8:47
for fun. My real estate business is my bread
8:49
and butter and the real estate business is what
8:51
butters the bread for at the kitchen table. And
8:53
so I think consistency for real estate practitioners
8:56
is so key. I think it's very noisy as you so
9:00
lovely picked up on, right? Which is like there's
9:02
so much noise in this business. So I think if
9:04
you can just cut through the noise and do the.
9:06
really basic things, you'll be successful. And
9:08
I think everybody should be building some form
9:10
of a repeat and referral -based business. So
9:12
if you're working Zillow leads in the industry
9:14
right now, you should be also building a repeat
9:16
and referral business off of those people that
9:19
you get to meet through your web leads or through
9:21
your internet contacts. So my social media is
9:24
just for my friends, for people to love me, for
9:26
them to connect to me, for them to know what
9:27
I'm doing. Because you go to a lot of the conferences,
9:30
including ours, and you hear it's all about social
9:32
media. You've got to have that big brand. And
9:34
you're saying, no, go back to basics. So one
9:36
of the things that did resonate is that there
9:38
was a session on knocking on doors and being
9:40
out there walking neighborhoods. Have you done
9:42
any of that? Is it successful? Yeah, we do a
9:44
strategy that we call 10 -10 -10. So if you're
9:46
going to do an open house, we knock the 10 doors
9:48
across the street, the 10 doors to the left and
9:50
the 10 doors to the right. this is a way to invite
9:53
the neighbors. People, whenever there's a real
9:56
estate sign in somebody's front yard, the neighbors
9:57
are always curious. And there is likely one or
10:00
two neighbors that are also contemplating selling.
10:02
And so because open houses are such generally
10:05
such a waste of time for most real estate people,
10:08
the best way to make a better use of your time
10:09
is to actually just go make some connections
10:11
while you're out there. And so this is, you know,
10:13
just back to basics. Earl Workman and the Workman
10:15
Success System has a program they call Daily
10:17
Success Habits. And one of the daily success
10:19
habits that Workman talks about is that you have
10:21
to Add context to your database every day. And
10:24
this is an easy way to do this. Go knock the
10:26
doors around the listings you already have. And
10:28
so I don't think those are bad strategies at
10:30
all. I think this is just about the people. You
10:32
want to interface with people, new people every
10:34
day. Is there anything on the real platform now
10:36
that gives you tools that help some of this?
10:39
Like you said, wow, that's compelling. That's
10:41
net new. Yeah, I will say. Just the compliance
10:44
transaction dashboard that Real Broker has called
10:47
Reason, R -E -Z -E -N. It's very comprehensive.
10:50
It's very good. It's easy to work in. Their compliance
10:52
team is excellent. I think the AI tool that they
10:55
have inside of Reason is great. I think there's
10:58
a lot more coming inside of Real Broker that
11:00
isn't announced yet. I think they're working
11:02
on it. Tell me about the AI tool. What does that
11:05
do? Yeah. So like, for example, it's called Leo.
11:09
I can't remember what the coming soon policy
11:12
is in Colorado. I can type in, hey, Leo, what's
11:14
the Colorado coming soon policy? They've uploaded
11:17
all 50 division of real estate manuals into their
11:20
AI bot. And the AI bot will say in Colorado,
11:23
you can't list the house for more than seven
11:24
days. So it spits out the information to you.
11:27
I could say something like, how far away from
11:28
my cap am I? And it'll say, here's where you're
11:30
at in your transactions. Or how many transactions
11:32
have I done this year? Or how do I reach my managing
11:35
broker? It doesn't matter. The idea is that instead
11:38
of people just blindly picking up the phone and
11:39
calling either their mentor or their managing
11:42
broker, go to Leo first, ask a quick question,
11:44
see if you can find the answer there. And this
11:46
is part of how they're getting away with so few
11:49
state brokers because the AI tool is answering
11:52
a lot of basic questions for real estate agents.
11:54
So they're not necessarily calling somebody else
11:57
for and getting a simple question answered. So
12:00
like, you know, Compass is talking about they've
12:02
got almost 400 ,000 agents. I think you guys
12:04
combined will have close to 200 ,000. It's not
12:07
about the numbers. Oh, well, that's a different
12:11
question about where the industry is going. And
12:13
I think it depends on what you believe. Yeah.
12:15
I want to know what you believe, Amanda. Okay.
12:18
Well, I think there's two ways this industry
12:21
is going to break. The industry is going to break
12:24
into a segment of the industry that I call the
12:27
big four. And if you're a libertarian, you hate
12:32
the idea of a big four because the big four essentially
12:35
means more power, more control for the big four
12:38
companies that stand to exist in the end. And
12:40
if I were to make shit up. it would be like Compass
12:42
gets in bed with homes .com and Real Remax Group
12:46
gets in bed with Zillow and Keller Williams gets
12:49
in bed with realtor .com. Redfin and Rocket continue
12:53
to be the discount player in the space. And then
12:55
all of a sudden you have big four and every independent
12:58
broker, 50 % of dues paying members at the National
13:00
Association of Realtors has to go run for cover
13:03
under one of those big four umbrellas somewhere
13:05
in the next three to five years, right? So on
13:07
the one hand, if you believe that we're heading
13:08
towards the big four and that's made up. That's
13:11
me just being like, what's going to happen here?
13:13
Alternatively, independence is going to come
13:15
rip roaring back. And that will be a function
13:17
of AI. And this is if I build an independent
13:19
website and I put my 15 listings on it and I
13:23
syndicate them nowhere else, there are going
13:25
to be AI bots that are going to find my 15 listings
13:28
on my website. So if you believe that consolidation,
13:31
consolidation, consolidation is going to also
13:33
consolidate all of the MLSs and that all of the
13:36
data will be owned by the big four on this hand,
13:38
then that's one. philosophy, but the other philosophy
13:41
is that the bots are going to find the data no
13:43
matter where it's at. And in which case, independence
13:44
could, in theory, come rip -roaring back. And
13:47
so I think it depends on what you believe. I
13:49
am seeing there's evidence that consolidation
13:51
is happening right now. There's evidence that
13:53
real estate companies, brokerage in particular,
13:56
is broke. And I mean, brokerages haven't been
13:58
making money for a very long time. And I think
14:01
that's also a function of independence. Dave
14:03
Linegar literally took the MLS book and ran out
14:07
of his Van Schock office in Thornton, Colorado
14:10
in 1972 and birthed independence in real estate.
14:14
And the thing of it is, is that he did that because
14:17
he had access to the data. He no longer needed
14:19
to be in his brokerage house where the keys and
14:22
the data were inside. He could take the data
14:25
with his keys and go be independent. And so I
14:28
think the big question is, if we go to the big
14:31
four, Robert Ruffin's splits aren't going to
14:33
be 85 -15 anymore. Robert Ruffin's splits are
14:35
going to be 50 -50 like the old days of brokerage
14:37
house. And so brokerage is tired of being broke.
14:41
That's for sure. And so I just think if we end
14:43
up under a big four, under a big tent, you're
14:46
going to see. much deeper splits than real estate
14:49
practitioners are prepared for. Is that good
14:51
for the industry? Or should we be looking at
14:53
players like LPT and some of the other ones out
14:56
their side and the rest who are giving legs to
14:58
some of these team leaders who are looking to
15:00
have their own ownership? Yeah. Well, it's interesting.
15:03
I mean, I think there is still a huge component
15:05
of independence in the industry. It's much bigger
15:09
than you realize. Oh, I saw that in San Diego.
15:12
It was actually mind blowing. They're all individual
15:14
entrepreneurs. Yes. And so I think a lot of it
15:17
just depends on some of this could actually boil
15:19
down to legislative policy, because I have a
15:22
working theory that the entire Sitzer -Bunett
15:24
lawsuit, I originally actually thought that it
15:27
was boiling down to data, but I began to realize
15:30
that it actually has everything. to do with the
15:32
federal government's control of the industry.
15:34
They did not like that we were all writing off
15:36
of our sports tickets and our Teslas, and they
15:38
were looking for tax revenue. And they found
15:41
an industry that was wildly independent that
15:44
had a ton of write -offs where they felt like
15:46
there was a gap in tax revenue. And essentially,
15:48
coming after the industry and the consolidation
15:52
of the big four technically gives the federal
15:54
government more control over our industry. Because
15:56
when there are only four people that... the president
15:59
or the Senate or the federal government or the
16:02
DOJ has to engage with, the more control they're
16:04
going to have. This independence over here is
16:06
unruly and the federal government doesn't like
16:08
it. So I think the federal government is seeking
16:11
consolidation in the name of control. So I don't
16:14
think that's good for the consumer and I don't
16:16
think it's good for the practitioner. You mentioned
16:18
three of the potential big four. Where does Sirhan
16:20
sit in that? Because Ryan... Ryan and I have
16:24
talked a couple of times and he's saying it's
16:25
going to be him and Compass. What are your thoughts
16:27
there? Will they be in the mix? I don't know
16:29
Ryan Serhan. I have never met him personally,
16:31
although I would like to. So if you're listening,
16:33
give a call. Shout out to Ryan. I think that
16:38
I appreciate his ambition and setting his eyes
16:42
on a big, hairy, audacious goal. Good for you.
16:45
I don't know him. And I don't think I've used
16:47
this word lightly. So I'm just saying, like,
16:49
that sounds awful arrogant to me. So to just
16:51
be like, it's going to be me and them. And I'm
16:53
like, OK, maybe. But is that really good for
16:57
the consumer? Is that really good for the agents?
16:59
Is that actually good for the industry? Of course
17:01
it's not. And so, I mean, maybe if it ends up
17:04
being two players in the industry, I just don't
17:06
think that the consumers will tolerate that lack
17:08
of option. And so I just I can't see that ultimately
17:12
being the end goal. Good for him for having a
17:14
big, hairy, audacious goal. Go get him, pal.
17:16
Love it. Okay, before we get into noise versus
17:18
signal segment, tell me, we're looking back on
17:21
the industry or this conversation in a year or
17:24
even two years. What are the things we're going
17:25
to look back on and say, either we got that wildly
17:28
wrong or we missed? What are your predictions?
17:31
Well, I do think the industry is moving slower
17:34
than I anticipated. I think that everybody is
17:36
like, in a year from now, AI is going to wildly
17:39
change everything. And I'm like, meh. It's not
17:42
moving that fast because it's just not like the
17:45
consumers don't move at that speed. My listings
17:47
aren't moving faster. My business systems, I
17:50
think a lot of people who are running sage businesses
17:52
right now are like, I'm not going to throw another
17:54
business system at my staff or my team. Like,
17:57
that's crazy. And so like the stuff that's noise,
17:59
it's like just going to keep doing the thing
18:01
that works, which is showing up at people's kitchen
18:03
tables and solving their problems. Love that.
18:05
And so I just don't think the industry is moving
18:08
quite as fast as we all think it is. I think
18:10
as much hype as there is around AI, I think the
18:13
adoption by people like you and me and others
18:16
is not quite there because we also are living,
18:19
like you said, sage for you. We're living in
18:21
the existing systems. And how do you step outside
18:23
of that? And it can become incredibly distracting.
18:25
Very distracting. I mean, I have a young broker
18:28
on my team who he even is like, I have to set
18:31
limits on my social media because it just eats
18:33
my day up. And I think that. that's not a good
18:35
use of your time. That's not working effectively.
18:37
And I think that People are going to have to
18:39
stay very focused on their daily habits so that
18:43
they can be successful in the business. Because
18:44
what butters our bread is buy -sell house. Rest,
18:47
the joint ventures, the industry sort of movements,
18:51
the rev shares or some of that, that's not really
18:54
what butters our bread. What butters our bread
18:56
is buy -sell house. That's where the money's
18:57
at in this business. There's obviously a lot
18:59
of churn in the industry of agents. What do you
19:01
look for? Great agents. And are you looking to
19:04
poach them from other brokerages? Are you looking
19:06
to develop? Brand new leaders. Yeah. I call them
19:09
hawks and baby birds. And I am not the kind of
19:11
person who has the temperament, time, patience,
19:14
or energy to train new agents in the business.
19:17
And God love Keller Williams for that. And so.
19:19
For me, I'm just not interested in really working
19:22
with baby birds. I do love how thrilled they
19:25
are whenever they get a lead or how thrilled
19:27
they are whenever they get a deal together. That's
19:29
really terrific. But I actually think that there's
19:31
a huge part of the industry where there are veteran
19:34
agents who have big books of business who have
19:36
been poorly incubating their databases for a
19:39
long time. And so I'm looking for more veteran
19:42
agents who know how to buy, sell, house, who
19:44
have a database that they have just let go. And
19:47
I think that the business is much harder. The
19:49
simple parts of the business are much harder
19:51
than it seems. Maintaining a database is much
19:53
harder than it appears. So these people have
19:55
let their databases go. And so I'm looking for
19:57
people who know how to do the deal. They just
19:59
don't know how to run a business. And there's
20:01
a lot of them out there. We keep talking about
20:02
the big four versus these entrepreneurial brands.
20:04
And I was really blown away in San Diego because
20:07
there's so many entrepreneurs coming out. AI
20:09
is making it so much easier. Barriers of entry
20:12
are low. Talk to me about your take on that.
20:14
Well, I think. My take on it is that the builders
20:17
in the industry are people like Tim Macy and
20:19
Katie Day at Real Broker. They're Remax and Keller
20:22
Williams franchise owners for the last four decades.
20:25
These are the people that have been recruiting
20:26
and retaining agents that have been teaching
20:28
them the business and that are going to continue
20:30
to build in our industry, right? And those people
20:33
are true entrepreneurs. A true entrepreneur for
20:36
me is somebody who can stroke the front side
20:38
of a paycheck. If you've never signed somebody
20:41
else's payroll to feed somebody else's family,
20:43
you're not a real entrepreneur to me. When you've
20:46
paid somebody else's salary, now we're talking.
20:49
That's a real entrepreneur for me. And I think
20:51
real estate has a lot of entrepreneurs. They're
20:53
sort of a one -man band. They're a master of
20:56
none, jack -of -all -trades kind of person. They're
20:58
expected to be marketers. and negotiators and
21:02
sign runners in the real estate industry. And
21:05
so these little intrapreneurs all over the industry,
21:08
if they're not signing five -year leases on buildings,
21:10
if they're not signing five -year leases on coffee
21:12
machines or stroking the front side of somebody
21:13
else's payroll, they're an intrapreneur. And
21:15
that's the distinction for me. And so I think
21:17
the industry has a lot of true entrepreneurs,
21:20
these builders that are going to run these independent
21:24
businesses. And you talked about like LPT and
21:26
some of those guys. Those guys are builders.
21:29
And the team leaders there, they know how to
21:31
operate a P &L. They know what splits work in
21:34
this business. And there's a lot of splits in
21:36
this business that don't work. So let's get very
21:38
clear. The days of 50 -50 are dead for me because
21:41
you cannot operate a business and lead generate.
21:45
for a team and give the servicing agent 50 %
21:48
of the check. It just doesn't work anymore. Servicing
21:50
the business is only worth 35%. And we know it's
21:53
only worth 35 % because Redfin told us that.
21:55
Redfin was paying their agents 35 % checks to
21:57
run the rat loop of Buy Sell House. And we know...
22:00
that generating a lead is worth 40 % because
22:03
Zillow told us in their business model that it
22:05
costs them 40 % to generate a lead. It costs
22:08
an additional 10 % to retain the lead. So 50
22:11
% of the check was for lead generation and retention.
22:14
35 % of the business is to... buy -sell house,
22:17
the service. And in the middle is that operational
22:19
cost. This is what every Ben Kinney team leader
22:22
knows in the business is that it costs you every
22:25
bit of 30 % to run a business. So the entrepreneurs
22:28
in this business, the real entrepreneurs, the
22:30
ones writing those checks, they know it costs
22:32
30 % to run a real estate team. And they're just,
22:34
everybody is desperately trying to keep their
22:36
margin down, keep their margin down. And the
22:38
business just seems to get more and more expensive.
22:41
More videos, more professional photography, more
22:43
unique signage, more running around. That all
22:46
costs more money, not less. So these real estate
22:48
transactions, it costs way more money than they
22:51
used to. I mean, my God, I used to take pictures
22:54
of a house with a wolf camera. Like I would like
22:56
be out there like with a little cannon taking
22:58
my own real estate pictures. And I was making
23:00
traditional real estate fee. And I'm telling
23:02
you, I think that if these teams get bigger,
23:04
the kind you're talking about, I think you're
23:06
going to see that fee for service go up by one
23:08
or two percent from where it's at right now.
23:11
And I think people are going to get it. And I
23:12
frankly, in my market, with my expenses. I don't
23:15
want to take a deal for less than $10 ,000. If
23:17
I can't make $10 ,000 to take a deal, I don't
23:19
think I can make it work. Like, it's just there's
23:21
no profit in it. So low price point markets continue
23:24
to struggle. High price point markets tend to
23:26
continue to do well. So that's my rant on entrepreneurs
23:29
and builders and profitability. I think the industry
23:33
has got a lot to figure out still. We're now
23:36
going to pivot to noise versus signal. I'm going
23:38
to throw out a couple topics. You're going to
23:40
share whether you think it's noise or you think
23:42
it's signal. We alluded to this one earlier,
23:44
but let's start easy, okay? Noise or signal,
23:47
open houses. Noise. Noise. They're a waste. Generally,
23:51
as a listing agent, it is not a good use of my
23:53
time to sit in an open house. Other than what
23:56
you're talking about, yeah. Yeah. Open houses
23:58
are good for nosy neighbors and unqualified buyers,
24:02
but they are terrific for young brokers to learn
24:04
how to have one -on -one conversations. And they're
24:06
a great opportunity to knock doors and to practice
24:09
social media. All right. You just left a brand
24:12
built for offices for one that is being built
24:15
without them. So the office, the physical space
24:17
for a real estate team in 2026, noise or signal?
24:21
Noise. I left a brand where there were big, giant,
24:23
empty office buildings. I opened a boutique office.
24:27
with all kinds of desks in it. And guess who
24:29
never comes to the office? The agents. So they
24:31
don't come to the office at Remax and they don't
24:33
come to the office at Real Broker. So just a
24:35
waste of resources. Yes. I do think that agents
24:38
should come to the office. I think they would
24:40
actually sell more houses if they came to the
24:42
office. So the irony is that I think it is noisy
24:45
for the industry, but I think. Lots of brokers
24:48
who are struggling to make ends meet could benefit
24:50
from finding an office location and going in
24:53
with some consistency. Interesting. OK, now they're
24:55
going to get a little harder. Franchise brands
24:57
still mean something to the consumer. Noise or
25:00
signal? Oh, no, that's true for sure. I think
25:03
that the brand awareness that we have built over
25:06
generations still has weight. And I think that
25:10
people want to sign in their front yard with
25:11
a recognizable brand still. And I think that
25:14
that's particularly. important in boutique markets
25:18
and in destination markets like either beach
25:21
communities or the mountains in Colorado. For
25:23
me, I know that my REMAX peers do better than
25:27
boutique offices in destinations because they
25:29
can their brands can be found more easily. Excellent.
25:32
OK, now this is certainly cuts to real revenue
25:36
share is a retirement plan for real estate agents.
25:39
No revenue share is. An ancillary income stream
25:43
when you're active in the real estate market,
25:45
either recruiting and retaining agents or buy
25:49
-sell house. So revenue share is a revenue stream
25:51
for an active participant in the real estate
25:53
market. But the minute you retire, it dries up
25:56
in some ways the same way your database dries
25:59
up. And so you have to be thinking of them the
26:01
same way, that if you feed it, it will grow.
26:04
But if you don't feed it, it will not. And so
26:06
revenue stream does the same thing. And it's
26:08
just a business of a different kind. If you stop
26:11
working your business, you will stop benefiting
26:13
from that work. This one's just for you, Amanda.
26:16
So noise versus signal. Second generation succession
26:19
in real estate. More of it's coming or does the
26:21
book of business die with the founder? No, I
26:31
think that's I think that's signal. I think.
26:34
that people who watch a parent do something successfully
26:37
are likely to continue to venture into that direction.
26:41
And I think that books of business are going
26:43
to be very valuable. And while I think young
26:45
people believe that they're going to get some
26:47
fancy tech career or something, I think in the
26:51
end, being a consultant or running a... consultative
26:54
nature kind of business is actually going to
26:56
win in the end if AI continues to grow. So I
26:58
think being an advisor, a dispenser of information
27:00
is signal, not noise. All this stuff about private
27:03
listings and Zillow and Compass and all that
27:05
noise, what's going on there? Do you think about
27:08
any of this? All the time. No, I mean, a private
27:11
listing is garbage for the consumer. Let's face
27:12
facts. Private listings underexpose a seller.
27:16
And I don't care if you're John Elway or Deion
27:18
Sanders. Deion Sanders has a house in my market
27:21
that he will eventually put up for sale. And
27:23
when he does, he should expose it to the greater
27:25
market. The open market, the magic listing system
27:28
is a very powerful place. He should be there.
27:30
And I just think that pocket listings, private
27:33
listings are actually no good for the consumer.
27:36
And I'm not completely convinced they're good
27:37
for the agent either. The reason they're not
27:39
good for the agent is that if you take a private
27:42
listing and you are not successful. quickly with
27:46
the seller's faith and confidence in you, you
27:48
start to lose them too. And so for agents, it
27:52
takes a lot to keep the customer happy. And if
27:55
you burn any amount of time in a private status,
27:58
you're burning some of your reputation too. And
28:00
I think the fastest way to success for clients
28:03
is give the people what they want, which is put
28:05
their houses up for sale, get them top dollar
28:07
in the open market and move along. Love that.
28:09
One last thing. So we're seeing a bunch of stuff
28:11
now from Google and their canary and all that.
28:13
And when Google gets their teeth into something,
28:15
they're pretty formidable. Do you think the Zillows
28:17
and the homes .com and the rest should be worried?
28:20
I mean, it sort of seems like a threat that if
28:22
Google were to have a housing platform, then
28:25
that would be something that would feel like
28:27
a threat. But here's what I know. I know that
28:29
I walk into somebody's house and I put a hug
28:31
on them and I tell them everything's going to
28:33
be fine. We're going to get you to your goals.
28:35
And then I walk around the house and I count
28:36
bedrooms and ceiling fans and I write them down
28:38
on my little notepad. And then I sit down to
28:40
the magic listing system and I enter the data
28:42
into the magic listing system and then Google,
28:45
Zillow. homes .com, all get that data feed out
28:48
of the magic listing system. And guess what?
28:50
None of that data exists unless somebody is going
28:53
to go out there with their little notepad and
28:55
their little pen, and they're going to point
28:56
at the ceiling fans, and they're going to count
28:58
the bedrooms and bathrooms. And the truth of
28:59
the matter is, real estate agents, the agent
29:01
community is like marching ants on the ground.
29:04
And none of the data exists for all of these
29:06
big companies without ants. And somebody is going
29:09
to be the ant. Now, if the consumer wants to
29:11
be the ant, fine. see if I have to count ceiling
29:14
fans anymore. I do not. That is not my highest
29:16
and best use. So I don't care about counting
29:18
ceiling fans. The ant can change. I don't need
29:21
to stay an ant. I'm not paid actually to be an
29:24
ant. I'm paid to be an advisor, a dispenser of
29:27
information. But somebody's got to be an ant.
29:29
So Google and their platform cease to exist without
29:33
some data entry. Now, if the consumers want to
29:35
sit down and put their house into Google. Fine.
29:37
Zillow has been doing this forever. Claim my
29:39
listing. And people are like, oh, that's my house.
29:42
Everybody loves to claim their own listing. Fine.
29:44
You put your ceiling fans in. See if I care.
29:46
But the data has to be there for these companies
29:48
to succeed. All right. Noise or signal? Being
29:51
the boss of your own father. Oh, that's probably
29:55
noise. I think he's actually still in charge
29:59
around here. Let's face facts. No matter what.
30:01
Amanda DeVito Parle. Thank you so much for joining
30:03
us on Noise vs. Signal. You're awesome. I appreciate
30:06
the time very much. Thanks. Happy to come back
30:08
anytime, Tom. Thanks for having me. Thanks for
30:10
listening to Noise vs. Signal. Follow us on Instagram
30:14
at Inmanews for more conversations and industry
30:17
insights. And be sure to subscribe wherever you
30:20
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30:23
I'll see you next time.