Apr 24, 2009 15
The Real Estate Story Awaits the Next Chapter
Brian Boero of 1000watt recounts a dinner conversation and throws down some challenging questions and assertions:
This particular debate centered on the following question:
“Have we reached the end of the real estate story now that FSBOs and discounting have lost their menace?”
As Brian puts it, there were two camps, comprised of him in one camp and everyone else in the other camp:
Methods have changed. Markets have changed. The balance of power between brokers and agents has shifted. Consumers have access to enough data to choke a horse.
But the basic structure of this business remains remarkably intact.
There are two possible conclusions to be taken from this:
A. Real estate is exceptional. The complexities and emotions that characterize the real estate transaction will forever shield it from structural change. Bill Gates, Barry Diller and about a billion dollars in VC have been thrown against the barricade with no transformative impact. The story is over.
B. We’re due for a cataclysm. The forces of change, of technological innovation, of inchoate consumer frustration, are stacked high against the dam of Real Estate As We Know It. It will not – it cannot – hold. The story is far from over.
My dinner pals were in the “A” camp. I argued for “B.”
Given that the whole thrust here is theoretical and futuristic, I can’t help but charge in foolishly where wiser men fear to trod.
