office vs remote work
Issue 107 - October 28th, 2022
I am not someone who thinks “offices are dead” at all, but I do think the office landscape is changing dramatically for companies of all shapes and sizes. In my opinion, there are pros and cons to “purely in-office cultures, remote workforces, hybrid, etc.”.
Today I am going to share my thoughts on this hotly debated topic plus how we operate and approach this part of our company at Pinnacle Realty Advisors.
As the business world evolves, companies are finding ways that work well for their needs and employees are choosing to work in places or companies that suit their goals too - more flexibility and innovation around this part of our lives is a net positive to me.
This is not a zero sum game where one ideology wins - funny to me seeing people debate this topic to death as if there is only ONE right path on the “office” topic. Companies need to approach this part of their company culture and plans in whatever makes the most sense for their business model.
At Pinnacle Realty Advisors, we will always be remote first, but we are not anti-office at all. We just don’t think spending money on office spaces for our agents is a good use of funds. We do have some small offices currently for some of our staff, but we operate entirely remotely with people all over the world on the “staff” side of our company.
“All Hands” Team Meeting @ Pinnacle Realty Advisors
At our company, we choose to invest our capital into top tier human resources, tech, tools, with a focus on reducing our expenses as much as possible to give our agents the highest level of service at a fraction of the cost of our competitors.
As we grow, we will gain economies of scale on our staff expenses and a larger moat in various parts of our business, and we will also experience network effects in growth as our brand grows.
Our business is unique in that part of our company is W-2 employees with the staff that serves our agents and then our “agent customers” who are affiliated with the brokerage platform in a 1099 relationship also “work” for the company albeit in a different capacity than our “staff”.
Most traditional legacy brokerage firms in America have huge office footprints as a core part of their business model, and I bet a lot of these big companies are reevaluating these “office” plans in a challenging post-pandemic real estate market.
We started our company in the Fall of 2020, aka… the height of the pandemic. Opening an office at that time was not an option. We were a remote company by default, and it has absolutely been an incredible thing for our company. I love working in an office environment, but the last 2 years have proved to me that “remote first” works very well for both employees and especially for real estate agents.
The cloud-based business model for agents is absolutely the future of this industry for a number of reasons:
expenses and overhead for agent offices is a wasted expense in today’s world and agents would rather have better service and support for a fraction of the cost
real estate agents are always on the go and demand quick and efficient service from their phones or wherever they may be - they do not want to have to drive to an office to get things done if they can handle everything online in today’s world
“Office versus remote” debates will continue to be a hot topic for years to come, but I just wanted to share our experience today to give you a glimpse into how we think about this part of our business model and the future for our particular industry.
Newsworthy Links To Share
Cell Phone Towers Log Solid Returns as an Alternative Real Estate Investment (WealthManagement.com)
- Read his full analysis here: “2021 is an Outlier, Not a Benchmark”
Here Are the Most Expensive US Cities for Renters Right Now: Boston leaped over San Francisco to land in second place on the list of most expensive US rental markets, with New York still holding the crown. (Bloomberg)
New York-based Bilt Rewards hit unicorn status after closing a $150 million growth round at a $1.5 billion valuation. (Crunchbase)
Mortgage rates broke 7%, more than twice the level of a year ago.
Single-family rental company Invitation Homes is seeking a partner on a $1 billion joint venture in the shifting housing market. (Real Deal)