Real Estate Agent Or Psychologist?
Issue 29 - April 23rd, 2021
Real estate agents are hustling at the highest level to win deals and earn dollars in today’s insane housing market.
Listing agents are fighting harder than ever to win listings, and buyers’ agents are fighting harder than ever to successfully navigate and win multiple offer scenarios. Home buying/selling participants are realizing the importance of having agents guide them through the process in today’s crazy world. Real estate agents always serve as part real estate agent/part consultant/part psychologist, but the psychologist piece of the puzzle has become increasingly important as the market reaches a boiling point nationwide.
Buyer’s agents have to weather multiple offer situations, serve as psychologists to their clients when they lose, and coach them up to get back in the game time and time again in today’s markets around the country.
Listing agents have to guide their customers to successfully choose the best offer and also position their home to sell quickly and for the highest price. The anxiety that sellers feel when offers come in with personal letters trying to find any sort of emotional connection to the home or the seller can take a toll on some home sellers. Home sellers are in the best market of their lives, but it is still not a walk in the park to make big decisions when you are selling.
Personally, I think the craziness in the markets has proven to the industry that real estate agents are a very necessary part of the transaction process. Their expertise matters when it comes time to navigate the quick pace at which things unfold from offer to closing.
As we emerge from the pandemic, I am also realizing in the past year that real estate agents have led our country forward even in the darkest times. At the height of closures and lockdowns, agents still found ways to put deals together safely and keep their customers happy. Real estate agents are entrepreneurs to the core, and they will always find ways to make things happen. For all of the people betting on the real estate agent going the way of travel agents, I imagine you are realizing that is not happening anytime soon. The emotional journey of navigating a home sale is too tough to replace with robots (at least for now), and the profession of a real estate agent is becoming more respected and needed as the industry continues to evolve and push forward. The role of the agent is rapidly changing, but the importance of the agent having a seat at the table is only getting stronger and stronger.
Newsworthy Links To Share
Fathom Realty acquires E:49 Holdings a company with three operating subsidiaries serving the residential real estate sector: Encompass Lending Group, Dagley Insurance Agency (DIA), and Real Results. The final purchase price was approximately $29 million. Fathom plans to expand all of these business lines into all 50 states as it continues to launch markets around the country. RISMedia)
The “Bumble” of home shopping, Casa Blanca, announces a $2.6 million seed funding round. The CEO, Hannah Bomze, got her real estate license at the age of 18 and worked at Compass and Douglas Elliman before launching this company last year. The platform matches home buyers and renters with homes using an in-app matchmaking algorithm and swiping functionality combined with “expert agents.” (TechCrunch)
New Valley Ventures announces investment in Humming Homes, a New York-based tech-enabled home management service. Humming Homes has built a home management solution for single family homeowners with a digital-first experience, offering a dedicated in-person home management team with a single point of contact, 24/7 support, and technology products with data and insights to avoid reactive and expensive home maintenance issues. (Business Wire)
Fintor, a San Francisco-based fractional real estate investing mobile app, announces $2.5 million in seed funding. Fintor is a platform that allows users to buy and sell fractional shares of real estate for as little as $5 with a few taps. Fintor’s mission is to democratize real estate investing for all and provide access and liquidity to the real estate markets for investors and property owners. (Business Wire)
OneSoil, a company selling technology to help farmers monitor fields and increase yields, has raised $5 million. The company's tech integrates satellite imagery with mobile and desktop applications for farming analytics. These offerings include both remote crop monitoring and variable-rate seed and fertilizer applications that can reduce the time spent on field scouting and improve efficiency as it relates to inputs. OneSoil already has more than 200,000 farmers and consultants using its service across more than 180 countries just two and a half years after its launch. (TechCrunch)