- 4 months ago
This week on RealTrending, Tracey Velt talks with Sean Miku, the founder and CEO of simpliHŌM, a tech- and people-first brokerage that opened its doors in 2018.
Sean shares insights into simpliHŌM unique model, including an 85/15 commission split and free transaction management. He also discusses the current challenges and opportunities in real estate, as well as the company's future vision, which plans for a public offering by 2028.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
How simpliHŌM’s people-first approach has driven its impressive growth
The unique compensation model and agent support offerings at Simply Home
The role of technology in streamlining real estate processes
The vision for simpliHŌM's future, including public offering plans and international expansion
The importance of cultural fit and targeted growth strategies in simpliHŌM's success
Related to this episode:
simpliHOM
https://simplihom.com/
Sean Miku | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanmiku/
HousingWire | YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDD_3y3LvU60vac7eki-6Q
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Sean shares insights into simpliHŌM unique model, including an 85/15 commission split and free transaction management. He also discusses the current challenges and opportunities in real estate, as well as the company's future vision, which plans for a public offering by 2028.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
How simpliHŌM’s people-first approach has driven its impressive growth
The unique compensation model and agent support offerings at Simply Home
The role of technology in streamlining real estate processes
The vision for simpliHŌM's future, including public offering plans and international expansion
The importance of cultural fit and targeted growth strategies in simpliHŌM's success
Related to this episode:
simpliHOM
https://simplihom.com/
Sean Miku | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanmiku/
HousingWire | YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXDD_3y3LvU60vac7eki-6Q
The RealTrending podcast features conversations with the brightest minds in real estate. Every Monday, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts join us to share their secrets to success, trends, and the lessons they’ve learned. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by the HousingWire Content Studio.
Category
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NewsTranscript
00:00When you start a brokerage, a lot of times you might be in it for the wrong reasons,
00:05might be in it for the right reasons, but not know how to evolve from there.
00:09Well, today I've talked to Sean Maikew.
00:12He is the founder of Simply Home.
00:14And he talked about his transition from how he started his brokerage to how he's now growing
00:22the brokerage.
00:23And he has a great story and some really interesting information about some of the value propositions
00:28that he is offering.
00:31And it's a very fast growing single entity national brokerage.
00:37And so enjoy the podcast.
00:39Sean, welcome to The Real Trending Podcast.
00:41Glad to have you.
00:43Glad to be here.
00:44Yeah.
00:45So I'm interested in learning all about Simply Home.
00:48We had a conversation a couple, I guess it was a week ago, and I had a lot of questions.
00:54So I'm going to start with just your first, like what sparked your initial decision to
00:59found Simply Homes?
01:00And I think it was in May of 2018, correct?
01:03Yeah, it was.
01:05And thank you for the opportunity to be here.
01:07But what sparked the initial desire in 2018 was probably not a great place.
01:14I think the place that it came from was a place of, for lack of a better term, maybe greed.
01:19It was, I had aspired from an early age to be super successful and make all this money
01:24and make a difference in the world.
01:26But what I've learned through that journey has been one that has completely transformed
01:31who I am, what I believe and how I operate.
01:35And so I had the typical, I'm an entrepreneur.
01:38I think I can do it better than.
01:40And, you know, I didn't know what I didn't know.
01:43So I'm grateful for those lessons over the last seven years.
01:46So walk me through those early days.
01:49Like, how did you validate your concept?
01:52I think you said you're self-funded, correct?
01:54I can't remember.
01:55Yeah, so that was the wildest decision I've ever made.
02:00And we were talking last week about, you know, have you raised money?
02:03And I tried.
02:03I did try.
02:04I was, I realized that we all have our strengths.
02:07And though I'm great at sales, I suck at fundraising.
02:12And so I was like, you know, this is just a waste of time for me.
02:15It's not working the way that I thought it would.
02:19You know, from a validation standpoint, our model from the very beginning was intended
02:24to kind of push the boundaries a little bit.
02:27I was a top producing agent at the time.
02:31And so I, it was a non-negotiable for me to offer things like free transaction management
02:36to all of our agents because of the time.
02:37I felt like one of the biggest sacrifices that the agent typically makes that people
02:42don't see or necessarily understand is the missed dinners, the missed tucking their kids
02:47into bed at night, all of those things.
02:49And I felt like I didn't need to do that in order to be successful.
02:52And so I wanted to add that type of component to the business from the get-go.
02:58What I didn't necessarily understand or maybe under-calculated was the expense of providing
03:04something like that.
03:05And so we've had tremendous model shifts.
03:08You know, you get different competitors that enter the landscape and you're like, oh, shoot,
03:13I need to pivot with that in order to kind of stay ahead of that curve.
03:16Um, and you know, it was, it was always the aspiration from the very beginning was to create
03:23something that we took globally, that we went international with, that we impacted as many
03:28lives as possible.
03:28But one of my dear friends and mentors, um, from the very beginning who gave me the $30,000
03:34to actually start the company, um, from that standpoint, he was always like, Sean, if you
03:41focus on money, you're never going to have it.
03:42If you focus on people, you'll have all the money you ever need.
03:45And that has become our lifeblood, uh, as an organization of how we operate, how we communicate
03:51with our agents and, uh, what decisions we make.
03:55Is that the shift you're talking about that kind of transformed you from when you started
03:59to, to now?
04:01Yeah, a hundred percent.
04:02It was, you know, I was so money focused and, you know, it's not inherently bad necessarily
04:08to be money focused, but when you're any relationship business and the simplicity of this business,
04:13the beauty of this business is if you take care of people, people take care of you and
04:17you get referrals and you can build your real estate business and all of that.
04:20It took me becoming a good realtor before I was, uh, equipped well enough to become a
04:26good leader of a real estate brokerage.
04:29Um, and it was that transition, that mindset of people first, that, uh, was the cornerstone
04:34of, of who we are at the company.
04:37Yeah.
04:37Yeah.
04:38Um, I mean, I definitely think in brokerage, you have to be people first.
04:42Um, you know, that's, that is what helps you succeed.
04:46Real estate on it at its core is about relationships, right?
04:50So, so yeah, definitely.
04:52Um, so what, let's talk about your core business model, your compensation model, um, you know,
04:58and a little bit about, you know, who you are as a company.
05:01So, um, our core, uh, model is one where I believe we're just trying to, to carve out
05:09a niche in the middle of the past and the, and, and the future.
05:12Um, and what I mean by that is when you really do the math and you break it down, only seven
05:19to 8% of realtors are at cloud-based brokerages.
05:22And I think if we go back to the previous topic, the reason is people crave relationship,
05:28they crave connection and they may go home and sit on the couch and complain about people
05:32and all the people they had to deal with and how terrible traffic is or this client or
05:36that client or whatever.
05:38But in the grand scheme of things, people are more connected and disconnected than they've
05:42ever been as a society.
05:44Um, the internet is a blessing and a curse.
05:46Social media is the same.
05:48And so with that, I think people crave that human connectivity.
05:52I think there's power in what I'm about to do in a few days, fly over to the West coast
05:56and be with our people face to face for two weeks straight in all of these different markets,
06:02because I think there's power in that relationship and what people want.
06:06And so we're giving people the benefits of the cloud.
06:10We're giving them free healthcare.
06:11We're giving them free, uh, transaction management.
06:13We have free automated marketing kits that they can print them, or they can, um, just
06:18use them for their social media and property websites and things like that.
06:22Uh, we have free automated testimonials.
06:24Um, all of these different components are very future focused when it comes to the real
06:29estate landscape as a whole, from a brokerage perspective.
06:32Um, but we're also combining it with that brick and mortar presence.
06:37We're integrating into the communities that we serve.
06:40I, a long time ago did a brief stint in roofing sales and as fun as it was, and as terrible
06:47as I was at it, it was just a fly by night, um, industry where people typically just chase
06:55storms and they pop new signs.
06:57And you don't know who they are if we are focused on relationship, we're focused on connection
07:03with our people, then we need our people to be focused on community relationship and connection
07:08as well.
07:08And so we're going, we're integrating with the chambers of commerce.
07:11We're doing ribbon cuttings.
07:12We're, um, making sure that we're speaking to the people in the areas that we serve to
07:16ensure they know that we have their back.
07:18Uh, and hopefully they have the backs of the people that they know and love that are part
07:22of our company.
07:24Um, and so from a model perspective, we are a simple 85, 15 split.
07:29We have a freedom of choice for the cap.
07:33So the agent can choose if they want to pay us $5,000 a year or 15,000 a year.
07:37There are different features and benefits that come with each of those.
07:40They're getting pre IPO stocks on both.
07:42They're getting free TC's on both.
07:43They're getting free healthcare on both.
07:45They're doing all these, all these different things.
07:47It's just really what it comes down to for them because rev share is not something that
07:51everybody loves.
07:52We're cognizant of that.
07:54Therefore, I didn't feel like it was fair to box everyone into one plan.
07:57I wanted to ensure that people could be met where they are in their journey.
08:01And we were the people to meet them there.
08:04So on the $5,000 cap, then they have the benefit of rev share.
08:10I'm assuming.
08:11Uh, yeah.
08:12So on the $5,000 cap, they can, uh, they can build a rev share downline, uh, but they don't
08:17get paid it unless they transition over to the $15,000 cap.
08:21So we want it to be financially feasible and beneficial for them before they're paying
08:24us more money.
08:25Okay.
08:26So, um, you talked about free transaction quarters, uh, cap transaction coordinator,
08:32sorry, cap cost, um, healthcare, that's all part of your value proposition.
08:38And what do you see as the impact on agent recruitment and retention, um, when you discuss
08:43those things?
08:45Yeah.
08:45You know, I don't know if it's necessarily a quantifiable thing because not everything's
08:49going to resonate with everyone.
08:51Um, but it is something that I hope serves people to the best of their abilities.
08:56My philosophy more so than anything is if you're the right person to be at our company,
09:02you'll be at our company.
09:03If you're the wrong person, you won't be.
09:04And we have a track record of growing with, uh, culture first, um, making sure that we're
09:10growing with the right mindset, um, and growing with the right people.
09:13And we've, we're no strangers to going through and eliminating, uh, producers who are drama
09:20ridden, um, because we just don't want that inside of our organization.
09:24Uh, we've turned down growth opportunities with people who are maybe great at building,
09:30uh, downlines and things like that, but they just aren't the right fit culturally.
09:35They're, they're just out for themselves only.
09:38Um, and we want to have more of a collaborative mindset than anything else.
09:43And so, um, yeah, I don't know if I can necessarily say that because we have healthcare,
09:49we have X percent retention or whatever, but I do know that we are below, uh, the average
09:54on, um, uh, churn rates than most brokerages.
10:00Um, let's talk about your tech.
10:01So you have proprietary tech.
10:03Um, it sounds like you're probably using some AI or generative AI for some of the marketing
10:09and, um, some of the testimonial type things.
10:12Am I correct on that?
10:14Yep.
10:15Okay.
10:15Um, so tell me a little bit about, are you using some outside vendors?
10:19Have you built some of your own?
10:22Um, tell me how you've, um, organized your tech stack.
10:26So, um, to start, obviously the MVP of any brokerage or any businesses to partner with third
10:31parties, there's nothing wrong with a third party partnership at all.
10:34And we have many of them and we still have many of them.
10:37Um, what we are focused on doing is instead, uh, replacing as time goes on with the things
10:43that we can most easily replace, but in a way most easily replace, that's one of the
10:49negative byproducts perhaps of self-funding.
10:52But, um, with that, you know, it's, it started off with, uh, backend reporting and commission
10:59software and things like that, it's then turning into, uh, additional components like automated
11:05offer writing.
11:07Um, and ultimately our vision is not to just be a real estate brokerage.
11:11Our vision is to transform how real estate is bought and sold, which will be a more in
11:16depth tech solution, uh, immersive home shopping rooms in which our agents can take them, uh,
11:23their clients to purchase a home easily.
11:25Uh, our own mortgage company, our own title company funding and closing those blockchain
11:30storage, et cetera, uh, to really just streamline the consumer experience.
11:34And I think that that's a by-product of the NAR settlement last August, uh, which has had
11:40up to this point, kind of a nominal impact on the industry.
11:44But when you look at the overall, what is in the best interest of the consumer, the consumer
11:49wants easy.
11:50The consumer craves simplicity, they crave, uh, convenience and, and, you know, COVID really
11:57drew that out front and center where Amazon prime used to be two days.
12:01And now it's like four hours and you're still tapping your watch.
12:03Like, where is this thing?
12:05Um, that's what they want.
12:06They don't want expensive flights, expensive hotel rooms, expensive rental cars, all of that
12:11for home shopping when they can barely afford a home from the jump.
12:14Uh, and then you add in $7,000 in travel.
12:17It's just not fair or reasonable for most people, uh, in America.
12:21And so hopefully we can meet them where they are as well.
12:24So tell me about your ancillary services.
12:26You mentioned mortgage and title.
12:27Are those fully functional right now?
12:30And are they company owned JVs?
12:32How are you, how are you organizing those?
12:34Yeah.
12:34So it's a bit of a blend.
12:36Um, so they are, uh, JVs for the moment, but they are company owned also.
12:43Um, so we basically have an umbrella organization.
12:46The umbrella organization, the holding company owns all the entity shares.
12:50Um, and so we are fully operational on the mortgage side.
12:54We're open in all 50 States and the title side.
12:56We're open in, I think 19 States.
12:58Um, and of course the bureaucratic challenges and regulatory challenges that come with, uh,
13:04all of the different enterprises are, are varying degrees of, of annoying.
13:09Um, but, uh, they are operational and they are doing a phenomenal job.
13:14I know on the, the, the title side, uh, last year, just in Nashville alone, we closed just
13:19over 2000 transactions on the title side.
13:22Um, this year we're probably on pace to just about double that.
13:26Uh, and on the mortgage side, we've just started ramping that up, adding in new loan officers
13:30across the country and, and working on, uh, some different programs that'll add different
13:35benefits to our agents, uh, across the country.
13:40Um, and I want to read this to make sure I get the number right, but Inc named your company,
13:44one of the fastest growing private companies in 2023, um, citing an 849% growth and expansion
13:52across 15 plus States and 750 agents.
13:57So what were the key levers behind that growth?
14:01What allowed you to grow so quickly?
14:04The school of hard knocks.
14:06Um, no, I mean, again, it goes back to that people first mentality.
14:10And that was, that was when we made that pivot, um, initially introducing the $5,000 cap plan.
14:16So previously we were at, uh, I think we were at like $11,000 cap.
14:20And so we introduced a higher model and a lower model, uh, that lower model resonated with
14:25a lot of folks.
14:26Um, and that was kind of the catalyst.
14:28And then it was all the other features, benefits, and cultural components, support, and things
14:34like that, that kind of kept that journey going.
14:37That was even before we introduced revenue share and pre IPO stocks.
14:40So, um, you know, it'll be interesting to see what the next couple of years look like.
14:44Okay.
14:45And let's talk about your rollout.
14:46Cause I saw California, Florida, Pennsylvania, um, and obviously you're in some other States
14:52now.
14:52So, um, I asked whether it was franchised.
14:55It wasn't franchised cause you're not franchising, correct?
14:57Um, it's more organic.
14:59You're a single kind of a single entity, national brokerage is what I would probably classify you.
15:05Correct.
15:06Yes.
15:06Um, you're, you're don't, do you not, do you have any intention of franchising or anything?
15:12No, I've had some friends over the last couple of years who are like, Sean, turn this into
15:16franchise.
15:16We'll go sell franchises for you.
15:18I just feel like we would sacrifice the control.
15:20Um, I feel like we'd sacrifice the quality.
15:22And I feel like by adding middlemen, we wouldn't be able to effectively resonate with the end user
15:27agents of what the best financial benefit is for them.
15:31Um, yeah.
15:32And so growing so quickly, what have been the challenges that you've faced like operationally,
15:37um, you know, even with recruiting regulatory, um, you know, tell me about some of your biggest
15:44challenges and where you've also found the most opportunity.
15:47Um, so I think the first challenge naturally is going to be the regulatory challenges.
15:55And so we rolled out 21 States last year.
15:57It was fun.
15:58It was quiet.
15:59We did it quiet intentionally because we wanted to understand the regulatory components of
16:06opening up new markets, what it looks like.
16:08And obviously every single state has so many different rules and timelines and things like
16:13that, that I'm really glad that we did it that way instead of just leading with press
16:17releases and hoping for the best.
16:19But, um, you know, that was certainly a challenge and another challenge from an operational standpoint
16:25has been taking the, uh, team, the staff, uh, and unlocking their minds from one area of
16:33expertise to 50 States expertise, um, and, and allowing them to think bigger, but also pushing
16:41them to think bigger.
16:42Sometimes people just get in their rut of, you know, this is how it is.
16:46And this is how it's always been in X area.
16:48And I'm like, yeah, but we're not in X area.
16:50We're in the entire country.
16:51Now we're about to open up Canada, in fact.
16:53And so with all of those different things, it's, um, you know, it's a stressor on your,
16:58on your support team, on your leadership team.
17:00Uh, but the right people step up to the challenge and the others see themselves out and there's
17:06no problem with that.
17:09There's no harm or foul.
17:10It just is what it is.
17:12And so that's been one thing.
17:14Um, and then, you know, I, I had a dinner with a friend of mine a couple of years ago,
17:19a year ago, feels like a couple of years ago.
17:21Um, and his advice to me was, you cannot grow culture first.
17:26You have to grow with just numbers.
17:27And I disagreed.
17:29And so our growth has been slower.
17:32Our growth has been more intentional for the reasons I stated previously of, you know,
17:36we have literally fired hundreds of millions of dollars of producers because they were mistreating
17:41other agents in the office or, you know, tearing down people in the industry.
17:45And it's just not something that we want to be associated with.
17:48And so we are being more meticulous with our growth.
17:51That being said, we've also put some new ground rules into place.
17:54And that's just what experience teaches you.
17:57Um, the initial, uh, thought was, we'll just open a state.
18:01It doesn't matter if it's just one broker.
18:03We'll just open it and then the rest will fill in.
18:05That is a very, very challenging way to do it.
18:08So we've transitioned to kind of either we're taking over a brokerage or a team, uh, or we're
18:15getting a wait list of at least 25 agents in that market before we open it.
18:19Uh, and similarly with the offices, like, yes, we are growing with brick and mortar.
18:23However, we have to have metrics met in this particular market before we go and expend those
18:29dollars.
18:29So, um, you know, it's been kind of tweaking a little bit, you know, all of the different
18:33MLSs and associations, those fees aren't zero.
18:37And, uh, so we had to, to find the best way to accomplish what we're looking to accomplish
18:41as a self-funded company and not, uh, be wasteful in our spending on unnecessary growth, uh, just
18:49targeted growth.
18:50So as an example, we just, um, in California took over an office of 120 agents in Marietta.
18:56Uh, it's a 12,000 square foot office.
18:58It's beautiful.
18:59We've got the new sign going up.
19:00We have a grand opening happening on August 6th.
19:03Like all of these amazing things are there.
19:05It's just a matter of trusting and believing in the leadership on the ground to adopt fully
19:11our mindset, our approach, our software, our processes, et cetera, and, uh, get those folks
19:17on board, turn them into raving fans.
19:19If we do our job, the agents will do the rest as far as growth.
19:23So I want to make sure I have this right.
19:26So you're saying that you are doing some acquisitions of smaller brokerages, um, and then you're
19:32also rolling over teams, um, or you, I mean, in some cases, maybe acquiring them if it's
19:40more of like a team rich, I assume.
19:42Um, and then from there, it's more organic growth.
19:47Um, and is that your strategy moving forward?
19:50You're going to continue with acquisitions and, and if so, what are you looking for?
19:56And someone you want to, you might consider acquiring, right?
19:59Yeah.
20:00So the acquisition space has been under a lot of pressure, um, in the last three years
20:05specifically.
20:06And what I've found is that any brokerage with less than maybe 120 agents, 150 agents, perhaps
20:14is, is struggling.
20:15They're kind of caught in the middle of, they either have to increase their expenses to be
20:19able to keep up with companies like ours and similar, or they have to, uh, not offer those
20:26things, you know, and, and that's a really tough place for them to be.
20:30Uh, you have a lot of broker owners out there who love having their name on the door and who
20:35hate having the stress of having their name on the door.
20:37And I understand because I've been that person, like that transitional period when we grew
20:42from, you know, 50 agents to 250 agents was a very, very, very scary time.
20:47And that was during a really phenomenal time in the real estate market that was during COVID
20:52that we were doing that.
20:53And so, um, you know, I, I see where they are, uh, we have an opportunity to, you know,
20:58help them to relieve their burden, to take away their stress, to give them their life back.
21:03I really enjoy that aspect of the growth, um, the team Ridge, um, you know, the only challenge
21:09with that type of an approach, and it's not that we don't have that conversation, but the
21:13challenge is that they have their own culture, they have their own systems, their own processes,
21:18and it's all very tightly managed.
21:19So to get that type of an individual to release anything from their, um, uh, identity, I guess,
21:28uh, is definitely a challenge.
21:30Whereas the independent brokerage owner, they understand the business owner mindset,
21:34not the team leader mindset.
21:36And so it was just a different conversation.
21:38And then of course we do have the organic growth and that, that just comes from different
21:43conversations, you know, with the rev share, that's both a blessing and a curse.
21:47Uh, the biggest advantage to a rev share company is when you're in all 50 States.
21:53However, the most reckless decision I could make as a CEO of a company that's expanding to
21:58all 50 States is to go ahead and preemptively open them, um, without having the bodies there
22:03to justify it.
22:04And so, you know, you walk a tightrope, you know, you have conversations and you say, Hey,
22:09I think this would work.
22:10I think you'd be the perfect person.
22:11This is what we have to do.
22:12And sometimes it works out.
22:13And sometimes we just keep the state on hold for a little bit longer.
22:17Um, my focal point is I think people in 2025, especially real estate agents are craving
22:23safety, they're craving, uh, the feeling that everything isn't just going to fall out from
22:29underneath them.
22:30And so my job is to ensure that they have an ecosystem of success, but also the trust
22:36in their leadership to know that we're making the right decisions, that it's going to continue
22:39to support them as they're building their business.
22:42So they have a stable footing.
22:44Um, and I think that, uh, you know, the, the real estate market in the last three years
22:49being what it's been has been one that people are just very uncertain.
22:52They're uncomfortable.
22:54They're not getting the results that they used to get.
22:56They, you know, it's challenging people in a lot of ways.
22:59And so with that in mind, um, hopefully we're delivering on what it is that we're trying
23:04to deliver for them.
23:06So obviously the real estate space brokerage space is very crowded, very competitive.
23:11Um, we've noticed just, uh, you know, in our rankings, the, the single entity kind of
23:18national brokerage is growing more quickly in less time today than, um, you know, maybe
23:27a Remax grew, you know, or, or a more, a legacy brokerage grew.
23:32Um, you know, I think that compass made it to number one and anywhere, I mean, um, and,
23:39uh, EXP in, I think around seven years where it's traditionally taken 10 to get to the top
23:47of our rankings.
23:48Um, so, and there's also, you know, this cloud, the cloud-based competitors, and then you've
23:55got competitors like LPT Realty, who also is kind of considering, um, well, they are going
24:01public as well.
24:03So what, um, you know, how do you position your company to be competitive and, um, differentiate
24:12yourself from those firms?
24:15Yeah.
24:16I mean, I think, you know, we tell agents all the time, don't compare.
24:19Um, and I feel like I have to fall into that same category because I can sit here and pick
24:24every bad decision apart that I've ever made that slowed down our growth or, or whatever.
24:29Um, with that in mind, I'm extremely proud of, of all of those guys and their accomplishments.
24:35You know, LPT, I know those guys personally, they've done a phenomenal job of building that
24:39business.
24:40Uh, compass has done a phenomenal job, um, pushing aside all the haters that they've had
24:45for, for so long and, um, they've done exceptionally well.
24:49Um, so with that, I think again, our hybrid approach, uh, we're just kind of sitting in the
24:56middle, like we've kind of got this little niche that we've carved out of, you know, past
25:00and future and sitting there also speaking to the desire for agents to keep more of their,
25:06uh, their monies.
25:08Um, because, you know, you go to a place like compass and they deliver a bunch, but it's
25:14not cheap to be there.
25:15It's, it's quite, quite pricey.
25:17Um, and so with that, you know, we're, we're hopefully fitting right in this little slot.
25:25Um, but ultimately it comes down to the vision.
25:27It comes down to the operations.
25:28It comes down to, uh, the deliverables.
25:31It comes down to the mindset of leadership, the support, all of those things are things
25:35that people are craving and, and going to end up, uh, having some challenges with the
25:41more traditional cloud-based companies, um, as opposed to the hybrid, uh, cloud-based companies.
25:47And the traditional model is going to be more and more and more tested.
25:51I, I personally have, uh, aversions to the, the franchise model.
25:57I don't necessarily believe that it's future-proofed at all.
26:01Um, I don't wish anything negative towards them, but I think we're going to continue to see
26:05a trend and, and though they have 93% of the agents in the market today, I think you're
26:10seeing more and more agents flood to the new models, the hybrid models, the future-proof
26:15models.
26:15And, and we're going to be one of those first six, seven companies that, uh, are the place
26:22that people land in the future.
26:24That's great.
26:25Um, so you are going public.
26:28So when did you first decide to do that and what corporate milestones or financial thresholds
26:34kind of prompted that shift?
26:36Yeah.
26:37Uh, you know, I think that goes back to the vision.
26:39The ultimate vision from day one was never to be some small company.
26:43Uh, you know, I've had tons of people in the Nashville area say, just stay in Nashville.
26:47It's stupid to try to grow more than that.
26:49And maybe it is, it is a little stupid.
26:52Um, I support that thought, but at the end of the day, I think, uh, you know, for us to
26:58really reach the ultimate goal and vision of simplifying real estate for the consumer, shifting
27:04the landscape of how that's done, we're going to have to have, you know, public support on
27:08that, um, and public market support.
27:10And from that perspective, I think, uh, you know, we're, we're probably, we're way further
27:15behind than LPT.
27:17You know, those guys are crushing it.
27:18They'll be, you know, public probably maybe the end of this year or next year, whatever.
27:22Uh, we're probably 20, 28, but I think our timing, we've been really good on timing in
27:28the market in general since we started and it's not because we're great or anything.
27:33It's just sometimes luck just aligns with the plans.
27:37And I feel like luck is factored in here a little bit.
27:40Um, but I do believe that, uh, we'll be in more of a normal market by then, unless, unless
27:48the fed caves and drops 300 basis points, uh, and then we're screwed.
27:52Um, I'm kidding.
27:53But, um, but ultimately I hope they make the right decision for the country and not
27:59just, uh, fall to political pressures.
28:01But, uh, at the end of the day, I think we're timing things really well that will allow us
28:06to have the funding necessary to build those home stores of those immersive home shopping
28:10centers all across the country and the world, uh, allow people who are in, you know, Florida
28:15like yourself to move to wherever you want to go without ever having to leave Florida with
28:21a trusted agent that you already know, like, and trust by your side with us funding it without
28:25having to have Fannie, Freddie, Jenny backed loans, um, and a retina scan closing, uh, on
28:31the title side.
28:32And I think that's, if we can continue to, to drive towards that, we'll align with the
28:37right people in the way and, and it'll all work out.
28:40Yeah.
28:41Yeah.
28:41It sounds great.
28:42I'm really, uh, interested in seeing how you progress through it.
28:46So, um, you know, once you've done that, um, you know, are you looking at any new verticals
28:54or are you really focused on just growth of the company from there and, and, and improving
29:01services?
29:02Yeah.
29:03I mean, I think I'm always as an entrepreneur, serial entrepreneur, I guess, um, I'm always
29:08thinking of like, what are the different ways we can stack verticals, um, to provide a seamless
29:14one-stop shop solution.
29:16I think we're, we're doing well with that mortgage title insurance, the contract to
29:20close division, all of those different things.
29:23But we're also stacking in, you know, uh, banking, financial health, financial planning,
29:28all of that stuff for our agents.
29:30And of course those are vertical stacks as well.
29:32But, um, you know, at the end of the day, I think, um, we'll just have to see what the
29:38landscape of real estate looks like in two, three years, four years.
29:41Obviously AI is going to have more of a role in it than anyone ever assumed two, three years
29:48ago.
29:48Uh, but I don't know that it's going to have the role that so many assume three, four years
29:54from now.
29:54I think it's going to take a little bit longer.
29:56And I think one of the blessings maybe, and perhaps a curse is I feel like the timing
30:01of my, my age, I'm 36.
30:04I have memories of a life before the internet and I have memories of growing up with the internet
30:10and so on.
30:12And so I kind of have a nice position to be able to see all the different generations and
30:18what they've experienced from firsthand perspective.
30:20And, um, it's going to take time.
30:22It's going to take time before that, like AI generation that's coming up now is willing
30:28to do that from a mass scale perspective.
30:30And, you know, hopefully we can bridge the gap a little bit, but we're focused on what are
30:35all the tools and tech that we can use to empower our agents, not replace.
30:39And as long as we stay focused on empowering them to get their time back, to keep more of
30:44their money, to do all of those different things, uh, I think we'll be well positioned
30:48to win alongside all these other companies.
30:51There's no winner.
30:52There's just a bunch of companies that are winning and hopefully, uh, we're one of them.
30:57Well, Sean, thank you so much for, for joining the Real Trending Podcast.
31:01I appreciate you coming on and sharing about Simply Home.
31:04Absolutely.
31:04Thank you so much for having me.
31:05I really appreciate it.
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