- 2 weeks ago
Chris Kelly breaks down how HomeServices is shifting from a behind-the-scenes holding company to a more active, value-driven parent organization — and why that evolution requires a louder voice in today’s rapidly changing brokerage landscape. He outlines a growth strategy that goes beyond traditional brokerage expansion, emphasizing a full-service ecosystem spanning mortgage, title, insurance and beyond.
Kelly also explores the industry’s bifurcation between national, ecosystem-driven firms and cloud-based models, while making the case that local leadership and culture remain the defining advantage in recruiting and retention. Throughout the conversation, he stresses that the future of real estate hinges on simplifying the transaction for consumers without weakening the agent-client relationship.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
HomeServices is evolving from a holding company into a parent company focused on delivering value to its operating businesses
Growth is driven by a mix of M&A, organic expansion and deeper investment across the real estate services ecosystem
The industry is splitting between national ecosystem players and virtual/cloud-based brokerages
Controlling more of the transaction — earlier in the consumer journey — is becoming a key competitive strategy
Strong local leadership remains critical, even as firms scale nationally
Diversified revenue streams (mortgage, title, insurance) are essential to maintaining profitability amid margin pressure
Private listings and distribution strategies are less about disruption and more about expanding consumer reach
The biggest risk to the industry is internal fragmentation that could weaken the agent-consumer relationship
Related to this episode:
Chris Kelly's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-kelly-5aa16028/
HomeServices
https://www.homeservices.com/
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.
Kelly also explores the industry’s bifurcation between national, ecosystem-driven firms and cloud-based models, while making the case that local leadership and culture remain the defining advantage in recruiting and retention. Throughout the conversation, he stresses that the future of real estate hinges on simplifying the transaction for consumers without weakening the agent-client relationship.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
HomeServices is evolving from a holding company into a parent company focused on delivering value to its operating businesses
Growth is driven by a mix of M&A, organic expansion and deeper investment across the real estate services ecosystem
The industry is splitting between national ecosystem players and virtual/cloud-based brokerages
Controlling more of the transaction — earlier in the consumer journey — is becoming a key competitive strategy
Strong local leadership remains critical, even as firms scale nationally
Diversified revenue streams (mortgage, title, insurance) are essential to maintaining profitability amid margin pressure
Private listings and distribution strategies are less about disruption and more about expanding consumer reach
The biggest risk to the industry is internal fragmentation that could weaken the agent-consumer relationship
Related to this episode:
Chris Kelly's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christian-kelly-5aa16028/
HomeServices
https://www.homeservices.com/
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.
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NewsTranscript
00:08I always think of home services as that quiet powerhouse, but they are definitely getting
00:14more vocal in the industry.
00:15And today I interviewed Chris Kelly, president and CEO, and we talked everything from their
00:23Zillow preview, a collaboration to their growth strategy and their holistic way of doing real
00:30estate.
00:31So enjoy the conversation.
00:33Chris, welcome to the Real Trending Podcast.
00:35It's been way too long.
00:37I agree.
00:38Thank you so much for having me, Tracy.
00:39Appreciate it.
00:40Yeah.
00:40So I want to talk a little bit about, you know, home services.
00:44You've kind of operated as a quiet powerhouse.
00:47I know the brokerage rankings are coming out soon and I can't divulge any secrets, but
00:54what's changed in your strategy that's made the company a little more visible and vocal
00:59recently?
01:00Yeah.
01:00I think the way we've described it internally is that historically home services has been
01:05very much what I would call a holding company.
01:08It was by a company and even Ron Peltier's kind of pitch when he would go to the meeting
01:12would be like, we love you.
01:14Keep doing what you're doing.
01:15You'll never see us again.
01:16And we are certainly not trying to get into the operating world, but we are very much
01:22evolving into what I would say, going from holding to parent company.
01:25And for our agents and our companies, I think I view that as a positive because as a holding
01:30company, I don't really owe any value to the operating companies.
01:33My job is just to aggregate information and the money and everything else.
01:36As a parent company, I have to deliver a value proposition down to the operating companies.
01:41And so that's been the biggest shift over the last year is that really transition from
01:45holding to parent.
01:46And as a parent company, I think we have an obligation to have a voice in the industry
01:49and be vocal.
01:50And what does it mean to be part of home services?
01:53Whereas before in the past, that wasn't something that we entirely focused on.
01:56Yeah.
01:57I mean, you know, we've got such the market is really defined by the consolidation right
02:01now.
02:01We've had some huge mergers.
02:04So how are you thinking about growth?
02:06You know, I know there was the rumor that Berkshire and Compass were merging way back when
02:12before the anywhere, but are you looking more at organic?
02:16Are you moving back into M&A, a mix of it?
02:19Tell me what growth levers you're pulling right now for the company.
02:22I think it's a little bit of all of the above is the right way to look at it is
02:26there's
02:27not any one right path to doing it.
02:30For us, when we look at growth strategies, oftentimes in our industry, it gets solely kind
02:36of looked at as brokerage, right?
02:38Are you going to buy more brokerages and for our business model, our growth strategy could
02:43be buying other parts of the ecosystem or getting involved in other parts of the ecosystem.
02:49You know, it just a couple of years ago, we bought into a title underwriter.
02:53We had, we have title companies, but we now have ownership in a title underwriter as well.
02:57It doesn't get a lot of press.
02:58It's not that sexy or anything, but for our business model, it's hugely important.
03:02So a lot of our growth is really focused on when we look at that complete ecosystem, where
03:06are there parts that we are not quite fully in yet that we could, that kind of helps close
03:10the loop.
03:11That could mean brokerage as well.
03:13When it's strategic, it could mean other parts of the kind of the complete real estate
03:16experience as well.
03:17Yeah.
03:17I mean, Berkshire was, our home services was kind of one of the first to really look at
03:24that complete ecosystem of services and pull them all together and kind of, you know,
03:30build your brand around that.
03:32Do you see that changing at all?
03:35Do you see any trends in the, in the industry that are evolving around, you know, affiliated
03:41companies?
03:42I think my view of the industry is one, it's definitely becoming national, right?
03:46So like you go back 10 years ago, you mentioned the rankings.
03:49If you went back 10 years ago, the top 10 brokerages would have been regional, local based.
03:53They're all national now at this point in the top 10.
03:55And so there's two roads that seem to be emerging.
03:59One is kind of the cloud-based virtual brokerage model.
04:02And then the other one is that complete ecosystem model.
04:05And they're both great.
04:06I mean, you have to understand who you are and lean into it.
04:08So I see a lot of people trying to emulate and start trying to catch up to what home services
04:13has been doing since it was founded in 1998.
04:15It used to be real estate brokerages eventually started a mortgage company.
04:18Now mortgage companies are starting real estate companies to go further upstream.
04:21And so we definitely see that world expanding.
04:24And our message to our agents is that in the past, you could probably be a little more agnostic
04:28about the different companies that became involved in your client's life cycle.
04:34You now not so much because a lot of these companies, you know, I don't want to get involved
04:38in the mortgage side.
04:38Let them pick who they want.
04:39If that mortgage company that they pick ends up servicing, you know, through one of these
04:43big conglomerates, the chances of you getting that client back in the future start coming
04:47down quite a bit.
04:48So our message to the agents has been, we want to put you in the driver's seat, put you
04:51in the hero position and orchestrate all those services around the client because it gives
04:56you a better chance of retaining that client in the long run.
04:58So everyone, there's a lot of movement in that direction because of margin compression,
05:03because of the full service experience, whatever it may be.
05:05But yeah, we're seeing a lot of movement towards these more of these kind of complete
05:09ecosystems in the real estate world.
05:10One of the things I have heard from several industry sources that the next wave of consolidation
05:17may not be brokerages buying brokerages, but mortgage companies or brokerages buying mortgage
05:23companies, or, you know, it's the other way around mortgage companies buying real estate
05:28brokerages.
05:29You know, we kind of saw that with Redfin Rocket.
05:33It's a different level.
05:35But do you see that as a trend that might be happening in the next maybe five years or so?
05:42Yeah, I mean, right now, I think the whole concept behind it is, is how further upstream
05:48do I need to go to get to that client, right?
05:51And so from the Rockets, from Rockets perspective, you know, they could have spent a billion dollars
05:55like homes.com did to try to elevate Rockets already existing real estate portal up a few
06:00notches on the rankings.
06:01Or you can just spend that same money and go buy Redfin.
06:04And that's, you know, they kind of took that route, which is smart on their part.
06:07But that whole idea behind it is, is I want to capture the consumer when they're, before
06:12they've entered the funnel of somewhere else.
06:14And so I absolutely see this trend continuing of trying to meet the consumer further and
06:20further upstream to when they're just still in that dreaming and search phase a little
06:23bit.
06:24And I think the difference where we're coming at it is that we're coming at it from,
06:28let's say, the human capital perspective.
06:29We have an army of professional real estate agents and loan officers and title producers
06:34and insurance producers across the country.
06:35And we are now catching up with the digital digitization of that process, where you have
06:41a company like Rocket Redfin, who is starting from the digitization process.
06:44And will the consumer gravitate towards that when they don't necessarily have the human
06:47connection or will they go the other way?
06:49And so we're all trying to get to the same spot, just coming at it from different angles
06:52a little bit.
06:53Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
06:55So you're, you're leading one of the largest brokerage networks in the country.
06:58So what separates the companies that are growing right now from those that are standing
07:04still?
07:04I think the ones that are growing right now are the ones that are just embracing the
07:09opportunity and not resting on what they used to be.
07:13It's very easy to do that.
07:15It's in, in fact, it's the most comfortable state for humans.
07:17I think to be in is to say, look, I kind of know where this is going, but I'm more
07:21comfortable
07:21to stay on this path than I am to like actually embark on something new.
07:25And so as a leadership team, we got together in May of last year in 2025 and really were
07:30honest with ourselves and said, you know, this is the path.
07:32Here's the life cycle of any company.
07:34Where do you think we are right now?
07:35And if we don't want to continue down there, what does the rebirth look like?
07:39And let's commit to it.
07:39And so I think for a lot of companies and people and the leaders there, it's a matter
07:44of just embracing the idea that it's okay to understand the future and the sands are
07:49shifting beneath our feet really, really quickly.
07:52The ones that respond faster to that will be the ones that will be very successful moving
07:56forward.
07:56The good thing is, is that my optimistic view is there is nothing in the data.
08:01There is nothing that we have seen that is showing that there's any separation beginning
08:05to occur between the consumer and the real estate professional.
08:08It is as tight as it's ever been.
08:10The key is going to be the companies and the agents that they're affiliated with that embrace
08:15where the consumer searching, embrace how the consumer wants to transact and meet them
08:19in that spot.
08:20Yeah, I feel like there is a little bit, you know, ever since really the settlement, there's
08:26been this push for brokers to, you know, your client has always been the agent, right?
08:34That's always been the industry.
08:38But now they're having to serve maybe a dual role with the consumer as well.
08:45Do you see that shifting at all or, you know, changing in real estate?
08:54My view on it is, is that, you know, when we say the agent is the client, sometimes it's
09:00a little bit placating and it's, you know, it's trying to sound nice to the agent that
09:04you're first and foremost, you're number one, which is true.
09:07But I like to think of our agents as our business partners.
09:10I think that comes at it from a level of higher respect for what they're doing.
09:14I have to earn their partnership.
09:16I have to earn the fact that they want to connect their business to one of our brokerages and
09:20that's where they want to have growth happening.
09:23And in doing that, we will be in best service to the ultimate client, which is the buyer and
09:27seller.
09:28And so certainly we think of the agent as a client of ours, but when we really boil it
09:32down from a business perspective, I view them as our business partner.
09:35And in order for a partnership to be successful, there has to be some upside on both ends of
09:41those partners.
09:41And when we approach, what we have found is when we talk to our agents and we approach
09:45them as partners, there's a level of respect there.
09:48It's an appreciation for the business that they bring.
09:51And the fact that when we work in concert like that, there's a huge upside when it comes to
09:56dealing with the client.
09:57I love that.
09:57It's a small, you know, tweak of the language, but it makes so much, it makes a big impact
10:03actually.
10:03And it makes a lot of sense for sure.
10:06You know, there's a lot of pressure on margins.
10:08Obviously there's been a lot of pressure on margins.
10:11Where are you finding opportunities to drive profitability without sacrificing agent value?
10:18Yeah, for us, it has always been back to kind of the full service, complete real estate
10:22experiences.
10:23Like I think of it as like a stool.
10:24The more legs you have on a stool, the sturdier that the stool is.
10:28And so for us having revenue lines from insurance, mortgage, title, real estate, title, underwriting,
10:35you know, whatever it may be.
10:36Having these multiple revenue lines is absolutely fundamental to our business model.
10:41In my way, way, way prior life as being like in private practice as an attorney, I worked
10:46for a big firm and you had multiple departments.
10:48So like in the early 2000s, you know, the bankruptcy department was kind of twiddling their thumbs,
10:52nothing to do.
10:53M&A and corporate were going crazy.
10:552007, 8, 9, bankruptcy and reorg is going nuts as far as the work in M&A and corporate
11:01are kind of twiddling their thumbs.
11:02But having that balance really helps you through any different types of market.
11:06And so for us, when we went through the great recession, having a mortgage company kept the
11:10lights on.
11:11It kept us profitable.
11:12As we went through, you know, the post-COVID era and mortgage margins collapsed, you know,
11:17it wasn't the life raft that it always was.
11:19It was a good reminder that guess what?
11:21Brokerage has to carry its own weight as well.
11:23Brokerage cannot be a lost leader.
11:25This is the one thing I don't believe in is when I hear so much in our industry, people
11:28say, well, brokerage, I'm willing to lose money in brokerage so I can make money over
11:32here.
11:32And it's like, no, they all have to be able to stand on their own based on the level of
11:35the
11:35market.
11:36But having insurance, which doesn't even require a real estate transaction for us, is a huge part
11:41of our business.
11:42It's the one revenue source we have that if we don't even sell a house, we can make
11:45revenue off insurance.
11:46And so those diversified lines is absolutely fundamental to our profit margin and how we
11:52continue to grow and not have to take away from agents and the services we provide to
11:58agents and clients, even as margins have compressed a lot over the last 10 years.
12:02Yeah.
12:03And, you know, there's with a lot of the rankings recently, basically what we found is it's
12:13been a while that independents have been growing, obviously.
12:17And you can include Compass as an independent, but I'm talking a little bit, maybe the second
12:21tier.
12:23There's a lot of shifting going on in the rankings with that.
12:27And I know that independents have been, they've increased their market share and this will
12:32go out after the rankings are, but they have increased their market share.
12:36So how do you balance that with, you know, with strong local brands, especially when culture
12:43is such a big part of brokerage success?
12:46Yeah, that's the one thing.
12:47I think we can all fall into the trap sometimes of like the efficiency trap.
12:51Like, you know, you look at things purely numerical and you go, here's where all the efficiencies
12:55are and we could drive out all these costs.
12:57And certainly we've done some of that.
12:59You know, an example would be is like, you know, we had 40 different people paying utility
13:02payments across our 40 markets.
13:03Like, well, we could probably bring that together and be more efficient.
13:06The one thing that we will not let efficiency interfere with, which is our local leadership.
13:11And so we have a president or CEO level position in every single one of our markets.
13:16It would be much more efficient if we were to say we're going to have a regional Midwest
13:20territory director and a West Coast territory director and follow that model that others
13:25have.
13:25But we think what differentiates us and helps us in that kind of battle to retain agents
13:31and deliver value is having that strong local leadership.
13:33So where it makes sense to do things from an enterprise level at home services, we'll
13:37absolutely do that.
13:38But we'll never let it interfere and get in the way with the cultural leadership that happens
13:43in those local markets because it's really what an agent wants to be a part of.
13:48They want to know what they belong to nationally now.
13:50They want to know, like, what's the big picture?
13:51What do I belong to?
13:52But they're really driven by that local leadership and the fact that they can pick up a phone,
13:57stop into an office and talk to the leader and voice their concerns or voice their ideas
14:01on how they can be better.
14:03That's really hard to do it when you start pulling that leader further and further away
14:06from the agent who's operating in the field.
14:08Yeah.
14:09I mean, there are so many like new models with these fast growing brands out there growing
14:15faster than, you know, any company has in a shorter amount of time.
14:21And it feels like every brokerage has a top, right?
14:25You're going to grow only so much.
14:27And then you're either going to stay there or you're going to start going down.
14:31It just depends on, you know, how you run your business, right?
14:34Um, how, you know, there, and there's a spot for every agent, you know, like you said, those
14:40models are good models.
14:42They, you know, age some agents, that's where they fit.
14:44But how do you, how do you do, or do you even think of the competition like that?
14:50How do you, uh, maintain a legacy brand when you're seeing all these new models come in
14:57that are fast growing, um, and, you know, offering a different kind of service than you are?
15:02Yeah, I mean, I think the main thing is, is where we fall into traps and I'm guilty of
15:07it.
15:07We're all guilty of it is you convince yourself that if you pretzel yourself enough, you can
15:13appeal to be the brokerage for every kind of agent.
15:16Um, and if you look across most industries, you don't see that, right?
15:20I mean, target knows what target is.
15:23Nordstrom knows what Nordstrom's is, you know, and stuff in Walmart knows what Walmart is, but
15:27in brokerage, sometimes we feel like we have to be the home for everybody, but there are
15:31different types of agents who are sometimes in different seasons of their careers, or
15:35they focus on different price points or different markets and whatever it may be.
15:38And so when I look at the other models out there, I think it's great.
15:42I think it's great that there are different models that will appeal to different agents.
15:46There will always be a segment of agents whose main driver on where they hang their license
15:51is, you know, where is the most affordable?
15:53Where is the cheapest place for me to hang this license?
15:55Um, and there is, there's obviously been a lot of draw to that.
15:59You know, we have not really gone down that point because once you start competing on price
16:05and that's your value proposition, there will always be someone who wants to come out and
16:08do it cheaper than you.
16:09And we've seen that happen, right?
16:11Like, Oh, you think that cap is cheap?
16:12Well, our cap is this.
16:14And then someone else comes in, well, our cap is this.
16:15And it just kind of goes down.
16:17And so for them, it absolutely works for us.
16:20That would not fit with our model.
16:22Um, and we say the same thing, the agents, right?
16:24Like when you go on a listing appointment, there are a hundred different ways that a
16:27seller could say, you know what?
16:29I saw this company for $300 to put my listing in the MLS, right?
16:32You demonstrated your value and you said, no, it's worth paying me X because of everything
16:37that I bring.
16:37And that's how we look at our brokerage as well.
16:39It may not be the right thing for everybody, but the type of agent that feels at home with
16:43us is one that's not just purely looking at a price point.
16:47It's a value proposition for them.
16:48And it's the old Warren Buffett line of, you know, price is what you pay, value is what
16:51you get.
16:52Yeah, absolutely.
16:53So let's talk about private listings.
16:56Everybody's favorite topic right now.
16:58You joined Zillow Preview.
17:00So tell me about that partnership and what made that the right move for home services?
17:05Yeah, it was interesting.
17:06It got a lot more play than I thought it really probably warranted because really what it is,
17:12it's coming soon.
17:13And in a lot of MLS is coming soon as a recognized status.
17:19And it's also allowed to be publicly marketed as coming soon.
17:22And so for us, the way we looked at Zillow Preview was it was just another distribution
17:27channel where we can already publicly market coming soon listings.
17:32Like we did not view this as a fundamental shift in any view that we had on private listing
17:37networks or transparency or hiding things.
17:40It was like, look, in the markets where we can already publicly market coming soon, Zillow
17:45represents the largest distribution channel as far as eyeballs goes for us to do that.
17:50And so it just made sense when the opportunity presented itself to give agents and sellers
17:55another channel to go ahead and publicly market coming soon listings where they were already
18:00doing that in their market just in a more probably limited way because there was only so many
18:04distribution channels to put that on.
18:05That was our view on it.
18:07And it kind of turned into this big like, and that's part of our industry.
18:10You know, we're always looking for like something major is happening.
18:12The ground is shaking.
18:14The earthquakes are happening.
18:15And I just didn't view it as anything that was, we were excited about it and we're excited
18:19to bring it to our agents.
18:20But it wasn't something that I thought is a fundamental change to the way that we view the marketplace.
18:25Yeah.
18:25And I think the controversy is that they feel it weakens the MLS system.
18:31Do you, you know, what are your thoughts on that?
18:33Yeah, I don't, I don't know that it does.
18:34You know, my view is, and we have some amazing MLS partners out there.
18:38My view for MLS is, is that, you know, once the litigation, you know, happened and it changed
18:44and compensation was pulled out of the MLS, the MLS has became a very important technology
18:50vendor for us, right?
18:52They are an amazing data aggregator and data distributor.
18:55And, you know, and there, and there shouldn't be a reason to try to go out and replicate that
18:59just for the sake of replication, because it exists in its place.
19:01I think the MLS is that embrace that and move quickly towards being, thinking of themselves
19:07as a high-end technology partner to the brokerages that they serve are going to be very successful
19:12in this world that we're heading into.
19:14The ones that are still kind of holding back and they say, you know, we want to have a 30
19:18page rule book on the governance of how you do your business and how things are marketed
19:22and advertised, I think are going to struggle more and could, will likely get by the wayside
19:27as, as the world advances beyond.
19:29And so, you know, I think the quicker they embrace what they are as a technology vendor,
19:34you know, maybe you get away from a 20 member board of member participants who are trying
19:39to run your business for you and just really think of yourself as a strong technology partner
19:43for the brokerage.
19:44I think there'll be highly successful.
19:45The ones that really stick into the past on what it used to be, I think will struggle
19:49and that will accelerate consolidation in the MLS world further than what we've already
19:53seen.
19:54And, and I would, and would probably spur on disruption within that industry as well as
19:59others try to kind of enter that market and provide that service.
20:02Yeah.
20:03What, you know, what keeps you up at night?
20:05What, what is going on in the industry right now that, you know, you're, you think a lot about
20:12or you strategize about that maybe people don't realize?
20:16I think the biggest thing for me that I get concerned about is our biggest enemy is ourselves.
20:23Again, I pointed out the top of the podcast, you know, that the resiliency between, and
20:27the stickiness between the consumer and the agent has been really strong, higher than it's
20:31ever been.
20:31Like more people use a real estate agent today than before the internet.
20:35You know, we thought the internet was going to be disruptive for our business and stuff.
20:39What I get concerned about is this kind of nonsense that is happening with our industry where
20:43we're infighting and the consumer seems to getting, being pushed further and further away
20:48from the conversation.
20:50And so what I worry about is if we truly go down this path that they truly, you know you
20:57know, where content is highly segmented and there is no cooperation and everyone's hoarding
21:02their own things.
21:03I'm a buyer now sitting in any market, Austin, New York city, you know, Chicago, wherever it
21:08may be.
21:08And I've got to go to what, 20 different websites, 20 different brokerages to find out what's
21:13for sale.
21:13I think that probably marks the end of buyer agency at that point, because I'm not going
21:17to sign a written buyer agreement with Tracy if Tracy only has access to 10% in the listing.
21:22So now we're back to open agency where I have to work with 10 different agents and whoever
21:27gets me the property wins.
21:28Right.
21:28And it just seems like a really terrible way to go about.
21:32And no one, everyone's thinking about what's the next step on this conversation around content
21:36distribution, but no one's thinking three or four steps down the road.
21:39And so that's what worries me is that we actually ourselves create a world where the consumer
21:44says, you are a pain in the ass to work with.
21:46You are no longer the easiest path for me to buy and sell real estate.
21:50And that's when a true disruptor can come in and actually probably make some headway between
21:55that agent and consumer relationship a little bit.
21:58Yeah, absolutely.
22:00So my looking ahead, what does the next phase of growth for home services look like?
22:05Yeah, I think for us, again, it really comes back to our model and it's really a focus
22:11on making that brokerage, mortgage, title, and insurance the simplest way to do real estate.
22:19And so whether you're running towards the pleasure of it or you're running away from
22:22the pain of having to do it in the segmented way that it is right now.
22:26So the bad analogy I use a lot is imagine buying a car the way that we ask people to
22:31buy houses
22:31and you had to go to the tire store and then a separate store to get your engine, then
22:35a separate store to get the body and a separate store to get the interior.
22:38And all these different companies were supposed to come together to put your car together.
22:41It would be a really stressful experience.
22:43It already is when the car is at one place.
22:45And so when we ask the people buy houses, it's not surprising why the word stressful is
22:49one of the most common words that's used and stuff.
22:51So we also know that where the agent and consumer are interacting on a daily basis has shifted
22:57over the last 10 years.
22:57So it's bringing our model from the physical world that it's always been in, like coming
23:02to one of our offices, everything you need to hear, and then applying that into the digital
23:06world so that as the agent and consumer are using their phone, the desktop, whatever it
23:09may be, all of those services are very nicely lined up.
23:13And I've said we've been a really good strip mall.
23:16Our brokerages and all services have been lined up next to each other really, really well.
23:20We want to make it more of that singular door.
23:22You walk in one door, everything that you need is there in order to make the experience a lot
23:26more seamless and simplified for the consumer and for the agent.
23:29And we ask the agents to juggle a lot of balls and have responsibility for a lot of things
23:34that are outside of their control.
23:35The more that we can bring a team that works behind them and it's all part of the same
23:39company, I think the easier the agent's life gets as well.
23:42Yeah, absolutely.
23:43So now I have, this is our lightning round.
23:46So this is kind of the first thing that comes to your mind.
23:49One word to describe today's brokerage environment.
23:52I kind of hinted at it.
23:53It's nonsense.
23:53I mean, it's a little bit of insider baseball nonsense.
23:56Like we are arguing about things that the consumer has zero care about.
24:00And so right now there's just a little bit of nonsense that's happening within our industry.
24:04The most overrated growth strategy right now?
24:08Purely looking at market share.
24:11Every time I've gone to the grocery store, I have yet to be able to buy anything with market
24:14share.
24:15It's a great thing to track and you should track it.
24:18But sometimes the allure of market share will get in the way of a sound financial decision
24:24on growth.
24:24Okay.
24:26Most underrated advantage home services has?
24:29It's our local leaders.
24:30I mean, it truly is.
24:32I mean, the fact that we have presidents and CEOs in every single one of our markets who
24:35are practitioners, right?
24:37Almost all of them grew up in the business in one way or another, from agent to manager
24:42to CEO to regional or from a manager to a president, CEO level and stuff.
24:46They are true practitioners and amazing leaders.
24:49That's great.
24:51Portals, a threat or an opportunity?
24:53Opportunity.
24:54I mean, they're not going away.
24:56And so to me, it's like find opportunities where it makes sense to work with them.
24:59When it doesn't make sense, you know, have those conversations with them.
25:03But yeah, I would look at it definitely as an opportunity.
25:06Last question.
25:07In five years, the winning brokerage model will be scale, specialization or something else?
25:14I think it's being honest to who you are.
25:17Kind of what I referenced before.
25:19If you know your model, you believe in your model and you attract to that model, you will
25:25be highly successful.
25:26The idea that only one model will win, that doesn't play out in any other industry.
25:31There's all kinds of different cars, kinds of different car dealerships, retail, whatever
25:35it may be.
25:36Be true to what your model is and what your value proposition is.
25:40And you can be highly, highly successful, whether you're national, regional or local.
25:44Chris, thanks so much for joining Real Trending.
25:46It's always a pleasure to talk to you.
25:48I appreciate your time.
25:50Thank you, Tracy.
25:51It was a pleasure.
25:51Appreciate it.
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