HomeFinder VP Mark Tepper Named Industry Visionary
Mark Tepper, HomeFinder.com VP of Business Development and Sales, was recently added to Frogpond's list of Industry Visionaries, joining notable profiles including Harley E. Rouda, Jr. (CEO/Managing Partner of Real Living), Victor Lund (Co-Founding Partner of the WAV Group) and Steve H. Murray, Editor of REAL Trends & Lore Magazine, among others.
FrogPond, provider of unique 'Communications Solutions' enabling corporations, associations and small businesses nationwide to effectively reach customers, employees and members with ahead of the curve industry information, is headed by Susie Hale.
Below is an excerpt of Mark's Industry Visionary profile. Check out the full interview on Frogpond. Many thanks to Susie and the Frogpond team!
As an "industry visionary", what do you see as the major changes occurring in the real estate industry?
You don't have to be a 'visionary' to recognize the two areas that are challenging the status quo, social media and agent ratings.
Social media phenomena like Facebook and Twitter are changing the way agents and brokers market themselves and their properties. For a very long time, there was nothing new in Real Estate Marketing/Advertising. Social media has taken the local cocktail party and put it online. The great news is this can be leveraged to help grow your business very quickly, especially for new agents. The bad news is, if you're an established agent that doesn't use social media, you may lose the next generation of buyers and sellers.
Lastly, agent ratings could change the way we choose a Realtor. There are a few sites out there that are experimenting with agent ratings, HAR, RedFin and HomeThinking are the few that come to mind. Relatively speaking, it's not that difficult to become a licensed agent, however, it is difficult to stay in the business and be successful. The easier it is for consumers to differentiate agents, the harder it will be for many at the lower end of the skill/experience spectrum to stay in the game.
Who are the "individual trendsetters" that are shaping the future real estate industry?
In 2006, Time Magazine's person of the year was 'You.' It was the year of the individual with the advent of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook. I think this still holds true in 2009. It could be the agent that has a large following on Twitter or Facebook, the blogger on ActiveRain that gets referrals from other agents or the Broker that embraces online advertising that drives email and phone leads to their brokerage for a positive ROI.
What are the expectations of the emerging real estate consumer?
Consumers want to work with trustworthy Realtors and Brokerages that can sell their home quickly with the least amount of aggravation at the right price. That hasn't changed. But what has is that they are increasingly demanding proof of the capacity to deliver on this promise rather than the unsubstantiated claims that characterized a lot of old-style marketing.
What changes should a Brokerage implement to ensure profitability in the future?
Reduce your overhead, office space, unnecessary expenses and Advertising that doesn't have a positive ROI. Don't be afraid of hoteling in your office space to give the agents maximum flexibility and decreased overhead. Plus, you need to invest in your agents. There may be more expenses in the short term but if you invest in the success of your agents, they will pay you back tenfold.
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