The Insider: Issue 004

Welcome to the fourth issue of The Insider — your Monday-but-this-week- Tuesday briefing with a side of inspiration. It’s July and getting hot in here, so let’s get to it...

LAST WEEK THIS WEEK

• Side, the “brokerage-as-a-service” company, raised $50 million at a $2.5 billion valuation only 90 days after raising $150 million at a $1 billion valuation. We’ve referred to Side as the “invisible broker” in the past because the company isn’t consumer-facing — they let their partner agents and teams operate as DBA boutique brands — while they work under the hood with tech, TC, legal, marketing and other services. It’s a rejiggered take on the brokerage model that makes sense to us... and, apparently, plenty of investors.

• We’re noticing a mini-backlash to the backlash over institutional investors’ march into the single-family market. Lots of people making the “yeah, but the much bigger problem is NIMBYs and restrictive zoning laws” argument. This piece from The Atlantic is a good example. Our take: more than one thing can be true at the same time here.

• The DOJ scuttled the antitrust settlement it reached with NAR last November over buyer agent compensation and lockbox access. Of course, we don’t know what this will mean exactly, but it does bring to mind the hand of the presumed-dead zombie thrust up from the grave at the end of a 1980’s horror movie. It ain’t over, and a sequel seems imminent.

HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THIS?

Paddleboards, Not Leaderboards

We spotted this message from our friends at Hawai’i Life and it made our hearts sing. We have nothing against sales leaderboards or awards… what we love is that this company is expressing a point of view that reveals information about their brand and their culture. It shows differentiation, personality, and says something that’s truly theirs to say. Mahalo, friends.

WHAT’S INSIDE

Give a listen to Marc Davison’s interview with Bob Hale, the CEO of the Houston Association of Realtors, and one of the savviest, gutsiest, nicest real estate leaders we know.

We’re conducting a focus group with recent sellers this week to unpack what they liked and didn’t like about the sales process. We’ll post it up next week, but ping us at [email protected] if you’ve got a question you’d like us to ask.

INSPIRATION POINT

Let’s Not Take Ourselves Too Seriously Now

Thanks to “formerly pissed guy” for the reminder, and for the amazing salesmanship in this print flyer. Peeled back, this flyer is a goldmine for effective copywriting lessons. Jessica tears it down here. Check out impissed.net for more.

 
The Art of Scarcity

Scarcity is a brand strategy mastered by many — one of the most fascinating case studies being Supreme, a streetwear label with limited product drops, infamous long lines, and named the most valuable brand in the resale market.

On this same theme, this powerful copy from Paynter Jacket caught our attention: “Limited edition jackets. Available four days a year.” There’s value in scarcity. The chase lures and engages. Also, we must know why only four days a year?

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Attention without feeling... is only a report.”
— Mary Oliver