The Insider: Issue 047

Hey, it's Monday, so we're guessing you're in the mood for a recap of industry stuff you were too busy to follow last week, topped off with cool stuff that will inspire you. Are we right?

Last Week This Week

Realogy, Zillow, EXP, RE/MAX, Opendoor, and Redfin kicked off Q1 2022 earnings reporting.

If you didn’t follow this closely, what you really need to know is this: While this reporting is always, of course, retrospective, it was more like historical this time around. The results felt of another, and uniquely performance-enhancing, time. The month between the end of Q1 and last week was transitional. Rates spiraled upward, sellers got spooked, inventory became still scarcer, and a feeling that a market shift was underway prevailed. Q2 results will show you much more about where we’re headed.

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While we’ve all been talking about iBuyers and Power Buyers for the past couple years, another category of inventive (at least for the U.S.) startup has emerged: The shared equity company. Significant players here include Hometap, Unison, Unlock, and Point, which announced a $115 million funding round last week.

These companies offer homeowners an alternative to traditional home equity loans or HELOCs by buying some of their home’s equity and sharing in the (hoped for) upside. The homeowner has no monthly payments on the cash they receive.

This seems well-suited to our rising rate/high home value moment. American homeowners are sitting on mountains of cash, and this is a new way to use it. From the company's side, you could think of this as “iBuying lite.” And, like iBuying, some of these companies, including Point, are giving institutional investors access to American single-family homes by cutting them into deals.

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The NAR raised membership dues by $10 per year. We think that’s cool. In fact, we think they ought to goose them much higher. But the proceeds are going to be used to pump more money into the “That’s who we R” consumer advertising campaign. We think this is not so cool. In fact, we think it’s a terrific waste of money and political capital.

In our estimation, over half a billion dollars has been spent “building the Realtor brand” in this way over the past 20 years. We don’t know how NAR measures success with this monster effort, but when 1000watt surveyed 600 recent home sellers and buyers last year, a large majority had no idea what the difference between a REALTOR® and a “real estate agent” is.

What's Inside

Look out for Episode 3 of the Other Ways podcast, in which we unpack how the real estate industry in British Columbia is navigating unprecedented change.

Inspiration Point

Need Email Signups? Try a Smoking Jacket
Sure, he’s Neil Patrick Harris. Yes, he’s an A-list celebrity on everyone’s “like” list. And we know, he’s wearing a smoking jacket in this photo. But look at how amazing his email newsletter sign-up page is! It’s like a perfect cocktail of clarity, entertainment, voice and tone, wrapped in a simple user interface. Bonus points for the cocktail recipe, which is right on brand. Remember: marketing is a constant game of grabbing attention, stirring up curiosity, and making it really easy to engage with your company.

OK Got Email Signups. Now What?
Speaking of email signups…once you have them, what exactly are you doing with them? What’s in your very first email to a new subscriber? What’s in your first five? If it’s been a few Super Bowls since you’ve examined your welcome email and sequence, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and have a look. While these messages may seem inconsequential, they are quite literally your brand’s digital welcoming, and therefore an incredible opportunity to make an impression and say something refreshing. We dug up Virgin America’s old welcome email, which does a great job of highlighting their unique value prop, showcasing their brand personality, and giving useful shortcuts and information that’s not the whole kitchen sink of features and facts and numbers. It sounds like a person wrote it, and it’s overall light and easy to read. All great things to keep in mind as you rewrite your welcome email.

Have You Heard About This?

I Can Price That Pod

With house prices still climbing in many places, more folks getting priced out of the market, and low inventory all around, future housing markets could look more like this? Brownstone Shared Housing, a California startup, is offering co-living sleeping pods to fit more residents into a single-family house. Rents start at $500 per month. So far, they have two locations, both in California: one near Stanford University in Palo Alto that houses 14, and one that sleeps 6 in central Bakersfield. Given the housing shortage in many markets, communal living may soon be on an agent’s list of specialties.

From Real Estate Twitter

We follow hundreds of real estate thinkers you’ll probably never see on the conference circuit. We’ll share especially notable takes right here, just for you.

This week, it’s a reminder from money manager Martin Pelletier that if you ever get the housing bubble jitters, just look North. Canada, our normally normal neighbor, is looking absolutely mental right now:

Quote of the week

“An empire that cannot sustain a blow and remain standing is not really an empire.”

— Yuval Noah Harari