Time To Fight The Robots… Again!

December is the time when many of us in the real estate profession review our performance for the past year & start to formulate our plans of attack for the next. I’m looking back too as we enter this final month of 2020 (thank the stars!) and am somewhat surprised to find that even though almost everything else in our world has felt akin to riding in a broken roller coaster cart without the safety bar secured, my business practice has so far continued to move along at a brisk clip.

For this I am thankful! And not just because many of us in the real estate community have been fortunate enough to keep our collective heads above water during these trying times, but also because that for the past several years, some in the tech and investment sectors have incorrectly prognosticated our demise.

Hell, between Walls Street’s obsession with trying to automate the process of buying and selling a home (in much the same way used cars are traded in) and the breathless coverage of their exploits by various talking heads in the media who are themselves fighting to stay relevant in the new world order, it’s no wonder that those in traditional real estate spaces occasionally contemplate whether they might be going the way of the travel agent replaced by Expedia, or the beloved businesses in our communities rapidly becoming displaced by Amazon.

But then, a wonderful thing will inevitably occur to remind us that the things we do on a daily basis can’t be accomplished with an app or matched by the current state of artificial intelligence. And just what is this momentous event that reaffirms our rightful place in a healthy ecosystem on a regular basis? Well we meet our next client of course.

We will connect with them. We will get to know them and their goals. We grow to care about them. And then, if we’re on top of things, we will help them successfully navigate through the various legal, financial and emotional pitfalls that one typically faces when trying to buy or sell real property. With the highest & best outcome for them. Oftentimes against those very same big money interlopers who never really had the best interests of the consumer in mind to begin with. Here’s looking at you REX!

I thought it might be enlightening to illustrate this by producing an infographic summarizing the past 12 months worth of results from my own personal efforts at helping people make their moves, while at the same time having a blast beating the robots that are trying to monetize the game in their favor (i.e. Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Realtordotcom & the rest of these self-described “disruptors”).

Pinch & zoom below to have a look at how we did.

MEGA-AGENT production is clearly not my business model, but I definitely experienced the winningest batting average of my career in 2021. In fact, I’ll likely put this body of work up for review by every potential new client who considers my services in the coming year.  Most importantly, I’m happy that every one of my clients can proudly report that they each got their own individual “big win” along the way!

As you can see, we never allowed our sellers to leave money on the table, and even though we’re in the midst of a strong seller’s market, my buyer clients fared very well! In fact, we beat Zillow almost every time; to the sum total of $148,600 on the Buyer side of the equation & over $700,000 on behalf of Seller clients this year!

Of course, we now know that cheap money & low inventory made for a crazy year in real estate all around the nation. However, it was still possible for buyers to have almost as much fun as sellers (when the right approach was applied). As you can see above, almost none of my clients were subjected to the type of bloodletting so often alluded to within the various clickbait headlines of the most popular news feeds. In fact, many on both sides of the equation prospered!

This was not due to a proprietary algorithm or some other secret sauce cooked up in Silicon Valley. This is simply the result of sound and proactive strategy, beautiful marketing & old fashioned hard work. Boots on the ground, so to speak. I feel that caring for people on a humanistic level motivates us to do our best work for them as well! This is something that a corporate entity like Zillow simply cannot provide.

The Bottom Line: If you want a result that offers the least (amount of money, service, communication & satisfaction), then give the robots or the wholesale folks a call. However, if you want your buying or selling experience to offer the most (value, advocacy, dedication & delight)… Well, I always enjoy connecting with a fellow human!

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Until then, we’ll just have to wait and see what 2021 has in store for us next.

Chad Meier

Broker | OR

He/Him

Hello, I’m Chad: Licensed Real Estate Broker, native Oregonian, photography aficionado, lover of old houses, friend to all animals, and powered by analytical data...

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