Today’s RealTrending features Sam Sawyer, CEO of Pinnacle Realty Advisors. Working in both the real estate side as a founding agent with Compass in Dallas, and then with a FinTech mortgage start up, Sawyer had an idea to flip the traditional real estate model on its head.
Sawyer discusses the death of today’s traditional real estate model, how he views brokerage as a service and reinventing the brokerage relationship with the agent.
Here is a small preview of today’s interview with Sam. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:
Tracey Velt: Talk to me a little bit about why you think traditional brokerages aren’t sustainable.
Sam Sawyer: I don’t think this is a zero sum game. The commission split business model when it started out in the 1970s made a lot of sense because access to information wasn’t readily available. Consumers couldn’t go on Zillow, they couldn’t access listing information. I remember when I was in high school and my parents would circle houses in the newspaper, because the way you found access to information was through brokerages.
Brokerages had a lot more tasks to do for the agents back then. I think when Zillow launched, it changed the industry more than people want to admit, because of access to information. When I was an agent my clients knew just as much about listings as I did. Over time, I think the brokerage role has changed and a lot of people haven’t rethought the relationship between broker and agent.
RealTrending features the brightest minds in real estate. Twice a month, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.
