Friday Flash: New and improved

EXP is now worth more than $4 billion. 

The stock jumped from $45 to $59 this week. 

Agent count continues to balloon. They’re making smart hires. The numbers are improving. 

$4 billion. The market clearly doesn’t think they are anywhere close to done. 

Can anyone slow this runaway train? 

It won’t be Keller Williams, which seems to be setting itself up for an IPO. They were the growth story of five years ago. 

It won’t be RE/MAX, which now seems to be positioning itself as a premium brand. They were the growth story of 20 years ago. 

It won’t be Compass. Different DNA, different growth strategy. 

EXP is the “new and improved” version of real estate brokerage right now. There will be followers with their own version of a better way. 

In the meantime, we must take a moment to marvel at the quiet and unusual genius of Glenn Sanford.   

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Continuing this thought… @properties, the tech and marketing-forward brokerage that rose to become the #1 real estate company in the state of Illinois in just over 15 years, has announced that it will begin franchising nationally. 

Co-founders Thad Wong and Mike Golden are two of the smartest operators in the business. @ acquired a stake in Nest Realty, a company that has achieved success franchising an “indie”-like concept, earlier this year. They’ve gone to school.

Watch these guys. They know what they’re doing. 

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In 2005, Zillow answered a question that was top of mind for every homeowner and homebuyer in America: “How much is my/this home worth?”

They didn’t make you fill out a form, or submit a credit card. They just answered the damn question. That the answer was imperfect only bothered the industry. Consumers ate it up. 

This week ClimateCheck launched by answering another question — one of rapidly increasing salience: “How will my/this home be impacted by climate change?” There are no hoops to jump through. Just put in an address and get an extensive report projecting the impacts of drought, sea level rise, fires and other factors on any given property. Are the answers perfect? No. Do they need to be? No. 

The company was launched by a bunch of smart business and data people, including Brad Inman (my former boss) and his son Cal, a real estate developer (and a duck hunting buddy of mine). So call me biased, but I think this is smart. 

Answering questions people have about real estate usually is. 

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We’ve been writing this blog/email newsletter for 13 years now, and have never once asked people what they wanted us to write about. 

We’ve just written when we had something to say. 

It has worked out fine. But still. Seems like we should know what you think. 

So if you don’t mind, could you take a couple minutes to share your thoughts on what you like and don’t like from 1000WATT?

Just click here to take a super-quick survey. I’m not gonna offer you an iPad or a Starbucks gift card, but I sure will appreciate it! 

Enjoy the weekend.