ARDELL con BRIO
[photopress:dustin__ardell__galen__robbie.jpg,thumb,alignright][photopress:bob__ardell__jon.jpg,thumb,alignright]Oh those Gee-ky Boys! We opened up the month of August in San Francisco with more Geeky Boys than you’ve ever seen in one place! Exciting time to be in Real Estate…Tech meets Traditional. The Podcast of Dustin, Galen, Robbie and I chatting away on the couch at Inman hasn’t been released yet, but when it is, I’ll post it up on RCG. They say there were more traditional agents at Inman Connect this year than in the dozen or so years prior…mostly due to Blogging.
The idea that the Real Estate Industry might break out of Web 1.0 and into Web 2.0 is pretty exciting, though sometimes it seems like a pipe dream. So when Jonathan Washburn and Bob Stewart asked me to be the Designated Broker over at Brio in Bellevue, I decided God wouldn’t have put me in the middle of all of these Geeky Boys without a purpose. Clearly answering Dustin’s call to blog at RCG changed my perspective of the Real Estate Industry as viewed by the consumer. Hanging out with Dustin Luther, Galen Ward and Robbie Paplin and many other Redfin, Zillow and Tech Guys over the last 18 months, puts me in a good position to give “The Blogging Broker” a shot.
Jonathan Washburn wrote this post stating BRIO’s objective to be “the opposite of Redfin” on Friday, and asked me to join up as BRIO’s Designated Broker on Monday. Apparently I’m going to be giving free blogging classes to any and all agents in town, as part of the effort to move the industry further into Web 2.0. Probably a recruiting technique as well. Not too many Brokers who can give their agents blogging lessons. I firmly believe that all agents should blog, because it forces the agent to see everything from the consumer’s perspective. I say it helps us pull our heads out of our butts 
Web 2.0 is good for everyone. It gets more information than ever before, out into the open where it belongs.
Part of me wonders if the Real Estate Industry lends itself to full and open communication on the Internet. But I know if it can be done…ARDELL and The Geeky Boys can make it happen. Finding the right balance of cost to the consumer, cost to the agents while maintaining full service to clients, and open and honest communication between agents and consumers live and in real time, seems an impossible goal looking around at where we are now in the industry as a whole.
So tomorrow I begin the journey to bring BRIO Realty and it’s 60 or so agents in the Bellevue Office into the focus that Jonathan Washburn and Bob Stewart have in mind. Like most Geeky Boys, we’re not exactly sure where we’re going, as we remain flexible every day to follow what feels right and moves in the right direction. We’re just going to keep going forward with Redfin as “the anchor to play against” using Seth Godin’s words. I’m pretty sure Glenn won’t mind being our anchor.
It’s an exciting time to be in the Real Estate Industry…especially here in the Seattle Area. As for RCG…I’m not going anywhere. As for SOUND REALTY…it’s not going anywhere either. Just ARDELL and The Geeky Boys going out to discover a few new worlds together.
About the Author: Ardell DellaLoggia
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ARDELL
Congrats on the new venture. You are in good company all the way around. ARDELL and the geeky boys. It is actually such a good fit.
Always a coach……teee heee.
Congrats to Jonathan as well.
all the best ardell! life is a highway…….
jon and bob – nice catch
sincerely,
rudy.sellsius°
Congrats, ARDELL.
Wishing you much success!
Good luck ARDELL. This new adventure, with the geeky boys, should provide plenty of new fodder for blogging.
Well that’s cool!
Woohoo
Congratulations Ardell, Jonathan and Bob – best wishes – this is going to be big!
Ardell — forgive my ignorance (I don’t blog as often as I’d like), but based on the links (and particularly Jonathan’s blog post) it sounds like BRIO is simply a full service brokerage. What distinguishes BRIO from oher such brokerages? Is it simply that you do “full service” better than the others? Or is there some new angle?
Congratulations on your new position, Ardell!
I have a question to tag on to the end of craig’s question. I remember reading about how you’re a strong advocate of letting agents decide how to negotiate commissions with their clients, depending upon, for example, each client’s circumstances. Was this shared mindset part of the draw to work with the Brio team of agents?
Thanks! I wish you the very best of success at Brio.
Have you broke the news to Kim yet?
Congratulations Ardell. I’m positive that Jonathan, Bob and you will rise to the challenge.
Hey Everyone! Busy with all of the change of license paperwork this morning…changing my profiles etc…
Thanks for all our your good wishes…will respond ASAP! Lots of profiles to modify.
Exciting Ardell. Hope it works out for you!
-Lynlee, Tim, Tiff and Sammy
Congratulations to all.
Ardell, You’ll do a find job as Brio’s Designated Broker!
Greg Perry
Congrats and good luck!
Ardell,
Congratulations to you. Brio will be better for having you there!
Brio is so fortunate to have snagged ARDELL!! Her consumer centric business philosophy is exactly in line with Brio’s beliefs.
Regarding Craig and Jillayne’s questions: Brio’s big vision as a company is still being figured out. I trust ARDELL will take a big role in defining and communicating that vision over the next year or so.
It’s just a hunch, but I bet it will have something to do with blogging…
Hi Ardell,
Now this will be something to see developing here in Seattle, how excitng to have front row seats here on RCG…Consumer Centric 2.0 begins.
Congratulations on becoming the BRIO Blogging Broker!
On this first day I had some amazing discussions with several agents. Some never heard of Web 2.0, but they were excited about being part of “it”. One went right out and posted two blog entries within an hour of our talking. Another went out and focused entirely on the buyer and seller issues without regard to when and how he was going to get paid. Another wanted to know how to treat buyer clients the same as seller clients when discussing fee issues, even when the buyer didn’t ask about them.
One day…and all it takes to get agents excited about consumers, transparency and the future, seems to be a Broker who shares the vision. Cool stuff! Agents are awesome!
Craig,
Quite frankly, what distinguishes Brio from other offices is the geeky boy mindset to break the mold. Having “Redfin” as our “anchor” is not semantics. As to “some new angle”…you may find this hard to comprehend, but the goal is not to have an “angle” at all. Manipulating people is not a worth goal…is it?
Jillayne,
Of course “no one size fits all real estate” is easier said than done. Every company wants to have a “transparent mission”, and yet not every client needs or wants the same thing.
I absolutely abhor “price fixing” in this industry, so yes, consumers being able to negotiate directly with the agent in front of them, both buyer and seller clients, is clearly important. Not just for BRIO, but the industry as a whole.
I have no desire to carve out a niche for BRIO, I have a desire for the entire industry to get on the stick. So being an industry leader is more important than beating the competition. I don’t believe in competition, remember? I only believe in rising to the highest possible level from the consumer’s standpoint. It’s not rocket science.
Making sure every conversation focuses on the clients best interests, and not the agent’s best interests, sounds easy. But you and I know that is not the norm of the buzz inside a real estate office. It’s a shift…but I’m finding so far that it’s a welcome one. I quietly criticized an agent’s non interaction with his listings from the time “the sign went up” and immediately that agent went into high gear understanding what “full service” really means.
Shifting from a “sales” mentality to a “fiduciary” mentality in all conversations is no easy feat…but I have a feeling that it won’t be hard at all. But them I am an optimist. I think the only reason it isn’t done now is because of some 100 year old same old same old going on. I think the change can happen overnight. So far…I’m right on that.
Any agent who can’t see past his or her own best interest through to the client’s best interests, may have a tough adjustment period.
Ardell — OUCH! I “may find this hard to comprehend”? That’s a bit of an attack, don’t you think? Why the venom? I was genuinely interested in the business model and how it differed from a traditional brokerage. I certainly didn’t mean to offend by using the shorthand, “What’s your angle?” And besides, when did a business angle — i.e. a method of doing business that differentiates you from all the others providing a similar service — become synonymous with “manipulating people”? Not sure the motivation behind your response. Regardless, best of luck with the new position and good luck figuring out BRIO’s angl… er, big vision (thanks, Jonathan, for answering my question).
Ardell, I would assume the name BRIO has been cleared but if not you might want to ask your partners to check it up. BRIO is a Swedish maker of toys that also carries their name ( my daugther loves their toys ). I would assume it is trademark protected to some extent in the US. Just a hint so they don’t endup changing name which can be an annoyance for a statup company.
“I absolutely abhor “price fixing” in this industry, so yes, consumers being able to negotiate directly with the agent in front of them, both buyer and seller clients, is clearly important. Not just for BRIO, but the industry as a whole.”
Isn’t price fixing a violation of anti-trust laws?
TJ: It looks like Brio is a fanchise like Remax from their website….
Craig,
I always react poorly to words like angle, deal, lead. Nothing new there. We’ve been co-writers for over a year and a half. Don’t take it so personally.
tj,
There are several types of companies named Brio, restaurants as well. Brio is the Italian word for energy and vitality.
Brio is to life as gusto is to food. Zest! Brio Realty’s been around awhile and has a few offices on the East Coast. It’s not a new company and I’m pretty sure it’s not a franchise. I don’t see anything on the website that says they are a franchise. Bellevue WA is the headquarters and there are offices in Tacoma, DC, Virginia and Maryland. I am the Broker of the Bellevue Office.
Ardell, is there a connection between Brio Realty and Active Rain?
There’s less of a connection than people think, except that they are both “brainchildren” of Jonathan Washburn. I will likely be helping everyone get good blogs up at Active Rain, but I always recommended that as an agent “blog startpoint” before I joined Brio. Brio has no real connection and I have no responsibilities or extra connection with Active Rain as Broker of Brio.
I expect when I teach the Blog Classes, I will be recommending that agents set up a free blog at Active Rain. But I always did that. Mainly because you can “practice” better there because you can pull posts in as “members only” posts.
I’m going to hold my first “blog class” – open invite. I’ll write a post on that. I’ll be talking about Active Rain in the class, but that’s just because that is my best advice for someone getting started, and not because Jonathan Washburn is connected to both. They’ve been excellent about letting me run free and wild
No pressures. “I’m the boss” LOL.
I know Dustin and Jillayne mention me in their blog classes. I’m sure that’s not because we’re “connected” of have any “angle” in doing so. Same with Brio and Active Rain.
Hi Ardell, interresting that Brio has such a cool meaning in Italian. The Swedish company BRIO was created 1884 and is an abbrevation for Bröderna Ivarsson of Osby (Ivarsson Brothers of Osby). I got interrested since I’m Swedish and for me BRIO = wooden toys.
The US subsidiary BRIO corp. was opened 1977.
BRIO is a trademark registered by the Swedish BRIO AB but it seems limited to some extent perhaps the upper case spelling or to the toy area. I’m not a trademark expert and I didn’t know “your” Brio was an established company.
I’m pretty sure there is a software company named Brio that is more famous than the restuarant, real estate or toy companies. I remember BRIO toys from when my girls were little. But they seemed to be more for little boys. I had all girls…three. And now a grand daughter who was just visiting me for two weeks, and returned to L.A. just a few hours ago.
Maybe we should give a prize for the first boy.
Thanks, Ardell, for the clarification. You’re right, I shouldn’t take such comments from you personally, and in the future I won’t. You like to personally attack those authors who express views that differ from yours (or, in this case, expressed views that use words with which you have assigned your own personal pejorative meaning). You’re just “special” that way.
This is news…good news. Congratulations, JONATHAN for snagging Ardell.
Ardell, I think you’ve found a great home.
Craig,
Get a grip.
Thanks Brian. It’s been very exciting already. It’s only been a few days, but we’re already developing our ideas for a complete WEB 2.0 company. Jon’s right…my ideas have a lot to do with blogging. The conversation will be on going. Something like Reality TV where the public can watch real estate happening. Like working in a “glass office” where everyone can see and hear what is happening inside from the outside.
Instead of meeting with agents in person or by email or phone, I will be meeting and speaking with them in a blog. Not sure if it can be done, but I’m working on it. I can then index topics, so that if different agents have the same question, they can just refer to a previous “conversation”. The public can also see these real questions and answers that come up every day in a real estate office. The questions may be from my agents or from their clients. Less speculation and lecturing and more real life interactions. Less talk between people who aren’t buying or selling real estate, and more talk between people who are and their agents.
I’m thinking the conversations will be separated by topic, but the “blog post” will be the actual conversation back and forth.
It’s a loose plan forming.
[...] We don’t need no stinkin’ “angle” LOL!!! September 2, 2007 Last week when I took on the challenge of moving BRIO forward, Craig asked “(ARDELL)…it sounds like BRIO is simply a full service brokerage. What distinguishes BRIO from other such brokerages? Is it simply that you do “full service” better than the others? [...]
Certain professionals do full service better but firms are simply conduits for the brokers to make money from the agents that are so inclined to try their hat in the real estate game. Doing this for 30 plus years and no company is better. The agents are the key the ones that are quality agents I should add.The business model currently is broken.
To be truly unique our industry needs to be paid exclusively on a fee basis. Two thirds of the agents need to disappear. Higher educational standards and a national data base would go a long way to revolutionize the industry and give the consumer top service. Cost would drop and the consumer would benefit. Weekend warriors and the lower echelon agents would vanish like the plague leaving the cream.
Too many interest groups and brokers have vested interest in keeping the broken model in place.
That’s were Glenn Kelman was most right, Don. It is broken. On that I think we all agree. Where Glenn was wrong was that Redfin could fix it. I guess they could…but not by making the real estate second class to the technology. That’s why Redfin is “our anchor”…taking “fixing the industry” to the next level.
You are not so pessimistic as to think it isn’t possible, are you? Maybe we’ll take it to the model others can copy, or maybe we’ll just take it to the next level above Redfin and Windermere, and someone can carry the torch from there forward. But you are not so cynical as to suggest it’s screwed up beyond hope, are you? Say it ain’t so!
Interesting exchange of thoughts.
Easy: the “trademark” issue. There is none. I am a trademark expert though not a trademark attorney. Trademarks are registered for specific industries/services. That’s why there is a VISA credit card and a VISA fabric.
More difficult: yes, the old model is in tatters. Agents can’t be “commission fodder” for the brokerage. Fee-for-service may be part of the answer. The old model perpetuates paranoid relationships among agents in the same brokerage. Whoever can break down the fences between the agents in one office and create something that still rewards the individual effort but also everybody’s contribution to the “team” will have moved in the right direction.
Just bought a house through Redfin. The service was wonderful and everything went very smooth. I read both your post and the click through and it’s seems attacking Redfin is a main theme. Why?
Stephen,
If you clicked through to Seth Godin’s post, you would see that choosing an “opposite” as an anchor is not an “attack” at all. In fact it’s a compliment. Creating more choices in real estate for consumers, is not an “attack” of existing brokerages, for sure. That’s like saying privately owned and operated coffee houses “attack” Starbucks. They may want to be the opposite of Starbucks. But they aren’t attacking Starbucks to have that aim..
Gerhard,
I think it takes the right combination of leadership and agents and clients, all three. I think establishing an income base, without restricting the agent’s ability to negotiate freely with their clients, is a step in the right direction.
I have no doubt you will be successful in anything you attempt to do. It sounds fun and exciting. Keep us posted and don’t forget about us in the rain.
stephen – September 2, 2007
Just bought a house through Redfin. The service was wonderful and everything went very smooth.
Just curious if you could elaborate – what made their service stand out? What did they provide that any other agent or company currently could not provide?
Thanks Missy. I started a second blog there called The Blogging Broker. I’m trying to come up with a “glass office” concept where I blog the questions agents have daily and the answers. Not sure I can have two blogs there at once though. We’ll see.
Ardell,
I guess I’m just not sure of your point. His statements and yours from my standpoint slam Redfin. My experience does not remotely match what either of you are saying.
Don,
Well of course the refund made them stand out
Look, we wanted to take our time and find the house, on our own. Once we found the house and Redfin assigned and agent to make the offer, everything went exactly the same as any other. They did not step back or withhold ANY service. It worked well for us.
Stephen,
Still not sure what anyone said that you could consider a slam. Can you quote the slam comments from what was said? Seems anytime anyone mentions Redfin, someone wants to come in and say we are slamming them.
I’m not one to mince my words, so if I were intending to slam them, I think it would be more transparent. I purposely do not blog about any negative experiences I may have had with Redfin. So clearly my intention is not to slam them.
To your comments, I have yet to meet a buyer consumer who didn’t use agents from various other companies to “find a house on their own”. I support DIY real estate, but not if it uses agents for free who are not in the transaction. I received a call from someone last week who said “I would like an agent to show me property, but I have an agent”. I called them back and suggested “their agent” might be the most appropriate person to show them property. Their agent was with Windermere (or so they said) and not Redfin. Their response was that their agent was a busy person and they didn’t want to bother her until they knew they were serious about a property. The consumer caller said she thought any agent would show any buyer property, “as a courtesy”.
To most agents, “Do It Yourself” means use other agents in the marketplace to get any and all information you need about properties and making offers. It’s hard for us to recognize how a person does it themselves without utilizing the services of an agent.
I myself have done “Redfin deals” for a “do it yourself” buyer, but it seems he had picked the brains of many agents before contacting me in order to “do it themselves”. Something about that just doesn’t sit right, does it? Is that really “doing it yourself” or is it using people and their knowledge and skill set, and then leaving them behind in the dust?
That said, I have met people who have been able to do-it-themselves without “using” agents for free along the way. But clearly many can’t. Perhaps that is because negative info regarding property for sale is not readily available. Maybe some day it will be. But I don’t see that day coming anytime soon.
Got me thinking about that short sale in Holmes Point that someone bought for over $700,000 recently, that is now for sale as a short sale for under $600,000. Think I’ll check to see who the buyer’s representation was through when it sold for more than it was worth.
Since WA State Law requires that agents “represent” buyers pretty much at first contact. All conversations and brain picking of agents along the way seems to constitute “doing it yourself” by short changing the agents that were “used” along the way.
I’m inviting you to change my mind, and the minds of many agents on this. Revealing how it “appears” to be for us. Obviously we have years of built in bias, so would truly appreciate your re-educating us. Did doing it yourself involve advices from agent sources outside of Redfin at any time prior to purchase?
Ardell,
I have no affiliation with Redfin, just used them to buy my house this summer and found the experience to be a perfect fit for my wife and I. The other agent involved did absolutely nothing different than she normally would have.
Not sure I can re-educate anyone on this point. The RE market is changing and many of these changes will be welcomed by some RE professionals and shunned by others. You seem to be very adamant that your perception is the rule and I doubt very seriously that I will change your mind. Not just in RE but in general I encounter many professionals that often take the position that others are not knowledgeable about their area of expertise. The number of people that are either very knowledgeable about RE or perfectly capable of educating themselves to accomplish their goals may surprise you.
There is no reason whatsoever for this animosity about people choosing to use Redfin as their representation. As an agent for the seller, the agent can just work in that capacity and understand that once Redfin is involved, everything will proceed as usual. There is nothing self service about Redfin once the person finds the house that they want to make an offer on, nothing at all. You and other agents can say there is if you want, but you are wrong. This is not my perception, this is fact.
Now as far as people choosing Redfin to get a refund and using agents for ‘free’ to find a house. Not sure how this could happen very often, unless you mean unlocking the door for people to inspect the house? The agent is representing the seller and I would think they would assume that role and show the house from a positive standpoint and share with the prospective buyers all the reasons they should buy the house. If they choose not to do this I would think they are not fulfilling their responsibility to their client. I only had to insist on one showing, and that agent choose to sit in a chair with her arms folded the entire time. I doubt her input during our walk through would have mattered in our decision but since the house remained on the market for several months after we viewed it I would think that the owners would have been very disappointed that she did not attempt to persuade us to consider the house.
Your statement:
“Since WA State Law requires that agents `represent` buyers pretty much at first contact. All conversations and brain picking of agents along the way seo constitute `doing it yourself` by short changing the agents that were `used` along the way.”
I don’t think is factual. I don’t think agents “represent” buyers at first contact anywhere in the United States. Could you please point me to the WA statue that says this?
The Redfin business model may well be better suited to computer/Internet savvy buyers (by the way just as you hate certain tags and phrases, I find ‘geek’ kinda offensive. I’m sure you mean it as a compliment but many don’t take it that way) who understand RE and are comfortable conducting their own search.
Why exactly do you think people cannot conduct their own house search without ‘Using” agents along the way?
Well of course the refund made them stand out
Look, we wanted to take our time and find the house, on our own. Once we found the house and Redfin assigned and agent to make the offer, everything went exactly the same as any other. They did not step back or withhold ANY service. It worked well for us.
I have done this for the last ten plus years so not sure what if anything REDFIN does that is different.
They offer a discount – big deal, I do the same and try to structure based on the services I perform. Most these companies are no more than repackaged
garbage. Bottom line is fee structure and elimination of commissions is the only way to go long term. The other huge key is there are too many agents. Two thirds need to go by the way side. By the way I have dealt with redfin agents – not impressed. However let me say I am less than impressed with two thirds of the agents out there. A discount wont make those agents any better, lol, just more tolerable.
Don,
You are right, once ready to make an offer, Redfin is like any full service RE office. I think this what they are going for. My agent (and her support staff) were great. I doubt all of their, or anybodies agent are as good but that goes with everybody.
I certainly don’t discount using an agent to represent buyers, Redfin just adds another option.
Stephen,
I call BS on not being affiliated with Redfin. I think you are either an Redfin agent or a Redfin blogger. Your “bad conventional agents” and “good Redfin experiences” are just too canned. Furthermore I think you blog under several “aliases” saying the same thing. You are using blog comments wherever you can find them to promote Redfin….
So much for starting Frankly Seattle!
Kathy,
I’ve actually posted only several times over the past week or so and mentioned Redfin in this thread and under Craig’s post on buying without an agent a few days ago. I didn’t start it in either but gave my two cents worth after it came up. I also posted a few comments under Jillayne’s thread on exiting a mortgage and Redfin didn’t come up.
Dustin is welcome to email me and I’ll happily give him my information on when I bought and the house I bought through Redfin.
I have “no bad conventional agents” stories at all. I would think more often than not it would make perfect sense for a buyer to use an agent to help them find a house.
Interesting approach though, simply wrap all positive post on Redfin into one poster pumping Redfin, good luck with that
Stephen,
You can email me your name and I’ll be happy to verify that for you. You don’t need to, but if you feel the need to be vindicated, I’d be happy to assist in that regard. People tend to believe me
Of course if your real name isn’t Stephen, that own’t work.
Kathy, I’ve met most of the people who work at Redfin. They wouldn’t act as shills. Not their style. In fact, they’d probably get fired for doing that if they got caught. Redfin doesn’t play games, nor do they need to.
Frank. This town IS big enough for the both of us
Ardell,
I just sent over my info, feel free to verify away, and yes my name is stephen.
Yes Kathy, Stephen is legit.
fair enough….sorry!
[...] Is blogging/Web 2.0 the answer to all real estate agent’s woes? ARDELL, arguably the “Godmother of Real Estate Blogging” is on the record as saying that she believes that “all agents should blog”. Normally Ardell is spot on in her thoughts, but I have to respectfully disagree with her on this. Blogging is not a panacea, nor is it the right tactic for every agent. Yes, blogging’s Web 2.0ness results in transparency, it allows agents to see things from the consumer’s perspective and it is, bar none, the best way for an agent to demonstrate their personality and expertise to the masses. But blogging is hard work. Writing is an excruciating process for many. I happen to love blogging, I’m sick that way, but many people will despise the time and effort it requires. [...]