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Real estate isn’t at a crossroads. It is, according to Sue Yannaccone, at several.
Yannaccone serves as president and CEO of Anywhere Brands and took the stage Tuesday morning at Inman Connect Las Vegas to discuss an industry in transition. She said there are transitions galore thanks to the changing demographics, rising technology such as artificial intelligence and other factors.
“We are not only at a crossroads, I firmly believe we at the middle of multiple crossroads,” she said.
Among other things, Yannaccone said that as a new generation of Americans reach homebuying age, they have different expectations about what the process should involve. That means they want a more streamlined experience and one infused with technology. Indeed, she added, consumers may expect to have the very items the real estate industry, in general, has so far failed to accomplish, such as an all-in-one buying experience.
“We all have to be really honest with ourselves about this,” Yannaccone advised the packed ballroom at the Aria Resort and Casino.
Moderator Clelia Peters (left) and Sue Yannaccone at Inman Connect Las Vegas Tuesday | Image by AJ Canaria Creative Services
Yannaccone’s comments immediately followed a presentation from real estate analyst Mike DelPrete, who shared data that suggested disruptors such as eXp Realty are making gains at the expense of legacy companies, such as Anywhere.
Like Yannaccone, DelPrete said the real estate industry is in a state of transition. But his take was that the present might be akin to the moment in which Netflix bested Blockbuster — with the legacy brands in the position of the now-defunct brick-and-mortar video rental company.
Yannaccone didn’t weigh in specifically on DelPrete’s comments, but she did argue that her company is well-positioned to survive this moment of transition — comments that offer a counterpoint to DelPrete’s Netflix-Blockbuster analogy. She pointed out that the company has used its revenue lately to pay down debt, among other things, and that it’s now consequently in the position of being able to invest more in new tools and modernization than its rivals.
She also said that Anywhere has the “biggest data set within the industry to fuel these types of things.”
Later, moderator Clelia Peters pointed out that most real estate professionals probably don’t think of Anywhere when they think of companies on the cutting edge of industry tech. But Yannaccone countered that compared to the past, “if you talk to agents and brokers who are with us you’d find a very different perspective today on what we’re delivering on the technology front.”
She sees technology as something that amplifies and streamlines performance, but not something that replaces the relationships on which the housing business is built, Yannaccone went on to explain.
“Technology in any form is an enabler,” Yannaccone said. “It augments the relationship. It provides a greater connection.”
Ultimately, Yannaccone advised real estate professionals to “future-proof” their businesses and to look for past investments that are no longer paying off. But her conclusion was that while the industry may be reaching multiple crossroads, Anywhere’s specific brokerage model is well-positioned to thrive going forward.
“I think the brokerage model of the future is a model where we continue to drive significant value to our agents and customers,” she said. “I believe strongly in the brokerage model.”
