Angry Birds and Angry real estate agents putting all their eggs in one basket.
Taking over realestate.com.au and domain.com.au
Is it a dream or a reality? I recently participated in a discussion about realestate.com.au and domain.com.au on the forum business2.
It was a great article and evoked a lot of interesting discussions, as also does any facebook status that mentions the real estate portals. ( Yes, I have had quite a few discussions online)
The blog was about whether any…ONE… would or could, eventually knock www.realestate.com.au off their perch in Australia.
The author David Platter clearly thought no.
(For the record – Even though realestate.com.au might be the biggest player Australia wide, it doesn’t mean it is the biggest in every area. For instance on the Lower North Shore in Sydney, statistics we’ve compiled, stack Domain as number 1, next followed by our own website, then re.com a slow 3rd.)
Going back to David’s article, he called it a fantasy that anyone could or would be able to take over – He said, ‘You’re dreaming’.
Sorry David, I personally think it’s very possible. 🙂 And I hope I’m right.
The way the internet is changing, it could be sooner rather than later.
The internet is making everything more and more niched, so easily.
Who could it be?
Google is a force to be reckoned with, as is Facebook or any other social media site. Just think, Apple started with computers and now they are one of the largest sellers of mobile phones in the world. Who knows who will come up with another option in the future. I know that there are plenty of people thinking about it. Real estate is a worldwide industry, so there is a lot of money to be made. We all know that a lot of real estate agents are not happy with the current provider and would jump ship if another viable option was to present itself. Imagine if that someone, came along with the vision, the infrastructure and had the credibility and the certainty to convince the others it would ok to move.
Yes, Google did try to introduce properties for sale with Google maps, and it didn’t work very well. (This was a free site) Google may go down the road of putting properties for sale with their location based searches and maps. It would be well worth their time.
Would Richard Branson enter the market? He likes to appear as the underdog AND he likes to make lots of money of course. 🙂
Will all agents unanimously join an industry owned site? ( would be nice….. )
I think, the main thing that’s obvious, is that real estate agents need to take control of their own businesses and their own destiny. We need to NOT put all of our eggs in one basket. Otherwise someone else could take over, then jack the prices up, the same as the others have done.
Out of Control – It makes agents angry. 
When someone is controlling your business and charging astronomical prices…. It is a debilitating feeling.
Some agents are scared to speak out, as they rely on realestate.com.au so heavily. They are generally the ones with all their eggs in one basket.
What we can do moving forward –
Look at the fees you are paying to the real estate portals….. imagine if you invested that money into your own website. (An example of a website using internet marketing strategies, go to our real estate website here.)
Remember, anything you add to your website is there forever, and it’s yours forever. Anything you add to the real estate portals is not your property. They own the website and they gain the benefits.
I have a few other thoughts as well, that I am going to keep to myself for now. That’s the topic of another blog.
There are many other ways to skin a cat.
Would love to hear your thoughts….
Lisa B. helps real estate agents to use the internet to kick butt online.
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It would indeed be interesting to see someone challenge REA’s market dominance. I know a few people have tried (and failed). It’s a big mountain to climb but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
For now all we can do is spread our net wide and make sure our own solutions (be they Social Media based or otherwise) are as robust and scaleable as possible.
Thanks for your comment Tony. :). Jay Abraham, says exactly that. He says to always work on having multiple pillars or marketing arms to generate your leads coming in. That you need multiple ways to attract customers – you can’t rely on only one or two major sources to support your business. If those one or two sources fail, the effects could be devastating.