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The likes of Purplebricks and other real estate disruptors are here to stay, and agents should spend more time coming to terms with this fact than trying to belittle them, according to one of the country’s leading CEOs.
Starr Partners CEO Douglas Driscoll said that, instead of pushing back against the so-called disruptors, agents would be better off educating consumers about their own value propositions.
“Upfront fees aside, the likes of Purplebricks are basically a diluted version of the traditional real estate model, and it’s up to the consumer to decide who to list their home with,” Mr Driscoll said.
“Rather than continue to belittle them, we should be concentrating on how we can better demonstrate our own point of difference.”
Mr Driscoll added that agents should bear in mind that “price only becomes a consideration in the absence of value”.
He also said that in the UK, Purplebricks is now the largest real estate “agent” by listings.
“Admittedly, I’m not the company’s biggest fan myself, but we have to acknowledge that there’s an emerging consumer appetite out there for the model.
“We should start focusing less on bringing them down, because to the best of my knowledge, they are not culpable of malpractice. Pouring salt into someone else’s sugar doesn’t make yours any sweeter.”
Purplebricks launched in Australia in August 2016.
At the time, CEO and co-founder Michael Bruce said that the company intended to shake up the “unfair” Australian system.
Mr Bruce added that Australia was a natural next step for Purplebricks.
“With such an obsession for property here and the traditional real estate model being the only way to sell a home, the time is right to offer sellers a fairer, more transparent and cost-effective way to replace unfair high-cost commissions.”
Mr Bruce promised that Purplebricks would change the real estate landscape with its combination of local property experts and online accessibility.
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