Inman Connect Austin kicked off with a spirited debate about Clear Cooperation and the disconnect between brokerage leaders and agents over whether to keep it.
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An off-the-cuff poll tossed into the audience at Inman Connect Austin on Wednesday revealed a conspicuous chasm between panelists on stage who stood by NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy and hundreds of attendees, who voted in large numbers to abolish the divisive pocket listing prohibition.
Inman founder Brad Inman launched into the debate without a pause, asking, “How many of you think we should be able to do pocket listings? Just yell out ‘yes’ if you think that’s a good decision.”
Brad Inman at Inman Connect Austin 2024
The audience overwhelmingly voted to dismantle Clear Cooperation, with their “yeses” reverberating through Brazos Hall. From the stage, eXp Realty Chief Marketing Officer Wendy Forsythe, ERA Real Estate Brand President Alex Vidal and Anywhere Brands Executive Advisor Sherry Chris showed their support for the policy, but their “no’s” were nearly drowned out by the commotion of the first vote.
“In 30 years, I think, as long as I’ve been in the B2B side of the business, I’ve seen a disconnect between leadership and the rank and file,” Inman said. ” You’re leaders. You get paid a lot. What’s [the disconnect] about?”
Wendy Forsythe
Forsythe was the first to pipe up, noting that while much of her day-to-day is focused on leading eXp’s marketing strategies and initiatives, she’s still a licensed agent. And if she was still in sales today, she’d want to have access to as many listings as possible to make sure her client — buyer or seller – would have the best outcome.
“If Alex [Vidal] is a buyer, we’re working together, I want to be able to go to one source to find all the properties that might fit his and Sam’s needs,” she said. “Without Clear Cooperation, I’m not going to have that ability to do that. So to me, that doesn’t make me as effective at my job as I would want to be.”
Chris quickly followed up, noting that most, if not all, brokerages would suffer in an industry where pocket listings were allowed on a broader scale than they are now, as Clear Cooperation already has an exemption for office exclusives.
“I’ll go on to say that there’s no one company that has a majority of the market share here in the U.S.,” she said. “So there’s not one specific brand for a national real estate company that would actually benefit from an agent’s perspective to a large extent by eliminating Clear Cooperation.”
Alex Vidal
Meanwhile, Vidal took the middle road, declining to make “broad stroke” remarks on whether pocket listings should exist. Instead, at the behest of Inman, the ERA Real Estate brand president turned his attention to how agents and consumers have adjusted to buyer-broker compensation and written agreement rules.
Despite the initial mass confusion, Vidal said things have still been “working out great” as the changes have created a unique opportunity for agents to step up and be the trusted advisors that guide consumers through a new landscape.
“That shit show creates the opportunity for us to be proactive,” he said.
Chris echoed Vidal’s sentiments while noting consumers need the helping — and experienced — hand of a real estate agent now more than ever as they navigate mortgage rate changes, affordability concerns, understanding written buyer agreements, negotiating commissions, and potentially, a future with more pocket listings.
Sherry Chris
“One of the most important things as broker-owners and agents is to educate the consumer,” Chris said. “It starts at the brokerage level or the brand level where we educate the brokers and agents … and then that trickles down to the agent educating the consumer.”
“I’ve been in this industry for almost 40 years, and the most important part of a transaction will continue to be the relationship between the consumer and the agent,” she added. “I strongly believe that, but we need to make sure that we have a relationship built on trust. And for me, that trust is, as a listing agent, exposing the property to as many potential buyers as possible.”
Although the panel ended on a bright note with Forsythe encouraging agents to work “through the messy middle” and lean into the opportunity to build a strong personal brand, the battle between leaders and agents over the future of the industry is far from over.
“I think it just shows how distrustful agents in the industry are of their leaders,” Brad Inman told a reporter following the panel. “They’re not buying it.”