February 24, 2021

Industry Relations Episode 60: Unpacking the Panic Around Zillow’s Acquisition of ShowingTime – with Nick Bailey, Chief Customer Officer at RE/MAX

54 minutes

As the real estate industry has evolved, we’ve been trained to focus on who owns the data. And Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime has many concerned about sharing their data with the proptech giant. But what if hoarding your data is not the only way to compete with a company like Zillow? What if it’s not really about access to the data but what you do with it?

Nick Bailey is the Chief Customer Officer at RE/MAX. With nearly 25 years of industry experience, Nick served as an agent, broker and proptech vendor before becoming the head of a major real estate franchise. On this episode of Industry Relations, Nick joins Rob and Greg to share his take on Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime and what’s behind the industry’s emotionally-charged reaction.

Nick offers insight on how the data Zillow acquired was already publicly available, explaining why that information doesn’t necessarily give the tech company a competitive advantage and reminding us that it’s not unusual for companies at scale to offer various products and services to the industry at large. Listen in for Nick’s perspective on what we can do to improve the process of buying or selling a home for consumers and find out why you shouldn’t panic about Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime.

What’s Discussed: 

Nick’s background as an agent, broker, tech vendor and head of a major real estate franchise

Why Nick sees Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime as one tech company acquiring another to make the process of buying and selling homes easier for consumers

How ShowingTime’s market share influenced the industry’s emotionally-charged reaction to its acquisition

Nick’s argument that the data Zillow has acquired was already publicly available

How Nick addresses the objection that the ShowingTime acquisition forces agents and brokers to provide Zillow with a competitive advantage

How it’s not unusual for companies at scale to offer various products and services (e.g.: RE/MAX’s acquisition of Motto Mortgage)

What Nick is doing to educate agents around the spirit of cooperation in the industry

How Nick thinks about whether Zillow is a RE/MAX competitor

What the real estate industry can do to improve the fragmented process of buying or selling a home

Nick’s insight on what differentiates RE/MAX in a competitive industry that includes a growing number of iBuyers

The trend toward a greater concentration of power among fewer agents and how that might contribute to the panic around Zillow

Nick’s advice for MLS, franchisor and large brokerage CEOs on using data to identify trends and create contingency plans accordingly

Connect with Nick:

Nick at RE/MAX

Nick on LinkedIn

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Resources:

ShowingTime’s Press Release on Its Acquisition by Zillow

Nick’s Video on Zillow’s Acquisition of ShowingTime

Market Leader

Rob’s Post on Zillow, ShowingTime & Paranoid Realtors

First App

Steve Murray at REAL Trends

Motto Mortgage

NAR Code of Ethics

We Are RE/MAX on Facebook

Brad Inman’s Piece on Zillow & ShowingTime

Gary Keller’s 2021 Family Reunion Vision Speech Recap

The Art of the CMA: Win Hearts, Minds, and Loyalty by Mastering Real Estate’s Most Versatile Tool by Greg Robertson

Dave Liniger at RE/MAX

Our Sponsors:

Cloud Agent Suite

Notorious VIP

...more

View all episodes

By Rob Hahn and Greg Robertson

4.7

3535 ratings