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Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

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Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#21

Post by malandrew »

mijail wrote: post #16
malandrew wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My mother is a real estate agent and worked in both NY (westchester county) and NC (raleigh) and I grew up helping my mother with myriad activities necessary to list and sell a house You'd be surprised how much work is required to keep the real estate market liquid. I'd say half the work is necessary, some automatable, some not so much. However, a lot of the work doesn't even have much to do with work necessary every…

That's an outstanding list of problems that are all amazing start up ideas. This is where real estate can really be disrupted. These guys, http://bermanvc.com/ are really smart. They invest in real estate related technologies and even invested in YC alum 42floors.

Most real estate startups are complete and utter crap. I've used dozens of pieces of software targeted at real estate agents and I can't think of a more broken software market. It's truly shameful.

Usability is among the worst you will find. This is particularly egregious since RE is filled with some of the most technically incompetent people you've ever met. Some real estate agents are fantastic and have found their calling in that job, but the overwhelming majority of the ones I met ended up in that industry by accident. I tend to joke that if you're too incompetent for all other careers, go ahead and get a real estate license.

One of the biggest problems is that not one solution I've ever used considered flow. They solve small pain points, but none are workable into the more complex workflows that need to be accomplished.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#22

Post by infinii »

philipdlang wrote: post #9
crazygringo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A great broker previews every listing and only shows the best deals. But that's exactly the problem -- the best deals get taken on the spot. Luck, not a good broker, makes you the first one in. And in the end, finding a good apartment, and finding a good broker (with that kind of access) are equivalent problems. In NYC last year it took me almost 3 months to find a decent apartment. I found the broker on Craiglist…

Brokers are compensated for their market knowledge, not just opening doors. The fast that he was "in" with the management company is hugely valuable, and you were able to take advantage of that. 15% is a lot of money, but brokers meet tens of clients each week that don't rent with them, so they are compensated for that low hit rate as well. And yes, many apartments are exclusive so you have to pay a full 15% fee (spl…

What market knowledge are you talking about specifically? I haven't met many brokers who wouldn't sell/rent you a place because they felt it wasn't worth it.

Your argument that the 15% broker fee is to make up for a "low hit rate" is pathetic. Many people working in retail see just as many clients with low hit rates, yet they don't make exorbitant six figure salaries.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#23

Post by jcampbell1 »

leelin wrote: post #3

Hey, this is Lee from RentHop. One thing that isn't very clear from the writeup: we went through a LONG trough of sorrow before finding our current pivot. That's a story for another day...

It looks like you guys currently own the SERPs. Congrats on that. There is no way to do that without a ton of patience persistence, and not pivoting far.

I used your service 2 years ago to find my current apartment (I found it without a broker, and sight unseen). It worked great for me, and I am glad to see you guys are doing well.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#24

Post by herval »

pippy wrote: post #17

No. The best way to disrupt an industry is to do something unrelated - something crazy and something different. You'll never break the mould and explode by copying incumbent industries line of thought. For example the real estate industry has been upset most in New Zealand by trademe, a company started by someone who wanted an easier way to buy a used toaster. The industry here is still scrambling to catch up, instea…

Working in an industry is a very good way of acquiring contacts and potential customers - it also allows you to REALLY get to know its problems from the inside. "Thinking different" with data and customers is usually better than taking random guesses in an industry you know nothing about...

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#25

Post by untog »

pippy wrote: post #17

No. The best way to disrupt an industry is to do something unrelated - something crazy and something different. You'll never break the mould and explode by copying incumbent industries line of thought. For example the real estate industry has been upset most in New Zealand by trademe, a company started by someone who wanted an easier way to buy a used toaster. The industry here is still scrambling to catch up, instea…

You'll never break the mould and explode by copying incumbent industries line of thought.

No-one said that having prior knowledge means you have to copy lines of thought. Working as a broker will give you valuable insight into how the process works, which gives you two things: the ability to identify easily solved pain points, and the knowledge of potential problems down the road.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#26

Post by sliverstorm »

pippy wrote: post #17

No. The best way to disrupt an industry is to do something unrelated - something crazy and something different. You'll never break the mould and explode by copying incumbent industries line of thought. For example the real estate industry has been upset most in New Zealand by trademe, a company started by someone who wanted an easier way to buy a used toaster. The industry here is still scrambling to catch up, instea…

Engineers have a tendency to underestimate anything outside their discipline. "How hard can it be!?"

You would do well to remember that, when looking at an unrelated industry and decided that you, having zero knowledge of that industry, are obviously the best-positioned to completely revolutionize said industry.

Really, the biggest breakthroughs appear to come from someone who mixes expertise in two disparate fields. Expertise in the one field teaches you about the constraints on that field, and expertise in the second field gives you new tools to attack the constraints of the first.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#27

Post by phillmv »

malandrew wrote: post #13
robrenaud wrote: post #2

To me, broker fees in NYC seem so crazy. Can someone justify them? Is opening up a few doors really worth 3k?

My mother is a real estate agent and worked in both NY (westchester county) and NC (raleigh) and I grew up helping my mother with myriad activities necessary to list and sell a house You'd be surprised how much work is required to keep the real estate market liquid. I'd say half the work is necessary, some automatable, some not so much. However, a lot of the work doesn't even have much to do with work necessary every…

Ugh, no way.

From what I understand Toronto is a fraction of the craziness of the New York market, and here any listing would get snapped up pretty quickly no matter where you might post it.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#28

Post by natep »

PakG1 wrote: post #20
crazygringo wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A great broker previews every listing and only shows the best deals. But that's exactly the problem -- the best deals get taken on the spot. Luck, not a good broker, makes you the first one in. And in the end, finding a good apartment, and finding a good broker (with that kind of access) are equivalent problems. In NYC last year it took me almost 3 months to find a decent apartment. I found the broker on Craiglist…

But that's exactly the problem -- the best deals get taken on the spot. Reminds me of: http://raganwald.posterous.com/canadian-women-are-waiting-fo... And then that kind of led me to remember this: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2005/01/27.html Some of the parallels are striking.

Hmm...does that mean that dating sites might be able to improve the user experience of 'fit' users by banning/hellbanning the 'unfit' users? Maybe that's what OKCupid is doing with the whole "Congrats! You're attractive" feature.

Re: Want To Disrupt An Industry? Try Actually Working In It First

#29

Post by jim_h »

crazygringo wrote: post #6
leelin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny, that's exactly what I thought 3 years ago... I think the root of the problem is there are too many available apartments but most of them are a waste of your time to view. A great broker previews every listing and only shows the best deals. Similarly for the landlord, most renters who come see the apartment will not take it, so having brokers do the showings saves the landlord a lot of time and effort.

> A great broker previews every listing and only shows the best deals. But that's exactly the problem -- the best deals get taken on the spot. Luck, not a good broker, makes you the first one in. And in the end, finding a good apartment, and finding a good broker (with that kind of access) are equivalent problems. In NYC last year it took me almost 3 months to find a decent apartment. I found the broker on Craiglist…

I had similar experiences. Some brokers don't really put much effort with rental and showed whatever they had. One broker 'forgot' our scheduled viewing since he was out in the Hamptons showing a house.

I did find a nice apartment with good view (craigslist), but ultimately decided against it due to busy street and location. Also hated the fact I did all the searching, but I still had to go through broker and pay their fees. All the buildings managed by this particular management company used a single RE and there was no way around it.

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