There's Still Money in Real Estate

[#1]

Unless you've been in a concrete bunker for the last couple of years, it's pretty clear that the real estate market has seen better days (oh and by the way, that bunker is probably worth a lot less now than when you moved in  ). With the one-two punch of decreased demand and shrinking credit available, it's never been a tougher time to buy or sell a home.

That's why it's pretty amazing that Redfin, the real estate industry's first online brokerage for buying and selling homes (and a Lithium customer), announced today that 51% of people who bought a home through Redfin reported that the company's online community influenced their decision to work with the brokerage, an increase from 30% the year prior. You can read the full press release here, but here's a few of the numbers listed for you:

• Visits to Redfin's online community have increased 415% year over year.
• Prior to making a purchase, over 22% of Redfin buyers had posted a question to the community.
• Redfin's revenues have increased by more than 40%, while the company has reduced marketing program expenses 82%.
• Redfin's Net Promoter Score, a measure of customer satisfaction, has increased by 5%.

Revenues up, costs down, customer satisfaction increased. Can you say business value? Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman can:

"Redfin gives consumers four times more information about a listing than most other websites, and thousands of customer reviews of our agents, but this data just sits there without a place for people to discuss it. An open community where anyone can agonize over what to offer on a listing or rant and rave about our service is the key to Redfin's credibility, and the only sustainable way to drive revenues."

The real estate market isn't back, times are tough and customers are harder to come by. In fact, name the industry and that statement is still true in today's tough economy. But smart companies that embrace their customers and find ways to identify and enable their advocates can flourish even in adversity.

So what part of your business are your customers helping you with today?

Photo by Tumanc

[#2]

An interesting note is that commercial real estate lease rates have not moved down near as much as housing prices.

The commercial strip mall locations have moved downward in lease rates perhaps 2-4% over the past year or two, but nothing close to the 30% seen in the same residential market.