Editor’s Note: Dennis Fassett is a former corporate finance executive turned real estate investing “Cash Flow Mercenary.” Dennis specializes in single-family and multi-family cash flow properties and thoroughly enjoys assisting his fellow investors with their own strategies, including how to buy your first apartment building.
As an ongoing contributor to Mogul’s “Market News Updates,” Mr. Fassett provides us with his own unique, lively, and thought-provoking commentary on the timely industry news and events of today that are impacting our industry. And be sure to check out his other super-helpful Market News Updates. For now, enjoy...
From Dennis Fassett, Cash Flow Mercenary...
Well, well, well. So there’s something under the sun that makes our “good friends” over at Zillow quake in their boots.
And from where I sit, I don’t blame them one bit.
Don’t look now, but Godzilla – the evil empire – and the destroyer of markets everywhere – is now looking to go into the real estate agent referral business.
With all the shrill hysteria that agents are funneling in Zillow’s direction, I can’t wait to see how they react to this news.
I mean, I haven’t seen an industry trying harder to prevent the advancement of technology since the old buggy whip makers.
I read an article on this recently. It stated:
“Amazon appears to be preparing to offer consumers the option to hire real estate agents through its professional services marketplace, likely in exchange for referral fees.”
Yep. Amazon is getting ready to cannonball into the real estate business.
They said that the Amazon service would mark the entry of yet another internet behemoth into the real estate marketing space, joining Facebook and Google as a potential source of business for agents.
Hide and Go Seek
It appears that Amazon’s move into the real estate agent space was discovered when some folks found a placeholder page on Amazon’s site that offered users the option to “Hire a Realtor.”
The page has been taken down, but it looks like it had been indexed in Amazon’s Home and Business Services section, a vendor marketplace that the company has gradually rolled out over the past two years.
It also looks like it will work the same way Amazon’s Business Services work for other professionals, in that agents would pay referral fees to Amazon in exchange for new business.
Amazon has been tight lipped about the service and is not commenting on it. But it’s clear that Amazon has been working hard behind the scenes to figure out how to integrate agents into its professional services marketplace.
They think that real estate agents are a natural fit for their marketplace, where users can already hire home inspectors and interior designers.
The article I read stated that it’s easy to see Amazon prompting homeowners or buyers to add property photos or specify their price range if they were hiring an agent through the marketplace.
And guess what?
The article went on to speculate that, as with so much else on Amazon, its Home and Business Services section also features reviews for participating service providers, raising the possibility that Amazon could become a huge provider of real estate agent reviews.
Can you imagine the angst that Amazon reviews are going to cause for agents?
I’m sure it will be epic.
There’s no telling when Amazon is going to launch their service, of even if they’re really going to.
The only thing that is certain is that nothing stops technology from marching forward. Even in real estate.
Which is bad news for those modern-day buggy whip makers.
I’m Listening…
What do you think of this potential Amazon bomb? Share below.
Dennis Fassett
earned a BS in Economics and followed that up with an MBA in finance. After working and corporate finance and banking for several years, he started buying single family houses, and quickly built a very nice portfolio of cash flowing rentals. When the credit markets started to dry up and he couldn’t get any additional single family mortgages he shifted his focus to apartment buildings. He now has over $3 million in rental real estate. He manages most of it his self and still has a day job. Dennis has even created his own Private Equity fund to buy apartment buildings.