siliconindia | | September 20188IN MYOPINIONIS THE END NEAR? (FOR TRADITIONAL REAL ESTATE THAT IS)By Terry LeClair, SVP, FirstTeam Real Estate, Southern CaliforniaFor years, entrepreneurs and venture capitalists have wagered against the traditional real estate bro-kerage model and now, in this heated market, we see another round of formidable entrants into the real estate space. To victor in this space ensures impressive financial rewards, but for most will come a failed model with causalities cluttering the land-scape. This begs the question: How is it that such a "broken" business model can endure such outside force and pressure to its perceived profits? How can millions of venture capital dollars not infiltrate the consumer perception and potentially even past negative experiences lived out in past real estate transactions? How can the consumer not want to potentially save hundreds or even thousands of their hard earned dollars? To an outsider, the answers seem simple. That is why so many savvy investors and venture capital compa-nies begin "disrupting" the real es-tate industry by attempting to divert the consumer from traditional Real-tors to their online portals, discount business models, or their so-called innovative technology.As an industry insider and exec-utive at a large, thriving, full-service real estate brokerage, it's hard to sound impartial considering we are in a hand-to-hand battle everyday to take back what we feel is rightfully ours; a consumer who is given the best service, advice and profession-al expertise available. Now don't get me wrong-I know there are con-sumers, maybe some of you reading this article, who have had a poor real estate experience. I feel confident in saying that this is not the typical result that comes with hiring a qual-ified Realtor. Getting back to the disruptive real estate business models, there is no denying that outwardly, they are appealing; they are systematized, efficient, processed driven, scalable, have a pleasant user interface, and are seemingly profitable. All the de-scriptors that bring music to the ears of serial entrepreneurs, like myself. However, the major problem is glar-ingly obvious once you take a closer
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