Written by Jim the Realtor

March 25, 2020

Listing agents hire Showingtime to schedule appointments for cooperating agents to show a house for sale.

As of yesterday, California showings were down 55% from the first week of the year, which doesn’t sound so bad for a state that is lockdown.  But next week will probably be worse.

The California Association of Realtors, one of the most powerful lobbying groups in Sacramento, has petitioned the governor to change the status of realtors to be essential workers – with stipulations. We can’t apply for unemployment, so there has to be a way for us to keep working.

3 Comments

  1. The Old Man

    What’s going on in the real estate industrial complex? My son in Seattle sent me an article about Zillow making major cuts. Was a link to article about Compass cuts also though I didn’t read that

  2. Jim the Realtor

    We don’t know if it is smart business practice or low dough.

    Zillow claims to have plenty of money, and them stopping the purchasing of homes directly is probably smart for a novice flipper who is way out over their skis.

    As for Compass? The CEO reduced his pay to zero, and the executive team took a 25% cut too. Then they laid off 15% of the staff.

    The amount of staff we have is a great idea, but there’s a limit. The employees who work for Compass haven’t sold homes before, so their duties are purely clerical in nature. How much clerical help do the agents need?

    I wouldn’t be surprised if more layoffs happen, especially as we approach the IPO. We don’t need as much help, so it may or may not be a money issue.

  3. The Old Man

    Gotcha. The article was in a tech publication and I think it was probably addressing techies. My son said a lot of the real estate companies want to position themselves as tech companies which are more highly valued.

Klinge Realty Group - Compass

Jim Klinge
Klinge Realty Group

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