Real estate is going through a transitional moment.
Massive consolidation, changing policies and big moves by power players are shifting the tides in favor of those entities with more heft. But Rainy Austin, president of The Agency, believes there’s still very much a place for brands that aren’t part of a huge conglomerate — and especially those that keep consumers at the forefront.
“I think for The Agency, more than ever, it has solidified our value proposition,” Austin said.
She told Inman recently that she isn’t big on the sweeping consolidation that has hit the industry, but she thinks that it may help The Agency set itself apart. She also shared how the brokerage is incorporating AI into its operations today and why she feels optimistic about the spring market.
Below is a condensed version of her conversation with Inman, edited for brevity and clarity.
(Editor’s note: This interview took place before several major announcements in recent days from portals and brokerages regarding coming-soon listings.)
Inman News: What are the biggest challenges facing The Agency’s agents today?
Rainy Hake Austin | The Agency
Rainy Austin: A lot of what we are talking about to our agents has just been the idea of standing out. Obviously, there are fewer listings per agent and, therefore, more competition in winning listings or working with buyers because everyone has seven Realtor friends that they know. So why is it that they’re choosing you as their advisor?
So there’s been a couple of things that we’ve really been talking to people about. One is not just like sitting around waiting for someone to come to you, but as much as the obstacle is the opportunity to create your own inventory.
We have a global partner, Nurit [Coombe], in our Washington, D.C., office, and she was like, “I was the one who put all of my people in their houses, so I know what their preferences are, their family situations. I stay in touch with them. I know what’s going on. I know what’s happening in the market.” She was like, “Hmm, you should actually be moving into a bigger place. You need something that’s different. You would love this person’s house, so you don’t know it yet, but you’re gonna move.”
So she literally makes these things happen and ends up representing the buyers and the sellers on both sides because she really knows her people.
How are you feeling about the spring market, generally?
I am still very optimistic. I know we were expecting a really great start to the year, given that December was up and January was trending that way. Then, with the war and a lot of the geopolitical and economic factors, you started feeling the uncertainty in the market again.
We have a lot of pendings in place. We have a lot of listings coming on board, but I didn’t see as many closings in the first two months of the year as I was expecting. But I feel like that was kind of to be expected with the shift in the world.
I’m already seeing people starting to get back off the sidelines and get back into it with the uptick in pendings and listings, so I’m hoping it was just a moment of holding people’s breaths and that we are going to see the spring market come to life again.
You mentioned having agents use AI a moment ago to scan social media — how else are you coaching agents to use it?
My philosophy as president is, first and foremost, the staff have to use it first. We have to narrow the behaviors and, frankly, if my staff can use AI or technology to become more effective and efficient in their roles, it gives them more time to provide white-glove personalized service to their agents.
What do you think about the ongoing industry consolidation? Is it good or bad for The Agency? What about the consumer?
I think it’s good for The Agency, maybe not great for the consumer, but it’s the reality we find ourselves in. I think for The Agency, more than ever, it has solidified our value proposition.
We started as a boutique regional [firm] 15 years ago in Beverly Hills, and we’ve since grown to be a boutique global luxury lifestyle brand. We have 155 offices across 15 countries with fewer than 3,500 agents. And so we’re still very boutique. Every one of our offices has really high-producing, high-performing agents and some of the most sought after locations around the globe.
But most companies now that are international are huge, right? And they don’t know each other. So, when I say [our] Turks and Caicos [agents] are sharing with Seattle and they’re sharing with Marbella, they know each other. I run a leadership meeting with them monthly, and we all get together, and we’re sharing ideas, we’re talking the best practices. We’re talking about talking points, all the things that are happening in the industry.
I actually feel like we’re breathing rare air in that we, I believe, are the only boutique, global real estate company left. Everyone else is either a small mom and pop or a huge conglomeration. There’s not really any in between anymore.
Even Douglas Elliman or SERHANT., who are growing domestically, they don’t have the international reach that we do. Then, obviously, Compass didn’t have international before, and they didn’t really have a luxury arm before, and they got both of those things with the @properties acquisition, and now with the Anywhere acquisition, but in doing so, they’ve just become a mammoth.
So everyone is sort of owning their place inside of the ecosystem, and the great thing is there’s a place for everyone, and for us, there’s a very specific place that we’ve carved out.
I also wanted to ask you about this battle taking place now between Compass and MLSs and Zillow. Do you think this new partnership between Compass and Redfin to put Compass coming-soons up on their portal is a good thing?
I don’t think it’s a good thing for consumers or for the industry in general. My belief has always been, I’ve never really been a big fan of Clear Cooperation, which, when it was created, was sort of nicknamed ‘The Compass rule.’ They were trying to stop Compass from creating their own MLS.
Since then, they’ve evolved this idea of the pocket or off-market listings and a way to do that and almost like turning Clear Cooperation on its head and being like, well, let’s use the power of our technology to do that.
I do think that there is a value in allowing a real estate professional to advise their clients on how to best market their home. And if that means marketing it off-market for a short term or permanently in some rare, unique situations, then that should be allowed.
I do not think that it’s the right strategy for every single listing, and I think that, as a brokerage, they’ve taken the approach that everyone should do this, and it’s the best approach for everyone — and it’s not really.
Now, brokerage margins are so compressed it’s forcing the brokerage to diversify its model into core services. Obviously, I worked at Compass for several years, and I think that they are an amazing organization with very smart people, but they openly position themselves as a technology company. So what they are pushing is their tech platform and their website, and they’re not shy about that.
But I don’t think that the consumer and agent always understand that that’s what their priority is. They’re not first and foremost a real estate company trying to push the consumer experience — that’s kind of secondary. So I think, to me, that’s visible in this strategy.
What else has been on your mind lately?
There’s so much uncertainty in the world and so much change in the industry, I do think that it’s really easy to get caught up in all of the noise in the headlines. I’m really just trying to focus our team and our industry on being good — and doing good is good business.
Stay focused on our clients and our agents and be creative and innovative and stop resting on our laurels and work to disrupt ourselves so that we don’t continually get disrupted by others and lose control.
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