John Rebchook is a former Rocky Mountain News reporter with more than 30 years of experience in writing and communications... 
Lane Hornung says "Super Teams" will increasingly back up Realtors.
It may take a village to raise a child, but increasingly it takes a team to sell a home.
Lane Hornung, President, CEO and co-founder of 8z Real Estate and COhomefinder.com, explains why he is a big believer in the team concept of selling homes.
Horung recently sat down with John Rebchook to discuss what he sees as a growing – and necessary – trend in real estate sales. A Q&A with Hornung is a monthly feature of InsideRealEstateNews.
IREN: Lane, what do you mean when you say a team is the best way to sell a home?
Lane: What I mean by a team is not necessarily the team we have seen in the past. In the past, you had a team built around a power listing agent. The team I am talking about is a complete staff for all the agents in a company. A super team if you will. In a typical brokerage, the agents are basically on their own. They all are doing their own thing, each in his or her own way. A super team has a staff of professionals that are not agents. They support the agents by specializing in one of the activities that is needed in today’s market for a real estate transaction to be successful. This lets the REALTOR focus on the client and their needs, to be the market expert, not a jack of all trades.
IREN: What are some staff experts?
Lane: For instance, an online marketing specialist, a social media specialist, or a home stager.
IREN: How is this beneficial to the Realtor?
Lane: All of this frees up the Realtor to know the market, and translate this knowledge to the benefit of their clients. It’s hard to be a market expert, plus be an expert in SEO and online exposure and blogging.
IREN: Does the team concept mean better service for the consumer?
Lane: Absolutely! What it translates into is a Realtor who is absolutely laser-focused on knowing a very specific geographic area or a specific market niche, and that is what the consumer is expecting and what they need. Supporting staff can pick up all the other pieces, and let the Realtor focus on the market and what he or she does best – helping consumers find the right home for their lifestyle and pocketbook, or help someone sell their home.
IREN: Lane, you’ve compared Realtors to the medical profession in the past. Is the team concept analogous to how physicians practice medicine?
Lane: Without a doubt. Do you want a doctor who also has to process the X-rays and schedule appointments and do the billing? Of course not. You want a doctor who is studying medicine night and day. You want a Realtor who is studying the market, day in and day out. The good news is that, unlike medicine, know one dies in real estate.
IREN: Lane, you mentioned a Realtor needs to be laser-focused on a specific geographic area. What about Realtors who say they specialize in the entire market? Say the whole Denver metro?
Lane: When you ask a Realtor what market he or she specializes in, and they say the entire Denver metro area, I have to chuckle. I think it is very difficult to even specialize in all of Denver proper. It’s a challenge to specialize in all of Highlands Ranch. Highlands Ranch is very large, with many submarkets.
To really know a market requires that you look at a very specific part of it. You have to be familiar with all of the nuances of a specific neighborhood. If you live in Wash Park, and that is the community you are serving, you will really know and understand it. Naturally, you will come to understand the needs and wants of people looking for a home in the area. The deep market knowledge that can only come through specialization is something that is very good for the consumer.
IREN: Thank you, Lane.
8z Real Estate is a sponsor of InsideRealEstateNews. To learn what 8z Realtors are discussing in the neighborhoods where they specialize, please visit this 8z link.
