Industry change won’t happen until we have more women in real estate. On the surface, this sentence makes no sense as woman dominate the industry. Well, dig a little deeper.
In Part-one of, “Why Things Never Change” we published a list of the leading real estate brokerages in the United States. Not a single one of those companies was founded by a woman. Women are agents, office managers, associate brokers and sit at every table of our industry except one, the venture capital table.
I am certain there are many female Founder/Brokers throughout the United States. But they are not easy to find. Long time Atlantans will remember Jenny Pruitt. Shark Tank fans know Barbara Corcoran. Both women founded real estate brokerages that mirrored their male counterparts. Both sold or were bought out many years ago. We all know Rhonda Duffy. She is so unique she stands alone. When it comes to change in the Atlanta real estate market, Duffy is the GOAT. Again, she is Atlanta only.
Is there a national brokerage founded and driven by a woman?
Another oddity that makes no sense: the National Association of Realtors (NAR) didn’t have a female President until 1992! Sure, I can see that dynamic in the 1950’s and 1960s. But not having a female President until the Clinton Administration is bizarre. Equally sad, NAR has had only 2 additional female Presidents since 1992. I am not a big fan of NAR, but the imbalance of female representation at the top sends a signal. A blinking light that says those in charge aren’t comfortable with giving the keys to woman for very long. Three female NAR Presidents in a 100+ years isn’t exactly driving the car.
The real estate industry needs female drivers. From where will our new female leaders emerge?
Once again, I vote for Atlanta, Georgia.
Atlanta is the largest, most diverse, non-NAR marketing in the United States. This means we are allowed to be different. We don’t have to follow NAR rules. We can create anew. Where else in the United States does this dynamic exist? It doesn’t. It’s only in Atlanta.
What else does Atlanta have? Very large, wealthy, and growing communities of color. In our last blog we discussed niche-focused real estate companies catering to the specific needs of a community. Helping to solve problems and issues that have long been overlooked by the dated real estate traditions founded by white men in the 1970s.
Wanted: Women of Color
I can only speak from my experiences over the last fifteen years, but in terms of “sales”, women of color outsell their male counterparts many times over. Sorry guys, women are lapping you on the course. I am not saying there aren’t any successful Black, Asian, or Latino men. I am saying there are a whole lot more women of color who are doing very well.
Quick: name either the largest Black or Asian real estate brokerage in Atlanta? Is there one? Should there be? If there are real estate brokerages specific to communities of color, they better be run by a woman.
Investors, stop putting money in the same old real estate ways of the past. Cross the chasm. Invest in the woman of Atlanta.
Agents, starting a brokerage is expensive. Starting a DBA is cheap. Both get the agent brand out in the marketplace. Wynd Realty encourages agents to create their own DBAs. DBAs in the agent’s own voice. DBAs brands of the agent’s own making. This is what is missing in today’s real estate. Under the NAR monopoly, all real estate seems to live under a single detached, one-size-fits-all national real estate narrative. Problem is we don’t live under that narrative anymore.
Wynd Realty is designed to be an agent’s incubator. The Proctor and Gamble of Atlanta real estate. No one knows what is next. All you have to do is try. And DBAs are ideal for this. At their low cost, DBAs are like little “realty gardens”. Feed and take care of them, and then hopefully, you can watch them grow!
For more information on our DBA Program. Anyone interested in developing a DBA specifically for communities of color; contact me directly: jeff@wyndrealty.com
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