Tom Rossiter of RESAAS: Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry

An Interview With Jason Hartman

Real estate is consistently inconsistent — Having lived in a variety of countries, and help real estate companies in many, the diversity this industry has is incredible. What works well in one market, will be the opposite in another. Be ready to be flexible.

As a part of my series about the ‘Five Things You Need To Know To Succeed In The Real Estate Industry’, I had the pleasure of interviewing Tom Rossiter.

Tom Rossiter is President & CEO of RESAAS, the world’s largest real estate technology platform. RESAAS connects 500,000 real estate agents globally, and powers technology for some of real estate’s biggest brands. Tom is a thought leader on the real estate industry, proptech and accessible interactive design.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the “backstory” about what brought you to the Real Estate industry?

Relocating to North America introduced me to a very social group of professionals: real estate agents. As I spent more time with agents socially, the value of their network to them became more and more apparent. My company, RESAAS, was born to enable real estate agents to be as social as they are in real life, but using technology to increase the reach and scale of their businesses.

Can you share with our readers the most interesting or amusing story that occured to you in your career so far? Can you share the lesson or take away you took out of that story?

Do you have a favorite “life lesson quote”? Can you share a story or example of how that was relevant to you in your life?

People have two ears and one mouth for a reason. This is a great summary of the importance of listening. An important reminder for us all that when we listen, we learn, which in turn can unlock new opportunities.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

Always. There are two main projects RESAAS has been working on.

1) We are building a dedicated industry platform for the Commercial Real Estate sector, which has been met with the endorsement and backing of many large industry firms.

2) We have successfully managed to find a way to transit referral fees between agents and their brokers electronically. RESAAS already helps agents conduct new referral business which lands them additional income. Now we’ve built a way to close the loop, and move the funds at the end of the transaction without having to chase down a cheque!

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

RESAAS is the only industry platform built specifically for licensed real estate agents to leverage their peers to generate new business opportunities. We are now operating in 160 countries, and with that global reach comes an incredible ability to connect the best agents and brokers internationally to bring them more business.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

Ok. Thank you for all that. Let’s now jump to the main core of our interview. Can you share 3 things that most excite you about the Real Estate industry? If you can please share a story or example.

1 — Real estate professionals play such an important role in helping us all realize our dreams of home ownership.

2 — Real estate is such a relational industry.

3 — The real estate industry is thought to be highly competitive, and yet we’ve proven it to be extremely collaborative.

Can you share 3 things that most concern you about the industry? If you had the ability to implement 3 ways to reform or improve the industry, what would you suggest? Please share stories or examples if possible.

1 — The number 1 issue facing the real estate industry today is lack of supply. There simply are not enough homes available for sale in the United States; there hasn’t been for some time and forecasts show this isn’t going to get solved any time soon.

2 — With limited supply, the number of transactions will inherently drop, meaning less opportunities for professionals within the sector.

3 — With such a strong real estate market through 2020 and 2021, the brokerage business has become even more competitive. Competition between brokers to recruit and retain their agents has hit an all-time high, resulting in a race to the bottom for broker splits. It will be interesting to see what happens to the number of brokerages around today, and their economic model, over the next 24–48 months.

What advice would you give to other real estate leaders to help their teams to thrive and to create a really fantastic work culture?

Work culture cannot be bought or forced. It’s a reflection of the people you surround yourself with, and their commitment to the task at hand. Leaders who build teams based on the people, rather than the specific role, always have more success.

Ok, here is the main question of our interview. You are a “Real Estate Insider”. If you had to advise someone about 5 non intuitive things one should know to succeed in the Real Estate industry, what would you say? Can you please give a story or an example for each?

1 — Real estate is consistently inconsistent
Having lived in a variety of countries, and help real estate companies in many, the diversity this industry has is incredible. What works well in one market, will be the opposite in another. Be ready to be flexible.

2 — Say yes

Success in the real estate industry is intrinsically linked to the relationships formed and value you can bring in those settings. Saying yes to new opportunities usually opens doors, introduces you to new people, and expands your circles. This is an easy way to build out your sphere of influence over the medium and long-term, and if tended to well, will yield positive results.

3 — Say no

In a transactional business, it’s easy to chase the next bright light. Taking on too many different opportunities is a good way to limit your potential. Build a “no list” which contains items you know don’t contribute directly to your end goals. Be diligent with it and get comfortable saying no.

4 — Over-deliver

Under-promising in real estate is tough, as this will impact the number of listings you are selected to represent. But that doesn’t stop you executing on the other side of this infamous saying: over-deliver. It often doesn’t take much to delight a customer, being over-communicative is an easy place to begin. Little and often goes a long way in real estate. Remember: a happy client is a referring client.

5 — Be there

One common hallmark of incredibly successful people is their punctuality. It costs exactly nothing to be on time. Be there when you say you’ll be there. Don’t be late.

Because of your position, you are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

It’s a well-known adage that surrounding yourself with positive people yields a more positive outlook and thus outcome. If more of us see the glass as half full, and we pay it forward, the repercussions will be a happier set of people, a more productive environment, and likely the added benefit of better results.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Real estate agents and brokers should join RESAAS. Our website is: www.resaas.com.

Real estate industry executives, technologists and thought leaders can connect with me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomrossiter/.

Thank you for your time, and your excellent insights! We wish you continued success.