The Real Estate Ecosystem is the Problem.

Early in my career in the business development world of real estate I was told three things 1. real estate agents are prima donnas, 2. you’ll never go hungry as a real estate agent, and 3. real estate has been and always will be a belly to belly business.

The first pertained to my role as a consultant to some of the nation’s most storied real estate companies — real estate agents may vary in the level of service they provide their clients, but the writing was on the wall — they expect nothing but the highest tier of service from their vendors and consultants. It didn’t matter if it was a franchised operation with part-time agents or a luxury brokerage servicing only gated communities, I had to provide five star service. In doing so I was able to build a strong client portfolio as well as a continued relationship with many in the industry.

The second is more of an inside joke for anyone who’s been in the industry before RESPA. Real estate brokers and brokerages used to bargain morning office meeting time for bagels and coffee from vendors soliciting agent business. This was something I believed devalued a brand and its services, and therefore never jumped in on. I also avoided it because the type of brokerages that participated in such trade and barter practices were not my typical target client.

Third, real estate has and always will be a belly to belly business. Before and during the creation of Metis Real Estate, I was solicited by many real estate start-ups built with a Sand Hill start-up mentality. Everyone wanted to disrupt, and to collect a fee without ever leaving the chair behind their screen. The start up community wants to disrupt, or “uberfy” or “airbnb” everything. However, real estate transactions are not simple cab rides, or temporary vacation housing.

Real estate agents and brokers are good people trying to do the right thing, but in an industry where the next paycheck is not guaranteed and everyone wants part of their commission, few see little option but to ask for as much commission as can be negotiated upon. Is this fair? I’m sure at some point the expected 6% was, but where did the 6% number come from and just how much remains ‘fair?’ Take our market, Silicon Valley, where the average home is just over $1,000,000 today, for example. Is $60,000 out of the home owner’s equity a fair price to pay an agent to sell that home? My co-founder and I do not believe so, and without going into too much detail, we realized we can start at a 4% fee and put real money into home sellers’ pockets for them to create life moments with. You see, there is much more at stake when it comes to a real estate transaction than when it comes to booking your next vacation — choosing Metis over a traditional brokerage is very different from choosing a home share or car share over a traditional hotel and taxi experience. It is not just a week’s time and a few thousand dollars at stake here, but likely a very long-term investment and your entire savings being put into your new home!

Most of our clients are professionals — whether engineers, technologists, start-up founders, lawyers, teachers, doctors and so forth. They’re experts at what they do, but they are far from real estate experts; this is where Metis comes in. We’re experts at what we do, and we built Metis to maintain consistent quality across our practice, as well as to maintain high expectations and satisfaction from our clients, all wrapped up in a fair price model for the consumer at large.

These are our beliefs at Metis, and these are the reasons why I passed up opportunities with real estate start ups who wished to ‘disrupt.’ This is a model that I ultimately believe in. Here we are, actually working for a paycheck. Crazy right?

• Wallace Chane, VP/Co-Founder, Metis Real Estate

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METIS is a start-up operating in the residential real estate space. We are a data and detail driven brokerage which provides the most value to dollar ratio on the market. Connect today — www.metisre.com | 650.308.8278