GMAC Real Estate is on to something. They are closing 15 offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Why you ask? Well, they announced that buyers are starting their searches on the internet and do not need to visit offices as often. By using the internet, buyers do not need to have an office nearby to view listings and have close contact with the real estate agents.
This is very logical, sort of like how banks in the 1980’s contracted and closed branches when ATM’s were introduced. The need to have the full service tools close by were not necessary when 90 percent of ones banking could be done through the ATM.
So now the same is happening with Real Estate. The advent of internet listings and searches, email, and remote contact tools have progressed in real estate to the point that a local full service office is not mandatory for a real estate firm to be successful. Most of the agents work can be done from home and the buyers and sellers can be kept up to date more effectively than they could have in the past from a full service office.
I think GMAC is ahead of the curve on offices and probably this will turn into a trend in the coming years.
GMAC Real Estate is closing 15 offices in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and laying off staff as home selling and shopping increasingly migrate to the Internet amid a housing slump.
The Minneapolis company said yesterday it would lay off about 50 managers and support staff during the consolidation in New England. By Dec. 31, real estate agents in the affected offices will be relocated to GMAC’s remaining 35 offices in the two states. via The Boston Globe.
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that’s why the KW model works so well, with a goal of 200 agents per smaller office space. Still need to have somewhere to hang the licenses, etc. I haven’t had an office in the “office” for 10 years.
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