Century 21 marks the beginning of a new era.
The brand has been around for years, but became part of the company 20 years ago and eventually became Anywhere. That means it has a new owner, the Compass, once again.
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Like other leading brands in the Compass International Holdings (CIH) family, Century 21 is not going away. But that changes when you join Compass. This means that agents working under the Century 21 banner will eventually have access to Compass technology. This means you will be able to connect to a larger network. And that means CIH is poised to benefit from new partnerships like the one it signed with Redfin and MRED.
To get some context and understand how consolidation will impact real estate, Inman recently spoke with Century 21 President and CEO Mike Medler. Miedler said he sees more consolidation going forward and advised agencies to focus on the positives during this difficult time. He was also bullish about Century 21 itself.
“I think our big differentiator is that our entrepreneurs, brokers, owners and agents literally live, breathe and sleep the market,” Miedler said.
The following is a conversation between Inman and Miedler, edited for length and clarity. (Note: This interview took place before the announcement of Real’s acquisition of REMAX, so that topic is not covered.)
Inman: One of the things we’ve been talking about is consolidation and what it means for agents and brokers. Please explain from your point of view.
Mike Miedler: If you look at the top 10 brokerages and the top 10 brands, I think we’ll see more consolidation over the next few years.
Obviously, the announcement you guys covered was the partnership with MRED. This business is highly fragmented by market and state by state, and this must continue. And I think AI technology and customer demand for simpler transactions will force all of us to try to figure out how to leverage scale and scale and all the other factors to create a better experience for everyone involved.
Inman: We’ve also seen companies like Compass acquire and integrate other brokerage firms. But there’s also another branch whose classic example in my mind is Rocket. They used to make mortgages, but now they own Redfin, a portal and broker, and Mr. Cooper, a mortgage servicer. I’m interested in what you think about the possibilities for this type of vertical, cross-disciplinary integration.
A look inside the Century 21 system shows that the big brokers are getting bigger and needing to add their ancillary services to monetize their agents and trading volume.
What you have to think about on some level is that Compass, the world’s largest moving company and one of the most sophisticated title services groups, was very attracted to Anywhere in areas outside of the brokerage space. And this is where a lot of the heavy lifting happens when a merger takes place.
I don’t think there is any turning back from that as the industry is exposed to margin compression. So I think you really need to figure out how to extend your tentacles to the business that you serve.
Inman: I also want to ask you about Century 21. You guys have a very storied brand. Please talk about it. Make the case for why this brand is especially important right now.
I think our big differentiator is that our entrepreneurs, brokers, owners and agents literally live, breathe and sleep the market. They invest in something bigger than what I would call a brokerage. When you do business with a Century 21 company, you are doing business with people whose children attend schools in the same markets that your children will attend.
Another big differentiator for us is our global reach, global touch, and global scale.
What sets Century 21 apart is that we truly strive to drive value for our agents so they can achieve more. After all, their 1099s cost more money.
What I think is really the next generation here, and why it’s ultimately so exciting, is that you’re going to get everything that a local entrepreneur with 52 years of brand recognition has to offer. But now we’re caught up in this new evolution of the industry with technology, AI, and this platform that will help us support our agents even better in the future.
Inman: Well, our time is almost up. Lastly, do you have any advice for agents?
Some people find the market a little difficult, difficult, and perhaps volatile because of mortgage rates. In my opinion, there are three things agents should really focus on right now.
Focus on what you’re really good at. Whether it’s an open house, a phone lead, or whatever it is. You spend 33 percent of your time focused there. You don’t have to worry about where your leads are coming from. You don’t have to worry about who is finding you on the internet. If you’re really good at social, you’ll spend 33% of your time on social and all of its content. So really focus on your strategy. Don’t try to be everything to everyone. That’s number one.
The second thing is that if you want to get stronger and more effective in this business, you have to surround yourself with strong and effective people. Maybe it’s in your office, hanging out with other big agents. Because you can get some hacks from them on how to do business. I think you always have to surround yourself with people who are doing bigger things and more things. Eventually, you’ll develop the mindset to do bigger things and do more.
And finally, I think it’s important to keep a positive mindset. Customers don’t want to hear about how tough the market is. Customers don’t want to hear about how difficult it is to get to the finish line. They’re looking for super positive people.
And that’s what I love about this industry. Most people are big dreamers. They believe anything is possible. They believe they can achieve the goals they whiteboard. They’re super positive. But they must behave that way in every interaction, not just with customers, but with the agents on the other side of the transaction.
I think just staying super positive in this business is sometimes one of the hardest things. If you can do that, the road will be much easier.
Email Jim Dalrymple II
