Perspective: Control your own brand, control your own destiny
A big recent news event in real estate was the acquisition of the realty franchisor and relocation division of Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services by Canada-based Brookfield Residential Property Services.
Brookfield RPS paid between $110 million and $135 million, according to news reports.
Brookfield now franchises every Prudential brokerage office, including about 50,000 agents who work for those brokers. Many of Prudential’s brokers are, in fact, leaders in their respective markets.
Online real estate site Zillow, meanwhile, on the day the acquisition was announced had a market cap on the New York Stock Exchange exceeding $600 million.
To me, this reaffirms that over time, property listings aggregators devalue the business of being a broker-owner, all the while growing their own stature in the industry.
More https://realtyconsults.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/debating-the-value-of-real-estate-aggregators/