Disruption is hitting the real estate industry more than other industries, and at a faster rate, or so it seems to those of us who watch the daily, sometimes hourly, changes from our North Texas perches. Speaking of Perch, there are iBuyers looming on the horizon — even mainstream media is starting to pay attention. That big, hairy-scary class-action “bombshell” lawsuit, the one that could upend the U.S. real estate industry by forcing changes in how buyer’s agents are compensated (negotiate commission between buyer and agent individually, not dictate the commission to be paid by the home seller) has been amended: more plaintiffs and defendants have been brought in, and the suit is now emphasizing the role commissions and MLS groups play in “steering buyers”, potentially raising costs for sellers.
Executives and agents are migrating, leaving traditional brokerages, heading towards perceived greener pastures with brokers married to technology, but not necessarily married to an office. 100% commission split brokerages are thriving and rising, with Frisco-based JP and Associates Realtors® (JPAR) taking the charge.
JP and Associates is excited to announce that Geoff Lewis is joining JPAR as President of Vesuvius Holdings, LLC. Vesuvius is the parent company of JP and Associates Realtors and JPAR Franchising.
Geoff Lewis was most recently President of RE/MAX Holdings, LLC. where he worked for thirteen years. Lewis retired from RE/MAX in early 2018. RE/MAX, with those familiar red signs, is considered the largest real estate brokerage in the world. It was founded in 1973 by David and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Over 115,000 agents provide RE/MAX a global reach of over 100 countries and territories. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX as measured by total residential transaction sides, which led the company to a post-recession record high in U.S., Canadian and worldwide agent count (100,000+ agents in 100+ countries) and franchise sales. Geoff served on several several industry boards and is widely respected within the industry.
Geoff Lewis was instrumental as a member of the RE/MAX senior team in guiding the organization through a tumultuous 12 years. He was a part of the team that repurchased almost a dozen regional privately owned master franchises, was a member of the team that guided the firm to its public offering and was important to the organization in so many other, less visible ways. REAL Trends always found Geoff to be bright, engaging and thoughtful in our dealings with him. Along with the RE/MAX family we wish Geoff only the very best in his future endeavors: Steve Murray, President, REAL Trends Inc.
Mr. Lewis was ranked in the top fifteen in the Swanepoel Power 200 list of industry leaders.
In citing his reasons for joining JPAR, Mr. Lewis stated: “our industry is ripe for disruption.”
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May’s home report is in for Dallas, and the median home price is up two percent year-over-year to $260,000, according to statistics from Texas Realtors.
