1922: The Immovable Object = the horse and buggy. The Irresistible Force = the automobile. The winner: the automobile. Despite great skepticism and resistance, within a few years the automobile was dominant because consumers wanted the freedom, speed and reliability horseless carriages afforded.
1944: The Immovable Object = the German Blitzkrieg keeping Nazi Germany in control across Europe. The Irresistible Force = the Allied Forces, representing the free world. The winner: the Allies. Despite early losses and an under-armed force, the will of the people prevailed and the Nazis were defeated.
1982: The Immovable Object = Mortgage Interest Rates climbing, climbing, climbing as high as 18% creating not just a barrier but a brick wall across the path to home ownership. The Irresistible Force = the housing industry that found a new way for consumers to purchase homes: the Adjustable Rate Mortgage, used as temporary financing until rates returned to normal. The desire of consumers to own real estate coupled with the creativity of the industry prevailed.
1985: The Immovable Object = the stock brokerage business, charging high percentage based commissions to buy and to sell stocks. The Irresistible Force = Charles Schwab who offered low, flat fee trades and abundant information to consumers for free. Again, when Schwab found a way to better serve the needs of consumers, the industry crumbled and was forever changed.
1993: The Immovable Object = the music industry that thought it was in the business of selling discs that happened to contain music. The Irresistible Force = Steve Jobs and the IPod and Itunes Store that gave consumers the ability to buy and download disc-less music without going to the store. Never has an industry been so changed so quickly, again, because Apple found a better way to serve consumers.
2005: The Immovable Object = the Real Estate Industry, hoarding information about homes for sale, keeping it under lock and key at local Multiple Listing Services around the country. The Irresistible Force = Zillow and Trulia who put all of that information in the hands of consumers. Of course, Zillow and Trulia won and became the go-to place for people to find their dream homes because they put the needs of consumers FIRST.
2015: The Immovable Object = The traditional real estate brokerage model, mired in a steep percentage based commission structure that serves agents, not consumers. The Irresistible Force = GreatNest, which relies on a completely different business model to provide exceptional service to real estate consumers for a low set fee instead of a percentage based commission.
Immovable Objects are frequently challenged by Irresistible Forces. These Forces grow out of consumer need and they become irresistible when they reach a tipping point and then move things forward, improving them. Immovable Objects can appear impenetrable, but The Force that better serves the interest of consumers always wins (eventually). That's why I am excited about today, tomorrow and the future. Right now, listing by listing, sale by sale, transaction by transaction, consumers are deciding how real estate will be bought and sold in the future. Increasingly they are deciding that the tired old 6% commission model is on the way out and the Low Set Fee GreatNest model is on the way in.
After all, why would you pay, say, $15,000 to sell you home when you could get the same service for as little as $3,950 (less for some starter homes)?
Make no mistake about it: there is a new way to sell your home, and it doesn't involve you giving up a huge chunk of your hard earned equity or sacrificing service to accomplish the task. The better way is GreatNest where a low flat fee sells Triad homes.