Where in the World is Iggy?

hahaha! Greg is right. But honestly caffeine is not good, you better stop drinking any drinks with caffeine.

This celebration and hoopla seems a bit ironic and sad at the same time. Just what are you happy about.?

Greg..your response was even sadder. If they truly went out of business, then someone lost money. Hopefully nobody you know.

Would you be as sad if say a few more ReMax or coldwell Banker shops called it a day?

Iggy’s was listed in our local MLS directory, but no longer. Adios Iggy’s! Don’t let the door hit ya on the way out.

Careful greg..you don’t want this to get personal..do you? Let me know ..don’t think the guys at AG would like it. But go ahead and let me know if you want to throw down. I’d be more than happy to oblige.

That being said and the benefit of a doubt being given, I am quite the happy person. My question of irony has nothing to do with my personal happiness. It just goes to the maligned thinking that the demise of someone’s business in this industry of image challenged professionals is good and something to be applauded.

It only goes to show how little some know about business and the manne that anti-competitive forces works to damage others in the same industry…which you are, and others here are.

I don’t applaud the demise of competitors, much to the contrary, I rather welcome competition for I know the inherent value of said competition. Do you?

@ Benn…????

@ greg….”and another one bites the dust.”…sorry I must have misunderstood. lol

You said that I said..”You called it sad that some investors who were trying to put real estate agents out of business instead went out of business themselves.”..really???

What I said was This celebration and hoopla seems a bit ironic and sad at the same time It just goes to the maligned thinking that the demise of someone’s business in this industry of image challenged professionals is good and something to be applauded.

Said it earlier and now have said it again.

As an Iggys House client on the buy-side, I think Iggys was on to something and the idea isn’t going to go away. Iggys House opened up the gates to information that real estate agents try to keep out of the public domain. Certain kinds of buyers, once they have the information, don’t need real estate agents. (That’s probably an ouch, but it’s true!)

Iggys may be gone, but more and more information is going to become available to the buyer. So what does the traditional agent have to offer when a buyer knows what the agent knows? Service, service, service — what exactly does that mean? Businesses like Iggys are going to push the envelope on that question. And maybe that will improve the services of traditional agents!

Iggys offered certain kinds of services and they performed those services well. They were responsive, quick, organized, personable. They charged a reasonable fee. As buyers, we did a lot of work, but we preferred doing it ourselves. Once we had the information about available homes and knew how to find out about area sales, we were good to go. I admit there were times when we felt like we needed some hand holding, but $6000 plus is a pretty steep fee for hand holding. An insightful how-to guide into both the simpler and more complicated aspects of home buying would do the trick.

The market is terrible. Maybe entire real estate companies aren’t closing down, but you must know some traditional agents who have called it quits because they can’t make a living right now. Or some traditional agents who are barely hanging on?

Iggys was/is on to something. It didn’t compromise on service at all. It offered the most necessary services to buyers (contractual, negotiation, record-tracking) and provided buyers with information to do the rest of the work themselves. So the threat isn’t really Iggys, it’s buyers with information.

Iggy’s was never a threat.

Yes Jonathan and Eric, we felt the post was designed to bring on the result that it did and yes SOME of the comments were ..IMO…anti-competitive, and as such disturbing.

The value of competition is seemingly lost by some here and trumpeting a competitors demise is wholly anti-capitalist (a number of those commenting have said as much you included) and not good for the industry.

We spoke on the show yesterday how misguided it is to think that the current “business model triumphed over an alternative”. That is hardly what occurred here. But as always, I am sure it will make many sleep well.

That is indeed the irony of this situation.

The fact that you don’t see the irony is indeed another story. One that has many chapters and characters in it.

This blather is wholly unproductive. Glad at least you here understand the need for competition
for business to thrive.

I hardly raked Ben over the coals. He said he believed it was a “Survival of the fittest” issue and that he was not happy that they were out of business, if indeed they are. It was others here who found comfort in their demise and that is anti-competitive.

And actually Ray Kroc did not say that..you may want to check before misquoting. You see I worked for Disney and I know all too well the genesis of that quote and you have, as would be expected, taken it wholly out of context.

Ray Kroc, while a fierce competitor, knew the value of competition as did his short time nemesis, Walt Disney.

In football, as in hamburgers with Kroc or as it may be theme park development, I want to pummel my opponents, I want them to cry for mercy and yield, but..and this is what is lost on this argument, I know I NEED that opponent.

I don’t want that competition to be eliminated. That does not enhance my business and anyone who thinks to the contrary in this regard, does not understand the value of competition whether it be vc funded or not.

Iggy’s wasn’t seen as competition to the standard agent business model by anyone other than Iggys. The only business model they really hurt was the fee for service, Redfin or uber discount types that the list a fsbo in the mls for a few bucks types. The fsbo market has always been around 20% of the market, so there was a niche for them. In the boom, every house listed had a better than even chance of selling, so it worked well. The only difference with Iggys and a dozen brokers in San Diego charging $99-$499 for a listing in the MLS was the fee. They all tried to make their profit on the mortgage. That was never competition for most agents and brokers.

I want to pummel my opponents, I want them to cry for mercy and yield, but..and this is what is lost on this argument, I know I NEED that opponent.

There is plenty of competition out there. What seems to be lost on you is that these guys didn’t make any real dent in the business of the typical agent or brokerage. They bragged about how many they listed – not how many were sold.

To use your football analogy, Iggys was a team that relied on trick plays. Once they exhausted the gimmicks in the playbook and they had to lineup and run the ball on 3rd and short, or make the short pass over the middle, they couldn’t move the ball. They played 3 and out, unable to score.

The death of a Foxton’s or an Iggy’s is newsworthy only because of the claims they made. You wouldn’t see the reaction you object to if these guys didn’t bash everyone else from the onset. The real reaction here that you are missing is the Homer Simpson “D’oh!”, which is because we all know that if you don’t make any money, you don’t stay in business.

Of all the people who I would expect to be poking holes in a short-sighted, unprofitable business model, it would be you Barry.

Blather? Hmmm …

I have low expectations, Barry, so few things strike me as ironic.

And I have to say that I am shocked – shocked! – that anyone would write a blog post knowing what kind of reaction would come.

Genius Bob says, “I think the reaction has more to do with the death of the business model than the business.”

I totally agree. These types of companies were not “competitors” of mine – the kind of people I admire and respect. Companies like Foxtons, Iggys, etc. were nothing but market disruptions and at the same time, the darlings of the media. Every last one of them either has completely failed or soon will. They brought nothing to the table, had nothing new and offered nothing of value to consumers in general (which is the real reason they fail).

It was their behavior and business model that was “anti-competitive” – not the subsequent grave dancing.

Russell…wow..expected more…but then again…it’s just more of the same..as always. But I understand why you have to say what you did.

@Bob – I agree 100%.

The comment (#18) that Dan made about a client who couldn’t get an offer through says it all. Full service brokerage’s have a place and will always have a place in this industry. You get what you pay for. I’ll bet if that poor client of Iggy’s could turn back time, they would have gladly paid full service broker rates to close their home. Now, who knows how long they’ll have to wait before they can even start marketing their home again. Discount brokers look good on paper, but again, you get what you pay for.

There’s no flaw Jonathan. It’s YOUR perception. I think the consumer would think otherwise.

Hey jonathan, have there been any $40 Million ad campaigns telling the consumer to find out “the differences between agents, between companies, between marketing plans”…orhas there been a concerted effort by the NAR to promote uniformity.

I recall seeing ads and commercials directing the consumer to contact a Realtor. I have not seen any commercials telling the consumer to call and agent and ask questions to see if they know what the heck they are talking about.

I might have missed the NAR campaign promoting the fact that all agents aren’t created equal.

I do think the consumer needs to do the research that you are speaking of. Are you saying that most agents would answer such questions with the utmost transparency and veracity?

Jonathan are you kidding me…Chrysler stands behind there product. It pulled them from bankruptcy..I think that Iacocca’s use of rebates was a real catalyst.

I wasn’t asking about the quality of a Chrysler automobile. (I own one, incidentally.) I simply was asking if they promote individual dealerships, as you asked of NAR, or the brand in general? We know the answer, of course.

As much fun as these circular arguments are, it’s time for me to jump back off the merry-go-round and go back to the business of selling real estate. And business has been quite good for the last several months.

Eric..lay off the caffeine dude…

Jonathan your right…let’s close this bar..had enough…

The cap is back on the Diet Mt. Dew…grin….Even though I do stand by my assertion. When someone hollers “’nuff”, I respect that.

FYI – Update on Iggys House and BuySide Realty “restructuring” at Inman News