Some readers here may be a bit concerned that some of the writers here on BloodhoundBlog don’t find and report enough negative comments about various discount real estate companies. Relax. There is more.
I received the following email today from Dave Marron. As you will see, he is a former executive for Zip Realty.
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Hi Russell:
I saw that you posted on bloodhound about zipRealty awhile back. Did you see their earnings release the other day? I’m an ex-zip exec (and ex-KW broker) and I put my thoughts down on paper about the state of their company (see attached). Do you have any use for this? If not, it’s OK. I just thought I’d shoot it over to you in case you thought it was bloggable.
Thanks,
Dave
What’s Wrong with zipRealty?
Last week zipRealty released their “preliminary” fourth quarter results. I’ve been interested in this company since 1999 when I went to work for them. I
spent over four years at zip performing numerous jobs including VP of Sales. A couple of things popped out at me during their “preliminary” earning release conference call that just don’t make sense. Here are my observations.
One of the initiatives zip’s leaders gave for how they are going to improve in 2007 was an increased effort on training. Stock analyst Wendy Snow asked the team what they intend to do differently in the training arena that will make a difference in 2007. To this, Management answered that their “ideal candidate” would have the qualities of a strong trainer and strong real estate skills. They’ll also consider someone with strong training skills who could be “pick up the real estate craft quickly”. Are they kidding? They would hire a trainer who can “pick up the real estate craft quickly”. Would Pilsbuy, Madison and Sutro hire a legal trainer who could pick up the law craft quickly?
After leaving zipRealty I sold real estate for several years and I’m now an owner in a real estate technology company. The way that I learned the “real estate” craft was by going out and selling lots of homes. It’s not something that you can teach someone to Read more