Nestoria Blog

This month it is our pleasure to speak with Brad Inman, founder of Inman News - the primary source for real estate news in the United States. Inman News also owns the hugely influential industry blog Future of Real Estate Marketing (FoREM) and has organized the leading US industry conference, Inman Connect, for years (note: Readers may be interested in the guest post I did over at Renthusiast summarizing July’s Inman Connect in San Francisco).

Brad will be in London in a few weeks time (more about this in a separate post later this week) to learn more about the UK market. We invite anyone interested in learning more about selling internationally, current state of the market in the US, and technology innovation in the property industry to join us on the evening of Thursday the 16th of October at the Windmill pub in Mayfair, central London.

Brad, thanks for your time.

1. For the first time your traditional Inman Connect conference this January in New York City will have an international focus - you’ve rebranded it as Global Connect. What are the goals of the conference? Who should attend?

Our focus on global was prompted by the number of folks who came to our San Francisco Connect conference from all over the globe. We also have become more acquainted with a number of innovators from different parts of the world. We are inviting innovators and traditional real estate companies to come to New York. Connect is about connecting those two parts of the industry — new tech companies and older and more established firms. Together, they can change real estate.

2. Inman News and FoREM focus on reporting about technological innovation in the industry. What are the major trends you see emerging in the US?

At this very moment, the market is weighing down everyone. But innovation is occurring in three main areas: mobile devices, search and video. Search has never been more important as the number of listings has exploded all over the world. Video takes listings and makes them come alive, and mobile gives access anywhere, anytime.

3. More and more Europeans are seeing the weak US dollar as a chance to invest in the US market. What opportunities do you see here for European property portals or estate agents?

Indeed, many US brokers are scrambling to find buyers outside of our borders. Accessing buyers and relationships with overseas brokers is a high priority here. However, the economic crunch is now global, so it is not clear how this will play out. One thing is for sure, property values are being punished everywhere.

4. What are our thoughts on the innovation in the property search space in the last 1-2 years, particularly in relation to players like Nestoria?

There are dramatics changes in the property search space. First, new and exciting global databases are coming on the scene as buyers are shopping the world for property. Plus, search is becoming more complex, as buyers and sellers want to better sort their searches and compare and contrast listings. There are many many feature innovations in the search space today including photographs, maps, floor plans and video.

Thanks Brad. I’m looking forward to Global Connect in NYC and more importantly to going deeper into the topic of innovation in the property industry during your upcoming visit to London. We hope to see all of our loyal readers at the Windmill on the 16th. For anyone interested in learning more about the US market I advise registering with Inman News today.

past Nestoria interviews: Simon Baker, Tim Youngman, and Jesus Encinar.