Posted by Sherry Chris

You can’t imagine how many people I have spoken with since the October 8th announcement that Realogy was re-launching the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Brand. Some of the people I spoke with had something to sell or license, some of them were looking for employment opportunities, some wanted to join as franchisees or agents, some wanted to offer advice as to how to launch the brand, and some were just genuinely curious as to how you decide what a brand is going to look like when you literally have a “clean slate.” The last group is why we named our blog “Clean Slate.”

There are a lot of people out there with a lot of opinions… and that is something I am personally grateful for. You see, we decided up front that we would talk to as many people as we could, and entertain all of their products, services, ideas and opinions. You never know when a good “out of the box” idea will be the end result of a conversation or presentation. We are also doing a lot of research into the habits of home buyers and sellers, the consumers who will actually be using a lot of the tools and services we develop. Reports such as the NAR “Profiles of Home Buyers and Sellers” are very helpful in confirming demographic information and statistical information around buyer and seller preferences.

So, what should a real estate brand of the future look like? Because there is so much to play with, the temptation is to build a platform with every tool you can imagine, with the strategy being that there will be something for everyone. Well, we are resisting that temptation, and going in a different direction. The “keep it simple but make it the best” theme is now a work in progress as we head towards our July 2008 launch date. Whenever the temptation to complicate raises its head, we watch this video to keep us on track, it has become one of our guiding principles… and it makes us smile!