I’ve read quite a few posts on social media this week, mostly from real estate salespersons and brokers, making observations about Rogers Communications’ decision to shut down the “online real estate brokerage” Zoocasa.

Most of the observations I’ve read have felt self-serving; not very objective.

I believe Zoocasa failed for the same reason that I believe Trulia, Zillow, Xome, Property Guys, ComFree, and more locally, Grapevine, are all not going to change the world. All of them boil down to one core value: a lower price tag. Or their “innovation” is limited to a better home search interface.

Everyone keeps saying that the real estate industry is on the cusp of a major shake-up. A melt-down for the traditional way of doing things. I believe the problem with most attempts to initiate this change is that the innovators typically ignore the core values inside the traditional model, that people still believe in. The new model, when it arrives, will not abandon these core values. It will uphold them, honour them, and create a much better way of living up to them.

I have some ideas of my own – maybe if I watch this video enough times, I’ll take the first steps toward acting on them.