Atlas is a real estate agency that operates through a range of proprietary software products, including open house marketing, mobile online marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and DIY digital marketing centers.
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Atlas is a software-driven, 100% commission real estate brokerage
platform: Browser; iOS system
very suitable: Agents looking for alternative and technology-intensive models
Main selling points:
- Circular mobile marketing solutions
- Remote/online working structure
- Open day management
- Lightweight and practical CRM
- Adopt intuitive UI/UX
Issues of greatest concern:
Although these models can be successfully operated with fewer agents, these agents do lack brand recognition when competing with traditional brands in traditional markets. In addition, Atlas sells its software to outside resellers, thereby negating the competitive advantages of its own resellers.
what you should know
atlas is a real estate agency that operates its business through a series of proprietary software products, covering open house marketing, mobile online marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and DIY digital marketing centers, which compare best to the Canva experience.
Agents pay a tiered flat fee for tools and support in exchange for retaining 100% of commissions. Founded by real estate agent Neema Bardi, it currently operates in California, with other states expected to come online later in 2024.
It’s worth noting that agents can subscribe to Atlas software without becoming part of a brokerage firm, which has attracted a lot of attention. First, it will force Buddy and his team to compete against some truly mature and, frankly, more complex systems.
Granted, he hasn’t been in the game long enough to fully understand what other products are out there, but he might learn how difficult it is to get agencies to focus on a single product. When results don’t come in, software is often the first to be blamed, and there isn’t a real estate tech entrepreneur in the solar system who would disagree.
This isn’t a comment on the stacking qualities of Atlas, as it has some sharp features, but it definitely calls into question the accuracy of any argument Bardi is trying to make that his software provides a competitive advantage to his agencies. If anyone can buy it, the advantage will be reduced.
Loop, the company’s online marketing experience, is a lightweight mobile app that aggregates an agent’s social accounts and MLS published listings into a single presence. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I like it because I can’t tell you how terrible it is to track down exact contact information or even know who’s listing what when using an agent or brokerage website.
A large part of the reason Zillow has entered the industry so easily is the overall meager investment by individuals and offices in its sites. Old team page. Brokerage affiliation for many years. A weak, emotionally shallow resume. Terrible photos. Incredibly bloated domain names like “johnsmithsupermegateam-excelrealestate.com” or other names.
sorry.
Regardless, something like Loop is really all you need, assuming you maintain it and share it because it should be shared. It includes links to your current social accounts and MLS connections to related listings, as well as registration links for upcoming open houses and prominent contact calls to action. It is similar to many Instagram plugins and allows users to post a series of links and content on the backend of their profile.
CRM is clean and simple, based on the idea that all you really need is your name and email address. The CRM offers artificial intelligence, template-driven email composition that can be activated by selecting recipients or groups, selecting a template, and letting the artificial intelligence do its work. Messages can also be edited manually.
Open Home is the company’s open marketing solution. There’s nothing here that you haven’t seen before, which surprised me considering Buddy’s claims of uniqueness. But I get it: people like to brag about their kids. There is a QR code and a login form. Still, its vertical integration with the overall system does allow for faster follow-through, given that there are no third-party hurdles or clunky data imports.
Companies like Atlas are growing and causing problems for those who write about the real estate industry. In short, it’s a hard-to-define model, hovering on and between models such as “brokerage as a service” and Side and Place.
We don’t really know how to define a real estate company that’s so entrenched in the tech space but ultimately derives most of its revenue from home sales.A few weeks ago I talked about this emerging brokerage model here, in which I highlighted Perisphere, a company that isn’t shy about saying that the “old way” is dying, even telling consumers that its website “Stop paying $10,000+ to sell your home!”
I wrote in Efizbo’s review:
You won’t enjoy reading this, but with every new technology solution I see in this environment, I become more convinced that by 2025, consumers will have a reputable, reliable agent-less purchase and Selling options.
With Atlas, we are even closer.
Do you have a tech product you’d like to discuss? Email Craig Rowe
Craig C. Rowe got involved in commercial real estate at the dawn of the dot-com bubble, helping a range of commercial real estate companies strengthen their online presence and analyze internal software decisions. He now helps agencies with technology decisions and marketing by reviewing Inman’s software and technology.
