An Interview with Geoff Lewis: Chief Business Officer of Real Estate Chain

This week, I had the privilege of talking with Geoff Lewis, former President of RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. and Real Estate Chain’s Chief Business Officer. As a highly accomplished real estate executive with experience spanning various multinational industries, Geoff brings a progressive technology perspective and the highest level of real estate expertise to the REC team.

Geoff, thank you for taking the time to give us some insight into your background and the real estate world. Care to give a brief overview of your personal history?

I was raised in Bellevue, WA (a suburb of Seattle) as the second of five children. I have always loved the outdoors of the Pacific Northwest, particularly snow skiing and water skiing. I attended college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and spent two of my college years serving a church mission in France and Belgium. After attending law school at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, I lived and worked in Dallas, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Denver, and Portland before moving back to Denver. I’ve been married for 39 years. We have three sons and seven grandchildren who live in San Francisco and New York. I recently sold my Ducati motorcycle, which I loved riding through the Colorado mountains; I’m playing it safer these days.

And what of your professional background?

When I was in Los Angeles, I practiced corporate law at a large global firm. From law, I took my first step into the real estate industry working for a real estate investment trust. After a stint working for a global manufacturing company, I returned to real estate thirteen years ago with RE/MAX International, the largest global residential real estate brokerage brand. I spent my last three years at RE/MAX as President.

What brought you from there to Real Estate Chain?

I left RE/MAX earlier this year to more aggressively pursue new technologies in the real estate industry. Mike Sullivan (REC’s Co-Founder and CEO) and Tyler Sloan (REC’s Head of Community and Business Development) initially contacted me to talk about real estate tech, and it was clear we had similarly progressive visions for that landscape. We eventually spoke about me joining the REC team. I was excited about the opportunity; I was developing an interest in blockchain technology and had very recently spoken on a real estate panel at a blockchain summit. The alignment was clear.

Where do you think REC can make the biggest impact in the real estate industry and why?

Real estate is the single largest global asset class, valued at over $200 trillion. In addition, billions of dollars are spent on transactions throughout the life cycle of property ownership. The records and data related to purchase/sale, transfer, financing, improvement, furnishing, and maintenance currently exist — if at all — in fragmented, disparate systems. I’ve seen what a truly massive issue this is for all players (we call them “transactional actors”) in this ecosystem. REC first captured my interest with its solution to the challenge of how real estate information is procured and shared amongst actors in the ecosystem. REC utilizes a global Web 3.0 protocol, built on blockchain technology, that allows for accurate consolidation and secure exchange of property related information using distributed ledger technology. I’m excited about the significance of REC’s Prop Wallets℠, incentive-based curation registries that will prevent valuable information from being siloed, wasted, falsified, or stolen. Overall, the experience of interacting with the real property through the REC protocol will become more efficient and useful. Incentivizing property owners and other transactional actors to validate and curate data assets will unlock enormous value.

How have you been able to leverage your expertise within real estate to help REC achieve their goals?

My experience leading the largest real estate brokerage brand in the world has given me a broad perspective on the process of buying and selling a property as well as the full cycle of property ownership. I am using this perspective to find ways blockchain-backed technology can streamline the buying and selling process, increase collaboration and trust, standardize data, collect and transfer property information, and improve the accuracy of automated valuation models.

Given your broad experience at RE/MAX, what limitations do you see traditional real estate companies having in comparison with REC?

Traditional real estate companies focus on brokers and agents as their primary clients. Alternatively, companies like Zillow, arguably the most successful real estate company of the past decade, achieve success by focusing on buyers and sellers. REC is focusing on the homeowner and improving the experience for owners, buyers, and sellers throughout the homeownership cycle. This will bring a healthier balance to the real estate ecosystem. Homeowners will be more empowered and incentivized to maintain and update their homes than ever before. Their contributions to their home will be recognized and backed by the REC blockchain, and the value of those upgrades will be directly recognized by brokers and data consumers. This home-first, user-first experience is what will make REC successful.

Do you think blockchain technology could speed up real estate processes, such as buying or selling a home?

While that is a common conception in the blockchain space, I think that narrative ignores some important realities. While blockchain tech can improve the speed and efficiency of transaction documents, such as loan documents and title documents, there are other aspects of that process that still take time. The three most practical considerations are the physical inspection, finding a new home for the seller, and the actual moving process. Scheduling and performing an inspection takes days to weeks. The inspection report invariably reveals items that need attention. This takes time to negotiate and to remediate. Usually, the seller does not have a new home under contract at the same time as the seller’s house goes under contract, so they need time to find a place to move. Then there is the physical process of packing and moving. A seller does not want to begin this process until the inspection and other contingencies have been cleared in case the deal falls through. For these reasons, in most cases, a seller will want a 30- to 40-day escrow, even if there are other parts of the transaction that can be sped up. However, blockchain tech will significantly improve the reliability and efficiency of all the transactional aspects throughout this process.

What have been some of the most striking new developments you’ve seen in real estate in the past few decades?

Listing data is no longer under the exclusive control of brokers and agents; it has become widely available on the internet. The consumer no longer has to go to the agent as the first point of contact to be shown listings on the market. This has resulted in a proliferation of the availability of data. Not all of that data is accurate. Blockchain can improve the trustworthiness of data.

With over a decade of experience with RE/MAX, and in a multitude of senior roles across various industries, what do you feel will be the major challenges for you personally in driving REC forward?

I have an excellent grasp of the real estate industry and current PropTech. My challenge is continuing to climb the learning curve on blockchain and token economics. One of the reasons I joined forces with REC is that we have a stellar technical team. They can help me on the blockchain tech side, and I can help them on the industry side.

What real estate industry trends do you see?

I see established real estate companies becoming less entrepreneurial. It is easier to disrupt an industry with a new entrant than it is with an established company. REC needs to stay entrepreneurial for the time being, and that’s what I’m excited about. Over time, we will need to build a more traditional framework, but right now a fast, focused ideology is guiding the team.

In 2017, RE/MAX generated $195m in revenue, with over $35m in net income. Coming from a company of that magnitude, can you give us a brief outline of how you will operate the business to grow organically and become sustainable in such a competitive market?

REC already has a disruptive technology and business model. Going forward, REC needs to do a number of things, including:

Refine and communicate the business model.

Continue to build the expertise and credibility of the team.

Raise capital to expand the team and technology.

Develop marketing strategies to create user adoption of the Prop Wallet by homeowners and other transactional actors.

Build out the core technology, and get others building with us.

Add finance and other traditional support departments as we grow.

I believe REC has an opportunity to be a key player in the evolution of the real estate industry. I’m excited to be a part of their success.

This concludes the fifth interview of the Real Estate Chain Interview Series! Follow us on Medium and other social media channels to find out when the rest of the team interviews will be posted, in addition to upcoming news and more exciting content!

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