Meet Bill Lublin
Bill Lublin is Undisruptable
“Your reputation is everything in this industry.”
Bill Lublin may be the most recognized face in the real estate industry. That’s because he has committed his professional career to serving on numerous NAR committees, MLS boards and is the broker/owner of one of the largest C21 franchises in the country. He’s built a thriving business by focusing on what matters the most: trust, service and value.
“While everybody is chattering in the other room about the sky falling, we’re going out and meeting with buyers and sellers and landlords and tenants every day and helping them do what they need to do in a safe, efficient, and cost effective manner.”
If you’ve spent any time with Bill, you’ll quickly realize how deeply he cares about things. He cares about the agents in his brokerage, he cares about the industry and the friendships he has nurtured for many years and he cares deeply about the consumer experience and helping people through their time of transition. This is what makes Bill undisruptable.
Read more from our conversation here:
Bill Lublin: My name is Bill Lublin and I’m the CEO of Century 21 Advantage Gold, the largest Century 21 company in Pennsylvania.
Molly McKinley: Perfect. What does the word undisruptable mean for you?
Bill Lublin: For me, undisruptable as a company means helping agents to build bigger
businesses than they could build themselves and for agents means going out every
day to provide high quality service to buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants. As long
as you focus on that, you are completely undisruptable.
Molly McKinley: With all of the stuff happening out there, what are you doing to prepare for change of permissions and all that kind of stuff? What are you thinking about? What’s on your heart about all the disruption that exists?
Bill Lublin: My focus is not competing on price. My focus is on competing with value, whether it’s an agent or we’re helping to build a better business than they would build by themselves or a client that we’re helping get a better price or better terms or less
risk of legal liability. It’s just about going and doing the job properly. While everybody is chattering in the other room about the sky falling, we’re going out and meeting with buyers and sellers and landlords and tenants every day and helping them do what they need to do in a safe, efficient, and cost effective manner.
Molly McKinley: Perfect.
Bill Lublin: I wish I had something fancier to tell you. It’s really the deal.
Molly McKinley: Yeah, I love it. Do you have a story or a moment that stands out to you–the unsung story about the things that you want people to know what it’s really like to be in real estate?
Bill Lublin:The unsung story? It’s really hard for me to give you an unsung story because in my world we do the job and we don’t brag about what we had to do to get there. Probably the most unusual story that we had as a company is when one of our agents sold the wrong home and we actually had to go buy it, trade it with the seller and make it available to the consumer. But, I really couldn’t tell you that story because who would believe it?
Molly McKinley: Wait, funny.
Bill Lublin: It’s true. By the way, not only is it true, I actually still own the house because the guy didn’t want to pay the transfer tax on the transfer.
Molly McKinley: Oh, my gosh. That’s ridiculous. How important is your reputation in this industry?
Bill Lublin: Was it Shakespeare who said “He who steals my purse steals trash”? Your reputation is everything in this industry. Frankly in every industry. Nobody goes to a doctor they can’t trust. Nobody goes to an attorney assuming there’ll be incompetent. Nobody even goes out to buy a cheeseburger without assuming that they’re actually getting what they were told they were going to get. Being a trusted advisor in our business is really, really crucial and reputation is really important.
Bill Lublin: One of the problems new agents have when they get in the business is they assume that every person they know will immediately come to do business with them. Not realizing that there are already 1.3 million other realtors and they all know people and you’re the new guy. The question of reputation becomes paramount. Whether you’ve just gotten in the business or you’ve been around for a long time, people need to know you’re someone they can trust, someone they can rely on, someone that will get the job done that will focus on them rather than on yourself.
Molly McKinley: With everybody fear-mongering and creating so much noise. What are you telling your people and what is the message that you want people to really know?
Bill Lublin: What do I tell my people about disruption?
Molly McKinley: Well, when everybody else is fear-mongering with all of the stuff happening, what is your point of view on all this?
Bill Lublin:I have a long game perspective because I’ve been in the business for a long time. I have seen tons of startups start up and sputter out, so I don’t get really upset about disruption. I’m interested in it. Disruption doesn’t mean extinction to begin with. Disruption means that there’s a burp in the atmosphere, that there’s a change, that you need to adjust to something. The introduction of computers, data to the industry, graphics in the industry, video in the industry. They were all disruptions, but we adapted to them. I don’t get scared because no matter what happens in the market, I know people, people know me, they know that I can be relied upon and I provide a service for them that has a lot of value. When we talk about an individual topic, and it’s generally not fear-mongering per se, it’s, “Oh, they’re going to be i buyers.”
Well, great. Morgan Stanley said at one point, there be as much as 5% or 10% of
the market that are eye buyers by the year 2030. 10 years from now, I can make a
living on 90% of the real estate business that’s out there for the world. So, why be
upset? See something new, examine it, embrace it if it’s good, reject it if it’s not,
and go on with your business, which is providing high quality service to buyers,
sellers, landlords and tenants, helping them to get the best terms, the best financial
terms, and reduce legal liability. I don’t think we’re going away that quick.
Bill Lublin: I spark greatness.
Molly McKinley: You do spark greatness. Anything that you want to say? That’s a wrap. If there’s anything that you feel like you just, is left unspoken, it’s your moment to do that.
Bill Lublin: Anything that is left unspoken? So many words, so many things, so many dreams that we all have. Other than that, I’m good.
About RateMyAgent
RateMyAgent is an Australia-based review platform now expanding rapidly in the United States. In Australia, RateMyAgent is used by agents who sell 80% of property across Australia and get reviews for 1 in 3 homes sold nationally. RateMyAgent launched in the United States in 2018 and has partnerships with MLS’s from Florida to California, including CRMLS, the countries largest MLS. They are the first review platform to be included and endorsed by the National Association of Realtors® 2019 NAR’s REACH Accelerator Program. RateMyAgent is listed on the Australian stock exchange. More information about RateMyAgent can be found at www.ratemyagent.com
