Proptech Pulse

Proptech Pulse: Building a Scalable Tech Stack with Stacie Staub

• Lone Wolf Technologies • Season 1 • Episode 2

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🎙️ Episode Description: Join us for an insightful conversation with Stacie Staub, CEO and co-founder of West of Main Homes, as she shares her journey of growing a 500-agent brokerage through smart technology choices and consistent implementation.

⏱️ Timeline: 00:00 - Introduction and background 00:50 - Current tech challenges in real estate 02:16 - Discussion on tech solution effectiveness 04:02 - AI considerations in real estate 04:39 - Understanding brokerage operations 06:35 - Technology's role in profitability 08:11 - Balancing tech with personal touch 10:14 - Evolution of tech stack 14:36 - Partner roles in training 16:25 - Future of tech-brokerage relationships

🔑 Key Takeaways:

  • Success in tech adoption requires patience and consistency
  • Choose scalable solutions from day one
  • Focus on best-in-class tools, not just real estate-specific ones
  • Maintain human support for technology implementation
  • Balance technology with relationship-building

👉 Featured Guest: Stacie Staub CEO & Co-founder, West of Main Homes

  • 8 years building a tech-forward brokerage
  • Grown to 500 agents without recruiting
  • Background in real estate technology

#RealEstateTechnology #PropTech #BrokerageTech #RealEstateInnovation #LoneWolfTech #RealEstateBusiness



https://www.lwolf.com/podcast

SPEAKER_01:

From the entrepreneur's desk to the industry front lines and into real world operations.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm Aaron Cardell, joined by Kyle Hunter and Jake Hamilton. And we're here to take the pulse of real estate technology in just 20 minutes.

SPEAKER_01:

Hello, welcome to Crop Tech Pulse. I'm Kyle, and I'm here with Stacy today. Stacy, tell us a little bit about yourself.

SPEAKER_02:

Hi, everyone. So happy to be here. Thanks, Kyle. I'm Stacy Staub. I'm the CEO and co-founder of West and Maine Homes. Uh West and Maine has been around for about eight years. So I like to say we're a second grader. But my background is actually in real estate technology. I was in RETEC before I started selling. So I'm it's still like my um, you know, bad habit.

unknown:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. So I've actually been in tech my whole life as well, and and really specifically to real estate tech. And I know there's a lot of challenges and we've seen a lot of ups and downs all throughout the years. But, you know, um what I'd like to maybe start out with is um what are brokerages' biggest pain points with the current tech solutions today?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, we always talk about interoperability, right? Uh, whether it's um, you know, the MLS not talking to your CRM or your um your e-newsletter platform not talking to your blog or your, you know, so um, you know, we hear a lot about like single sign-on um dashboards and things like that. I don't know if one really exists. Um, I know that we cobbled together our tech stack on day one and really haven't changed it much. And that was with intent. Um, I know from working with agents for almost 20 years now that you know adoption is tough and uh change is hard. And so I feel like we did a good job choosing platforms that we could grow with. Um, so I really think that's the pain point for most brokerages is they jump from platform to platform instead of sitting in and like saying, okay, let's see if we can help improve the product from our side by giving feedback and things like that. Um I I think a lot of brokerages don't have enough patience, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01:

No, you said that right. I mean, we uh, you know, at Lone Wolf uh really have tried and strived to create a solution, but we understand that there's different needs for different brokerages. And you know, you can have the best solution, but if agents aren't using it, um, then it doesn't necessarily hit, you know, all of the uh all of the metrics that that need to be hit. Um obviously there's been a lot of ups and downs over the years. I mean, there's COVID and there's the markets. Um, what is the current where where do you see the current tech solutions maybe falling short?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, for us, um, we use Slack for everything. And so I feel like we're a very tech forward company. Like I always tell agents, once you're on Slack, I'll never text or email you. Always, of course, happy to jump on a phone call. But then um, kind of using Zapier and all of these different, you know, APIs and integration tools. Um we have kind of like um created a quilt of technology that like the squares are living side by side, um, and they, you know, keep us warm, but they're not necessarily like ideally one big piece of fabric, right? Um, I also think like the needs of real estate actually haven't changed that much. Um, it's just everything's moving so fast. The thing that the things that I like am very wary of, like AI, y'all. Um, I am just like so leery of it, partly because my background is in writing and creative, and I don't want to see those jobs go away or become lessened or diluted. Um, I also just think there are uses for it, but like let's be careful, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01:

Uh yeah, no, I affiliate on that. I mean, AI is the you know the new buzzword, and and and there are some you know applicable things that can be can be done with that, but you know, it's a slippery slope. You start getting into financials and you upload the wrong things, and and all of a sudden um, you know, AI has all your stuff. Um, and so you know, you mentioned Slack, you mentioned a couple other things, you know, those aren't specific to real estate. Um, but from your perspective, how can tech companies uh better understand brokerage operations to really better cater to what your agents need, what your brokerages need to, you know, be more effective?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, ask us. And I think that's what Lone Wolf is trying to do, right? Um, they have a customer advisory panel now and they're really listening. And I think not enough tech companies have done that. Um, I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of that because um I really do have a lot to say about it. And um, you know, again, 20 years of experience in this space. I have a close eye on it. I'm certainly not shut down about it, right? I'm not like, oh, we're never changing anything again. We have a perfect tech stack and um the agents have what they need. I do think though, we um are amongst the best at what we have done and what we do use. And a lot of those actually aren't specific to real estate. Our e-newsletter platform isn't our um the way we schedule our floor um uh schedule. We use uh an outside platform for that. Um we use, you know, Gmail, okay, you know. Um so really we just look for the best of class in the product category, um, whether it's real estate related or not, and just figure out how to make it work for real estate.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, we love having you on the customer advisory uh board, and and we're really looking forward to, you know, getting that feedback as someone who's been in the the industry on that side of the fence, and then basically saying, hey, you know what, let's open a brokerage and really grow. Uh, even though you say you're in second grade, I think that you know you guys have done a lot of stuff for for the time that you've been around. Um so you know, very important. I I want to pivot a little bit to how technology can actually better support profitability in a in a difficult market, because we all know that commissions are being compressed, they have been. Um, but at the end of the day, you know, brokerages are there to, you know, to be profitable. So what would you say uh could help you on your bottom line?

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, the business model itself, right? I think for so long we've been stuck in like SaaS models that charge per seat. And as brokerages get bigger, like I can speak from this experience, um, you know, we have almost 500 agents. And so when I'm looking at solutions and thinking about like pure adoption and the capability and actual usefulness for the product for a wide range of agents, everyone from brand new, we call them new kids, to very seasoned agents who frankly are too busy to learn a new thing. It's this middle middle agent that will probably adopt it. But like, what about these? Am I still gonna have to pay for these? Right. And that's where I usually like shut the door on a demo. Um, it's like, okay, guys, you're gonna have to come up with like something more creative and something that um, you know, and then get it in the door and show us how useful it is. Let me, you know, uh give it to a small group of agents who might be a little bit more savvy, and then, you know, then it can spread throughout the brokerage as it proves to be effective and efficient and um worth it, right?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we hear it over and over again. It's it's really about um adoption. You know, agents need to use things and actually to be more profitable and help their brokerages. And so, you know, we're really looking to, you know, ask persons like yourself and and brokerages and and those who are in the market to say, what should we be, you know, doing better? Um, but with that said, what would you, you know, what could a new brokerage tech model look like, maybe in your opinion?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I think um, well, I'm a big proponent of balance within brokerage. So um I kind of let the agents run their business however they want. I have 500 different personalities here and ways of doing business and niches and things like that. Are they a team? Are they whatever? So I really do give them a lot of freedom. And I think that's where some brokerages maybe miss by requiring use of the tools. Um, you know, we provide a CRM, um, use it or don't. If you want to go pay for something else, go ahead. But I'm also not in the business of mining data. And I know a lot of brokers are gonna disagree with me, um, but it's just not something I'm interested in. Um, when an agent leaves my brokerage, take your database. I don't want it. Um, I'm certainly not gonna go and nurture those relationships because we are also a ninja brokerage, we're a people-based brokerage. So even though I do feel we're tech forward, we're people-centered and relationship-centered. And, you know, 90% of our business comes from relationships and sphere. So that's where we really focus. Um, you know, we have a Zillow team, we have an elites team, some things like that. Um, but really that's where I feel like the strong will survive when it comes to real estate. And again, people tell me I'm crazy and have my head in the sand or whatever, but I really believe that to be true.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And that's a great point. Um, it you, you know, you know, you really have all of these different pieces in a company of your size, it's, you know, you probably didn't start there. You've probably had to adapt as grown. Um, you know, I'd love to kind of hear how um your tech stack has kind of evolved and and your technology as you've added these various pieces. You know, you mentioned Ninja, you know, obviously there's their component there. You have your Zillow Flex or your programs, you have different pieces. Um, how did you kind of bring that together? And then as you grew, you know, what did you layer in to really help your business?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, I mean, we really have kept the stack really consistent, um, partly because I knew in the beginning I didn't want to start anything that couldn't scale. Um, we did have goals to grow um from day one. We did that more quickly than we thought. And so in the beginning, it was like, okay, set it up. And then as we onboard people, you know, we're gonna sit down with them, teach them everything. And then through COVID, that turned into like a little bit more DIY. And so we had to keep that simplicity there. Um, there really isn't anything in our stack that takes days of training or even hours to set up. Um, and that's by design. We did add a transaction management platform about four years in. Um, in our market, our contract software, most brokerages use that. It's real clunky. Um, so we did elevate that platform and um uh thank goodness, because now with 500 agents, that would be so messy every time that system crashes or even trying to get in it, um, pull to pull reports or whatever. Um, but really um that's the only thing we've added. And because of that, we've been able to keep our fees consistent. I have not raised the roster fee in eight years. We call our monthly fare a roster fee. Um, it's been the same. We haven't added a transaction fee, a doc storage fee, any any of those fees that you see brokerages having to add. And I think it's because we have kept it simple. And like whenever I do demos with tech companies, they're like, well, it's only$2 per agent per month. And it's like, okay, well, for me, that's another, you know, whatever it is. And I'm not gonna charge that back to my agents. That's my promise to them. So um I think we're just been more careful than most about that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, and it makes sense. I mean, it sounds like you know, part of your uh, you know, initial thought process was to build in the ability to scale. And so that was a very smart, you know, technique. And I think you know, it's why that you've had the success that you have, eight years, 500 agents. That's that's a pretty good trajectory.

SPEAKER_02:

Um with no recruiting, by the way.

SPEAKER_01:

With no recruiting, honestly.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

So you have a great program. Um with that, I would say, you know, obviously you did a great job. How do you how did you evaluate what partners and what tech partners you mentioned a second ago, you know, you go through a demo with someone, and you know, there's things that turn you off and there's things that maybe you you adapt to. So you know, I'd love to understand a little bit about how you evaluate a tech partner, um, and then also maybe some things that you did in the past that maybe you would do differently if you were evaluating today.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, so we operate a little bit differently when it comes to marketing and creative. My co-founder and business partner, Madeline Linder, um, grew up in ad shops. And so she runs that team like an ad agency within the brokerage. So when it comes to um any kind of collateral, uh, we do all of that for our agents. That's part of like our full service promise to them. They're not out there using Canva. We don't allow it. Um, our marketing team literally touches every single piece. So um I evaluate that from agents who come and interview with me who are at a different brokerage and are like, I don't want to create my own flyers using this clunky platform. I don't want to have to plug in my own pictures and then write my own listing description and all of these things. So that is a real differentiator for us. And so I also listened to the pain points regarding other services that they use at other brokerages. I hired probably 10 agents last year because a big franchise switched their main platform and the agents just didn't like it. They were being forced to learn and use it, and they were like, screw it, why am I paying a franchise fee and all of these other fees when I'm not even going to use this software that they want me to use? Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_01:

One absolutely. Um, you know, we hear that all the time. It really leads me in. I got two questions left I want to ask. One, how what role should a partner, a tech partner, play in helping with the agent adoption and training? So you mentioned, you know, people coming aboard, you can have agents come on learning your systems. You know, how would you like partners to do that? Or do you have your own systems? Love to talk a little bit about that.

SPEAKER_02:

The more established platforms we've got down, and so we really do handle that, but I'll use a new um, I mentioned the contract software earlier that's been in Denver for a long time. It's, you know, it's um they're they're bringing in some competition. So we've actually been um beta testing and advising on a new platform that I've invested in as well. And they are hosting weekly in-office trainings on that platform, even though the agents aren't even using it yet. They bring in food, they make it fun, their team's awesome, the platform's beautiful. It's actually a pleasure to learn about it and to use and play around with it and give them feedback. So I think like they are doing the best that I've ever seen at that. Easy though, because they're local, right? I mean, their offices are down the street and they can come in and like we bring agents, you know, we just have small groups come in. Um, I do think like there are companies doing a good job with videos and tutorials and at least like a library of resources where agents can go if they get stuck or to ask questions. Um, most don't. I will say it's impossible to get a hold of someone real at support at most companies.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. No, and that's a challenge. And you know, at Lone Wolf, um, we're really looking at 2025 as supporting the brokerage and root and the agents and all of our users because that's something that we feel is important to make sure that there's a human touch and and that it's um you know something that resonates. You know, real estate's a belly-to-belly industry, and and that expectation is certainly there to have that close um community. I think the last question we have for today, what are some key takeaways for tech companies and brokerages and in how their relationships should should work in the future?

SPEAKER_02:

I was just thinking about that when you were just talking. I think like don't outsource your support to AI because agents who can't figure out the technology anyway, like aren't going to enjoy going through some kind of chat process with a robot. They want to get Kathy on the phone and feel like Kathy is their person at whatever product and know like they can, you know, reach out. And yes, it is hard to support agents. They're all over the place sometimes. They they're very they're spread thin. They're not necessarily tech savvy or um their brains maybe don't work that way. They're kind, they're amazing, they support their clients, and they shouldn't have to deal with much um stress when it comes to the brokerage's technology. And that's always been like how I've looked at it. Like our our mantra mantra at West of Maine is the agents are our clients. How can we make things better? And um I think tech companies would do well to remember that brokerages are their clients. How can you make things better?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, absolutely. Well, Stacey, thank you so much for joining today. Uh, it's been a pleasure. And um, yeah, let's get back to selling some real estate.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, thank you so much. What a pleasure.

SPEAKER_00:

That's our pulse for today. Keep innovating, keep implementing, and keep moving real estate forward.

Contributor

svalerin@lwolf.com

Producer