Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyCanada must become a global superpower
The silver lining to the US starting a trade war with Canada and regularly threatening annexation is that it has forced this country out of complacency. Indeed, I'm hard pressed to remember a time, at least in my lifetime, when patriotism and nationalism has united so much of Canada. According to a recent survey by Angus Reid, the percentage of Canadians expressing a "deep emotional attachment" to the country jumped from 49% in December 2024 to 59% in February 2025. And as further evidence of...
Brandon DonnellyThe bank robbery capital of the world
Between 1985 and 1995, Los Angeles' retail bank branches were robbed some 17,106 times. In 1992, which was the the city's worst year for robberies, the number was 2,641. This roughly translated into about one bank robbery every 45 minutes of each banking day. All of this, according to this CrimeReads piece by Peter Houlahan, gave Los Angeles the dubious title of "The Bank Robbery Capital of the World" during this time period. So what caused this? Well according to Peter it was facil...
Brandon DonnellyThe story behind those pixelated video game mosaics in Paris
If you've ever been to Paris, you've probably noticed the small pixelated art pieces that are scattered all around the city on buildings and various other hard surfaces. Or maybe you haven't seen or noticed them in Paris, but you've seen similarly pixelated mosaics in one of the other 79 cities around the world where they can be found. Or maybe you have no idea what I'm talking about right now. Huh? Here's an example from Bolivia (click here if you can't see...
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Brandon DonnellyHow different generations buy and sell real estate
Support Brandon Donnelly
Brandon DonnellyHow different generations buy and sell real estate
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I just came across the following generational home buying data from the National Association of Realtors in the US (via Curbed SF):
It was initially published in July 2013 and so I think the data represents what happened in 2012. The report isn’t exactly clear about the timing. In any event, what I found more interesting is how the various generations perceive the utility of agents. There are different use cases.
Millenials feel the need to have an agent help them navigate the purchasing process. This makes sense, as many of them would be first time buyers. However, Millenials are also almost 4x more likely to engage agents for “a limited set of services as requested by the seller”, as opposed to just a conventional full service brokerage agreement.
On the other hand, older buyers like to have an agent help them identify property deficiencies and sellers over 32 years old use a full service broker more than 80% of the time. I find this interesting because it starts to speak to potential changes in the marketplace.
Looking at a more recent report from the NAR (2013 Profile of Buyers and Sellers), I found it surprising to learn that the share of buyers who used an agent went from 69% in 2001 to 88% in 2013. Even with the internet disrupting so many industries, realtor market share has actually grown over the last decade.
Not surprisingly, the percentage of sellers who used an agent is also 88%. This is because the dual-agency model requires that both sides of the marketplace be represented.
Finally, the percentage of sellers who sold their home without an agent is roughly 9%. And 46% said it was because they wanted to save on commission. I’m assuming that the reason the math doesn’t add up (9% for-sale-by-owner + 88% agent) is because of estate sales, auctions and so on.
The real estate marketplace is an interesting one. What do you think we’ll see in the future?
I just came across the following generational home buying data from the National Association of Realtors in the US (via Curbed SF):
It was initially published in July 2013 and so I think the data represents what happened in 2012. The report isn’t exactly clear about the timing. In any event, what I found more interesting is how the various generations perceive the utility of agents. There are different use cases.
Millenials feel the need to have an agent help them navigate the purchasing process. This makes sense, as many of them would be first time buyers. However, Millenials are also almost 4x more likely to engage agents for “a limited set of services as requested by the seller”, as opposed to just a conventional full service brokerage agreement.
On the other hand, older buyers like to have an agent help them identify property deficiencies and sellers over 32 years old use a full service broker more than 80% of the time. I find this interesting because it starts to speak to potential changes in the marketplace.
Looking at a more recent report from the NAR (2013 Profile of Buyers and Sellers), I found it surprising to learn that the share of buyers who used an agent went from 69% in 2001 to 88% in 2013. Even with the internet disrupting so many industries, realtor market share has actually grown over the last decade.
Not surprisingly, the percentage of sellers who used an agent is also 88%. This is because the dual-agency model requires that both sides of the marketplace be represented.
Finally, the percentage of sellers who sold their home without an agent is roughly 9%. And 46% said it was because they wanted to save on commission. I’m assuming that the reason the math doesn’t add up (9% for-sale-by-owner + 88% agent) is because of estate sales, auctions and so on.
The real estate marketplace is an interesting one. What do you think we’ll see in the future?
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