Windermere’s OB Jacobi on real estate industry divides, smart leadership

On the newest episode of the RealTrending podcast, host Tracey Velt sits down with OB Jacobi, co-president of Windermere Real Estate, to discuss the evolving role of multiple listing services (MLSs) and the ripple effects from recent changes to the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy.

Jacobi, whose family has led Windermere since its founding in 1972, offers perspective on how industry leaders should adapt in the wake of the recent commission lawsuit settlements.

He also emphasizes the importance of technology-driven strategies and warns against overlooking the power of hyperlocal market dynamics.

This conversation excerpt has been edited for length and clarity.

Velt: You’ve mentioned that you don’t like to react impulsively as a leader. What do you think separates strong brokerage leadership from reactive leadership today?

Jacobi: Well, I think there’s a bunch of things. One, I think it’s having clear values and sticking with your values. It’s very easy to be swayed to one side or the other.

This issue specifically around private listing networks and office exclusives is very, very easy to say that could benefit us. It could benefit me with 30% market share in Seattle. I could easily be the beneficiary of something like that. So having very clear values and sticking to it is leadership No. 1, I think.

He went on to say that staying grounded in values not only guides decisions but attracts agents who share these principles.

Jacobi: People that are attracted to Windermere, and know and like our values, are standing behind us in what we’re saying, which is really neat to see.

Avoiding needless conflict, particularly as competition between brokerages has turned increasingly combative, was also cited as a vital piece of the puzzle.

Jacobi: What we’ve seen locally in Seattle is we were called out by Compass as part of the Northwest MLS, and controlling the board and all this malarkey. And we could easily have gotten into, you know, Instagram fights and social media fights.

But what we found is that the Compass people believe in what Compass is doing. The Windermere people believe in the Windermere stuff. It’s almost like a political or religious war out there. Agents are after each other. As a leader, we’ve got to be really careful to not do the harm to them so they can’t do their jobs for their customers.

When asked what national brands get wrong about local market power, Jacobi pointed to the challenge of applying a one-size-fits-all approach.

Jacobi: It’s really hard to govern from afar. It’s hard for us as a franchisor operating out of Seattle to say our customs are the same in Utah or the same in Portland or the same in Montana. They’re not. They’re just not.