In this edition of The Real Word, Byron Lazine and Nicole White discuss a Black real estate agent and his clients who were handcuffed while touring a home, Zillow seeing profits slip and real estate agents paying NCAA athletes.

Byron Lazine and Nicole White are two agents in Connecticut who give us their thoughts on the week’s news every Friday in “The Real Word,” a weekly video column on Inman.

On August 1, Eric Brown, a Black real estate agent, and his clients, Roy Thorne and his 15-year-old son, who are also Black, were in the middle of a home tour when police surrounded the house with their guns drawn, Inman reported.

Brown and his clients were ordered to exit the house and were placed in handcuffs. After Brown asked the police to pull out his business card from his wallet and explained who he was, the officers took off the handcuffs.

“The officers, after apologizing, just pulled off. That was it. They just left,” Byron said. “That is a traumatic experience.”

More on this week’s episode: Zillow received $1.3 billion in revenue in the second quarter but saw “profits slip.” According to Inman, Zillow “saw a net income of about $10 million in the second quarter of 2021. That’s up compared to one year ago, when Zillow suffered a net loss of nearly $85 million — and when the coronavirus was first impacting the housing market. However, it’s down compared to the first quarter of 2021, when the company pulled in $52 million in net income, as well as compared to the final quarter of 2020, when net income hit $46 million.”

Byron and Nicole talked about Zillow’s second-quarter earnings report, and co-founder and CEO Rich Barton’s strategy, goals and vision for the future.

Marketeer of the week

Just like the changes made in the NCAA, it’s time you start promoting your brand as an agent to get ahead of the game, according to Chris Smith, co-founder of Curaytor. On Instagram, Smith posted a well-crafted infographic, sharing five ways agents can partner with NCAA athletes.

Want to nominate a “marketeer of the week”? Drop your thoughts in the comments section below, or shoot us an email.

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