About Concept Properties
Industry: Real Estate
Company size: 31 employees
What They Do: Concept Properties is a full-service real estate brokerage in the greater Boston Area.
Website: https://conceptre.com/
Q&A with Matt Ramey, Real Estate Broker at Concept Properties
Q: Why did you choose to work with D'Amore-McKim's graduate co-op program?
A: This was my first experience with D'Amore-McKim's graduate co-op program. I'd met our co-op outside of the program, and we had a standing weekly meeting during which he would come into my office and talk about the data world. When he told me he was looking for a co-op position, I jumped at the chance to have him join our team because I was very impressed by his field knowledge. The real estate industry increasingly embraces data analytics, so it felt like the perfect fit.
Q: Can you provide examples of strategic and complex projects that graduate co-ops have worked on in your company and how these projects advanced your business goals?
A: Two impactful projects stand out. The first focused on Brookline's real estate development and used extensive data analysis to determine the best parcels of land to purchase. We began with 17,000 options and narrowed the selection by considering variables like zoning, lot size, and census data. Ultimately, we had a refined list of 50 properties for potential development projects. We purchased a building due to this analysis, which is currently under agreement. Without data analysis, the process would have involved extensive manual research and been less targeted. Leveraging data analytics significantly streamlined the process, providing valuable data-driven insights, mitigating risks, and enhancing decision-making efficiency.
The second project involved tracking and analyzing customer behavior. With over 40,000 customers in our database, we aimed to identify patterns and group people into cohorts for more personalized service and targeted communication. A deeper understanding of the cyclical patterns in our market allows us to take proactive measures and provide more support to agents during our busiest periods. This understanding helps elevate client conversion rates and create repeat business.
Q: How has the program brought value to your organization? How has the program helped your organization become more innovative or productive?
A: Incorporating data analytics into our real estate approach has had a profound impact. While the financial benefits are long-term because projects take multiple years to complete, we've seen an immediate shift in the mindset within our team. Previously unfamiliar with analytics, our team now uses data-driven approaches to make decisions and embraces the fast-paced world of analytics and machine learning. This shift, made possible by our co-op, has brought a positive change in the office atmosphere and led to a deeper understanding of how analytics impacts individual agents and specific client deals.
Q: Have you used this as a pipeline to hire any of our students? Do you plan to hire more students as co-ops next year?
A: We hired our co-op after his program ended because of his outstanding performance, and he is the first member of what I expect to be a growing data analytics team. His contributions and insights into the significance of data analytics in real estate were invaluable. We plan to build upon our co-op's successes by making data analytics a more significant part of our marketing strategy, and another co-op can play a crucial role in advancing these efforts.
