“Over $1B invested” đź‘€
Redfin say it’s “leaving NAR”
“Redfin is moving to end our support of the National Association of Realtors for two reasons:
Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin
- NAR policies requiring a fee for the buyer’s agent on every listing
- a pattern of alleged sexual harassment. “
Whoa! The post from GFK also adds this nugget.
“We Want NAR to Decouple MLS Access from NAR Support
We’re asking NAR to decouple local access to these tools, including the listing databases known as Multiple Listing Services, from support for the national lobbying organization. Agents shouldn’t have to underwrite policies and legal efforts that hurt consumers when most of us got into real estate to help consumers. Redfin’s mission after all is to redefine real estate in consumers’ favor. “
Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin
There is also story in the New York Times regarding this decision, for those with access check it out too.
State of the housing market: Glenn Kelman and Spencer Rascoff
GFK and Spencer? Yup, I’m in. Click here to register => Virtual Panel Registration: State of the Housing Market
Adam Wiener leaving Redfin
Redfin’s president of real estate operations to depart
“We know with Adam’s departure what Redfin will lose. He’s one of the smartest, kindest, most hard-working and creative folks you’ll ever meet,” Kelman said in the email. “And Redfin will keep changing. We couldn’t keep doing things the way we’ve done with Adam, and we shouldn’t try. Change is necessary and good.”
A Redfin spokesperson didn’t say where Wiener is heading after Redfin. In his email, Kelman said in a year Wiener “will probably be running his own show, at another company also poised to conquer the world.”
Rick Morgan – Inno Senior Reporter
Huge loss, but happy for Adam. As our industry enters a “hunker down” mode I think you’ll see more of these departures. It’s a great time to build.
Podcast roundup
Two great podcast episodes to listen to for anyone in organized real estate
Stratechery
An Interview with Opendoor CEO Eric Wu About Building a Marketplace in a Real Estate Slowdown
“I had a chance to talk to Wu about both his and Opendoor’s origin story, competing and now partnering with Zillow, why the speed of the current slowdown caught Opendoor by surprise, acquiring customers for an infrequent transaction, and how the company will get a marketplace off of the ground.”
Ben Thompson’s Stratechery is must listen. Some of the content is behind a paywall, but do yourself a favor and subscribe.
This Week on Startups
Managing a recession, housing market insights & more with Redfin’s Glenn Kelman + OK Boomer | E1616
“Jason Calacanis and Molly Wood cover startups, tech, markets, media, crypto, and all the hottest topics in business and technology. They also interview the world’s greatest founders, operators, investors, and innovators.”
Great interview of one of my favorite CEOs in real estate, GFK, Glenn Fucking Kelman. Keep grinding Glenn we are all rooting for you.
Redfin partners with Down Payment Resource
Redfin Launches Down Payment Assistance Feature to Help Make Homeownership More Attainable
“Nearly half of Americans who have never owned a home say that saving money for a down payment is a barrier to homeownership, and many young people in particular feel like they’ll never be able to own a home,” said Christian Taubman, Redfin’s chief growth officer. “Down payment assistance programs can make homeownership more attainable, but information about them is often fragmented and hard to understand. We saw a big opportunity in partnering with Down Payment Resource to raise awareness about these programs to help more people become homeowners.”
Love this! Congrats Rob.
Redfin hires new Industry Relations rep, Joe Rath
Meet Redfin’s Head of Industry Relations
“Joe comes from a real estate family and understands the day-to-day challenges that brokers and agents face and the complicated dynamics of this industry,” said Jason Aleem, Redfin’s senior vice president of real estate sales. “He’s a clear communicator, effective relationship builder and strategic leader who will be a strong advocate for policies that improve the agent experience and help us all better serve our clients.”
Welcome to the jungle Joe!
Looking for some talent?
The industry is going through a lot right now. Both Compass and Redfin have announced layoffs. I’ve been working with Melissa King of Bright MLS and she has scored a list of those at Redfin that were recently part of the cuts. Looks like some great talent available for those companies looking to hire. Let’s do this!
Here’s the link below.
Redfin to display commission rate for buyer’s agents
From Inman News, Redfin to display buyer’s agent commissions in 65 markets
“Redfin first began publishing buyer’s agent compensation in Seattle, then began publishing the compensation on its own listings in every market where allowed in 2019. With this recent change — one that RE/MAX is also undertaking — that data will be available on every listing.”
Strategy credit or not Redfin has always been a leader in this type of transparency . I do like their implementation on this, much more evolved than remax.com
Although, displaying this information is not really a straight forward issue. Sam DeBord has an excellent Twitter thread about some of the pitfalls. Click the image below to read.
But you have to start somewhere. Great to see these two companies take the lead.
Glenn’s Choice
Is Redfin’s job to make money or create positive change?
Back to Redfin and this fair housing lawsuit: Glenn Kelman, Redfin president and CEO, is on the record showing strong support for equal rights and being opposed to housing discrimination. Redfin is arguably one of the industry leaders in this matter.
As Kelman said in the very blog post he penned in reaction to this lawsuit, “Every business has to balance employee and customer needs.” And a tricky balancing act that is. Compounding that difficulty is the need for “corporate citizenry” and “social responsibility.”
This lawsuit will likely take months, maybe years, to resolve. If you think it only affects Redfin, think again. Agents target luxury buyers all the time. They advertise based on ZIP codes. Entire brokerages cater to the needs, wants and desires of certain income levels, certain locations and certain cities. This lawsuit has the potential to impact everyone in this industry.
Great perspective from Jay Thompson.
