September 2020 - Page 2 of 3

Zillow is a broker now. Just deal with it.

September 23rd, 2020

Zillow Offers Will Expand Services in 2021 to Simplify Customer Transactions

“Starting in January 2021, customers in Atlanta, Phoenix and Tucson who sell homes through Zillow Offers will work directly with trusted, licensed employees of Zillow Homes, a licensed brokerage entity. Zillow-owned homes in these markets will be listed for sale by licensed Zillow Homes employees. The company expects to expand these services to additional Zillow Offers markets later in 2021.”

Zillow is now Redfin

As part of streamlining its operations and services, Zillow is also simplifying the way it collects listing data, moving from thousands of disparate data feeds to MLS Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feeds, which are offered directly through MLSs to their members. These direct listing feeds will help Zillow’s goal of offering its 200 million unique monthly visitors the most up-to-date and comprehensive listing information possible.”

Zillow gets IDX feeds.

Now sure if this will be just for the 3 markets they talked about or all markets. My guess is that Zillow already has broker licenses in all 50 states.

These additional services are expected to expand opportunities for buyers, sellers and agents. Zillow Homes will be the brokerage of record for Zillow Offers transactions. All Zillow-owned homes will be listed in MLSs, with commissions paid to agents representing buyers. The company will also continue to invest in and expand its Premier Agent business and partnerships, including connecting other interested buyers and sellers to Zillow Premier Agents, which is expected to be the preference of the majority of Zillow’s customers.

Zillow will play nice…for now.

I know the industry is going to have a collective shit-storm over this, with accusations of ” Zillow said they would never become a broker!” bullshit.

Can’t we all just get over this? The biggest news I see here is Zillow, with all their APIs, machine learning, artificial intelligence, site visitors, and algorithms woke up and realized when it comes to buying and selling a home….you need a human being to get it done. That’s a win.

Keller Williams finally catches up with Better Homes & Gardens 4 years later.

September 21st, 2020

Keller Williams adds ‘equity’ to core belief system amid racial unrest

The mostly symbolic move to adjust the language of the company’s official guiding principles was also followed by the tangible decision by local agent leaders to add a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) committee to the list of local Agent Leadership Council (ALC) standing committees.

“To support our company’s commitment to equity with action, local ALC DEI committees will work to maintain a welcoming and inclusive environment for all protected classes including sex, race, color, creed, age, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, genetic information, and sexual orientation,” a memo from Keller Williams’ leadership team to all agents, brokers and staffers states.

Yours truly from 4 years ago, speaking about Sherry Chris.

“I” is for Inclusion

“Another thing Sherry mentioned in her remarks, and the reason for this post, was that she was going to make a change to their “PAIGE” Core Values. The “I” in PAIGE previously stood for “Innovation”. Sherry announced that was going to change, going forward the “I” would stand for “Inclusion”. She wanted BH&G Real Estate to be the company of inclusion. She mentioned the LGBTQ community and the fact that a large part of the home buying market was hispanic. Inclusion was the future.”

This was way back in August of 2016. This wasn’t done in the environment we have today. And I know Sherry caught a lot of crap from some of her own brokers too, who thought it was unnecessary. She didn’t care, it was the right thing to do then, as it is now.

That’s leadership. That’s Sherry Chris.

Bright MLS see rentals gain traction with RentSpree

September 21st, 2020

Bright MLS Sees Cool Wins in the Hot Rentals Market

““We consider it our mission to find and vet innovative tools that make life easier for our subscribers and their clients. A one-stop, sophisticated technology solution for the rental process was a no-brainer,” said Andrew Strauch, Vice President of Premium Services and Broker Rewards.
“When planning the roll-out with Bright MLS, we looked at consolidating many steps into one,” said Michael Lucarelli, CEO of RentSpree. “One streamlined process can take subscribers from listing to lease agreement with none of the wasted effort associated with the historically fragmented rental process.”

It’s no secret I see a lot of upside with MLS organizations embracing tools that help members work with rentals. On a recent Listing Bits episode “How Agent Win by Working with Rentals”, I interviewed Ishay Grinberg, CEO of Rental Beast who revealed that there is an annual 12 billion dollars (yes that’s a “B”) of compensation revenue opportunity in the rental market.

Michael Lucarelli, CEO of RentSpree reached out to me recently. RentSpree provides tools to agents to help them streamline the process of working with clients who are looking to rent. Many of these clients need housing, due to low purchase inventory, and renting is the only option. Unlike Rental Beast, RentSpree doesn’t aggregate rental listing but focuses on tools that help with the workflow.

It’s a new market, we need new tools.

RIP Ruth Bader Ginsburg

September 18th, 2020

Ruth Bader Ginsburg 1933-2020

“I would like to be remembered as someone who used whatever talent she had to do her work to the very best of her ability.” – RBG

Such a loss. 2020 just won’t stop. ????

N.A.R. should steal this idea

September 17th, 2020

Charles “Chuck” Williams, CEO & Founder Buyside

America’s Top Real Estate Firms Come Together to Launch the First-Ever National Home Valuation Week in Partnership with Buyside

“After a rapid growth in the network of firms on the Buyside platform adding $54 billion in listing opportunities, the company pushed even harder for more listings and worked with its broker clients to launch the first ever National Home Valuation Week (#NHVW), which begins Monday, September 21^st, 2020. Top real estate firms located in the United States will be participating in the event, joining together to promote consumers to check the value of their home though their local broker.”

You know how you are always hearing about “National Puppy Day”, or “National Margarita Day”, well this idea takes a different spin on that and I think it’s genius.

National Home Valuation Week (#NHVM) promotes homeowners to check the value of their home through a local broker/agent. Boom!

With a nationwide housing shortage, this could be a great way to encourage homeowners to consider selling their homes. The best way to make this successful is to increase the coverage.

I’m sure Charles Williams, founder, and CEO of Buyside has trademarked the shit out of this but that doesn’t preclude N.A.R., Zillow, Opendoor, whoever from working towards something that would benefit the entire industry. Chuck’s contact information is listed at the bottom of their press release. Call him. Let’s do this!

Plus, once they get a quick valuation from Buyside and the agent needs a present a full CMA, I know a guy.

Join me live tomorrow on Water Cooler with Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin

September 16th, 2020

I’m super excited to join Chris Smith and Jimmy Mackin of Curaytor tomorrow at 2PM PT on their live video podcast, Water Cooler. Just click on the link below at 2PM PT or 5PM ET.

https://www.curaytor.com/live

We will be talking about my new book, The Art of the CMA, which you can purchase here. And anything else that comes up.

Chris and Jimmy have written multiple books and provided a lot of inspiration and advice. So grab your favorite beverage and get your list of questions together and join me live!

Opendoor announces merger, first step in going public

September 16th, 2020

Opendoor announces merger with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. in bid to go public

“iBuying platform Opendoor said it will merge with Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. II. to become a public company using the special purchase acquisition company in a deal that values Opendoor at $4.8 billion and provides it with up to $1 billion in cash proceeds.
The transaction announced on Tuesday is also supported by a $600 million so-called private investment in public equity, or PIPE, at $10 per share, with $200 million from entities affiliated with Social Capital, including $100 million from Chamath Palihapitiya, founder and CEO of Social Equity, $58 million from Hedosophia, and the remainder from existing Opendoor shareholders, Access Industries and Lennar, along with Opendoor management, the release said.
The company said the transaction will allow Opendoor to continue to invest in growth, market expansion and new products to accelerate its overall plan to become a digital one-stop-shop for homeowners.”

If you get a chance listen to their investor presentation, which really gives you a good perspective of how Opendoor perceives the market.

Now that Opendoor is going to have access to capital from the public markets this battle between Zillow and Opendoor is going to have massive (and disruptive) benefits.

We are going to see a lot of innovation take place due to their competition and that is going to be great for consumers and I think real estate as a whole.

RIP William Gates Sr.

September 15th, 2020

Remembering my Dad

“The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation would not be what it is today without my dad. More than anyone else, he shaped the values of the foundation. He was collaborative, judicious, and serious about learning. He was dignified but hated anything that seemed pretentious. (Dad’s given name was William H. Gates II, but he never used the “II”—he thought it sounded stuffy.) He was great at stepping back and seeing the big picture. He was quick to tear up when he saw people suffering in the world. And he would not let any of us forget the people behind the strategies we were discussing..”

Very moving tribute from Bill Gates about the passing of his father.