Just a short message of gratitude. I want to thank everyone for their friendship and support this year.
I look at being able to write this blog and do my podcasts as a great privilege. I appreciate your trust. I miss seeing everyone terribly and look forward to being together again soon and feel lucky to be a part of such a wonderful group of people.
“When you do nothing you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” – Maya Angelou
“W+R Studios’ was acquired by Lone Wolf a few weeks ago, but expect its inventive tech to remain a featured tool in real estate offices around the country. Cloud CMA Live took the company’s popular market analysis solution and made it “shareable” via live web broadcast.
The CMA creation process that current customers are familiar with remains intact, but the new iteration includes “View Live,” an embedded launchpad for Zoom or Skype to present it in real-time in a one-on-one video format.
As a color football analyst diagrams a successful end-around, the new telestrator tool can vibrantly mark up the presentation to indicate streets, highlight map points of interest or better illustrate differing home features.”
Many thanks to Craig Rowe for the inclusion on his list. Congrats to the W+R team, they knocked it out of the park with this launch.
“Smarter Agent, which was founded more than decade ago by brothers Brad and Eric Blumberg in Philadelphia, boasted on its website that it counted approximately 25 percent of the real estate industry among its clients. That includes more than 3,000 brokerages and 300,000 agents, according to the company. If those numbers are accurate, the end of the platform would create a chasm in the real estate industry when it comes to mobile application services.”
I think this was only a matter of time. As Inman News correctly states this is par for the course when a franchisor acquires technology. Compass with Contactually, RE/MAX with booj and now Keller Williams with Smarter Agent.
Brad and Eric are two of the savviest businessmen and innovative vendors I’ve met. They were the first to give brokers and agents a white label version of mobile apps to help them compete with the larger real estate portals. They (still) own numerous patents on location-based search.
This also opens the door of opportunity for other companies. Homespotter is a good example as it offers not only mobile technology but also the workflow of generating leads. It seems gone are the days of stand-alone apps. Agents are now being pitched the entire solution.
“FMLS relies heavily on its technology personnel to keep it ahead of its competition and be the preferred MLS among its customers when it comes to real estate technology tools. This role joins a high-performance team to serve in an application development role. The Software Engineer works with the Product Engineering department team to deliver the best solutions to meet and exceed the needs of both our internal customers (FMLS employees) and our external customers (our membership). This role is responsible for developing and modifying source code for software applications.”
The November 2020 DOJ-NAR settlement requires that buyer’s agent commissions are apparent to consumers. But that transparency is just a first step in a push to divorce real estate commissions entirely. Should the other DOJ lawsuits succeed, home buyers will negotiate buy-side commissions directly with the buyer’s agent. So, what happens if the disruptors calling for these changes (like Jack Ryan) get their way?
On this episode of Industry Relations, Rob and Greg discuss Sam DeBord’s passionate Tweetstorm in response to their recent interview with Jack Ryan of REX, clarifying the arguments made by both Jack and Sam and considering how transparency around buyer’s agent commissions is likely to reduce the population of agent-facilitators and drive market share to the true realtor-counselors in the space.
Rob and Greg describe how a rule ending cooperation and compensation would impact the industry long-term, exploring a possible transition from a buyer’s commission to a flat fee or hourly model. Listen in for insight into the questions industry disruptors raise with regard to the role of the MLS, the brokerage and the agent in the absence of cooperation and compensation.
What’s Discussed:
Lone Wolf’s acquisition of W+R Studios and how Greg & Dan are sharing $1M of the proceeds with their team
Sam DeBord’s passionate Tweetstorm in response to our interview with Jack Ryan of REX
What makes a real estate agent a facilitator vs. a counselor
How transparency around buyer’s agent commissions could significantly reduce the agent population
How Jack Ryan’s background in politics and high finance informs the way he thinks about making real estate better for consumers
How the end of cooperative compensation is likely to disrupt real estate referral networks
The opportunity for vendors to help buyer’s agents demonstrate their value
Why Rob thinks there could be a transition from buyer’s agent commissions to a flat fee or hourly model
What agents and brokers might do to take advantage of the required disclosure of buyer’s agent commissions
The questions Jack Ryan’s line of attack raises re: the value prop of the MLS or the real estate brokerage in the absence of cooperation and compensation
2021 RESO Executive Board: Chair: Rebecca Jensen, President and CEO, Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC (MRED) – re-elected Vice-Chair: Michael Wurzer, President and CEO, FBS, Creators of Flexmls – re-elected Secretary: Katie Smithson, Director of Enterprise Services, W+R Studios, a Lone Wolf Company – elected Treasurer: Richard Renton, CEO, Triad MLS – re-elected
Representing Technology Companies, Developers, Partners & Consultants with Revenue Over $25 Million: Scott Woodard, CEO, ShowingTime – elected Lucie Fortier, Executive Leader, Product Management, CoreLogic – appointed Turan Tekin, Director, MLS and Industry Development, Zillow Group – appointed
Representing Multiple Listing Services and REALTOR® Associations with Less Than 50,000 Subscribers: John Breault, Vice President of MLS and Member Services, Rhode Island Association of REALTORS® & State-Wide MLS, Inc. – elected Chris Carrillo, CEO, Metro MLS (Incumbent) – elected
Representing Class D, Real Estate Brokerages, Brokers, Agents & Appraisers: Bill Fowler, Senior Director of Industry Relations, Compass – elected Dan Troup, Director of Data Strategy & Operations, RE/MAX & Seventy3, LLC (Incumbent) – elected
RESO Board Advisors: Bob Evans – VP Industry Relations, Move.com Liz Tewksbury – Director of MLS Operations, Homesnap
Congratulations Katie Smithson and the rest of the RESO officers and directors. ????
I think I may have been late to the party with this book. I have to admit it took me longer than usual to finish, due to the amount of frustration I felt after reading every…single… page. Must read for anyone in organized real estate.
Here’s the deal, communicating effectively is key to having any sort of success in work and life. You may have the best idea, pitch, story but if people can’t hear you, then it dosen’t matter. So if you are going to spend any money improving your work from home gear I would suggest a good mic. I’m a big fan of RODE products and this is a perfect starter mic.
Okay, so you want to take it to the next level? Communication is also visual. So proper camera placement and lighting are key. This broadcasting kit from Lumecube is perfect for any desk situation.
Are you doing a lot of training videos or want to to show off some corporate branding in the backgroud? Nothing beats having a green screen. I installed a pull down screen in my home office. Zoom does a decent job without one, but with a proper green screen set up you get crisp lines and background images pop.
Ditch the bunny slippers and go WFH chic. The One-Mile slippers from Mack Weldon are super comfortable, and instantly upgrade any quarantine pantswear. Only problem is they sell out quickly.
If you actually have to leave the house protect yourself and others by wearing a mask. The Spacemask is the most comfortable I’ve tried (and I’ve tried a lot). It has become part of my EDC kit. Get a six pack. They are a bit pricey but worth it.
“HW Media, publisher of HousingWire, FinLedger, and producer of Engage Events, today announced it has closed on the strategic acquisition of REAL Trends, the residential real estate industry’s leading report that ranks the performance of the top U.S. brokerage firms.
REAL Trends will continue to publish the REAL Trends 500, The Thousand, and Website Rankings reports on an annual basis, as well as produce the Gathering of Eagles and DealMAKERS events. Together with HW Media brands HousingWire and FinLedger, the company will reach over 11 million real estate, mortgage and fintech professionals each year”
Looks like Steve will continue with his M&A advisory business. So far I’m not such a big reader of Housing Wire (although I am a subscriber), it has a lot of focus on the mortgage industry and less on the residential real estate space, but I have seen that start to shift a bit.
I can imagine it’s hard to get that mix of news right. I do hear good things about HousingWire’s CEO Clayton Collins and I can imagine he is thinking a lot about this. I know from my perspective that I have little interest in what’s happening in the mortgage banking or title industry, and I think that is the same for the majority of real estate agents. But as new business models evolve it might be more important for company leaders to be educated on all facets of the real estate transaction.
Congrats to Steve, I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t a REAL Trends, and it’s great to see his legacy survive.
“Second, the three class-action suits ostensibly have an end game in mind: Divorcing real estate commissions,meaning that a home seller should negotiate listing commissions with a listing agent while a home buyer should negotiate buy-side commissions directly with a buyer’s agent. While this seems like an awfully commonsensical thing to do, the implications for the real estate sales industry would facilitate more transformative change than any technology-based innovation. “
If you’re like me you read about these lawsuits and you’re not sure if you should be overly concerned or not. Jeff does an excellent job of walking us down the path of what may or may not be the future in a world where buy-side commission rates are brought into the sunlight. SPF 2.5 anyone?
What happens when real estate tech royalty get together to brainstorm business ideas? Not surprisingly, a general discussion of underutilized assets lends itself to a new proptech venture.
Spencer Rascoff (former CEO of Zillow) and Austin Allison (founder of dotloop) are the Cofounders of Pacaso, a startup working to democratize access to second homeownership. On this episode of the podcast, real estate tech OGs Spencer and Austin join Rob and Greg to discuss how Pacaso solves the problem around the underutilization of second homes and explain how consumers, agents, and brokers alike benefit from the service.
Spencer and Austin describe how Pacaso manages scheduling and dispute resolution, sharing what differentiates their product from a timeshare or the traditional DIY co-ownership model. Listen in for Spencer and Austin’s insight on current events in the industry, including the radical acceleration of tech adoption through COVID, the long-term impact of the DOJ lawsuit against NAR, and CoStar CEO Andy Florance’s attack on Zillow.
What’s Discussed:
How Pacaso solves the problem around underutilization of second homes
How consumers, agents, and brokers benefit from Pacaso
What differentiates Pacaso from a timeshare
How Pacaso handles scheduling and what happens if one owner uses the home much more than the others
Why Spencer & Austin don’t see Airbnb as competition
How Pacaso manages dispute resolution and governance of a property
Why friction among owners is less likely with Pacaso vs. the DIY model
Spencer & Austin’s response to the idea that Pacaso is ‘rich people solving rich people problems’
How COVID has inspired a demand for co-ownership in city centers
How the digitization of real estate has accelerated through the pandemic and what that means for the industry
Why buyer side representation will not go away (despite the DOJ lawsuit)
Andy Florance’s attack on Zillow and how CoStar’s acquisition of Homesnap will impact residential real estate
