“All references to Marriott have been removed or taped over in the last couple of days.”

“Wardman Hotel Owner LLC, an affiliate of Pacific Life Insurance Co., has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and has ended its management contract with Marriott International.”

The hill. That huge atrium. The long glass hallway. Waving hi to a friend as you go down the escalator and they are coming up. Long taxi lines. Secret elevators. Hotel room parties. Dancing in the bar. Last call.

Man, if those elevators could talk….

George Slusser to Head New Real Estate M&A Advisory Division at WAV Group

“George Slusser, one of the real estate industry’s most experienced and well-known valuation experts, will join WAV Group to head its new Mergers and Acquisition Advisory Division.

“George literally wrote the book on real estate M&As,” WAV Group Managing Partner Victor Lund said. Slusser authored the industry best-selling book, Acquiring Profit, which created the foundation for today’s modern M&A industry for U.S. real estate brokerages. “We can honestly say that no one will offer brokers better M&A advice than WAV Group with George on board.

With all the consolidation in the industry it seems like a smart move for brokers to get a sense of what their operations are worth. I have to believe the valuations are pretty high right now.

I don’t have the words right now. Freddy was such a gentle and kind person. So damn sad. If I hear anything from the family I’ll post it here. #FUCKCOVID

Some of you have been by the W+R Studios offices in Huntington Beach. We bought a drone for my son, Cole, for Christmas. A DJI Mini 2. This weekend the weather was perfect so Cole took some great shots starting from our office to the pier and beach. I added some music to his footage. Hope you enjoy.

ELM STREET TECHNOLOGY ACQUIRES VOICEPAD TO EXPAND OFFERINGS AND ACCELERATE GROWTH

“We’re thrilled to welcome VoicePad to the Elm Street Technology team as we look to broaden our platform of integrated real estate technology solutions to help us reach the next stage of our growth,” said Prem Luthra, President and CEO of Elm Street Technology. “Since its founding in 2016, VoicePad has provided high-level service to a robust portfolio of real estate brokerages, brands and professionals.  We look forward to expanding our offerings to our collective audiences.”

The consolidation trend continues. I believe this is Elm Street‘s seventh acquisition. Congrats to Elm Street and the VoicePad teams.

2021 Swanepoel Trends Report prepares brokers for a year like no other

“The report, available in a digital edition for the first time (including an audio version), explores how brokerages can grow their profits with a focus on ancillary business opportunities and by building a lead-generation and -conversion machine. In addition, it provides an analysis of Covid-19’s impact on the brokerage business now and into the future, how the Clear Cooperation Policy is impacting brokerages and MLSs, insight into the nation’s looming housing affordability challenge, a full picture of the industry’s franchise landscape, how two of the industry’s most powerful companies have instigated and responded to massive industry change, and how the industry can and should become more diverse.”

Just got mine in the mail. The PDF version is a welcome addition and I’m interested to check out the audio version. But I’m old school and prefer the hard copy. It’s an easy $200 dollars to spend on yourself or order multiple copies for your team as I do. Stefan and his crew do a great job with this every year. It will join their RE Almanac that sits at the ready on my desk.

After working at Stellar MLS for over 10 years, most recently as the VP of MLS Services Melissa King is joining Compass as an Industry Relations Director. She joins Bill Fowler (Sr. IR Director) and recently added Joe Schneider who started at Compass last month after six years at N.A.R.

Melissa knows her stuff and will be working at Compass to manage relationships with RE industry partners, assist expansion efforts in new & existing markets, work closely with legal and product teams on compliance issues, and lobby for policy changes.

Congrats to Melissa and Compass. Hopefully, we will all be together again this year to raise a glass.