Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Au revoir Curt

I got an email from him last week. Long story short, Curt has decided to leave Zillow at the end of the month and reached out to Dan and me. He expressed he loves what he is doing, but kids are gone, and it’s time to work on some other things. “The List” we all have. I was nodding my head as I read his email.

It’s easy to underestimate the impact Curt has had on this industry. He wrote the first web-based MLS system. Full Stop. He’s behind some of the most innovative agent tools in the industry. He helped Zillow become the listing powerhouse they are today. Steve Jobs once said, “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why even be here?” Curt made a big ole fucking dent in this industry.

I wrote a post about Curt all the way back in 2011 (some of my best writing, if I do say so myself), I thought I would repost again.

I know I will see you again my friend, hopefully, sooner than later.

“Curt

He stands over 6 and a half feet tall, he once rode his motorcycle (a Harley-Davidson) from Washington state all the way a Houston, Texas; and back! ( A trip covering over 5,000 miles), this year, he quipped, “I flew”. He lives mostly off the grid, doesn’t own a television, is the current VP of Business Development at MOVE, has a Cary Grant type of accent to his voice (meaning I can’t figure out what country the accent comes from, if any), his name is Curt Beardsley and is in my estimation one of the best minds and speakers in real estate today.

I met Curt in Kirkland Washington back in 1996. Back then I was trying to launch our product, “Lightning“, in the market in Western Washington. I met with a few brokers showing the latest innovation with Lightning. Moore Data had just introduced photos to its MLS software Compass. My business partner Dan Woolley had, for lack a better word, hacked the system so that Lightning could also display photos from the Compass MLS system. A huge feat that raised a lot of eyebrows. I still remember people looking under our table at trade shows thinking we had another computer running Viewpoint (Moore Data’s proprietary MLS access software). One of the brokers suggested I meet with a couple of guys that were doing some innovative stuff, on this new thing called “the Internet”. The broker made the introduction and the next day I went to meet them.

At that time Curt was the co-founder of a company called True North Technology. When I arrived they had a small office with a single “partner’s desk”. Or maybe it was just two desks facing together. His partner was Kevin Knoepp. I showed them Lightning and our ability to display Compass photos. I could tell both of them were impressed. Dan’s hack had brought me some street cred. (Although later he confessed that at our first meeting he never heard anyone curse as much as I did.) We were a small company in real estate technology (IRIS) and so were they. What I didn’t know at the time was that Curt and Kevin were working on what would be the first web-based MLS system.

We became friends, kept in touch, hung out together at real estate conferences, traded stories and tried to grow our respective companies. True North began getting some traction, and starting launching their new MLS system with MLS providers around the country. Not long after that they were acquired by another upstart in the MLS game, GTE. GTE had a MLS software called System 4, led by Errol Samuelson. Serendipity.

Errol is no slouch when it comes to speaking and bringing big ideas to this space. If you are lucky you’ll get to see both of them speak. Any panel in which Curt or Errol are participating leave the other panelists looking like the amateur hour. Curt is a perfect fit for the cerebral Errol and the real estate industry is better for their partnership together.

Curt brings more an academic vibe to his talks. His vibe is one of a well liked professor. If the TED conference wanted someone to talk about real estate I would send Curt. His mix of data and a passion about the idea of a “Home” is very inspiring. This is striking compared to others in the space. An article I read last week in the New York Times quoted Pete Flint, CEO of Trulia; “There was a time when owning a home was a symbol of you had made it. Now it’s O.K. not to own” and continued “I’m in no rush at all to buy”. Pete doesn’t get it. Curt does.

If you have been in this business a long time you can get jaded. To actually listen to someone who inspires you is a tall order. Curt’s mix of idealism and creative energy is a beautiful thing to watch and fills that tall order in more ways than one.”

OneKey MLS get tech talent

OneKey® MLS adds Three Data and Technology Experts to its Board of Managers to help keep REALTORS® relevant and profitable

Jim Speer, CEO, OneKey MLS says, “When we formed OneKey MLS, we affirmed our passion for pursuing continual improvements in delivering meaningful services, and software that will help our customers stay relevant and profitable for the long haul. Adding three insightful, experienced, and objective technology leaders to our Board of Managers is one more important step toward achieving that important pursuit.”

So much going on in real estate you need all the help you can get. Alon I know has a ton of experience and perspective on this space. I think it’s a great idea for MLS organizations to add outside directors to give them a bit more perspective on the entire organized real estate ecosystem.

Join me on Clubhouse at 3PM PT today!

Lots going on in Organized Real Estate. MLS Owned, retirements, CoStar. Let’s do this!

Join me on Clubhouse on your mobile phone by clicking the link below.

https://www.clubhouse.com/join/alley-cats/46FJ6Efi/m2YLW1j4

MLS, heal thyself

MLS Aligned Acquires Agent Inbox to Create the Future of the MLS Showing Experience

“With this acquisition, MLS Aligned will build upon the Agent Inbox tools to bring messaging and showings together in a straightforward place for agents and brokers. The system will bring tremendous benefits to consumers due to the platform’s speed and enhanced showing system capabilities.

To better facilitate the showing process, MLS Aligned will integrate the showings and messaging systems within the platforms of their members to provide for seamless agent-to-agent and agent-to-client communications.”

Nature abhors a vacuum. While it seems that new showing software solutions are popping up everywhere, they still represented a problem to many MLS organizations. Mainly, “acquisition anxiety”.

That’s why an “MLS Owned” could have some legs. Many MLS members and their board of directors have given MLS staff the mandate to get off of Zillow’s ShowingTime. But many MLS organizations struggled as they faced the “devil you know is better than the devil you don’t” syndrome and good adoption.

This is somewhat of a travesty since I feel (and the vast majority of MLS execs I talk to) that ShowingTime has been unfairly treated. But some MLS execs find themselves in a bind because of angry member feedback or their MLS policies state that participants can’t be vendors.

Still, not all MLS organizations are suited for this type of acquisition. Just because you run an MLS, doesn’t mean you can run a software company. But many MLS Aligned members have deep experience in creating and supporting software solutions.

These MLS organizations represent about 100,000 agents, but the press release clearly states, “MLS Aligned will be making this software available to organizations that are not MLS Aligned members in the near future.”

I think this is a big story and “MLS Owned” represents a new type of disruption in the industry. I gotta give a lot of credit to the stakeholders at MLS Aligned. This is really a bold move. Now they have to match that with good execution.

CoStar completes the purchase of Homes.com and goes back to the future

Company plans to combine Homes.com and Homesnap to offer the best online home buying experience possible by frictionlessly connecting agents, buyers, and sellers

“Rather than building a business model based on creating friction to syphon off agent commissions, we plan to provide a next generation marketplace that connects listing and buyer agents to sellers and buyers without taking a cut of their commissions.” – Andy Florance, CEO of CoStar Group

Mr. Florance is a master at fear-based marketing. But I see three big problems with this strategy. The first problem is that early results show that many consumers like the one-stop and iBuying experience. The second is total available market (TAM). We all know of the 80/20 rule. In real estate it might be 90/10. If you are only going to sell to agents with listings then you are severely limiting your market. The third problem they have? Zillow.

“Homesnap is the leading real estate productivity and marketing app and hundreds of thousands of the most productive real estate agents in the country rely on it to manage their businesses. CoStar Group intends to fully integrate Homesnap and Homes.com, with Homesnap at one end as the agent’s professional tool and Homes.com on the other side as the home buyer’s portal. Once integrated, agents will have instant access to manage their listings on Homes.com, view and respond to inquiries, collaborate with clients, and provision and monitor sophisticated digital marketing campaigns. We believe this direct connection between agents and a consumer portal is unique in the industry.”

Isn’t this exactly Homesnap’s existing business model? Collaborate! Your listing your lead! Automate your social media marketing!

“Homes.com has one of the largest real estate portal sales forces and CoStar Group intends to leverage that sales force to sell the Homesnap product with the goal of expanding Homesnap’s reach to hundreds of thousands of additional real estate agents.”

Oh, I guess they didn’t have a big enough sales force to properly monetize this strategy. Release the hounds!

Also, no mention of the Broker Public Portal.

I hope there is more to this than what I’m reading. I was really excited to hear something innovative coming from these guys. All I see is a company stoking fear and increasing their sales staff.

Kathy Condon retiring as CEO of MLS PIN after 23 years

Interested in running one of the largest and most progressive and customer-centric MLSs in America?

“MLS Property Information Network (MLS PIN), based in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, one of the top 10 largest MLSs in America, is looking for a new President and CEO to run its 43,000+ broker-owned and broker-led organization. One of the most progressive and customer-centric MLSs, MLS PIN is looking for a strategic, collaborative and tech savvy leader to drive its leadership and proprietary software platform.

Kathy Condon, current President and CEO is retiring after a successful career of 23 years at MLS PIN”

Kathy is one of the most respected people in the industry. What phenomenal career. No details yet. Caught this post on LinkedIn. More to say later…

“Everybody is getting fucked and rich at the same time”

Crazy Twitter thread about real estate from Sally Elshorafa of Buzz Feed.

Nobody knows what a home is worth these days.

Joel Singer, CEO of C.A.R. , is retiring

From Inman News: California Association of Realtors CEO announces retirement

“It will be very difficult to leave, but it is the right time for me personally,” Singer said in an emailed statement. “I also know that CAR is in excellent hands from both a volunteer leadership and staff standpoint and that this change will open new doors for the organization.”

CAR is forming a search committee to find Singer’s replacement.

Well, I was 2 years off from my prediction. Damn COVID!

One thing you can say about Joel is that he rarely played defense. He was constantly pushing, constantly going for it, constantly moving forward. You gotta respect that.

It’s going to be super interesting to watch the cage match that will ensue on finding his replacement. I can already hear those LinkedIn profiles being updated now….

realMLS launches Rental Beast

realMLS Launches Robust Rental Strategy by Integrating Rental Beast Into MLS

“This partnership, initiated in response to member demand, provides a mutually beneficial opportunity for both organizations as they continue to impact the real estate market. In a recent survey, realMLS found that nearly 90% of members would favor the addition of a rental platform to their MLS-provided services.”

With supply so limited I think it makes perfect sense for MLS organizations to provide solutions to help their members find housing for their clients, for purchase or rent.

Chelsea Goyer leaves Remine

According to LinkedIn, Chelsea Goyer has left Remine. I haven’t heard why.

I was puzzled when she joined Remine after spending 12 years help growing Redfin to a successful IPO. Now less than 2 years later after joining Remine, she is leaving the executive team. This is after Joe Kazoun and Bill Andrews both left Remine in 2020, after barely a year. ????‍♂️

She is now listed as the Head of Brokerage Operations at Opendoor. Which I think is a great fit. Congrats to Opendoor and Chelsea.

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