Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Industry Relations Episode 41: 10 Defining Moments & Trends in the Last Decade of Real Estate

On January 1, 2010, organized real estate was still reeling from the recession. Dale Stinton was steering the ship at NAR. Zillow was seen as the enemy of the MLS. Real estate software was meh. Agent teams were rare. Nearly all brokerages took a split. Selling your house online seemed outrageous. And we still signed documents in pen.

On this episode of Industry Relations, Rob and Greg are looking back at the last 10 years in real estate. They discuss the passing NAR’s MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy, debating the significance of the office exclusives loophole and how it might lead to government involvement. Our hosts also express their disappointment around the Newsday investigation in Long Island, Testing the Divide, challenging brokerage leadership to make a strong statement against the egregious racism it uncovered. 

Greg and Rob go on to share their top 10 defining moments and trends with the biggest impact on the industry over the last decade, describing how the rise of agent teams, 100% commission brokerages, the iBuyer model and consolidation have transformed organized real estate. Listen in for insight into how NAR’s decision to fund RPR and Upstream changed the way the MLS saw Zillow and explore how the space has evolved from 2010 through the end of 2019.

Editor’s Note: We did record an Episode 40 that was never aired. It was about Policy 8.0 but wasn’t ready before the vote. After the vote passed we decided it didn’t add to anything to the issue.

What’s Discussed: 

NAR’s passing of the MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy

Rob & Greg’s take on the Newsday investigation in Long Island

How the loophole in 8.0 could lead to government involvement

The 10 defining trends/events in the last decade of real estate

  1. The end of poorly designed software
  2. The rise and domination of agent teams
  3. The transition in leadership at NAR
  4. Opendoor pioneering the iBuyer model
  5. Zillow’s acquisition of Trulia
  6. 100% commission brokerages
  7. Consolidation and the influx of capital
  8. The practice of buying agents/agent teams
  9. The mainstreaming of digital signatures
  10. NAR’s decision to fund RPR + Upstream

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Resources:

MLS Clear Cooperation Policy

Compass Pre-Litigation Letter to Bright MLS

Bright’s Response to Compass

Newsday Documentary: Testing the Divide

Rob’s Blog on the Newsday Piece

1000watt Article on Real Estate Software

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan

Ben Thompson Interview with Rich Barton

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RE/MAX acquires First

RE/MAX Acquires Data Science Startup First, Continuing the Brand’s Technological Transformation

“The four-year-old, North Carolina-based technology startup is known for creating the First app, an intelligent coaching platform that makes it easy for agents to identify likely sellers within their own network of contacts. With a focus on helping agents identify future listings, the app prioritizes who agents should reach out to and when, so they may strengthen current relationships when it matters most. It also organizes and consolidates an agent’s database and provides reporting on how much business is both won and lost from within an agent’s network.
 
“We have set our sights on becoming the global leader in real estate technology, and the acquisition of First is evidence of that steadfast commitment,” said Adam Contos, RE/MAX Chief Executive Officer. “With First, we found next-level talent combined with a game-changing service, delivering exclusive access to one of the best products for agents out there today.”

Big congrats to Mike Schneider of First and Adam Contos of RE/MAX. It will be interesting how they weave this in with their acquisition of booj last year.

So, the vendor consolidation continues. The year started with another CRM company, Contactually being acquired by Compass and BoldLeads being acquired by PropertyBase. ShowingTime acquired CSS. OJO Labs after acquiring Wolfnet in 2018, just acquired RealSavvy and chief puppy killers Scott Smith and Tom George of Constellation Software bought Offrs and SmartZip.

I believe First was represented by T3Sixy in the capable hands of Michele Conn. Seems like they might getting busier in the months to come.

Still no word from Realogy. ????

Would the last independent vendor leaving the building please turn off the lights.

Constellation acquires SmartZip

The Constellation Real Estate Group Acquires Assets of SmartZip

The Constellation Real Estate Group (“CREG”), has announced today that it has acquired certain assets of SmartZip Analytics Inc. (“SmartZip”), a pioneer in predictive analytics and award-winning provider of data-driven marketing automation and lead generation products for the real estate industry.
The acquisition includes SmartZip’s SmartTargeting platform, patent-pending predictive analytics, data solutions, and automated referral-building content system, Reach150.

If you are an avid Vendor Alley reader, you already knew this was coming.

I’m sure every industry has bottom feeders like Constellation Software. It just feels like every time Constellation Software buys a company, a puppy dies.

Constellation acquires Offrs, SmartZip acquisition also to be announced soon

Inman News:

“Constellation Real Estate Group announced Tuesday that it has purchased data analytics and lead generation company offrs, continuing a running acquisition spree that has seen the software giant pick up firms focused on everything from marketing to mortgage technology.
In a statement Tuesday, Constellation said that offrs (yes, that’s how the company spells its name) “leverages big data and its proprietary machine learning algorithm to predict future home sales and transactions.” Offrs then provides that data to various real estate professionals, including agents and mortgage companies.
Terms of the deal were not made public.”

Spoiler Alert!

I’m also hearing that Constellation is in the late stages of acquiring SmartZip too, which has been looking for a suitor for quite some time. That deal I’m told will be announced shortly. SmartZip had raised over $30M dollars according to Crunchbase.

I have mixed emotions when I hear of companies being acquired by Constellation, because they have a reputation as bottom feeders and founders rarely take any real money off the table.

OJO Labs acquires WolfNet

OJO Labs acquires WolfNet Technologies

“Specific financial terms were not made public but the deal involved a mix of equity and stock.

The founders of both companies, who had previously been working together on a partnership wherein OJO was using multiple listing service (MLS) data from Wolfnet, said that the deal made sense because of the synergies to be found between them, merging a new consumer-facing property search tool in the form of OJO with a trusted agent-and-broker focused software and data company in the form of WolfNet.”

Seems like every week a deal gets announced and this is a pretty big one! I con only think of one other vendor that currently aggregates the amount of MLS data WolfNet does. I don’t know much about OJO Labs but they are VC backed.

Joel is definitely an O.G. in the industry and a big congrats to him and his team.

Terradatum Acquires VScreen

Analytics Provider Terradatum Acquires VScreen

““Analytics that Terradatum provides through BrokerMetrics® and its other services are critically important content that elevates a brokerage’s ability to better execute its business strategy,” says Mark Spraetz, CEO of Terradatum. “VScreen and OnHoldUSA’s multimedia content services offer tools that can elevate marketing efforts in a similar manner. Good content, regardless of form, seeks to engage a person with the brand. Their collective content educates and engages, offering utility across the spectrum of digital marketing. The combination of analytics and marketing content will be a differentiator for our clients.”

I get the where they will use VScreen, but OnHoldUSA is a mystery. But I’m more aware of their BrokerMetrics product than anything else.

RE/MAX acquires booj

RE/MAX Takes Bold Step to Provide Best-in-Class TechnologyGlobal Franchisor Acquires Leading Technology Firm booj

The acquisition exemplifies a new approach for RE/MAX that goes beyond adapting third-party vendor products to fit broker and agent needs. Moving forward, RE/MAX will leverage the capabilities of booj and other strategic partners to deliver core technology solutions designed for and with RE/MAX affiliates. The objective: technology platforms that create a distinct competitive edge for RE/MAX brokerages and agents and complement other tech products they choose to use.

So its apparent the this “tech enabled brokerage” is a thing now. It’s now going to be a bunch of chest beating to show who has the best tech. RE/MAX appears to be taking a more open approach by still working with “strategic partners”, rather than the more closed approach of KW.

In a letter to agents, new RE/MAX CEO Adam Contos stated,

“It will mean an upgrade for the RE/MAX technology suite – a complement to other Approved Supplier products you choose to use.”

A far cry from the paranoid rant of Gary Keller,CEO of Keller Williams last week.

booj is an interesting company. Their pitch has been they only had a few “select” clients and a waiting list. Plus they would never work with any firm that was acquired by a Franchisor. Well it seems that philosophy has changed big time. It will be interesting to see how their current clients react. An opportunity for some, I’m sure. I hope Ido and John got a nice payout.

I’m also curious if this will effect RE/MAX’s relationship with Homes.com, which now powers the remax.com website. RE/MAX started that relationship with eNeighborhoods back in 2004, and have kept it going after eNeighborhoods was acquired by Homes.com parent, Dominion Enterprises.

ATTOM Data Solutions acquires Onboard Informatics

Looks like the rumor from yesterday is real.

ATTOM Data Solutions acquires Onboard InformaticsOnboard’s neighborhood data will be integrated into the ATTOM Data Warehouse

“Founded 15 years ago, Onboard Informatics’ data products include area data, point of interest data and community data.

“Not only will our customers now be able to access a broader set of property-related data from one vendor, they’ll also have more flexible options for consuming that data through the various ATTOM data delivery solutions including the ability to consume neighborhood data as bulk files,” said Jonathan Bednarsh, president and co-founder of Onboard Informatics.”

The consolidation trend continues. The number of independent companies in this space continues to fade. But 15 years is a great run, congrats to Jonathan and his team. Hope they got the big bucks!

Did ATTOM Data Solutions just acquire Onboard Informatics?

I’m hearing rumors point to yes. Anyone know for sure?

Constellation Software acquires Real Estate Digital

Constellation Software’s Perseus Operating Group Completes Acquisition of Real Estate Digital

“Constellation Software Inc. (“Constellation”) (TSX:CSU), announced today its Perseus operating group (“Perseus”), has purchased Real Estate Digital LLC from Xome Holdings LLC, excluding its reDataVault product which will be retained by Xome. The acquisition further expands Constellation’s market presence in the real estate industry as a leading provider of scalable SaaS products.”

Shortest press release I’ve read in awhile. I’ve got some thoughts on this I put together in another post. Big news day.

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