Looks like the WSJ got it wrong. So far I haven’t seen any sort of retraction from them.
Gino says no deal!
Warren Buffet wants out of real estate
Compass negotiating to buy Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
“News of the negotiations between the companies was notable because it would represent a shift in strategy from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway conglomeration. HomeServices is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a company silo that otherwise exclusively includes energy production and transmission companies. Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. also holds other ancillary real estate services and the insurance company GEICO.”
I could make the case of Stone Point Capital buying Keller Williams and Rocket buying Redfin as an optimistic view for the industry. Meaning, “big money” thinks real estate is going to pretty much operate as it has in the past. Which is good for organized real estate
I don’t know why, but this news hits different.
CoreLogic offers “private” solution for CCP concerns
Technical Capabilities Can Help the Real Estate Industry Navigate Clear Cooperation
“Matrix and Trestle can be used together to support MLSs, brokers and industry players regardless of which direction the Clear Cooperation policy is decided, for example:
-Listings marked as private will be suppressed from broader syndication
-Broker’s agents enter all their listings into the MLS system (Matrix)
-The Broker’s agent chooses the appropriate status when entering a listing, including a ‘private’ status
-Matrix is able to include their ‘private listing’ into the data feed back to the appropriate broker in near real time (via Trestle)
-Listings marked private remain private to the broker, and only that broker
-Listings marked as private are only available in any searches by the broker’s own agents or the broker’s agents’ clients.”–Devi Mateti, President, Enterprise Digital Solutions at CoreLogic
Obviously, each MLS would have to approve this solution, but I like the concept. I had a discussion with another vendor about this, and he pointed out that even beyond CCP, there are still mandatory submission requirements. However, I think brokerages like Compass are signaling that they don’t want to deal with those requirements either.
So yes, this does make it easier for brokerages to implement private networks, which I still oppose. But I believe it’s better to use the MLS system to do so. Why? Well, the data will be cleaner when it’s entered, and if the listing sells off-MLS, it can be added to the MLS system with a simple status change. I think if the listing is first entered into some random private network software, adding it to the MLS later might be an afterthought, leading to incomplete or inaccurate data.
Another point Devi’s post touches on is a glimpse into CoreLogic’s strategy if the whole MLS industry collapses.
Lone Wolf Foundation
“This is the end result of that extensive research; a platform that goes beyond integrations, beyond connections, beyond a rebrand to create a real solution. From a single login to a modular design that allows real estate professionals to pick and choose the solutions they need, with shared data workflows that keep information consistent from lead to close and the latest in digital security, there’s nothing like this in the industry today—and it will transform the way real estate professionals work, now and into the future.”
Sean Wheeler, CTO of Lone Wolf Technologies
This has been a huge project and I’m loving what Lone Wolf has pulled off. Having acquired some of the most popular and widely adopted software in the real estate space, they have taken a fresh approach on how to create an end-to-end platform. Am I biased? Of course! It’s all because I know the team there is made up some of the most creative and talented people in the industry, people from HomeSpotter, Instanet, zipForm, Terradatum and W+R Studios.
I hear some of you say, “But, Greg, I thought you didn’t like all-in-one solutions?” I think that Lone Wolf’s CEO Jimmy Kelly said it best, “Real Estate Doesn’t Need More Software“. In a nutshell what he is saying real estate has a lot of point solutions; it needs what it already has to pull more weight. The industry wants its existing software to work together, and be more automated. What Lone Wolf is doing is creating a foundation (see what I did there) for their software (and also giving the flexibility to add other solutions) to let brokers and agents create the experience they want. Experience I believe is the key word here.
Congrats to everyone at Lone Wolf!
Webinar Tomorrow: Transaction vs Deal Management?
I’ve always been a big fan of simple, focused software. In today’s parlance that would mean, “point solutions”. Software that does one (or two) things, and does them great. Now many of the larger companies are switching to “end to end” platforms, which also have a place. So when Vijay, CEO of co-founder of Trackxi, asked me to join him on this webinar I quickly agreed. I think it will be a great opportunity to discuss these topics and about some the changes in the industry is going through and how vendors are creating new categories to compete.
Registration Link => Why top agents are ditching transaction management software?
T3 Sixty will not publish 2024 rankings of brokerages
Prudent.
More info on FCC’s new robocalls rules
“Real estate leads are among the most expensive leads generated across all American business, often leading to real estate professionals paying as high as 40% of their commission for a sale generated from a lead. Many leads generated at online shopping websites are sold over and over again, causing consumers to be inundated with spam-y text messages and robo-calls that seem to have no end. Now, there must be a clear opt-in by consumers to this form of communication. The FCC wants the consumer to opt in on a 1-to-1 basis to each company that will receive their contact information. “
Victor Lund, WAV Group
As Rob and I discussed on a recent Industry Relations podcast we think this is going to have a bigger impact than any one realizes.
Are A.R.E.A. and NLS for real?
National Association of Realtors Faces Competition From New Group
“Mr. Umansky said that AREA will offer its members a nationwide database of home listings as an alternative, built from the technology he acquired for his own private listings service. That platform, which they’re calling the National Listing Service, is currently live with limited listings at theNLS.com.
“A centralized database with access to the full scope of listings across the country is better for everyone in the industry, and someone just had to do it,” Mr. Umansky said.
Debra Kamin, New York Times
A good question I would ask the two luxury real estate agents/brokers launching this new endeavor is this: “Will this new entity follow (or match) the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) guidelines?”
That would be a good tell.
6%? Hold My Beer
In this first week of the Sitzer Burnett trial is all about the plaintiff presenting their case. And it seems that the plaintiffs are all about showing training materials, and slides from previous conferences that use the 6% as proof that the “fix is in”!
The poor consumer has been tricked in to thinking that this percentage was never negotiable. Hell, the whole reason for scripts in the first place was that CONSUMERS WERE ALWAYS TRYING TO NEGOTIATE. Has anyone brought that point up?
Also, this….
Less software?
Next week Lone Wolf Technologies will reveal its new platform at the T3 Technology Summit, and I’m super excited about it. Why? Let me tell you a story.
At W+R Studios we were bootstrapped, so we needed to grow organically. Our product strategy centered around making core features of an MLS system better.
CMAs on MLS systems suck? Let’s make a better one. Enter Cloud CMA.
MLS system’s client portals and listing alert emails are ugly. Let’s make them pretty (and easier to use). Voilà , Cloud Streams.
Searching on MLS systems too complicated? Let’s make something simple. Boom, Cloud MLX!
The problem was two fold. In order to grow we needed to add new products (more software) and at the end of the day is that we had 3 different software apps, each of them great in their own right, but they didn’t really work together. Also if you wanted all three you had to buy each one separately, and have 3 separate logins, and 3 separate onboarding scenarios, 3 different times you entered a credit card number, and 3 separate…you get the point.
We solved most of this by creating the “Cloud Agent Suite“, but really only scratched the surface of what was possible, then we were acquired in December 2020.
So this problem of “simplifying real estate” has been on the minds of our (W+R) design team for a very long time. How do we bring all of this together to create an end to end solution that makes sense, and still grow? Can “less software” be the answer?
Turns that the problem was about to get bigger. Starting in 2020 Lone Wolf acquired 5 companies in 9 months (including W+R); HomeSpotter, LionDesk, Terradatum and Propertybase. Now you had 9 (at least) separate logins, 9 separate… you get the point.
When I left Lone Wolf I was starting to see the green shoots of this work. Most of it on the backend led by Sean Wheeler, Lone Wolf’s CTO. One login, one credit card, one database of contacts for all products, etc. Jimmy Kelly, Lone Wolf’s CEO, talked about their effort and the concept of “less software” on a post on Inman News titled “Real Estate Doesn’t Need More Software“. I was also privy to see some of the earlier mock ups from the design group, which were super impressive.
But, like any good meal it all comes down to ingredients. Lone Wolf from my estimation has the best ingredients in the market. The products they acquired (and the teams behind them) are not only best of class but have high adoption rates and great partnerships. Now it comes down to presentation and taste. And I have full confidence in the design chops of the team behind this. I had a chance to interview, Damien Huze, who was W+R’s Chief Design Officer and now a principal designer at Lone Wolf on my Listing Bits podcast which should drop this week.
Am I biased? Absolutely. Am I still a fan of simple focused software applications? You betcha. But I’m a bigger fan of people. So I look forward to seeing how this particular group of talented people proves less software is better.
