I was asked to collaborate on some insights with Realtracs.
How Brokers Can Win Without Going to War
“Collaboration Isn’t Kumbaya
Collaboration doesn’t mean holding hands and singing around a lockbox. It means using shared data and tools to sharpen your own edge.“
NextHome Sets Company-Wide Goal: Floor Plans on 100% of Listings by July 2026
“James Dwiggins, Co-CEO of NextHome, explained the importance of the shift:
“This is an important move, not just for our company, but for the future of our industry. If agents want to be paid what they’re worth, they need to continue to raise their value proposition. According to the most recent NAR homebuyer survey, floor plans are the third most requested tool in the search process. This is one simple, powerful way to do it. In our view, floor plans aren’t just an add-on anymore. They’re front and center for consumers. And helping consumers is the heart of our mission at NextHome.”
Can you feel it? It’s really starting to happen.
Meet Lucy, an AI assistant that’s ‘all about empowering’ agents
“Rechat is a real estate marketing superapp that allows brokerages, teams and agents to select from an array of connected modular solutions for email, video marketing, digital display advertising and social media campaigns. It also provides CMA generation, websites, communication networks, CRM functionality and a smart transaction management center with digital signatures, intuitive form builders and business analytics.”
Remember the days when “there’s an app for that!” Now it seems all you need is a single Superapp! But seriously, the UI looks great. Broker only for now. Looking forward to see a fun demo.
Something tells me that this Lucy will be better at keeping up with her tasks than this Lucy!
“Speed her up!”
Doorify MLS Joins Broker Public Portal as Strategic Investor
“Our investment in Broker Public Portal is a clear signal of Doorify MLS’s commitment to technology sovereignty in real estate,” said Matt Fowler, CEO of Doorify MLS. “By taking ownership in this broker- and MLS-controlled platform, we’re ensuring our industry retains vital control over its technology infrastructure and data. Our core mission is to provide consumers with the most comprehensive MLS search experience, directly connecting them with the local experts – their agents and brokers. This investment fortifies a platform truly built by the industry, for the industry, fostering genuine engagement between consumers and real estate professionals.”
The tech that Dan and his team have put together in such a short amount of time is pretty amazing. And I was especially impressed by this statement from the release:
“With this addition, the strategic investors in the Broker Public Portal are comprised of 44 brokerages and 48 MLSs, serving 1,047,000 agents.”
There seems to be a lot of opportunity out there. The tough part is just fitting all the pieces together. Fortunately, Matt and his team have no shortage of ideas, and with his background at Solid Earth I’m confident they will be a perfect strategic partner.
Audie Chamberlain named Rechat head of growth, communications
“Chamberlain has long been a vocal advocate for real estate agents and their evolution through smart marketing and technology. He’s led public outreach campaigns for the likes of Concierge Auctions, Luxury Portfolio, Hawaii Life, Contactually and Zillow, among others. The relationship with Rechat developed after Chamberlain was hired to advise Hamidi on new ways to broaden the company’s national presence.”
Audie is one of the good ones. Excited to see what’s next for Rechat.
Howard Hanna in open rebellion against Clear Cooperation Policy
“We won’t pay the fines,” Hanna said. “We don’t think our agents should pay the fines if a seller has choice.
“What does that lead to, if we don’t pay the fines, then, okay, they’re going to say we can’t participate in the MLS? Well, is that really what they want to do? They want to have less inventory in the MLS? Do they want to destroy the MLS?”
Hanna has previously said his company was considering leaving the MLS due to NAR’s mandatory MLS policies.”
Maybe I’ve been watching too much basketball lately, but in my opinion, the concept of brokers wanting to change the rules because they have a new “novel” strategy is akin to an NBA team saying, “We don’t think that ‘shot clock’ is valid, so we aren’t going to follow it, and if you don’t change it, we are going to start our own league.”
Maybe not the best analogy, but as Sam DeBord elegantly stated in his LinkedIn post,
“The MLS ruleset is the lever that creates the marketplace for better seller outcomes. Like laws that make for an organized society, these rules create an organized marketplace that benefits those who participate.”
Mr. Hanna has every right to leave. If he has a better idea for what an MLS should be he should pursue it.
Looks like the WSJ got it wrong. So far I haven’t seen any sort of retraction from them.
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.
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.
“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!
