Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

VestaPlus [Sponsor]

My thanks to VestaPlus™ for sponsoring Vendor Alley this month.

VestaPlus is a premier MLS technology provider dedicated to delivering innovative, intuitive solutions that empower real estate professionals and streamline MLS operations. Its comprehensive suite of products — including VestaPlus™ MLS, ShowingPlus™, SearchPlus™, MarketSnap™, and CheckMate™ 

Speaking of CheckMate, they have been on a roll lately. The system has been licensed by several major MLSs and REALTOR® associations, including MIAMI REALTORS®, BeachesMLS, Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service (ARMLS®), Oregon Data Share, and the Central Panhandle Association of REALTORS® (CPAR). Read full press release here.

That’s pretty impressive and makes CheckMate one of the most successful MLS led technology solutions.

My thanks again to them for sponsoring Vendor Alley.

“2030 NAR membership at 2 million”?

Friday Flash: The coming Realtor boom

“Things I’ve heard a lot, then and now:

1999: “Technology won’t replace Realtors; Realtors using technology will replace Realtors.”

2025: “AI won’t replace Realtors; Realtors using AI will replace Realtors.”

The NAR had 761,000 members in 1999. Today that number is just under double that.

I still know agents who have AOL addresses and make their assistants print out disclosure packets.

Nothing replaced anybody.

The 2025 version of this take will be just as wrong. I think AI is going to create more real estate agents, not fewer, both directly and indirectly.”

I love, love, love this take. Great read.

Lone Wolf partners with Follow Up Boss (FUB)

Lone Wolf Technologies Partners with Follow Up Boss to streamline workflows

“Real estate agents and teams often face inefficiencies caused by disconnected tools and processes. By integrating Follow Up Boss with Foundation—including solutions like Boost, Cloud CMA, Transact, and Back Office—agents can now manage their businesses more efficiently, while maintaining a strong focus on customer experience.

“Our mission has always been to empower real estate professionals by providing tools that simplify their daily operations and allow them to focus on what they do best,” said Jimmy Kelly, CEO at Lone Wolf Technologies. “This partnership represents our commitment to open, collaborative solutions that bring value to all agents, brokers, and teams.”

Even companies like Lone Wolf, which are aiming for an end-to-end solution, know they are not going to get everyone to use all their tools. This is especially true when it comes to a CRM. CRM adoption is tough, and once people get used to one, they tend to stick with it.

So I think it is both pragmatic and smart for Lone Wolf to take this path. I know other software vendors take a different approach, trying to lock you into their entire ecosystem or forcing you to use tools like Zapier to integrate.

Kudos to Lone Wolf and Follow Up Boss for making it easier for agents to integrate the tools they already love.

Styldod [Sponsor]

My thanks again to Styldod for sponsoring this month’s Vendor Alley.

Wanna go down an AI rabbit hole for a while? Check out REimagineHome. You simply upload an image of a room you want to redecorate or the exterior of a home you want to re-landscape, and REimagineHome will magically render different layouts and design options using their AI technology.

I uploaded a photo of a room at our studio, and it completely reimagined the space with a whole new vibe. It’s mind-blowing.

Styldod’s tech powers REimagineHome, and it’s easy to see how powerful it is. You can also imagine how this kind of technology could be used proactively to help with compliance issues before they happen.

Check out their AI Media Module for Listing Creation: Styldod

And once again, big thanks to Styldod for sponsoring this month’s Vendor Alley.

Rechat and new AI kids

Rechat Doubles Revenue, Triples Customer Base, Grows Team and Introduces New Tools

“Celebrating its 10th year in business, Rechat is redefining how real estate professionals work by integrating AI across every part of the transaction. The platform offers a fully connected experience from lead to close, combining CRM, marketing automation, design, digital advertising, and smart transaction management into one single interface. With over 16,000 users, 75% average CRM adoption and expanding partnerships with top national brokerages, Rechat is setting a new standard for how agents engage with clients and grow their business.”

I see two (maybe three) camps forming:

  1. Existing software vendors/solutions adding AI into their products
  2. Native AI solutions—those built with AI first and foremost in mind
  3. And recent vendors who have either scrapped their existing products or gone all in on AI.

Rechat looks like they’re getting a few things right. I’m especially impressed with their team. I’ve chatted with Rechat founder and CEO Shayan Hamidi and seen him speak. I also worked with Shaun Harkley at Lone Wolf, he’s a solid sales leader. And of course, newly added Audie Chamberlain is one of my favorite people in the industry.

The new kids seem to be chasing the same things the old kids were chasing: the elusive “all-in-one” product. Maybe Rechat’s “Super App” is a better path. And I wonder if AI is the key to actually making that happen?

NorthstarMLS adds UtahRealEstate.com’s reDataExport tool

UtahRealEstate.com’s Newest Company, reDataExport, Signs NorthstarMLS as its First Customer

“Founded in January 2025 by UtahRealEstate.com, reDataExport aims to transform real estate data distribution by providing an efficient platform to supply real estate information to those who need multiple listing service (“MLS”) data for research, statistics, and analytics. MLSs across the nation often receive requests from government agencies, universities, economists, and research companies that need access to specific MLS data for market research and legislative analysis. With the reDataExport product, NorthstarMLS will be able to license data to these types of entities and provide the data without having to give full access to their MLS system, ensuring the confidentiality and data integrity of the MLS system”

Love these types of solutions. Simple, solves a problem, and easy to implement. I bet it’s pretty inexpensive too. Might be an easy way for others to support MLS led tech. I’m sure either Brad or Casey would love to chat.

Ocusell and Restb.ai partner to enhance FMLS listings

Ocusell Partners with Restb.ai to Enhance FMLS Listings with Built-In AI

“This partnership embeds Restb.ai’s advanced computer vision technology directly into Ocusell, giving agents and brokers powerful time-saving tools while maintaining the highest standards of accuracy and reliability,” said Hayden Rieveschl, CEO and Founder of Ocusell.”

This space is heating up.

Listing Input via voice is now live at MetroList thanks to Lundy

Voice is Here: MetroList Agents Streamline Listings with Lundy-Powered App

“MetroList agents are now collecting property data on-site with the new voice-controlled app, capturing property details instantly and accurately by simply speaking as they walk through the home. Once agents experience the speed and convenience of this technology, there’s no going back. The app intelligently interprets spoken descriptions, automatically populating listing fields and reducing manual data entry. This allows agents to collect more complete and descriptive data in less time, enhancing the quality and searchability of listings across the platform.”

I never really thought that doing listing input via a mobile device was that practical. I just thought it might be too cumbersome to “type” that data on a phone. But this new voice stuff by Lundy is pretty slick.

Ben Kinney’s Place acquires Remine for $1.5

Place buys Remine at auction for $1.5M in cash

“Real estate tech and agent services company Place is acquiring real estate software firm Remine for $1.5 million, all in cash — less than 3 percent of what four multiple listing services paid to buy the company 3.5 years ago.

The deal is expected to close in about 14 days, Place co-founder Ben Kinney told Inman exclusively Thursday.”

“Less than 3 percent…” — ooof.

Probably the best outcome for Remine, though. Ben Kinney is legit. Still, a long road ahead.”

The consolidation continues…

AI set to help MLS and Associations to better support their members

After this week announcement from NAR and CCP and all the articles written and podcasts..casting I think I’m more confused than ever. I’m wondering if AI could help? Could I feed those articles and podcast transcripts in to AI and ask it,

“Who are the winners and losers in this latest announcement from NAR about CCP?”

I’m pretty sure even ChatGPT would break down if I asked it that question.

But I’m seeing a few ways AI is helping MLS and Associations. Markt just announced a partnership, Markt Taps Voiceflip’s ARDI to Advance MLS Support Services, according to the blog post,

“By integrating ARDI into its service offerings, Markt is empowering their MLS clients to boost service speed, reduce operational costs, and offer higher value human interactions.”

Markt’s General Manager Betsy Hanson goes on to say;

“ARDI will give MLS subscribers quick and accurate answers, freeing our staff for bigger challenges and puzzles.”

I think that’s exactly right. It reminds me of a conversation I had with Justin Lundy, of Lundy, when I talked to him about their AI MLS and Association support product, Navigator. he told me that, “while some members do prefer to talk to a robot, most would rather speak to a human. Lundy’s Navigator is helping those humans surface the answer quickly so they can focus on being there for the member instead of searching through a number of documents.”

Lundy’s Navigator now has close to nine MLS clients. I’ve also heard they are announcing a partnership with CMLS, where they have built a “Best Practices Navigator”. CMLS supports over 225 MLS organizations so that will be a huge benefit CMLS members can take advantage of.

Good to have some choices.

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