In this episode of “As The Blog Turns” we learn that our protagonist — your humble scribe — finds even more amusement in the responses from Mr. Ben Caballero, of HomesUSA and of NAREP. For those missing out on the soap opera, here were my questions to Mr. Caballero, and then here are his answers, … Read more
As you may have read, I asked Ben Caballero of NAREP a number of questions. He has responded, and authorized me to post his responses, as long as I did not edit it or add anything else to what he sent in. In accordance to his wishes, I post his response in full. Any modifications … Read more
Episode 8 is a tragedy. I have a great conversation with the Notorious B.O.B. Bemis of Procuring Cause, and with Greg Robertson, of Vendor Alley and of W&R Studios (the creator of CloudCMA). We discussed CMLS, The Realty Alliance, big issues in the conflict between MLS and brokerages, future of the industry, and so … Read more
Rob Hahn published a detailed and most entertaining analysis of Texas broker Ben Caballero and the National Association of Real Estate Professionals (narep.NET – not .org or .com) that Ben founded about a year ago. In the post, Rob poses twenty questions to Ben about his real estate business, his business practices, and the current status of the NAREP as a non-profit … Read more
Recently, I’ve had the occasion to be taken to task personally by one Ben Caballero, the co-founder of an entity called NAREP. Here are the relevant tweets in question: @robhahn We know that you fancy yourself a "tinker, tailor, spy" and that spies operate covertly, but stop shilling & make a full disclosure — Ben … Read more
Just a quick thought/question, since I’m working on a big paper at the moment when the thought occurred to me. Think about this. Trulia launched in September of 2005. Zillow opened its doors in February of 2006. The Housing Collapse began sometime in 2006, and really hit the fan in 2007. Look at the chart … Read more
The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of people—and especially of government—always have effects that are unanticipated or unintended. – Library of Economics & Liberty I’m in St. Paul, MN, where the sun has conspired with the river to create a hundred gorgeous pleasures. Like conversing with new and … Read more
The whole world of MLS is exploding. That part that isn’t exploding will be carpet bombed into oblivion. The sky isn’t just falling, it’s getting ready to crush every little chicken in its path. So many people are crying “Wolf!” that even the wolf is scared spitless. At least that’s what some writers would have … Read more
Following on my post about the Broker/MLS conflict at CMLS, as promised The Realty Alliance (TRA) has published their list of complaints and Gregg Larson, Clareity Consulting has it posted with his commentary on their blog at http://clareity.com/ By far the most commented article is the Inman News coverage of the event. Nearly 100 comments as of this writing and they’re all … Read more