As the Real Estate World Turns

There is something about Zillow that brings out the melodramatic in the real estate commentariat, both of the professional variety and often more hilariously, of the amateur variety. The big bombshell from yesterday, of Zillow acquiring Trulia, has brought out some of the finest performances in a drama and in a comedy. It’s an odd … Read more

Why Are Referrals Still Legal?

A brief question, born out of discussions online and offline in the wake of the Zillow-Trulia deal…. Let me set the stage. More than a few people think that Zillow will ultimately want a piece of the commission (as evidence, they point to the brokerage licenses that MarketLeader once owned, which then Trulia owned, and … Read more

Zillow Acquires Trulia; I Speak With Greg Schwartz & Paul Levine

By now, every reader of this blog knows that one of the biggest deals in recent memory (if not ever) just went down this morning: Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trulia, Inc. (NYSE: TRLA) for $3.5 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. The Boards of Directors of … Read more

Zillow Acquires Trulia; I Speak With Greg Schwartz & Paul Levine

By now, every reader of this blog knows that one of the biggest deals in recent memory (if not ever) just went down this morning: Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trulia, Inc. (NYSE: TRLA) for $3.5 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. The Boards of Directors of … Read more

Zillow Acquires Trulia; I Speak With Greg Schwartz & Paul Levine

By now, every reader of this blog knows that one of the biggest deals in recent memory (if not ever) just went down this morning: Zillow, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Trulia, Inc. (NYSE: TRLA) for $3.5 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. The Boards of Directors of … Read more

NAR’s Organizational Realignment and Core Standards: Part Deux

Hi intrepid readers. Notorious Junior here to do a follow-up report to Notorious Senior’s parsing of the NAR Organizational Realignment and Core Standards project, Part 1. So why isn’t Rob handling his own follow-up promises? Well, he’s been kind of busy lately, being chased around by the Audubon Society for talking smack about Black Swans and … Read more

First Ever Notorious Reader Contest!

So… earlier this year, at the T3 Summit, I listed as one of my Black Swans the possibility that the 1099 independent contractor status for real estate agents might go away. The reason, I thought, was that state and federal governments would want MOAR taxes. You know, Social Security, Medicare, Obamacare, whatever taxes that are tied to … Read more

The Five Unspeakables from the California Association of REALTORS Event

The above is my view right now, as I’m in the Lakes of the Ozarks for an event tomorrow and Friday, so this post is heavily influenced by the fact that I’m sitting at a bar with a tropical drink, listening to Jimmy Buffet. So if it seems a bit of a disconnected ramble… blame Margaritaville. … Read more

Opendoor.com and the Power of Radical Questions

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine in the commercial real estate space asked me about Opendoor.com. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I went over to look at what that’s about. Well, this is what the website looks like right now: Hm. “The easiest way to sell your … Read more