Rob Hahn

Managing Partner of 7DS Associates, and the grand poobah of this here blog. Once called "a revolutionary in a really nice suit", people often wonder what I do for a living because I have the temerity to not talk about my clients and my work for clients. Suffice to say that I do strategy work for some of the largest organizations and companies in real estate, as well as some of the smallest startups and agent teams, but usually only on projects that interest me with big implications for reforming this wonderful, crazy, lovable yet frustrating real estate industry of ours.

Be Wary of the False Spring in Real Estate

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Real estate people are some of the most optimistic people I know. They have to be in order to work a business in which they don’t make a penny without a transaction getting done, and the driving motivation for the consumer is a dream: The American Dream, the Dream of Homeownership, Your Dream Home. Real … Read more

This Way Lies Victory: Fixing NAR's Political Survival Initiative

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Since I broke the news of the new NAR REALTOR Party Political Survival Initiative (“#RPPSI” hereafter, as that is the Twitter hashtag as well) on Tuesday, the response has been really quite interesting and overwhelming. Various people have written blogposts on the subject. As of this writing, I know of the following posts: Jay Thompson … Read more

This Way Lies Victory: Fixing NAR’s Political Survival Initiative

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Since I broke the news of the new NAR REALTOR Party Political Survival Initiative (“#RPPSI” hereafter, as that is the Twitter hashtag as well) on Tuesday, the response has been really quite interesting and overwhelming. Various people have written blogposts on the subject. As of this writing, I know of the following posts: Jay Thompson … Read more

Mortgage Litigation on the Rise

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I’ve been writing about the mess that is Foreclosuregate on this blog, on Notorious, and on AOL Real Estate. And something I worried about (yet predicted, hoping to be wrong) was that we’d see significant lawsuits against banks, servicers, and MBS sponsors brought by homeowners and investors. Well, it appears that mortgage litigation rose significantly … Read more

Should Social Media Be Taught to Everyone?

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I was reading some Facebook status updates — signifying that obviously, I’m not a total social media moron who hates all things social — when I came across an interesting little comment: The post that Eric Bryant and Maya were talking about is this one by Jeremy Blanton. His conclusion: I think in the case … Read more

BREAKING: NAR Launches a Political Party, Risks Its Future

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At the 2011 Association Executives Institute meeting in Dallas, NAR has put forth a bold if risky plan it is actually calling the “Political Survival Initiative“. In short, NAR will launch a “REALTOR Party” that will go beyond simple issue advocacy to full-blown political support for individual candidates based on issues NAR considers important (e.g., … Read more

Have You Seen Me? The Role of the Broker in Contemporary Real Estate

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One of the most insightful set of comments I’ve ever read on this here blog (remember, I usually learn more from writing this blog than I ever “teach”) is to my last post about technology-loving agents. As it happens frequently around these here parts, at the same time I was being enlightened by you, the … Read more

What's up with REALTORS Who Love Tech?

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I forgot an angle on this post about agent ratings and consumers that’s more in line with the light and snappy flow of this blog. As the NAR survey, flawed as it might be, shows, consumers overwhelmingly want these skills/qualities in a REALTOR: Honesty and Integrity – 98% Knowledge of purchase process – 96% Responsiveness … Read more

What’s up with REALTORS Who Love Tech?

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I forgot an angle on this post about agent ratings and consumers that’s more in line with the light and snappy flow of this blog. As the NAR survey, flawed as it might be, shows, consumers overwhelmingly want these skills/qualities in a REALTOR: Honesty and Integrity – 98% Knowledge of purchase process – 96% Responsiveness … Read more