BPP 2.0: Seven Questions

From RISMedia, we get some high-level concepts on what BPP 2.0 (Broker Public Portal) will look like. Or at least try to look like. According to the story, BPP 2.0 will be built on three pillars: National consumer platform created through technology reciprocity National dataset created through MLS reciprocity National display ruleset Read the whole … Read more

Department of Labor Goes After Independent Contractors

As longtime readers know, I’ve been talking about the possibility of the 1099 exemption for real estate agents going away for quite a few years now. I first wrote about it in 2014, after raising the issue of real estate agents getting classified as employees at the 2013 T3 Summit, then again in 2015 in … Read more

How Will CMLS’s White Paper Argue Against RINRA?

I had heard that CMLS had retained two former DOJ and FTC attorneys to help them draft a white paper laying out all of the reasons why the MLS is a force for good in the world, and Inman News published confirmation in this story: In order to do this, Batts and Carson are working … Read more

The Mystery of the Housing Market in the Fall of 2022

I have to go back to work on a number of projects, but… I had to puzzle this out with you all in public. The latest Redfin report on the housing market is… weird. The headline is “mortgage payments hit all time high” as the Fed keeps hiking rates. So the recommendation is for sellers … Read more

No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy: Thoughts on CoStar and BPP’s Breakup

Writing has been thin as I’ve been on the road constantly, and very busy with projects. But news came across today that fairly requires some commentary. General “Mad Dog” Mattis, a storied military commander and Secretary of Defense under Trump, is said to have once told a group of Iraqi tribal leaders, “I come in … Read more

The Tragedy of Numbers, or Why (Some) REALTORS Should Embrace the Coming Storm

A while back, I put up a short little tweet with just pure data, because I found it interesting: Robert Hahn on Twitter: “2022 might come in at 5.12 million existing homes sold (July data, seasonally adjusted). At the end of July, there were 1.58 million REALTOR members of NAR.In 2000, 5.04 million existing homes … Read more

DOJ, FTC & NAR: A Hundred Year War

My last post made it pretty apparent that contrary to my expectations, most of the real estate industry remains completely ignorant of what the U.S. government is attempting to do with its latest fight against real estate commissions. I thought maybe 50% of REALTORS were aware of the civil lawsuits and the DOJ/FTC action; most … Read more