[VIP] On the DOJ Statement of Interest

In case you haven’t already heard, the U.S. Department of Justice has taken the rare step of intervening in a civil case with a Statement of Interest on Behalf of the United States of America. Interesting note: the intervention was in the Sitzer case out of Missouri rather than the Moehrl case in Illinois, which … Read more

On NAR’s MLS Policy Statement 8.0: A Step Forward… Into Confusion

Coming Soon and all of the off-MLS shenanigans have become an increasing problem within the industry, especially for the MLS. I’ve written about this here, here, and here (this post is VIP only). My position on MLS and systematic Coming Soon programs ought to be crystal clear by now, as I wrote in the Peace … Read more

The Notorious Interview: Chris Drayer, Revaluate

So a number of you have messaged and written me to say positive things about the two interviews I did with Fred Bin of Zoom Casa and Rick Rudman of Curbio last week. I know I’m a writer first and you come here to read overly lengthy posts about various real estate topics, but I … Read more

Future of Lead Generation: You Say vs. They Say

Happy Friday afternoon, everybody. I normally wouldn’t write something today, but… I’ve been traveling and came down with a cold and have been wanting to write this for a couple of days. Plus, what the hell — maybe some of you will enjoy some light reading over the weekend. I just recorded a great conversation … Read more

On California’s New Gig Economy Law: Don’t Relax Just Yet

I feel pretty certain that anybody that is reading Notorious likely already knows that the legislature of California has passed Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) that tries to rein in the so-called “gig economy” workers. The bill is headed to Gov. Newsom for signature, and it appears that he will indeed sign it, especially given statements … Read more

[VIP] On the Realogy-Compass Kerfuffle

The battle between Realogy and Compass took a strange turn in recent days, when Compass claimed that they rejected a marriage offer from Realogy according to The Real Deal: With his back against the mats, Realogy CEO Ryan Schneider considered selling the brokerage to its chief rival: Compass. In a statement Friday, the SoftBank-backed brokerage … Read more

Keller Williams Concierge: New Wine in Old Skin

One of the more interesting things that happened last week was news that Keller Williams will roll out a new “concierge” program in California, Georgia and Texas. Designed to compete against similar offerings from Compass (note that KW says they pay no attention whatsoever to competitors, but I do think the lady doth protest too … Read more

[VIP] Zillow’s Possible Long Game: Mortgages and iBuyer

It’s VIP Content Week, as I am home for several days without any travel. All that changes next week, but… in the meantime, I thought it worth putting together some posts for subscribers that reflect some of the things I’ve been working on in recent weeks. One topic that keeps coming up both online and … Read more