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.

The Machine and the Real Estate Agent

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I’m taking a break from writing my February report, and thought I’d think through something with you all. It’s not directly relevant to my Red Dot topic, but it’s so interesting that I couldn’t help but want to do some “read what I wrote to see what I think” type of a thing. We all … Read more

HomeDate: In Which I Offer a Free Idea for Tech Entrepreneurs

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I’m on a flight to Austin today for what promises to be an interesting first trip of 2019. And thinking about the January Red Dot, which led to this post. I thought it was amusing enough to share with you all. I actually think this is a pretty legitimate business idea, and if one of … Read more

Seven Predictions for 2019: K-Pop Edition

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[Posted earlier at Inman News; now that it’s actually 2019, figured it was safe to post to my site for posterity.] So it turns out that I started doing musical themes in 2011 with the Techno Edition for 2012. I’ve done great music (like Alison Krauss and Union Station) to hair-curlingly cringey music (like the … Read more

The Seven Most Interesting People in Real Estate, 2018 Edition

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Welcome back to another edition of The Seven Most Interesting People in Real Estate. I know, I know, as a friend of mine said on Facebook, “Great, yet another list.” It does seem like there are a lot of lists in our industry. But what the hell, I do this mostly for fun anyhow, and this … Read more

A Final Word (Hopefully) on Upstream

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As you can imagine, there’s been a ton of chatter about Project Upstream and its “divorce” with Daddy NARbucks. I think I’ve gotten no fewer than three emails from consultants and thought leaders in the industry on the topic. Inman has written not just a news article announcing the split, but an in-depth investigation into … Read more

December Red Dot: Darkness Comes – Excerpts and Special Offer

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The December Red Dot, Darkness Comes: Q3 and the Rise of Redfin, is now published and live. I’m pretty proud of it, but I thought I would write this post because I think this report might actually be important. If you are in real estate, or interested in the industry, if you read nothing else … Read more

Zillow, Redfin and the Tinderization of Real Estate

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I’m deep into writing the December Red Dot, which will be on the Q3 earnings calls and what they portend for the industry, but there’s an angle to this I’m trying to work out. My initial thoughts were interesting enough that I figured I’d work them out with all of you. I ain’t gonna front … Read more

The Case for iBuyer Becoming the Default

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Recently, I saw a thread on Facebook that referenced this post from TheStreet.com, in which Jim Cramer and Marc Chaikin just trash Zillow: Marc Chaikin, founder and CEO of Chaikin Analytics, compared the company to a “landmine” in his webinar with Jim Cramer Wednesday, Nov. 7. Cramer jumped in and said, “if you have Zillow … Read more