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.

Things Become Clearer: NAR vs. Zillow; C2EX vs. Best of Zillow

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I’ve been busy researching and writing the November Red Dot, which has now been published. But as often happens, when I’m deep in that project, blogging gets light. I apologize. It appears there are a few things to talk about, but none are more important or more interesting than two recent announcements by NAR and … Read more

Will Compass Invest in the MLS?

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There is a great interview with Robert Reffkin, CEO of Compass, up on Inman today. Read the whole thing. But I saw something that really made me sit back and think, so figured I’d share it with everybody. Here’s what Reffkin said: And the third is that agents are starting to operate their business on … Read more

iBuyers and Competition: In Which I Welcome Jay Thompson Back to the Blogosphere

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Over at Inman News, Jay Thompson, one of the original RE.net bloggerati, has returned to blogging in triumph with his post “Are iBuyers Going to Ruin Everything for Agents.” Read the whole thing. Jay has been busy with other things, like being the face of Zillow to the real estate industry, the last several years, … Read more

Data Manipulation in the MLS is a Must Fix Issue

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Yesterday, an item on Facebook caught my eye. It was someone sharing a Medium post by Frances Flynn Thorsen, the “Blogmother” of real estate. Before you continue, I strongly suggest reading the whole thing. (You’ll need a Medium account, I believe.) There’s quite a lot of history here, including some sordid drama involving criminal extortion, … Read more

Seven NYC Brokerages and RealScout Do A Dangerous Thing

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I’m deep into writing the October Red Dot, but Andrew Flachner of RealScout sent me a personal email this morning with his Open Letter to the industry attached. He’s spoken to me before about this initiative, and asked if I would write about it. Well, the Open Letter is now published, and Inman News has … Read more

On the Opendoor Acquisition of Open Listings

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Just thought I’d drop a brief (well, for me) note here about Opendoor’s acquisition of Open Listings, in between preparing for hurricane Florence…. Inman News has the story: Flush with hundreds of millions in venture funding, the fast-growing home-buying and selling startup Opendoor is making its first acquisition: Open Listings, a discount brokerage with a team of salaried in-house … Read more

The Notorious ROB’s Shiva Award

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I’m neck-deep in getting the September Red Dot on the Real Estate Platform out the door, but had to pause and poke my nose in to give an award for a minute. Inman reported on the 16 startups at the new Innovation, Opportunity & Investment Summit conference that NAR is putting on as I write … Read more