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.

Austin’s IDX Kerfuffle and Antitrust Issues

by

So that whole Austin IDX kerfuffle is back in the news again, courtesy of Inman: A contingent of Austin Realtors say listing agents should be clearly identified when brokers and agents publicize each other’s listings on their websites. With two of the city’s prominent luxury brokers leading the charge, they’ve asked the Austin Board of … Read more

An Interview with Matt Dollinger, Head of Industry Relations, Trulia

by

As many of my readers know, Matthew Dollinger is one of my closest friends in the industry. Some folks, including Matt’s wife, have called our relationship a full-blown bromance. (It’s the hair, really….) But fact is, Matt has been one of the driving forces behind the innovations at @Properties — the largest brokerage in the … Read more

The REALTOR Rally and the Desperate Need For A New Political Action Paradigm

by

This is a tough post to write. I’m actually debating for the first time while typing this into the little WordPress window whether I would actually hit “Publish” at the end of it. If you’re reading this, it means that I’ve overcome whatever hesitation I’ve had, but I want you to understand how hard it … Read more

Don't Let The Loss Fool You; Realogy Is Getting Healthy

by

Last year, I wrote that Realogy’s numbers looked pretty good to me, despite the fact that Realogy had lost $237m in Q1 of 2011. I figured I might as well dip back into that water since I’m interested in my old corporate home (I started my real estate career at Coldwell Banker Commercial), and well… I … Read more

On the Open Source MLS

by

Jeff Corbett, my good friend and former partner at 7DS Associates, recently penned a fantastic call to arms at the RETSO blog in which he got into some depth about the concept of an Open Source MLS: As a self described ‘Agent of Change’ around the real estate and mortgage space, I’ve sat in the … Read more

A Government Looking to Elect A New People: A Response to Bill Lublin on the Future of NAR

by

  A few weeks back, Bill Lublin and I engaged in a spirited debate about the future of the Association, stemming from this post of mine from March. Bill’s initial response is here. Well, my post then became the basis for my presentation at RETSO, which gave me impetus to expand on the topic. During … Read more

A Small Step, Fraught With Significance: ListHub Introduces "MLS Preferred" Concept

by

  Back in November of 2010, I wrote about Move’s acquisition of ListHub and what it might mean for “Syndication Quality”. I thought then that the reason why Move acquired ListHub was strategic — to control the source of listing data, in order to impose on its main competitors the same restrictions that Move had … Read more

A Small Step, Fraught With Significance: ListHub Introduces “MLS Preferred” Concept

by

  Back in November of 2010, I wrote about Move’s acquisition of ListHub and what it might mean for “Syndication Quality”. I thought then that the reason why Move acquired ListHub was strategic — to control the source of listing data, in order to impose on its main competitors the same restrictions that Move had … Read more