[VIP] The Notorious Interview: Joe Rand, Broker Public Portal

I have a wide-ranging and engaging conversation with Joe Rand, Executive Director of the Broker Public Portal. We cover BPP, Homesnap, CoStar’s acquisition, Fair Display Guidelines, the fate of the MLS, the residential real estate industry, and have a fun discussion all around. Note that he was also one of my Seven Most Interesting People … Read more

What Did the Judge Mean Here? Questions on the PLS v. NAR Ruling

I don’t have a lot of time, so this won’t be one of my normal lengthy speculations and such. Just a few questions. In case you missed it, Inman reported on the PLS v. NAR lawsuit that was just dismissed with prejudice by the federal court. It’s a good piece of reporting, so go read … Read more

The CoStar Red Dot Report is Now Available

Maybe I should be doing a press release or something, but we ain’t fancy like that around here. We’re a bit more down-home, take me home country roads style. Yes, I know that’s unusual for an Asian-American lawyer from the Ivy League, but that’s just how we roll here. After weeks of research, enormous effort, … Read more

NY Senate Final Investigative Report, Part 1: The Findings

Sparked by some Grade A investigative reporting by the NYC daily periodical, Newsday, the New York State Senate (“NYS Senate”) launched an investigation last year into unfair housing practices and held hearings that culminated last week with the release of its “Final Investigative Report.” If you haven’t read the Newsday report, you can do that … Read more

Leeder v. NAR: Overview and Analysis

Back in October, after Judge Woods laid the wood to NAR and the corporate defendants in the Moehrl v. NAR case, I wrote: Finally, I’ll go out on a limb (it’s a short one, I think) and predict that now that the motion to dismiss was denied, and denied in this manner with the judge … Read more

[VIP] The Notorious Interview: Sean Black, Knock

In this episode, the first of 2021 and the first in quite some time, I speak to Sean Black, the Co-Founder & CEO of Knock. I’ve been talking and writing about Knock and its unique take on iBuyer for years now. Now, Sean probably would dispute the label “iBuyer” but it’s because of the corruption … Read more

Robstradamus Strikes Again: Office Exclusives and Clear Cooperation Policy

I am extremely busy putting the finishing touches on a massive report on CoStar and its entry into residential real estate, but… had to take a few minutes to… um, crow. Yes, I did sprain my shoulder patting myself on the back. But thought it maybe worthwhile in case people have forgotten the issues I … Read more

Pandemic, Gen-Z, and Household Formation

Longtime readers know that one of my abiding interests is in household formation among the younger generations in US and Canada. I even have a whole category/tag devoted to it: Generation Screwed – Millennials and Beyond. Thanks to a new post by Zillow Research, we have another opportunity to dip back into this evergreen topic. … Read more

Money Supply, Asset Bubble & iBuyers, Part 2: The Mortgage Play

In Part 1, we looked at the opportunities that might arise for iBuyers because the housing market is about to go cray-cray. The basic idea is that as hyperinflation hits housing, sellers will come to prioritize timing and certainty over getting the most money possible, because most of them will be buyers on the other … Read more