Let me tell you a story. It may be fiction, it may be nonfiction. It’s about a man, who may or may not be a Ivy League-educated lawyer who is the chief counsel for a Democrat Congresswoman with enormous power in the House. Let’s say his name is Dave. He may or may not be … Read more
Earlier today, the Massachusetts Supreme Court handed down its decision on Monell v. Boston Pads, one of two independent contractor status lawsuits that the real estate industry has been watching with baited breath. (The other one, still being litigated, is Bararsani v. Coldwell Banker in California.) Bottomline: the brokerages and the REALTOR Associations that backed … Read more
The talk within the industry these days is all about technology. Well, by “these days” I suppose I mean the last ten years or more. Sometimes I honestly wonder who talks about technology more: REALTORS or venture capitalists. Go look on any of the social media channels frequented by real estate folks, and all the … Read more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1_9WYllhiQ Without question, the big topics coming out of NAR Midyear Legislative Meetings were about RPR-AMP, Upstream, and the future of the MLS. I’ve already written a few posts about them, and expect to write more in the future. But lost in all of that was a big rebrand and relaunch by Move of Realtor.com. … Read more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ0SR3pYJ7c Who am I, what have I become? Two stories hit my awareness overnight that confirm something I’ve been saying for a while. In 2013, I wrote this: The second possible unintended consequence is not regulatory, but practical. For a while, I’ve argued that the reason why the MLS has become so important was that … Read more
I have a feeling we’re going to be talking about a whole variety of things that went down at NAR Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo (aka, “Midyear”) this year for months and years to come. It’s been a great week, but rough on the sleep schedule, so these are not exactly deeply-thought-out opinions here. It’s … Read more
I recently had the pleasure of talking to Andrew Flachner of RealScout, who penned this article on Inman recently: The answer to me, and to many real estate veterans, is obvious. A strategy that directly focuses on producing more transactions, while providing more value to the client, is far more rewarding, both financially and professionally. … Read more
The National Broker Public Portal announced appointment of its initial board of managers this week. In the press release they state that the project is designed to fill “an unmet need in the online marketplace.” Unfortunately, don’t define what that need is, leaving many readers still scratching their heads wondering “Wha??” Have these folks divined … Read more
Reader, thinker, and frequent commenter Sam DeBord has written a rebuttal over at GeekEstate to my declaration of vindication re: IDX = Syndication: IDX creates efficiency for brokers, which increases financial profitability for the group as a whole. Syndication is a less-efficient platform in terms of overall brokerage profits. Real estate is, on an annual basis, similar … Read more