A core principle of mine as some of you know from podcasts is “Strong opinions, weakly held.” That is, when presented with new data, new evidence, then my opinions are subject to change. Last year, I wrote something up on BrightMLS’s Off-MLS Study saying that the conclusions of the report were overstated and based on … Read more
A while back, I put up a short little tweet with just pure data, because I found it interesting: Robert Hahn on Twitter: “2022 might come in at 5.12 million existing homes sold (July data, seasonally adjusted). At the end of July, there were 1.58 million REALTOR members of NAR.In 2000, 5.04 million existing homes … Read more
My last post made it pretty apparent that contrary to my expectations, most of the real estate industry remains completely ignorant of what the U.S. government is attempting to do with its latest fight against real estate commissions. I thought maybe 50% of REALTORS were aware of the civil lawsuits and the DOJ/FTC action; most … Read more
Last couple of days, I’ve given presentations and sat on a panel discussion talking about the class action lawsuits against NAR over the issue of commissions. I thought most people knew about these all-important cases that are making their way through the federal courts. Apparently, only about half of the REALTORS had even heard about … Read more
Tyler Okland, Stanford-educated surgeon and Opendoor bull, who I interviewed in a Notorious POD a few weeks ago, has published an eye-opening article on Datadoor.io, the company he founded to track Opendoor’s iBuying operations. You should read the whole thing, because it’s excellent and filled with real data. Since I too am a big Opendoor … Read more
I had originally planned on the Four Horsemen series to be five parts: the four Horsemen, plus a wrap-up laying out the consequences for the real estate industry. But as I mentioned in part 5, a couple of you have asked for a slightly medium-to-longer term post-apocalypse outlook on the industry. Once the dust settles, … Read more
At last, we come to the end of this dismal series. While it has been dismal, some of your emails and private messages have been very kind and encouraging. Dark these thoughts may be, but some of you share them and there is a comfort in knowing we’re not alone. (Update: but see below in … Read more
And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, … Read more
I haven’t written in a while. Part of it is being extremely busy with work, which I hope to be able to tell you all about soon, but a big part of the reason is dread. I keep looking for white pill stories, visions of a bright future, or at least some kind of a … Read more