Musings On Incentives

I had a long conversation recently with a friend who is serving as the president of a large REALTOR Association. He had heard my latest podcast in which I debate two of my friends about the value of the REALTOR brand, about the Association, about professionalism, and so on and he had questions. It was … Read more

The Notorious POD Ep 19: Prof. Scott Hemphill on Antitrust Issues in Real Estate

I interview Prof. Scott Hemphill, Moses H. Grossman Professor of Law at NYU School of Law and co-director of the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy. There aren’t many human beings who would be a better expert to speak to regarding the various lawsuits in the real estate industry. We discuss the various class … Read more

What the Hell is Actually Going on with Housing??

Is the housing market starting to slow down? At least a little bit? I’m having a tough time understanding what is actually going on. The Market is Cooling, right? To give you an example of why I’m confused, let’s take a quick look at Redfin. During my most recent site visit, I read an article … Read more

The Notorious POD Ep 18: Agent Teams, Zillow, Competition with Jeff Sibbach and Phil Sexton

In this episode, I speak with Jeff Sibbach and Phil Sexton of the Sibbach Team in Phoenix, AZ. We talk about the realities of today’s real estate, how top agent teams are functioning today, and why he believes Zillow is in fact a competitor. We get into a lot of issues including data, IDX, competition … Read more

The Notorious POD Ep 17: The NAR Speech Code with Phillip Cantrell

In this episode, I speak with my good friend and mentor, Phillip Cantrell. He is the CEO and founder of Benchmark Realty, the #1 brokerage by market share in the Nashville area. We discuss a sensitive and touchy topic — the NAR Speech Codes (10.5 and beyond) and how conservative REALTORS feel about the direction … Read more

If You Must Hide What You’re Doing, Maybe Don’t Do That

[UPDATE: I heard from Dave Price, CEO of MARIS, about this. Please read the updates below.] Yesterday, I posted something small just to my friends on Facebook as an illustration of an issue that Sam DeBord and I discussed at length earlier in the week: how brokerages and agents were gaming Clear Cooperation Policy with … Read more

In Which Sam DeBord and I Solve the Clear Cooperation Dilemma

I did a livestream on Facebook yesterday with Sam DeBord, a good friend and a fellow supernerd in MLS-related topics. Of course, he’s also the CEO of RESO and an active participant in NAR policy circles, so he’s among the most knowledgeable in the industry on the issues. We debated, discussed, and I’ve embedded the … Read more

The Notorious POD Ep 16: Housing Market with Keith Robinson

In this episode, I chat with my good friend Keith Robinson, also the Chief Strategy Officer of NextHome. We discuss the housing market, why Keith doesn’t believe there’s a housing bubble, banter about what is actually going on with the insanity that is housing today, and where he sees things headed. Quite a topic for … Read more

Clear Cooperation Is a Disaster in the Making

Back in 2019, I wrote a post titled Pass Clear Cooperation Policy, But Address the Gaping Loophole. In that post, I pointed out that because of the office exclusive loophole, Clear Cooperation Policy creates bizarre new incentives: In the FAQ that accompanied Policy 8.0, we are told that this policy does not affect “office exclusive … Read more