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
Last month, I wrote a post wondering what financial investors might be thinking and noted that the post was almost entirely speculation: Yet, every single day, we hear about buyers getting outbid in ludicrous ways. I recorded a podcast with a broker in San Antonio the other day, and he made the point that on … Read more
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
At long last, Compass has reported on its first full quarter of operating as a public company. This is a moment I have been waiting for for quite some time, as there has not been a traditional brokerage to compare Realogy to since I started keeping track way back in the day when Realogy was … Read more
Here in Q1 of 2021, I’m beginning to detect a certain pattern when it comes to trying to analyze earnings calls to see where the industry is. There’s a lot of repetition, as if the things I’ve noted years ago haven’t changed at all. And yet, Q1 was a sizzling hot market, with unprecedented activity … Read more
When Opendoor reported its 2020 results, I was so impressed that I went out and broke my own self-imposed rule and bought some shares. It’s a small position but it is a position, and I’m long Opendoor. Well, the Q1 results lead me to believe I’ve made the right choice, despite the markets disagreeing with … Read more
[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
This is going to be a relatively short post. Frankly, because I’ve run out of ways to say the same thing quarter after quarter. If you’re new around here, please go back and re-read everything I’ve written about Zillow after every one of Zillow’s earnings calls. Then you can check out my June 2018 Red … Read more
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