Why Wall Street Consistently Gets iBuyer Wrong

Over at Forbes, Peter Smirniotopoulos, a Contributor who writes about real estate, penned an article titled, “AI, and iBuyers, Oh My! Are There Structural Limits to PropTech?” It is such a great example of how mistaken Wall Street people are about the iBuyer phenomenon and how confused some of the smartest people in the world … Read more

[VIP] The Notorious Interview: Skylar Olsen, Kathryn Coursolle, Zillow Research

In today’s episode of the Notorious Interview, I have a fantastic conversation with a pair of economists from Zillow Research, which publishes an annual Consumer Housing Trends Report.  It is one of the best research studies on what is happening on the ground with buyers, sellers and renters. Ms. Olsen is the Director of Economic … Read more

[VIP] The Notorious Interview: Jarred Kessler, EasyKnock

In today’s episode of the Notorious Interview, I talk with Jarred Kessler, Founder & CEO of EasyKnock, the most interesting company in our space I had never heard of. I corrected that oversight, obviously, and I thought you should too. EasyKnock is hard to classify: it’s kind of like a blend between a bridge loan … Read more

[VIP] Zillow, Q3/2019: Not a Test, But a Test Kitchen

Back in Q2, I titled my analysis of Zillow’s earnings, “Going All In” and wrote: When Rich Barton took (back) over as CEO of Zillow earlier this year, I wrote a Red Dot and titled it, “The Return of the King.” I didn’t realize then that the king was not just a fighter, but a … Read more

[VIP] Redfin, Q3/2019: Nice Rebound, And Yet…

Redfin’s Q3 results showed a solid rebound from a rather disappointing Q2. It looks great all around, with revenues, profit, market share, etc. all up and up very healthy. Agent productivity is up, traffic is up, and Redfin Now is a $80 million business in Q3. So all in all, a very nice rebound. There … Read more

Zillow Offers vs. Traditional Selling: Data from Zillow

Back in February, I wrote a post that is one of the top read posts of 2019. It was titled, “Homeowners Net More Selling to Zillow Than With a REALTOR.” I wrote that based on the unit economics that Zillow released in its Q1 earnings call, and I have been collecting data on Zillow Offers, … Read more

The Notorious Interview: Bill Fowler, Compass

A different Interview episode than normal, I speak with Bill Fowler, Sr. Director of Industry Relations for Compass, the tech-brokerage who has been making all kinds of waves in recent years. Normally, I like to use the Interview to introduce people and companies that most of you don’t know about, who are doing interesting things … Read more

[VIP] Zillow Unlock Event: Stages of Grief

Zillow’s big event for its IMT segment — Premier Agents, Rentals and New Construction — just concluded in my (new) hometown of Las Vegas. I attended Tuesday as a member of the press, because when the United States Department of Justice calls you a “trade publication” who am I to disagree? So first, let me … Read more