Quick Reaction: Why Would CoStar Spend $156M on Homes.com?

Earlier today, we all got the news that CoStar is buying Homes.com from Dominion for $156 million cash: WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Homes.com, a division of Dominion Enterprises, for … Read more

Brokerage Valuation: Focus on Company Dollar

There must be something in the water. I got three separate emails recently regarding publicly-traded brokerages. Two were on EXPI because they hosted an analyst day, and one was on Compass. Plus, there’s a lot of noise out there debating whether Compass is a tech company or a brokerage or whatever. Since I’ve been covering … Read more

Two Charts To Ruin My Lovely Monday Morning

It’s a beautiful day here in Las Vegas. 77 and sunny, high of 84, not a cloud in the sky and no gale force winds. Just a lovely, lovely day. Then I get in front of my computer, and find this story from Mises.org. Granted, it’s a couple of weeks old, but I don’t check … Read more

Thoughts on American Antitrust Institute’s Virtual Roundtable on Real Estate

Wednesday morning, I found myself staring at the monitor waiting for the Zoom meeting to start going. It was the American Antitrust Institute’s Virtual Competition Roundtable: Competition in Real Estate – Taking Stock of the “American Dream” event. Since AAI is a legit think tank in DC with a 13 year history, I figured the … Read more

[VIP] Opendoor Technologies, Q4 and Full Year 2020 Results: Guess Who’s Back

Opendoor reported its Q4 and full year 2020 results a week ago, and I couldn’t get to looking closer at them until now. What I’m seeing is impressive as hell. It’s so impressive in fact that I broke my own self-imposed rule and decided to go long on Opendoor. So yeah, take everything I write … Read more

[VIP] RE/MAX Q4 and FY2020: Looking Forward

Obviously, this analysis is late. RE/MAX reported its Q4 and full year 2020 results on February 25th, almost two weeks ago. I’m just now getting around to it because… well… a sense of obligation perhaps. Because frankly, after everything I wrote about RE/MAX the last few earnings calls (Q3 here, Q2 here, Q1 here, Q4-2019 … Read more

Initial Thoughts on Compass S-1

Yesterday, Compass Inc., a real estate brokerage that has been disrupting some of the largest companies in the industry, filed its S-1 to go public sometime this year. I’ve been waiting for this day for quite some time because Compass gives us another traditional split-based brokerage that has to report its numbers. At first glance, … Read more