From Inman News (Subscription Required) comes word of a new Redfin initiative whose time has come: Redfin believes that real estate consumers don’t really understand the way commissions work, and so as of Thursday the online brokerage and portal is doing something about it: Now, all Redfin-listed homes will publicly display the commission that sellers are offering … Read more
Happy Monday, everybody. A couple of you have asked for this topic in the Notorious VIP Network (all VIP Subscribers have been invited, so check your inbox if you don’t know what the Network is), so I figure I’ll kick off this week of writing-while-at-home with some free advice (worth exactly what NAR paid for … Read more
If you haven’t done so already, or were not present when the panel happened, go watch the Inman News video on the big commissions lawsuit(s) panel discussion. Inman Select membership is required. I thought it was great, especially since Jack Bierig, one of NAR’s outside attorneys on this case, was present to provide some insight … Read more
Back in February, I wrote a long post imploring the Young Professionals Network (YPN) of the National Association of REALTORS to take up housing affordability as their issue: Homeownership is not under attack; if anything, homeownership is widely subsidized and supported, in large part because of REALTOR political action. Think about it. Mortgage interest deduction … Read more
Recently, I saw someone on Facebook bring up this case, Hyland v. HomeServices of America, Inc., 771 F. 3d 310 – Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit 2014, as pretty much ending the threat from the series of lawsuits filed against NAR, large brokerages and franchises, and a number of MLSs. (If you are a large … Read more
The great move West is now complete! The last boxes are finally unpacked, and while we still have to set up the new house, I think we’re able to get back into the regular swing of things.. Once again, I apologize to you VIP Subscribers for being so silent, but I do hope you all … Read more
I started this post during my great Westward Ho! adventure, which was five days of driving across this great country in my car. That’s a lot of time in the car, which gives one plenty of time to talk to friends by phone and to think about stuff. Both happened on this trip, and at … Read more
As many longtime readers know, Andrew Flachner is a good friend of mine, and a wonderful young technology executive. I like Andrew, I respect Andrew, and I thought both of those things while not singing drunken karaoke with the man. That is not to say that we haven’t had our (intellectual) disagreements. I find that … Read more
Seriously, I think I could just write a real estate angle to most of Ben Thompson’s articles and updates from Stratechery, and fill the content calendar easily. I just wrote about his public weekly article on Tech and Antitrust and how it might apply to Zillow. Today comes a Daily Update where Ben talks about … Read more