Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Red Rocket

Rocket Companies to Acquire Redfin, Accelerating Purchase Mortgage Strategy

“Rocket and Redfin’s approaches to lending and brokerage service have always been two halves of one vision to make the whole home-buying process magical,” said Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin. “We want a customer to be able to check her phone to find out what she can afford, see which homes are just right for her, schedule a tour with a local, expert Redfin agent, and get pre-qualified for a loan, all in a matter of minutes. Varun and I see how much better real estate could be when AI guides customers not just through that first step in their search, but all the way home, through the sale, the loan and then a lifetime of accumulating equity and wealth.” 

Talk about attachment rate! But in the end, Redfin had to do something. I remember reading their last announcement about laying off 450 people due to their deal with Zillow Rentals and thinking, “Do they still have 450 left?” There were rumors swirling about Zillow acquiring Redfin, but I never took those too seriously.

I’m still processing what this means for Glenn Kelman—or GFK, as I affectionately refer to him. In an industry dominated by big personalities, Glenn was the guy who was going to fight the good fight. I’m sure the biggest reason this happened was that Glenn saw it as the best path for Redfin’s survival.

The consolidation continues…

Gary Keller takes some chips off the table in sale of stake in Keller Williams to Private Equity firm Stone Point Capital

Keller Williams takes on major investment from CoreLogic owner

“The news, which is expected to reverberate across more than 1,000 offices across the world, was shared internally with Keller Williams’ approximately 200,000 agents and associates in a call Monday morning, a spokesman told Inman.

“This is an exciting milestone for all Keller Williams agents and franchisees,” Gary Keller said in a statement. “We’ve built an incredible foundation and as we focus on each agent’s personal development and their continual sales growth, we welcome the partnership and backing from the team at Stone Point Capital.”

Well, I never thought I had much in common with Gary Keller, but it appears we both sold our companies to Stone Point Capital. Stone Point Capital also owns Lone Wolf. However, the headline is a bit misleading, as Stone Point Capital jointly owns CoreLogic with another private equity firm, Insight Partners.

I’ve written before that much (if not all) of KW’s success stems from its culture. Maintaining or growing a company’s culture isn’t exactly a strong suit of private equity firms. Time will tell.

But KW had to do something. Companies like eXp, real, and Compass are public, giving them greater access to capital. KW was on a path to going public but missed that window, and its revolving door of leadership hasn’t helped. For KW, private equity was really the only solution to help it compete in today’s real estate market.

The consolidation continues.

Waco Association of REALTORS® joins NTREIS

NTREIS Expands Reach in North Central Texas with Addition of Waco Association of REALTORS

“Integrating the Waco market into NTREIS will deliver increased exposure for agents, enhanced listing inventory, and access to richer market data. For professionals in the Waco area, this collaboration brings greater visibility for their clients’ listings and buyers’ needs, along with cutting-edge technology tools designed to support their business success.

“Joining forces with the Waco Association of REALTORS® aligns perfectly with our mission to empower real estate professionals with the best technology and resources available,” said Kristi Davis, President, NTREIS. “This partnership strengthens our commitment to providing top-tier services to the consumer while broadening market opportunities for our members.”

Congratulations to Chip and Joanna on your new MLS!

IRE acquires BoomTown

Inside Real Estate Announces the Acquisition of BoomTown

“I’m thrilled to welcome BoomTown to the Inside Real Estate family!” said Joe Skousen, CEO, Inside Real Estate. “I commend Grier and the BoomTown team for what they have built and accomplished with their clients over the past 15 years. Our companies share a common DNA that is focused on driving real results for every client, every day. Together, we will deliver an unmatched experience for every user from single agents, to top performing teams and mega teams, to robust national enterprise brands. Our #1 job is being a tech partner to our clients – this combination reinforces that commitment.”

This has got to be a huge deal. But I can’t help but wonder how much bigger it would have been if they closed a year ago.

Matterport acquires VHT Studios

Matterport Acquires VHT Studios in Bid to Expand Marketing Services

“When we looked at VHT Studios and the work they do, it was a natural fit to unite our efforts to reimagine the fragmented process that was in place for brokers and agents to list properties and prospective buyers to view them,” says Matterport CEO RJ Pittman. “We are not only excited for how we can transform the customer experience in the real estate industry but also how we can apply VHT Studios’ expertise to our growing enterprise business as demand for digital twin technology continues to surge.”

Smart. Zillow was ordered to pay VHT Studios 2 million dollars for copyright infringement. Much less than VHT was originally asking for. I wonder if VHT (now Matterport) will appeal that ruling.

ICE agrees to purchase Black Knight for $13.1 Billion

ICE to Buy Black Knight for $13.1 Billion

The deal values Black Knight at $85 a share. Black Knight shares were up 8% to $68.49 prior to a trading halt.

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023.

Everybody is for sale.

NCRMLS now serves over 10,000 members

North Carolina MLS expands, now covers 38% of NC

“With the most geographically expansive and growing reach in the state, NCRMLS represents 9,150 REALTORS® and Appraisers, with a major footprint currently covering 315 cities and towns in 27 counties.  These new partnerships will expand NCRMLS’s reach to 361 Cities and Towns in 31 counties, representing some 10,300 REALTORS® and Appraisers, encompassing over 38 percent of the Tar Heel State.”

Somehow I missed this news earlier in the month. Inman News has a good article on some of the history of the organization and where it’s headed.

“The statement describes NCRMLS as a “wholesale cooperative” multiple listing service (MLS), which means that its data and resources can be used to power other Realtor organizations as well as other MLSs. Prior to this week’s partnership announcement, NCRMLS already had relationships with more than a dozen Realtor associations and MLSs in North Carolina.”

North Carolina Regional MLS expands to dozens of new cities

Consolidation doesn’t have to be organizational, it can be just the tools everyone uses.

Lone Wolf acquires Propertybase

Lone Wolf, Propertybase, and the ultimate real estate platform

“Our goal is to bring the time-honored tenets of the real estate world into the present with a modern, innovative, and connected technology platform that makes it simpler for people—and the professionals who serve them—to buy and sell homes. Serving over 1.5 million agents, 15,000 brokerages, over 900 MLSs and associations in North America, boasting nearly 650 employees with hundreds of cumulative years of experience, and offering the most trusted solutions in the industry involved in over 75% of all real estate transactions the US and Canada, Lone Wolf is the only company with the reach, size, and technology that can make this happen.”

Chris Egan, Chief Strategy Officer for Lone Wolf

5 acquisitions in 9 months. Unprecedented.

While there is a ton of money out there trying to disrupt traditional brokers and agents, Lone Wolf is doing the opposite, putting all their chips on brokers and agents to win.

I was already a big fan of Propertybase. Cloud CMA was a popular option to include with their standard Bold Leads product and Boston Logic (now Propertybase). Good products and good people.

Elm Street Technologies announces two new acquisitions

ELM STREET TECHNOLOGY ACQUIRES CANADIAN TECHNOLOGY AND MARKETING SERVICES COMPANIES TO EXPAND NORTH AMERICAN OPERATIONS

“Elm Street Technology, LLC (“Elm Street Technology”), a leading provider of residential real estate technology and marketing solutions, today announced the acquisitions of Morris Real Estate Marketing Group (“Morris Marketing”), and IXACT Contact Solutions (“IXACT”), specialists in marketing solutions and repeat and referral lead generation conversion technology across the Canadian real estate sector. Both the acquisitions of Morris Marketing and IXACT complements and expands Elm Street’s Elevate platform, which provides an end-to-end suite of real estate technology and marketing services.”

Vendor consolidation continues. Now United States companies are buying Canadian companies? Things are getting out of control! ????

Congrats to Elm Street and the great people at IXACT and Morris Marketing.

Lone Wolf acquires Lion Desk and HomeSpotter

Lone Wolf acquires LionDesk and HomeSpotter, expanding real estate’s leading end-to-end technology suite

“Lone Wolf Technologies (“Lone Wolf”) is excited to announce the acquisitions of two leading real estate technology companies, LionDesk and HomeSpotter. With these acquisitions, Lone Wolf’s end-to-end technology suite now encompasses digital marketing, lead generation, customer relationship management (CRM), showings, comparative market analysis (CMA), digital forms and signatures, transaction management, back office and accounting, business insights, and recruiting. These solutions form the most comprehensive digital technology suite for agents, brokers, MLSs, and associations in real estate today.   “

Well, we might not be physically at the NAR Midyear meetings, but I’ve got to think this is one of the biggest announcements during NAR Midyear in a while.

I’ve written about our decision to sell W+R Studios and how we thought that a CMA was a natural fit to what Lone Wolf was trying to accomplish. You can call it end-to-end digital solutions or just simply software that works together. In this way, the acquisitions of Lion Desk and HomeSpotter also make perfect sense. And hopefully, this won’t cause too much consternation with our mutual partners since Lone Wolf has no aspirations of becoming an MLS participant. ????

Dan and I are also excited to work directly with David Anderson and Aaron Kardell and their teams. I know both of them and admire the companies they have built and the software they have created. I’ve interviewed both of them on my Listing Bits podcast. You can listen to my interview with David here and Aaron here.

It will be great to have these two industry leaders part of the Lone Wolf team.

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