Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

REXIT?

Has REX Homes finally ceased operations?

“Numerous staff reached out to us directly to indicate the company’s last day was Tuesdayand that a companywide call on Friday outlined the end of REX Homes. While the entity of the brokerage still exists, we are told there are no longer offices, staff, leadership, or agents.

Staff at the Austin, TX and Woodland Hills, CA offices (both in Texas) have confirmed that as of today, the doors are literally closed. It is unclear what REX’s plans are for wrapping up any current contracts that haven’t closed.”

As litigious as REX has been in the past something tells me this story is far from over.

Looking for a new gig?

MLS & Membership Director – Central Oregon Association of REALTORS

“This is a newly created position, and reports to the Chief Executive Officer. The Multiple Listing Service Director is responsible for the full operation, supervision, evaluation, delivery, and maintenance of all Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and supporting products in conjunction with the Chief Executive Officer. The MLS of Central Oregon currently services 2500+ MLS members and works with the other MLSs in our data share on a regular basis.”

The find out about this job or post a job, please visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.

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.

Troy Rech join MoxiWorks

Troy

MoxiWorks continues expansion into MLS space, welcomes industry veteran Troy Rech as VP of MLS Sales

“I’m thrilled to be joining such a well-known and well-established company,” said Troy Rech, VP of MLS Sales, MoxiWorks. ”This is a great opportunity to expand MoxiWorks’ award-winning technology in the MLS space as we work cooperatively to better serve brokers and agents across North America.”

Can’t say enough good things about Troy. Great to see him back in the mix again. Such a pro and what a great hire for MoxiWorks.

Waco Association of REALTORS chooses Cloud Agent Suite

Waco Association of REALTORS® selects Lone Wolf solutions for a complete transaction experience

“Waco Association of REALTORS® is pleased to announce that it will provide MLS-Connect and Cloud Agent Suite from Lone Wolf Technologies (“Lone Wolf”) as benefits to their 1,032 members at no additional cost. These new benefits are in addition to those already provided by Texas REALTORS® as state benefits -Transactions (zipForm Edition), zipForm Mobile, and zipLogix Digital Ink.

Waco Association of REALTORS® members now have access to a complete transaction experience with the entire Transactions (zipForm Edition) suite at their fingertips. MLS-Connect directly connects with Transactions so real estate professionals can import or push MLS listing data directly into Transactions to fill out forms quicker and easier. Now their members can start a transaction, get documents signed, track progress, and access state forms-whether they are in the office or on the go-all while providing a unified experience for their clients.”

Just the thought of Chip and Joanna Gaines using Cloud CMA makes me smile.

The MLS and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week.

Federal commission suit now a class action; NAR, Realogy vow to appeal

“In a major blow to the National Association of Realtors and major real estate franchisors, hundreds of thousands of homesellers can ask to be reimbursed for more than $1 billion in commissions they paid to buyer agents in the past eight years as a result of a federal court ruling on Friday.”

That’s with a “B”

Appeals court deals blow to NAR, allows pocket listing suit to continue

“The appeals court agreed with the DOJ and The PLS, finding that the definition of “consumer” can also include businesses who use products to create another product or service and therefore The PLS was not required to allege harm to buyers and sellers; alleging that the policy hurt agents who consume listing services was sufficient.”

Alrighty then…

‘Writing is on the wall’: Court tosses NAR counterclaim against REX

“NAR’s claims are an attempt to delay the inevitable,” Toth said in an emailed statement.

Consumers are paying too much and have too little choice when they buy or sell a home,” he added in the statement. “And they know it’s because of the outdated rules that industry sets to protect itself. With the pocket listing loss, the class certification loss, and the dismissal of NAR’s counterclaim, the writing is on the wall — the days of real estate brokerage collusion are ending soon.”

Tell us what you really think…

Still, a little buzzed from a great week in Tucson meeting with everyone at the RESO Spring conference but the lobby bar was full of conversations about what all this news really means and how concerned organized real estate should be. I don’t think the sky is falling…yet…but I would keep that umbrella handy.

Listing Bits Episode 71: When an MLS Should Build Its Own Tech – with Faith Geronimo & Colleen Yasuhara of Hawaii Information Service

We’re baaaack!

I spend a lot of time at conferences explaining why MLSs, brokers, and franchisors should let the ‘professionals’ build their technology. And yet, there are real reasons why these stakeholders might want to design their own. 

So, when is it appropriate for an MLS to create its own tech stack rather than relying on a vendor? And what does the development process look like?

Faith Geronimo and Colleen Yasuhara are the CEO and COO, respectively, of Hawaii Information Service (HIS), the MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai. On this episode of Listing Bits, Faith and Colleen explore HIS’s history of building its own technology and explain their decision to spend the last four years creating a new MLS system.

Faith and Colleen discuss the transition from their initial system, REsearch, to the new HIMLS, describing HIS’s partnership with software developer MEV and their experience working with a team of Ukrainian developers. Listen in to understand why the Russia-Ukraine conflict hasn’t disrupted the development process and learn how HIS leveraged research and user testing to inform the design of HIMLS.

What’s Discussed:  

HIS’s role as MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai

HIS’s history of building its own technology 

How Faith & Colleen’s decision to build a new system on their own was influenced by their ability to integrate public records and MLS data

Faith’s take on why Hawaii needs 3 MLS providers

What Faith & Colleen learned in their research on MLS systems and how it informed the design of HIMLS

How the pandemic influenced the development process and allowed for rigorous user acceptance testing

The timeline for the transition from REsearch to HIMLS from 2018 to present

HIS’s partnership with MEV and how they built the portal and web API together before tackling the MLS

Faith & Colleen’s experience working with developers in the Ukraine and why they flew the team to Hawaii early in the process

How Ukrainian developers continue to work on HIMLS despite the Russian invasion and how they’re handling the conflict

Connect with Faith & Colleen:

The Story of HIMLS

Hawaii Information Service

Hawaii Information Service on YouTube

Faith on LinkedIn

Colleen on LinkedIn

Resources:

HIMLS Update on YouTube

Inman Connect New York

CMLS Conferences

Craig Pennington

Paragon

Matrix

Realist

RESO Web API

MEV

Alex Natskovich

Our Sponsor:

Cloud Agent Suite

NEW – Industry Relations Episode – Possible Future of Online Real Estate

This week on Industry Relations, Rob and Greg go head to head on MLS data. They debate whether the MLS industry will die with Zillow when Rob’s proverbial asteroid hits. Greg disagrees and wants to see a future between MLS and CoStar.

Enjoy this episode on your favorite podcast player.

And/or please subscribe to our YouTube channel today so we can be known as simply Industry Relations Podcast, and not: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrUi4dF6sAOpacTSkemskkw

Or just listen here:

Jeff Bosch is the new CEO of IRES

IRES taps real estate industry veteran Jeff Bosch as new chief executive officer

“Bosch has held numerous leadership roles throughout his two-plus decades in real estate, most recently serving as chief operating officer of MARIS, a St. Louis-based MLS. He also previously held titles as director of MLS services and director of broker engagement at MARIS and was a managing broker at Coldwell Banker Gundaker before joining MARIS.”

Big congrats to Jeff and IRES. Lauren is one tough act to follow but knowing Jeff I’m sure he is up for the challenge.

Craig Rowe of Inman News says MLS providers should stay in their lane

The 6 tech trends that defined real estate in 2021

“Many of the nation’s multiple listing services are now rebounding with attempts to develop and deliver technology for their members instead of seeking the best possible options in the open market.

Beyond it not being their core competency, building software isn’t easy, cheap or a one-time thing.

There’s simply no way for MLSs to create a system, continually support it and offer training and help to thousands of members (in some cases, tens of thousands) without significantly raising fees, which it will need to do in order to hire more experienced technology professionals, including expensive engineers and developers.”

Inman News

This matches what I hear from a lot of vendors: Remember when all the big franchisors and real estate brokers announced they were “technology companies”, not real estate companies. How’s that working out?

He goes on to cite the vetting process most MLS providers follow.

“How can this not further complicate how due diligence on other products is handled, especially when they provide comparable services? Thus, does it best serve members, or the politics and public image of their organization?

It’s also hypocritical, specifically in any case where an MLS has refused to partner with a vendor for fear of that vendor being acquired.”

Inman

He said it, not me. 😇

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