Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Up shit creek without a paddle

Looks like Andrea Brambila of Inman News is back at it again with one of her favorite subjects, NAR wasting their members money.

In a post entitled “What Does Upstream Have To Show For Itself?” she surgically disects the “dream” of the Upstream initiative. Frankly there are so many juicy quotes its hard to list them. Here’s a few tidbits that caught my attention.

“In May 2015, NAR’s board of directors, made up of about 800 members, approved $12 million for NAR subsidiary Realtors Property Resource (RPR) to build Upstream and a related, but separate project called Advanced Multilist Platform (AMP). Upstream is set to exhaust its $6 million share of the funds — which don’t have to be repaid — by the end of 2017.”

I’d forgotten is was that much money.

“According to the CEOs of the two MLSs that will deploy Upstream’s original plan — RMLS and MLSListings — RPR did not publish data mapping tables they needed in order to integrate with Upstream until a month ago, on September 25, 2017.”

Remember when Dale Stinton and Alex blamed MLS vendors for delays. Good times…good times.

“You can’t say people aren’t cooperative when they don’t have enough information to be cooperative or not,” Harrison said.

John Mosey, president and CEO of pilot market NorthstarMLS, agreed.

“The problems are entirely between Upstream and RPR. I don’t think they are between the vendor community. The MLSs that have signed up for the pilots, every one of us have done everything possible to make this work,” he said.

…

“No one knows what the hell Upstream’s doing and there’s questions as to whether they do,” Mosey added, saying that, as far as he could tell, the broker direct feed was a return to status quo.

I love John Mosey.

“Toward the end of Inman’s interview with Mosey, he declared he wished he hadn’t taken the call.

“Because when you announce that [nothing’s happened] — which is absolutely true — there will be a segment of the broker community that uses this as an excuse to say the MLSs are uncooperative and it’s a lie. It’s a lie from the get-go.”

Did I say how much I love John yet?

All in all I think HAR president Cindy Hamann said it best.

“People are getting paid for this,” said Hamann, a real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties and 23-year Realtor. “That makes me mad. That makes me angry. This is members’ money. I’m a hardworking member who is very proud that I was able to send my kids to college without college debt because of real estate. And they haven’t started yet? That makes me angry because that means [Upstream’s] going to come back asking for more money.”

And something tells me that Andrea/Inman isn’t done posting this week.

CoreLogic is playing chess

Lots of activity in the industry but I’m still thinking about CoreLogic’s acquisition of Clareity. Why? Because I think it was one of the shrewdest deals in a long while. Here’s why.

1. Talent. The talent at Clareity is both wide and deep in industry experience and contacts. In one fell swoop CoreLogic scooped up some of the most talented and well connected people in the industry.

2. That pesky “MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey”. You know the one, where Black Knight and flexMLS were beating them every year? Well its gone baby gone.

3. Speaking of the “MLS Customer Satisfaction Survey”. All that data on their competitors that was aggregated for the survey is now in the hands of Chris Bennett. I’m sure the other MLS vendors will downplay this, but I’m equally sure they would loved it if that data was in their hands.

4. The Clareity Dashboard. Notice that last on my list is the actual product of the company! It’s almost like a bonus. And having a product that is a gateway to all other products in the industry is a nice place to sit.

Other things I’m hearing…

Troy Rech is now head of MLS sales. And Lucie Fortier, is returning back to CoreLogic after a short stint at Remine. Nice moves.

Industry Relations Episode 12: Can NAR’s New CEO Bob Goldberg Elevate the REALTOR Brand?

We can all agree that raising the level of professionalism in the real estate industry is a good thing – absolutely necessary, even. But how do we get there? And who’s responsible for elevating the REALTOR brand? With Bob Goldberg assuming leadership of NAR on August 1, there is much discussion around what he can do to be an agent of change in the industry.

The gloves come off today as Rob and Greg debate the validity of the NAR CEO selection process and the best way to go about ridding the industry of incompetent, unethical agents. They discuss the strengths Bob brings to the table, how his leadership may facilitate cooperation among key players, and the likelihood of substantial policy change with Bob at the helm.

Listen in as Greg and Rob get fired up arguing who’s responsible for making the REALTOR brand meaningful. It is up to NAR to raise standards and differentiate between REALTORS and licensees? Or do brokers need to be held to a higher ideal when it comes to recruiting, hiring and training agents? Whether you’re Team Rob or Team Greg on this one, Bob has his work cut out for him as he takes over NAR this month.

What’s Discussed: 

Greg’s experience working with Bob through eNeighborhoods
NAR’s decision to choose someone from inside the organization
Greg’s sense of Bob as a leader
Rob’s take that hiring Bob may have been a ‘done deal’
Greg’s argument that employing a world-renowned recruiting company is ‘thorough’ as opposed to ‘clueless’
Why Rob contends that NAR should have named Bob as successor two years ago
How the NAR membership might have reacted to naming Bob as successor without selection process
How the interview process affords the opportunity for upfront conversation
Greg’s belief in the validity of the selection process
Why a succession plan is more feasible in the corporate world vs. a member-driven organization
Rob’s frustration with the lack of transparency demonstrated by NAR leadership
Greg’s assessment of how things will change with Bob at the helm of NAR
– Shift in tone
– Capacity to facilitate cooperation
Rob’s assertion that conflict in the industry is about policy rather than tone
Rob’s skepticism re: the probability of change in NAR policy
The relationship between personnel and policy
Greg’s assertion that bureaucracy comes from the association side rather than staff
The challenges Bob faces moving forward
– Elevating REALTOR brand
– Incompetent, unethical agents
Greg’s position that brokers are complicit in hiring unqualified agents
Rob’s counter that agents are not employees
– Only Redfin hires employee agents
– Agent pays broker, not vice versa
– Recruiting agents = sales (not hiring)
Why Rob finds it remarkable that any brokers institute standards
How NAR’s code of ethics runs counter to their acceptance of anyone with a license
Rob’s proposal regarding policy changes that would make the REALTOR brand meaningful
– MLS access no longer tied to membership
– Association staff allowed to take part in ethics hearings
– Remove 1099 exemption for real estate agents

Our Sponsors:
CSS
Corelogic

Resources:
Rob’s ‘Bob Goldberg Era’ Blog
Rob’s Response to Bill Brown’s Comment
NAR DANGER Report

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website
Greg’s Website

Legacy MLS

I missed Jim Harrison’s post a couple weeks ago, but lots of good stuff here so I thought it was worth commenting on.

CEO’s Message: Launching the MLS of the Future Starts with Envisioning a New Legacy

“The MLS sector is currently having such an experience. In order to succeed the contemporary MLS must provide brokers, agents, and consumers with an MLS experience that is relevant, dependable, and completely compatible with their emerging technical, data, and informational needs. This, in turn, means that those legacy-based features and functionalities that do not meet the test must be either updated and enhanced or terminated.”

Today’s agents and brokers are demanding more, they want better solutions. Part of the sector was control the data but a vast majority just want software that is easy to use and helps them succeed.

Jim continues.

“The solution would be found when we changed the underlying assumptions, legacies, and culture under which we had been operating. It was time for a different approach to the MLSListings experience. The opportunity lies in joining the “app” movement and creating an MLSListings experience that would allow every brokerage and/or subscriber to customize their own “MLS” experience.

“Front end of choice”, “Alternative Front End”, and an “App” based system, the whole industry is buzzing. They all mean basically the same thing, providing developers/brokers an easy way (ideally standards based) to access the MLS database so they can build things with the data. Anyone who attended the Clareity Executive Workshop can attest is was all about “front end of choice”. It’s starting to happen. I believe Jim is using the phrase “App” meaning not just mobile applications but any software application (desktop or otherwise). But some of the same old challenges still exist as we move forward.

1. Support. These new apps need a support system, especially if being supported by the MLS. With W+R Studios’ front end of choice solution, Cloud MLX, a specific design requirement was we wanted agents to start using it without any training.
2. Adoption. Complaining about current MLS software systems is a favorite pastime of agents (and some bloggers). But the fact is they know how to use it. Doing a search on the MLS is, at this point, engrained in to their muscle memory.
3. Integration. I think another weak spot of traditional MLS vendors is integration with other applications. This is a huge opportunity. These new front end of choice solutions need to work with as many other popular apps as possible.

As I’ve written before, we are entering a new cycle in technology with the MLS industry in regard to data. Here’s how I see it…

Pre-digital
-Word of mouth
-Index cards
-Books

Closed Network Systems
-Terminal based systems
-Text based menu driven system
-PCs running terminal emulator software access MLS via modem/frame relay

Distributed Database
-Remember Wyldfyre?
-GUI interface
-Need to install software and sync

Open Network Systems (The Internet)- WHERE WE ARE TODAY (BEEN?)
-Web based MLS systems
-Browser based, nothing to install

Front End of Choice/”App movement” – WHERE WE ARE HEADED (NOW?)
-MLS data available via APIs or RETS
-Roll your own software

Data is becoming front and center. That’s why you see so many vendors rushing to provide solutions.

Cue The Crickets

Something struck me this past weekend. Amid the kudos and well deserved praise coming from the MLS community and others on the formation of Bright MLS, there was one group of people we didn’t hear from publicly. The Big Brokers.

Maybe because the MRIS/Trend merger doesn’t speak to their narrative that MLS providers are too big to fail, they move too slow, the only way to “fix” this mess is to “take back our data”. All of which are untrue.

And it’s not just Bright MLS, but there’s been a lot of MLS providers actively trying to consolidate, REColorado just made a bid for IRES. Sandicor and CRMLS. And a few bigger ones that haven’t been made public. Does the MLS industry get any sort of acknowledgment? Nope, just crickets.

Who would we hear from? Well how about The Realty Alliance? Or maybe something from UPSTREAM RE for starters. These outlets have always been quick to criticize.

If things are going to change its going to require everyone’s involvement. And the fact the Big Brokers has shown such a lack of class and have failed to show any sort of graciousness makes me think that their motives are not sincere.

Blow it up!

Matt Cohen, Clareity Consulting:

Just How Easy Should Software for Professionals Be?

“If everything else was equal about the software capabilities, training and support, availability, system speed, vendors and so forth, of course the scales would be tipped in favor of the easy software. But typically, easy comes at a cost. There’s a spectrum that runs from “full of features, information, and flexible and difficult” to being “light on features, lacking information, and inflexible and easy”.  Good software design is often the result of an effort to find the right balance.”

Something struck me about Matt’s take on “professional software”. And by “struck me” I mean it bugged the shit out of me.

“And apps with more customization capabilities (that provide the ability for agents to differentiate) are always more complicated to figure out than those that provide no options.”

It sounds like too much of an excuse. Full featured software doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes shitty software, is, well, just that, shitty software.

I have a deep respect (and a lot of compassion) for the traditional MLS Vendors. But, today’s MLS system has not just been designed by a committee but many, many, many, committees over many, many years. Usually some feature needed to be added to get the contract signed (and that board member is probably dead by now.) And nobody really needs a feature that schedules a listing alert to only go out the first Tuesday of every month anyway. Fuck!

Reminds me when I asked an MLS executive when we were first laying the ground work for Cloud MLX. I asked, “How many fields to most agents search on? 25?, 30?, 50?”.

He said, “Greg it’s less than 15”.

Mind blown.

So blow it all up. All of it. Start from freaking scratch. A simple way to search, basic auto-prospecting, an easy way to share, and listing input. Done. And then going forward make it really really really hard (like raising MLS dues hard) to add any new features.

Matrix 360 = Matrix 1
flexmls = rigidmls
Paragon = Straight Line MLS
Rapattoni MLS = Smith MLS

Boom!

VCRDS to end data share with CRMLS

Andrea Brambila reporting for Inman News:

Ending MLS data share could cost agents millions

“VCRDS has about 2,300 active listings in Ventura County and part of Los Angeles County, while CRMLS has about 47,000 active listings throughout California.

VCRDS is jointly owned by the Ventura County Coastal Association of Realtors and the Conejo Simi Moorpark Association of Realtors. It has nearly 4,500 agent and broker members.

The data share termination is a setback for CRMLS’s initiative to build a statewide MLS, according to CRMLS CEO Art Carter.

“Anytime for any reason an association pulls back from sharing data with another association, it’s not a good thing,” Carter told Inman.

“Whether VCRDS believes it or not, the exposure for their data has been significant and [ending the data share] is not a good thing for the agents or the consumer.”

Data sharing between CRMLS and VCRDS will end 90 days from June 6.”

This is going to be tough for members of CRMLS, VCRDS and the vendors that serve them. Speaking of vendors…

“According to VCRDS, it decided to end the data share because of an “unexpected $25,000 cost to reformat its data” from its MLS vendor, Rapattoni Corp.

Brian Tepfer, Rapattoni’s chief technology officer, told Inman that CRMLS requested more than 10,000 data field mapping changes all at once from its data share partners, including Rapattoni clients VCRDS, i-Tech MLS and California Desert Association of Realtors MLS.

Rapattoni does not charge to make MLSs RESO compliant or for run-of-the-mill maintenance fixes, he said, but these data-share changes would be “months of work.””

I’m not sure this is really “months of work” project, but the real cost is focus.

I dunno. Seems like there’s an opportunity for someone to step up here. There’s a lot at stake.

Zillow settles lawsuit with MOVE/NAR

Andrea Brambila reporting for Inman News

Zillow and Move settle trade secrets lawsuit for $130M

$130 million smackaroos is all it took.

“Before the settlement, the case was scheduled to go to jury trial today. None of the parties admitted any liability, wrongdoing or responsibility in the settlement agreement, according to a Zillow Group public filing.

Move’s co-plaintiff, the National Association of Realtors, is entitled to 10 percent of the settlement proceeds after deduction of Move’s litigation-related costs and fees, with the remainder being paid to Move, according to a News Corp. public filing.”

All I can say is thank goodness. This was a huge distraction for everyone involved. I’m so happy for Errol, Curt and their families. This had to cause such undue stress on all involved.

I hoping that everyone involved can move forward and forgive and forget. I thought is was bullshit when MOVE and NAR first filed the lawsuit against Errol, especially in an industry where people seem to move from different companies on a regular basis.

But, I was also worried about Zillow’s timing and the aggressive way that they hired Curt. It seemed pretty ruthless.

This industry needs as many smart people involved in the conversation as possible. So NAR, let Zillow Group participate in trade shows and events.

Zillow, the last time I saw Spencer give a talk they asked him what was one of things he would have changed in the past. He said he would have reached out more to the industry. Well, you talked the talk, now walk the walk.

I’m also excited to see what is on the horizon for online real estate. You can bet the competition between MOVE, Zillow Group, Redfin and other is going to be fierce.

I glad were are back to innovation instead of spoliation.

A land war in Asia

Screen Shot 2015-12-01 at 10.13.55 PMKudos to Andrea Brambila at Inman News on a great article, MLSs anxious about their role in Upstream, about the MLS communities concerns regarding Upstream. It’s a great article and you should go read it now.

I think David summed it up best.

“MLSs are the default information exchange that facilitates tens of millions of dollars of residential real estate every minute. So it stands to reason we have questions,” David Charron, CEO of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems Inc. (MRIS), told Inman in an email. [W]e surely support the aspirational intentions of Upstream. But we will not sit quietly when the proposed solution places so much of the broker and agent business at risk.”

But, to me, it’s a bit more complicated. Who do MLSs want answers from? RPR? Upstream (the organization)? To me RPR is simply the vendor in this equation. Upstream is the client. And it turns out that Upstream (the client) doesn’t even know what they want. Here’s Cary Sylvester, from KW, one of Upstream’s Board members.

“Upstream is new and different and we don’t have all the answers yet; and this keeps us agile to create the best solution to meet those goals. What we do have is a structured discovery process we’ll work through with each MLS.”

W—T—F?

We don’t have a plan, but that’s great, because it means we are wide open to having a plan?

If Upstream is going to happen it is going to be about making the right choices. Any vendor, including RPR, might have the right partners, tech, and experience to pull this off, but they are going to have to help their clients understand what’s possible and what’s not.

I’m hoping that the people behind Upstream begin to realize that MLS providers provide a service that makes their most valuable asset, listings, even more valuable. And that they can start to think more inclusively about MLS providers being part of the over all solution, instead of just an arrow pointing out to a box on a diagram.

Placester, $27 million dollars, and the changing vendor landscape

moneyPlacester Raises $27M Series C Round For Its Real Estate Marketing Platform

“Ravi Viswanathan, a general partner at NEA, told me his firm likes to invest in companies that play in massive markets where the spend is in the billions of dollars and the industry still often uses arcane methods. Real estate is an obvious example for this and the power of the local listing services means there is also a substantial barrier of entry — one which Placester managed to overcome early on.

The big money entering the market has been changing the landscape of vendors in real estate. It all really started with The Borrell Report, which pegged a somewhere between a $9 billion to $27 billon opportunity up for grabs in the online real estate space. That got the V.C.’s attention, whether you agreed with the numbers or not.

First Zillow, then Trulia and others. When Zillow bought Trulia things only heated up (Dotloop, Reesio, etc).

These new breed of vendors are young, smart and have piles of cash (via Venture Capital). Here’s a list of what I would qualify as New Breed Vendors and who’s lunch they want to eat.

Zillow Group
Lunchtime: Zillow saying they don’t want to be an MLS/Broker/Franchisor is just like Uber saying they don’t want to be a taxi company. Lately they want to focus on “Super Agents” or “teams” that have systems in place to consume and convert leads (so they buy more).

Placester
Lunchtime: Placester is going after agents via partnerships with N.A.R., KW, RE/MAX Integra. Come one come all. With their reasonable (cheap?) pricing models they can bring agents in their eco-system and upsell them on other services. Any small/medium sized IDX/agent website/CRM vendors (Top Producer, too many to name, etc.) should be on alert.

BoomTown
Lunchtime: I see these guys competing in about the same space as Zillow. High end agents and teams. They are just going at it differently by pitching themselves as a full service marketing firm to agents (copywriting, ad management, reporting, websites, IDX, etc.)

Boston Logic
Lunchtime: Boston Logic is going after enterprise broker deals. Companies like Real Estate Digital (Now owned by Nationstar aka Solutionstar aka XOME), IDC, might be (will be), feeling some pain in this space.

SmartZip
Lunchtime: These guys are going after more tech savvy agents and teams. But they also integrate their tech into other agent software solutions.

These are players that will drive consolidation, make big moves, and push forward change in the industry. It easy to see, you just need to follow the money.

…and if you don’t know, now you know.

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