“Over $1B invested” đź‘€
Homes.com teases Super Bowl Ad
Watching the Grammy’s last night I caught an ad for Homes.com.
The ad features Lil’ Wayne and Dan Levy with the tag line, “Home Shopping goes back to school” and then the date “2.11.24”, which is the date to the Super Bowl.
There are also two other ads on their YouTube channel. The one above features Dan Levy again and Heidi Gardner riffing on new Homes.com slogans.
The last video appears to have CoStar’s CEO Andy Florance in a cameo board room scene (:15). Both of them teasing the “2.11.24” Super Bowl date.
We are already know that Mr. Florance likes to go big with their promotion, and nothing is bigger than a Super Bowl ad. Should be fun to watch!
Industry Relations Podcast:Â Impact and Consequences of the Zillow Lawsuit
What happens when a real estate giant like Zillow takes legal action against their own clients? Things get a little complicated as Rob and Greg explore the issues of the delicate balance of being a participant, vendor and MLS organization (sometimes all at the same time!)
***Disclaimer – Due to MLS Aligned being a consulting client of Greg, the views expressed on this podcast are Greg’s opinions and DO NOT represent the views of MLS Aligned.***
Rob and Greg discuss the recent Zillow lawsuit against two MLSs, ARMLS and Metro MLS, which alleges control over technology distribution and the practical implications of not being integrated into the MLS member portal and how it affects the functionality of platforms like ShowingTime. Greg gives his own first-hand experiences with MLS system integration and Cloud CMA.
They explore what could be the potential impact on competition and the challenges faced by MLSs in making integration decisions. And can MLS organizations choose who they do business with or not? Mountain? Molehill? Listen to Rob and Greg try and grapple a tricky situation as only they can.
Watch us on YouTube!
Connect with Rob and Greg:Â
Our Sponsors
This podcast is produced by Two Brothers Creative 2024.
Z acquires FUB for $400M
Zillow acquires CRM Follow Up Boss, super app ‘mission’ ongoing
“A CRM makes sense for Zillow. The acquisition demonstrates that the evolving proptech remains on a path to become an increasingly influential presence in the residential real estate industry with consumers and agents.
It has taken on a number of software brands of late, starting with ShowingTime in early 2021, which became the basis for ShowingTime+, an umbrella brand under which a litany of agent-oriented marketing services come to rest, such as Listing Showcase and Aryeo, a marketing media management solution which it scooped up in August.
Follow Up Boss will not be part of ShowingTime+, Zillow President Susan Daimler told Inman.”
Craig Rowe for Inman News
Congrats to Dan and his team. Follow Up Boss is all about culture. I think it’s smart not to roll them in to the ShowingTime+ team. Also, talk about timing….
HowardHanna.com switches to VOW, and raises questions on IDX and national portals
This is a head-scratcher. I’m not sure I fully understand what is going on here but I’ll try and explain. From the video, HowardHanna.com appears to be leaving IDX. Currently, they are showing only HH listings and you must register to see more.
So is Howard Hanna pulling out of IDX? Is there some sort of selective listing opt-out mechanism? Mr. Hanna also says they will “still be partnering with the national portals, and figuring what the strategy will be with them.” I can’t for the life of me figure out how since most of the national portals use an IDX feed. Can you blend an IDX feed with a direct feed from a broker?
Genius or bat-shit crazy? I don’t yet understand the strategy fully until some of these questions are answered. I guess if they are super dominant in that market then it might make sense.
But if I’m a listing agent in Ohio that is competing with Howard Hanna the first thing I would bring up at a listing presentation is something to the tune of, “Howard Hanna won’t promote your listings on all websites, I will”.
I’ll be hosting a Twitter Spaces on this subject today at 1PM PT. Join us!
CoStar won’t buy realtor.com
CoStar will not acquire portal Realtor.com after all
“During Tuesday’s investor call, Florance compared CoStar’s portal ambitions to the choice consumers face between buying a home verses building something new. But thanks to what Florance described as Homes.com’s success with traffic, and its positive reception within the real estate industry, CoStar has apparently settled for now on the building, rather than buying, strategy.
We feel we have a unique offering on the organic side that no one else is offering out there,” Florance said at another point during the call.
Tuesday’s earnings report states that Homes.com now has more than 20 million unique monthly visitors.”
I guess we shouldn’t be surprised, remember when CoStar was going to buy CoreLogic? Good times.
Ultimately this was a head-scratcher anyway, how was CoStar going to manage two brands? Rob and I went over this on an episode of Industry Relations.
I love the optimism here from Andy, but Realtor.com traffic is roughly 5 times that of Homes.com, and Zillow is 10 times that of Homes.com. I still can’t believe Andy’s grand plan is to “beat Zillow”, especially organically. I keep believing there has to be something else…some other plan yet to be revealed. Beating Zillow seems like a fool’s errand.
As a wise man once said, “never get involved in a land war in Asia.”
Welcome, Zillow. Seriously.
I had to chuckle when I read this recent press release from Zillow.
“Customers who start their selling journey with Zillow can now simultaneously request both a cash offer from Opendoor and an estimate of what their home could sell for on the open market with a local Zillow Premier Agent partner.”
It reminded me of what we launched waaaaay back in 2018, called iBuyer Connect:
Cloud CMA will now include all-cash offers from Opendoor
“Agents using Cloud CMA, a comparative market analysis tool for listing presentations from W+R Studios, can now present listing clients with an all-cash offer from iBuying giant Opendoor alongside the traditional listing information.”
This integration in Cloud CMA has helped agents sell tens of millions of dollars of real estate without charging a 35% referral fee. And a majority of those sellers still wanted to be represented by the agent.
But hey Zillow. You, do, you.
CoStar to purchase Realtor.com?
News Corp in Talks to Sell Real Estate Site For $3 Billion
“Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is in talks to sell its Move Inc. online real estate business to CoStar Group Inc.
Move is the parent of Realtor.com and other real estate-related websites. The deal is worth about $3 billion, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. The sale could be announced within days, one of the people said.”
After CoStar announced at a recent earnings call they had raised $750M for future acquistions Rob and I on our Industry Relations podcast tried to guess what they would scoop up. I thought we had a pretty good guess with Matterport. Matterport had recently bought VHT Studios. So we thought it would give them some killer IP and a network of photographers. Turns out Zillow took the bait and purchased VRX, and CoStar had bigger fish in mind. Although $3 billion isn’t that much money for CoStar, remember they bid $7 billion for CoreLogic.
Brings up a few questions. Will NAR approve? Or do they even have the say? If NAR was cool with handing the reins to Rupert Murdoch, then Andy Florance seems like a Boy Scout.
What about Homes.com? I’ve been wondering when the new website would be launched, and they recently had a big round of layofffs. Maybe Andy realized that it would take a hell of lot more money to get Homes.com (a distant #3) to compete with Zillow than it would take #2, realtor.com. And the whole “your listing, your lead” actually might play better under the realtor.com umbrella.
Your move Nestfully.
Did Zillow just launch the new Homes.com?
Well it certainly looking that way…
Check out today’s press release from Zillow:
New service from ShowingTime+ enables agents to deliver beautiful, dynamic listings with less hassle
“We want to help agents effortlessly deliver standout listings that wow their sellers and help win over potential buyers,” said Cynthia Taylor, vice president of product for ShowingTime+. “Listing Media Services cuts down on the time agents spend preparing a listing so they can focus on the high-touch, high-value work they do as a trusted adviser for their clients.”
Also, check out the Listing Showcase site:
Here’s copy from the Listing Showcase site:
… select agents will receive the keys to a new best-in-class listing display — Listing Showcase.
Until now, online listings all conformed to the same structure. Listing Showcase is a NEW style of listing display that truly differentiates top-tier agents in their market.
Aren’t these two things; better content and new ways to highlight listings, exactly what CoStar was promising with their brand-new Homes.com?
Looks like Zillow just hijacked CoStar’s business model.
Over 1 million people used Zillow’s down payment assistance tool (powered by Down Payment Resource)
More than 1 million people have used Zillow’s down payment assistance tool over the last year
“Homeownership remains the American Dream because it is one of the most powerful avenues for building wealth, and a source of long-term social and financial stability,” said Rob Chrane, CEO and founder of Down Payment Resource. “Unfortunately, many people sideline themselves from buying a home because they don’t know that there are thousands of homebuyer assistance programs that may be able to help them overcome common affordability challenges, such as down payment and closing costs. By partnering with Down Payment Resource, Zillow is doing the important work of raising awareness about these programs while providing its users with a tool that could make the difference between continuing to rent and owning a home.”
Well, this certainly brought a smile to my face! I’ve been a big fan of Rob and his company, Down Payment Resource for a long time. Just to think that there are people in a house right now, maybe warming themselves by a fireplace, who were able to buy the house with information they gained from this service fills me with the holiday spirit. 🥹
