Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Rob Hahn to host Webinar on Commission Lawsuits

My Industry Relations co-host and friend the Notorious ROB will be hosting a webinar on Commission Lawsuits. A great opportunity for any ORE peeps to get a good perspective on where things stand.

Webinar on Commission Lawsuits

Topics to be Covered

The rough outline for now:

-The likely outcome of Sitzer/Burnett v. NAR (the first lawsuit up) and why-Monetary damages
-“Co-Conspirator” status and why that matters
-Weak vs. Strong injunction
-Copycat lawsuits
-Bankruptcy issues
-Settlement?
-The DOJ and FTC
-The environment post-apocalypse and strategies for:
-Q&A and Discussion

For cost and registration click here -> Webinar: What Now? Real Estate Industry After the Commission Lawsuits

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!

Legend

NAR CEO Bob Goldberg to Retire at the End of 2024

“Bob’s selfless commitment to our association has been inspiring to me and to everyone who’s served on NAR’s leadership team these past six years,” said 2023 NAR President Kenny Parcell. “He’s done so much in a relatively short time that will help Realtors® and consumers thrive both today and decades into the future. I’m incredibly thankful for that, and I know each of our members has Bob to thank for the innovations and advancements he’s championed in real estate markets across the world.”

Soon after becoming CEO, Bob spearheaded creation of the association’s Strategic Business, Innovation, and Technology team. Today, more than 220 global firms have been scaled through NAR’s growth accelerator, REACH, and its investment arm, Second Century Ventures.

Just one domestic REACH program was operating in the U.S. when Goldberg’s tenure began in 2017. Seven global entities now serve consumers, real estate agents and technology innovators, with REACH programs active in Canada, the United Kingdom and Latin America, among others. REACH participation has grown from 40 global enterprises to 211 in that time—a 400% expansion in less than six years—while SCV has simultaneously increased its investments from 12 to 73.”

I think it’s pretty well known that I’m a huge fan of Bob. His contributions have had an enormous impact on organized real estate. His journey over the past 4 decades is remarkable. From his days at PRC, the internet, portal wars, SCV, the GFC, Proptech, COVID, sub 3% interest rates, and the inventory crisis. May you live in interesting times indeed.

As of today, NAR membership is at its highest level ever, and more consumers used a REALTOR last year than any other year before.

via GIPHY

[Sponsor] I didn’t know Black Knight MLS did that!

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Sellers want transparency and to know what activity is happening with their home.

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Seller Collab Center Stats from Black Knight, Inc. on Vimeo.

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Your friends at Black Knight

Ginger Wilcox takes top spot at BH&G

Ginger Wilcox

BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS REAL ESTATE ANNOUNCES GINGER WILCOX AS BRAND PRESIDENT

“Wilcox moves to the helm of BHGRE after holding several prominent leadership roles spanning real estate technology, brokerage, and transaction services. She brings a proven track record of developing and growing unique brands in the industry, having served as Head of Industry Marketing and Relations for Trulia, an online real estate marketplace, where she focused on marketing innovation and digital engagement.  Early in her career, Wilcox developed an award-winning online real estate brand and brokerage, Marin Fine Properties, which was honored as a finalist for the Inman Innovator Awards for most innovative real estate website, as well as a finalist for the National Association of REALTORS® Center for REALTOR® Technology Spotlight Awards.”

Dan and I started W+R Studios in 2008, at the very start of the GFC. Which is a crazy thing to do if you think about it. The whole world wide economy is crashing around you because of real estate and you are starting a software company focusing on real estate.

That same year I remember being at Inman Connect and seeing Sherry Chris launch Better Homes & Gardens. Holy crap, I thought. Here is this women launching a real estate company, in a time like this, just like us. And Sherry did it in the most fun way, announcing via Twitter and other Social Media networks. The optimism! The chutzpah! The balls! Ever since then I’ve held an affinity for Sherry and the BH&G brand. It was mixed emotions seeing the announcement of her retirement. No one in the industry has matched her class and style.

So it’s great to see one of my favorite people in the industry take on the top leadership role at BH&G, Ginger Wilcox. Another women I respect so much. After leaving Trulia Ginger spent a lot of time in the fintech space but now I’m happy to see her come back to the ORE space. Can’t wait to see her at the next event and raise a glass to her new gig. Congrats to Ginger, Sherry and BH&G!

Genius

Black Knight

My thanks to Black Knight for sponsoring Vendor Alley this month. I’m excited that Black Knight is introducing its next-generation MLS system – Paragon Connect. Built using the most modern technology, Paragon Connect empowers agents to work wherever they are on virtually any device. Since Paragon Connect’s features and functionality are the same across the platform, agents can start on a desktop and move to their mobile device, or vice versa, without skipping a beat. You’ll hear more about Paragon Connect’s unique new features and capabilities in this month’s blog.

Again, many thanks to Black Knight.

Looking for a new gig?

CEO-Broker Public Portal

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

Listing Bits EP081: Building Proptech for Real Estate Teams – with Brian Charlesworth of Sisu

Teams are the future of real estate. And one proptech vendor is capitalizing on this trend by helping team leaders run an effective business.

What’s more, most of the teams on his platform double their business every year—even in the current market.

Brian Charlesworth is Founder and CEO of Sisu, an end-to-end real estate platform for teams that streamlines the transaction process, bringing all REALTORS, vendors and clients together.

On this episode of Listing Bits, Brian shares his background in technology and explains how helping his wife build her real estate team inspired the creation of Sisu.

Brian discusses the coaching Sisu offers to help team leaders scale their business and describes how the platform changes the culture of a real estate team.

Listen in to understand how the Sisu client portal works like a ‘pizza tracker’ and get Brian’s advice for other proptech vendors on building for real estate teams.

What’s Discussed:  

Sisu’s function as an end-to-end real estate platform for teams 

How Brian’s commitment to help his wife build her real estate team inspired the creation of Sisu

The coaching Sisu offers to help team leaders run an effective business

Why Brian believes teams are the future of real estate

What proptech vendors should consider in building for teams

Using the Sisu dashboard to track a team’s progress (e.g.: sales, potential revenue, etc.)

How Sisu integrates with CRMs and other platforms to streamline and automate real estate transactions

How Sisu changes the culture of a real estate team

Why most teams on Sisu double their business every year—even in the current market

How the Sisu client portal works like a ‘pizza tracker’

What Sisu is doing to make sure clients work with the same real estate professionals for years to come 

Brian’s advice to proptech vendors on understanding how agents think

What real estate companies can do to solve for agent retention

Connect with Brian Charlesworth:

Sisu

Brian on Instagram

Resources:

Sisu Mastery

Side

PLACE

Our Sponsor:

Cloud CMA for Brokers

Industry Relations Podcast: The Ugly Truth Behind Real Estate’s Unicorn Years

Is it possible to predict the trajectory of the real estate market, given the recent “unicorn years”? Not really. Rob and Greg are here to break it all down as they rage against the “unicorn years”. Join them on this episode of Industry Relations as they delve into residential real estate’s past few years, which they believe to be a rare and abnormal occurrence. Rob and Greg explain why this “unicorn” event should not play a role in the predictive models moving forward.

Watch us on YouTube!

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

This podcast is produced by Two Brothers Creative 2023.

Sponsored By MLS Reset