I just spent an hour glued to the TV, absolutely fascinated by what I was seeing and hearing. And no, it wasn’t the latest episode of Game of Thrones (which was rather disappointing in many ways… but I digress). I watched something normal human beings likely would not, since there are only 162 views on YouTube … Read more
Redfin reported its Q1/2019 results earlier today… and it’s like one of those Russian nesting dolls, except it’s a bit of a mystery inside an enigma within a puzzle kind of a deal. For the first time in… well… ever as far as Redfin is concerned, I find myself not quite able to understand what … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, NAR’s Second Century Ventures announced the 2019 class of companies in its REACH program. What is REACH? Here’s the official description: “The REACH® accelerator focuses on providing early- to mid-stage companies with access to NAR’s industry expertise, influence and key relationships as businesses launch into the trillion-dollar real estate space.” … Read more
In Part 1, I looked at the economics of iBuyers generally, and concluded that we need to analyze them as market makers, using market maker economic models, rather than as investors or brokerage companies. In this part 2, I wanted to get a bit more detailed and granular, using some data I was fortunate enough … Read more
In my final Red Dot, where I looked at the full year 2018 earnings results for the public companies in real estate, I titled the section on Realogy as “The Deathwatch Gets Serious.” My concerns then were centered on not just the numbers, which were historically bad, but on the strategy. I wrote then that … Read more
Recently, there was an excellent post about iBuyers from Homebloq, a company that appears to sell some sort of a mobile app “connecting Chicago brokers and buyers” according to the website. The blog is not signed, but I think it’s written by Austin James, the co-founder of Homebloq, and is titled, “How iBuyers Die.” I’ve … Read more
The other day Rob wrote a post on how Competition in Real Estate is Changing. I don’t think anyone would disagree. And it reminded me of a comment that I can’t find on another post which simply asked “What can brokers even do about it?”. That’s a sincere question worth talking about, from this Recovering … Read more
I’m busy and about to head off to a strategy session, but I had to share this with you all — especially with those who are in leadership positions in REALTOR Associations and local/regional MLSs. I may have thoughts on this in the future, but for now, let me just tell you that this might … Read more
Earlier today, T360 released the Swanepoel Mega 1000 report, ranking the top 1,000 brokerages by volume and transaction sides. Obviously, this report is competing with the current industry standard, the Real Trends 500 report. T360 sent me the data they used to compile the list, and told me to write what I found interesting about … Read more