I wrote a VIP post recently talking about the Durable investment into Redfin and what it signaled for the future of brokerage. But while writing it, I thought of something that deserves wider discussion. Here it is: Furthermore, after the government response to COVID-19, I am reasonably confident that agent teams will be brought under … Read more
Given my somewhat unique position, I am often amused by the gap between the world of real estate and the world of finance as it comes to news that affects both. A prime example comes to us from the announcement that Redfin raised $110 million in equity funding from Durable Capital Partners. On social media, … Read more
After my last post on triage, which was a bit dark, I have decided to spend some time doing something that will shock many of you: optimism and positivity. Fact is, I’m actually a pretty optimistic and positive guy — it’s just that I form opinions based on facts, and the facts are often rather … Read more
I’ve been having a number of conversations with friends over this past week, as the quarantine situation got serious then even more serious. Some of it was sparked by my series on the aftermath of this crisis for real estate, and others sparked by just general events these days. As I write this, I’m debating … Read more
So here we are in the Brave New World of quarantines, lockdowns and barely contained (?) panic. May it be short, as it is simply unsustainable over the long haul. Activity will be grinding to a halt if it hasn’t already. We all know the main stories in the news — stock market plummeting, the … Read more
I realize this is almost two weeks after Realogy reported, but… between international travel and my computer giving up the ghost, it’s been a bit of a challenge to write this. It likely would have been a challenge anyhow, because of how much I like Realogy (I have written often about my biases). Q4 was … Read more
Since it’s been a few days since my VIP subscribers got to check out my analysis of Zillow’s Q4 earnings, I wanted to have more of a public open discussion on two incredibly important things from the Q4 earnings. Rich Barton, Zillow’s CEO, mentioned the Bob Seger song, “Turn the Page.” He was talking about … Read more
In the Q3/2019 writeup, I wrote that Zillow is not experimenting, but trying to pivot with great delicacy: My take on Q3 is that Zillow is in the midst of a BCG 2×2 Matrix exercise and a delicate point (in a good way) in the transition from Zillow 1.0 to Zillow 2.0. What they’re doing … Read more
One of my favorite people in the industry, Joe Rand, a broker-owner from New York, a corporate lawyer by training, and an amazing singer has penned an article for Inman titled, “Be resilient in the face of disruption: My big takeaway from Inman Connect New York.” It’s worth a read, so go do that. Given … Read more