Sam DeBord has posted something he himself called “where we dig into the hard work.” It’s worth reading if you’re in the MLS subsector, or care deeply about it. If not, I doubt you’d care very much. The post is “Breaking Down the Rules: Brokers and MLS Data (LEAP Part 3).” Since he asked people … Read more
Earlier today, we all got the news that CoStar is buying Homes.com from Dominion for $156 million cash: WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSGP), the leading provider of commercial real estate information, analytics and online marketplaces, announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire Homes.com, a division of Dominion Enterprises, for … Read more
In case you missed it, Greg Robertson and I recorded an episode of Industry Relations on Zillow’s announcements last Thursday; it was just posted. In it, I started musing about how IDX is less of a deal than VOW, and Greg and I started to talk about what Zillow might be able to do for … Read more
Over at the WAV Group blog, Marilyn Wilson ponders whether it is time for a National IDX: Today, we have robust rules in place that allow a broker to share their active, pending and in some cases, sold listings with their fellow practitioners via a local IDX policy. What if we took that idea to … Read more
One of the things I missed while finishing up the July Red Dot was this well-done interview of Redfin’s Glenn Kelman in Inman. Andrea Brambila doing her rockstar thing again. I’m thinking through what Redfin wants to see happen, but one passage in particular caught my attention. At one point, talking about incentives for agents … Read more
Greetings from the Land of the Morning Calm! I know I should just be focusing on my Asian vacation/trip, but it’s been too long. Plus, I got a bit of time to hang out at one of these ultra-modern cafes in Apgujeong, one of the hippest parts of Seoul. So I figured I’d opine on … Read more
One of the recurring problems of the real estate industry is that it is almost entirely reactive when it comes to problems. We continually look backwards, rather than forwards, then wonder why things don’t improve. A good example is the latest recommendation from Victor Lund of the WAV Group, who promotes Redfin’s idea that IDX … Read more
I’m packing for a two-day road trip, after which I will be in the mountains of North Carolina as opposed to the swamps of Houston for a couple of weeks. But I wanted to share a couple of random semi-amusing thoughts I’ve had in the last couple of days. Maybe you’ll find them amusing as … Read more
A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to speak to a group of MLS executives and leadership at the Zillow MLS Summit in Las Vegas. It was a Q&A format with Mitch Robinson from Zillow interviewing me on a number of questions and issues related to Project Upstream and the MLS. The video … Read more