Happy (?) Bloody Monday. Seems that as of this writing, the Dow is down over 630 points, NASDAQ down 273 points, and the S&P500 is down 90 points. The stock market is tanking like a mofo, and Gold is up $7.80 per ounce. (Though Bitcoin, which should be digital gold, is down sharply as well.) … Read more
Musings is a solo version of the Notorious POD in which I think out loud about issues in the economy, technology, and real estate industry. In this episode, I react to a wonderful video from Blockworks called “What Will Happen if the Fed Raises Rates with Danielle DiMartino Booth.” I strongly recommend viewers to consider … Read more
I truly thought that one of the most significant yet mostly overlooked events of 2021 was the controversy that arose in Missoula, Montana when Brandon Huber, a part-time REALTOR and the pastor of the Clinton Community Church, was brought up on ethics charges with the Missoula Organization of REALTORS. He wrote a letter explaining why … Read more
Got a phone call first thing this morning from a good friend of mine, who is one of the smartest people in the industry, who flat out asked me why Realogy was publicly taking a stance against cooperation & compensation in the MLS. He’s usually able to figure stuff out, but this one, he said … Read more
Happy 2022! May it be infinitely better than 2021 was! I thought to kick this year off with a podcast making predictions… or more accurately, discussing and debating predictions already made. My guest is Brian E. Adams of Hooquest, who also made his 2022 Predictions. We talk about his predictions, which are intended to be … Read more
Welcome to another installment of an annual tradition around here: the Seven Most Interesting People in Real Estate in 2021. I look forward to this post, as well as my Seven Predictions post, each year. Last year, I went out of my way to select interesting people who weren’t the Obvious Choices. This year, I’m … Read more
I often get accused of being a doom-monger. It’s probably because I kind of am. I mean, I find doomporn fascinating (and clearly, I’m not alone given the popularity of websites like Zerohedge) and I do like to think about — and talk about — what larger trends could mean. I used to have little … Read more
The busy season continues, as I just got off the road and am getting back on it come Monday. But I did find time to edit and upload this conversation with Peter Lohmann of Owner Occupied podcast. In this episode, I speak with Peter Lohmann of the Owner Occupied podcast (link below) about problems with … Read more
In Part 1, I speculated on the obvious first-order regulations headed our way as an industry, as well as the need for further regulation and enforcement mechanisms that those top-level regulations will create. In particular, I thought that the government (whether FTC or someone else) will need to figure out how to get information and data from the industry and provide oversight:
However I think these things through, I can’t escape the fact that any government regulation of these rules and policies requires if not regulation of the MLS, at least direct oversight of the MLS. At a minimum, it requires data collection and/or reporting from the MLS to whatever enforcement agency to make sure that the rules and regulations are being followed appropriately.
Just like mortgage banks and health insurance companies are required to submit information and reports to regulators, the MLS will have to be required to submit information and reports to regulators. And that’s at a minimum. At the maximum is total government control, a government-operated listings exchange.
The reality, I thought, was somewhere in between minimal reporting requirements and government-operated listing exchanges.
Turns out, there is a model already existing, already successful, and already operating that fits rather perfectly: FINRA, or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. A RINRA, or the Realty Industry Regulatory Authority, would accomplish almost everything the government wants to accomplish, win support from huge segments of the industry, as well as garner support from the think tanks, media, influencers and the various nonprofits that want to see the real estate industry change.