Zillow Plays the Race Card in Advance of Hosting HUD Secretary Donovan

Last Thursday, Zillow released a report on minority access to mortgages in partnership with the National Urban League. In case you were wondering what the conclusion of the report might have been, it was titled, “A House Divided: How Race Colors the Path to Homeownership“. The topline conclusion comes from Stan Humphries, Zillow’s Chief Economist … Read more

Seven Predictions for 2014: Power Ballads Edition

I wanted to get to this before 2014 dawned, of course, but… it was more fun to hang out with my boys. And by that I don’t mean my posse of secret real estate pundits, but my actual biological progeny. In any event, it’s customary here at Notorious to make predictions that are sure to … Read more

A Few Thoughts On The Zillow Housing Forum

Two weeks ago, Zillow organized a small event in Washington DC with the title “Getting Our House In Order: Solving the Lingering Issues of the Housing Recession”. The full program was filmed and is available here. If you’re pressed for time, you can get the highlights here. I was on an airplane to California then, … Read more

Notorious POD, Episode 7: Breaking Bad With Bob Bemis

  I think every single podcast episode I do these days is my newest favorite. This one is really special, really amazing. I’m only sorry that due to travel, work, and life in general, I couldn’t post this sooner. We recorded this a couple of weeks ago, right after Bob’s first post on Notorious but these … Read more

Zillow Strikes Again

On the newswire this morning was a press release announcing the broadcast of an interview with Senators Bob Cocker (R-Tenn) and Mark Warner (D-Va) conducted by Zillow Chief Economist and all-round trend prognosticator, Dr. Stan Humphries. The senators are co-sponsors of Senate Bill 1217, the Housing Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013 which seeks … Read more

What I Saw At the Zillow Summit

Earlier this week, before my insane travel schedule hit in earnest, I had the opportunity to attend the Zillow Premier Agent Summit held in Houston. Since I’m not an agent, nevermind a Zillow Premier Agent, I’d like to thank Mitch Robinson of Zillow for extending the invitation. I sent out a steady stream onto the … Read more

IDX Websites, Mobile, and Heretical Questions

My friends over at Clareity Consulting have released a new white paper entitled, “Is Your IDX Website Mobile Friendly, or Driving Away Business“. You can download the PDF by clicking on that link. It’s a really solid report if you’re in the market for a new IDX website, or need to redo your existing one … Read more

Deconstructing Obama on Housing

As I’m sure my industry-savvy readers — that would be you — know by now, President Obama sat down with Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Zillow, for a half hour interview in which the President answered questions that Zillow gathered from social media. The video is embedded above. Thing is, if we’re going to understand where … Read more

Fun with Abbott Realty Group Listings

If you haven’t heard the name of Jim Abbott and of his company, ARG Abbott Realty Group, located in San Diego… well, I’d like to welcome you to the real estate industry. Because you have to be brand spankin’ new not to have heard of him and seen the famous video in which he announced … Read more