The 900-lb Gorilla Cometh

There are really very few voices in the RE.net I respect more than Russell Shaw‘s. I mean, this is a guy who not only talks the talk, he actually walks the walk. His insights and ideas are great in and of themselves, but they are that much more credible in my eyes because he’s a … Read more

The Swarming Doctrine and Real Estate

I was recently asked by Inman to provide some opinions on a variety of topics, and one of my responses is as follows: 5. What technology trends will change the industry in the future? Enterprise CRM, married to truly effective, and measurable interactive marketing technology. In the alternative, third party systems that replicate all or … Read more

The Gods of the MLS Headings

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more. – … Read more

Tackling the Future of Real Estate Brokerage

I was tempted to jump in after part 1, when Danilo Bogdanovic threw down the gauntlet. But man, am I glad I waited until he was all done with his series on the future of real estate brokerage. You really owe it to yourself to read the whole series: Part 1, Part 2, and Part … Read more

Context Goes Both Ways: Numbers, Buyers, Sellers, and Agents

Matthew Rathburn puts the NAR Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2008 into context. I think it’s worth reading the whole thing, including the cool graphs he’s put together. Matthew’s got some useful insights from the realtor’s perspective: Whereas some agents are dwelling on the issue that the Buyer is finding their home on the … Read more

Independent Study Shows Trulia As #1 Threat To Franchisors

According to this post on the Trulia Blog, Trulia is the #1 lead generator in the RE.net: Threewide’s ListHub, the most widely adopted network for listing distribution, works in concert with MLSs, various franchises and brokerages, and core real estate technologies to bring real estate companies a single dashboard for controlling their online marketing strategy. … Read more

Kudos to Larson/Sobotka – Must Reads on VOW Policy

I think I might have fallen in love with Larson/Sobotka.  I haven’t the faintest idea who they are, but it looks like they combine some business consulting with legal work with something else involving MLSes and such.  Bears looking into more. But they have done a great service for the RE.net by compiling a guide … Read more

A Word (or Two) About Realogy

Noah Rosenblatt over at Urbandigs notes potential huge problems over at Realogy (H/T: 4Realz): According to Crain’s “Seven area firms make endangered list“: “The most vulnerable, according to S&P, include Realogy, the Parsippany, N.J.-based owner of such brands as Century 21 and Corcoran Group. The firm, which was taken private last year by Apollo Management … Read more

Inside the Brokerage Numbers, Part 2 (AKA, Our People Are Our Most Valuable Resources. NOT!)

In part 1 of this series, I looked at per-person productivity numbers which simply made no sense. Thankfully, people like Russell Shaw and Jay Thompson stepped in to provide at least an explanation. Simply put, there are too many agents chasing the same number of deals. So despite large improvements in personal productivity of a … Read more