With less than two weeks until the midterm elections, the Trump Administration rolled out an executive order (EO) aimed at making some housing costs more affordable. The mortgage industry welcomed some of the proposals, such as mortgage insurance cancellation for homeowners and reducing interest rates on some federally backed loans, but the general feeling is…
Four brokerage giants are launching what they call “shared infrastructure” to keep listings shared broadly, seemingly in direct opposition to Compass and its campaign to undo cooperation-focused rules, in an initiative dubbed “Open Real Estate.” The four companies founding the initiative are Keller Williams, AGNT (parent of eXp and NextHome), HomeServices of America and Real…
Pricing discussions with sellers is both an art and a science. Comparable listings data have always played a key role in determining asking price, as do algorithmic tools like automated valuation models (AVMs), but real estate agents say those values are a useful starting point—not a final valuation. That’s where their local knowledge about a…
Above: Alex Vidal. Photo by AJ Canaria. Shortly after REMAX President Alex Vidal joined the brokerage after three years at ERA Real Estate, Compass—which now owns ERA—filed a lawsuit against Vidal for allegedly violating a non-compete agreement. Filed in Texas on Sept. 19, the case was recently moved to the Delaware Court of Chancery. The…
Outspoken independent broker Anthony Lamacchia, who has never hesitated to share opinions and engage on hot industry topics, has been relatively quiet (at least by his standards) on the current industrywide debate over listing policies. Until now. In a 13-minute video posted to his coaching YouTube channel on Oct. 19, Lamacchia excoriated Compass’s focus on…
A third MLS today publicly rejected threats from Compass over listing rules, as New York-based OneKey MLS joined CRMLS in California and Unlock MLS in Texas in refusing to change policies despite significant back-channel pressure and legal threats from the mega-brokerage. In a release early this morning, OneKey CEO Richard Haggerty said the MLS would…
In an entirely expected move last Friday, Oct. 16, Compass filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against California-based CRMLS, asking a judge to prevent the MLS from enforcing its “mandatory submission” policies that the brokerage argues violates antitrust policies. As it has continued to campaign for changes to certain MLS policies, a Compass spokesperson told RISMedia…
Above: Howard Hanna Real Estate Services CEO Hoby Hanna. Photos by AJ Canaria. There’s a sea change confronting the residential real estate industry, and Hoby Hanna isn’t mincing words: “Brokerage is not enough anymore. Not for Howard Hanna, not for your company, not for our agents, and ultimately not for the consumer.” Hanna delivered this…
Editor’s note: This is the third of a three-part series on how agents earn recommendations and referrals from AI. Read part one here and part two here. When a prospective buyer or seller asks someone they trust to recommend a real estate agent, you want your name to be the first one mentioned. What happens…
Above, from left: John Featherston, Leo Pareja, James Dwiggins. Photo by AJ Canaria. Consolidation has been one of the most talked about trends in real estate this year—and the conversation continued at RISMedia’s 38th Annual CEO & Leadership Exchange when Leo Pareja and James Dwiggins joined John Featherston on stage to dig deeper into eXp…
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