Brokers, REBNY, Zillow/StreetEasy At Odds In 2024

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
REBNY continues to push boundaries (and it's luck?) by trying to steamroll agents, vendors and who knows who else. I still don't see a serious effort to walk the "data integrity" walk rather than just talking the talk.

No signature, no listing service: Vendors balk at REBNY’s new data agreement​

Brokerages could lose RLS access if their listing management providers don’t sign by Nov. 15​

Tension is brewing between the Real Estate Board of New York and vendors over changes to its data licensing agreement — a dispute that could threaten brokerages’ access to its Residential Listing Service.
Some vendors are pushing back against a new licensing agreement that may determine whether brokerages will continue to have access to the syndicated service through their listing management providers, or LMPs.

LMPs are vendors that act as middlemen on the back end, transporting listings from brokerages to the RLS. Examples include RealPlus, On-Line Residential, RealtyMX, Perchwell, BrokersNYC and RESoft.
According to documents exclusively seen by The Real Deal, the new agreement calls for LMPs to pay data licensing fees, take on additional roles to protect the RLS from third parties and resolve RLS technical issues in exchange for RLS access.
The agreement could cost vendors thousands of dollars. And given that REBNY can kick them to the curb at any time, some are worried about what it could mean for their clients’ listings in the future.
While either party could end the agreement should the other side breach the contract, REBNY can terminate it at any time, without cause, so long as it gives the vendors a 30-day heads up, the agreement reads. Upon termination, vendors would be compelled to return RLS data to REBNY and rid themselves of any RLS data they had at the time of the agreement.
“The current REBNY proposal imposes substantial reporting obligations on vendors and marketplaces, shifting significant risks onto all of the technology partners in their ecosystem,” wrote Lee Lin, founder and CEO of RealtyHop and RentHop, consumer-facing listing sites which partner with REBNY’s RLS.

Business on the back end​

Buyers or renters seeking a new home can log onto portals like Zillow’s StreetEasy or brokerage’s websites to view thousands of listings, regardless whether they belong to that firm or not. It’s why someone can log onto Compass.com, for example, and see listings courtesy of Corcoran or Douglas Elliman.
REBNY launched RLS syndication back in 2017, partly in response to new fees and ad features on StreetEasy, which had gained a dominant position in the absence of a centralized citywide listings service. REBNY’s RLS lets brokers choose which websites they want their listings syndicated to. (The Real Deal has a property listings portal that partners with the REBNY to provide free property listings to brokers.)
Several players work to get that listing data from one place to another. Brokerages send their data to LMPs, who then send it to REBNY’s RLS. LMPs then pay a nominal fee of roughly $4,000 to distribute that data back to their brokerage clients, a REBNY representative said. From there, brokerages can access a portal and choose which of several RLS-approved consumer-facing sites they want to opt in to.
The data itself isn’t perfect, and REBNY has taken steps to curb inaccurate and unlawful data in the syndication service. It has yet to have one solid consumer-facing site of its own, though there were previously talks of a deal with Homesnap that would have had one up and running earlier this year.
“The brokerage community has foolishly supported StreetEasy to a point where this might not ever change. I don’t know if anybody can do anything with data to supplant StreetEasy,” said William Sherman, president of the brokerage ShermanNYC. “At the end of the day, StreetEasy generates leads and money. All these other portals have yet to drive significant leads for anybody.”
Under these circumstances, REBNY has prioritized the backend. In June, it announced that consumer-facing sites would have to pay $3,000 a year for its syndicated listing feed to offset the building and maintenance costs that come with running the RLS. Weeks later, it announced a partnership with CoreLogic’s Trestle, which aids in the transference of data between the RLS and the LMPs.

A smooth move​

Last month, REBNY informed residential brokers of additional back-end changes. On top of the implementation of Trestle, it is migrating to a new data transport system called Real Estate Standards Organization — or RESO — Web API from its previous system, Real Estate Transaction Standard, or RETS, which dates back to 1999.
“These operational upgrades will modernize and streamline the RLS in line with the many other listings services nationwide that are already beginning to move in this direction,” wrote Ninve James, senior vice president of REBNY’s RLS.
The original plan was to have all vendors transition to RESO by Sept. 30, but the deadline was extended to Nov. 15 to allow them more time. Since vendors must sign the updated data licensing agreement before migrating, the extension also allows for more time for discussion, should they want to address any concerns with REBNY.
Such an update is standard protocol, a REBNY representative said, and initial changes were met with positive reactions from RLS-member sites and vendors a year ago. REBNY is not concerned about vendors not signing the agreement in due time, adding that if they don’t comply, their brokerage clients would suffer, a representative said.
When asked last week whether all LMPs had signed the agreement, the representative declined to comment. A representative from RESoft confirmed that it has signed the agreement, while other vendors did not respond to requests for comment.
The new rules
LMPs only have access to the listings of their brokerage clients. If they want access to all listings, they have to go through REBNY. But with great RLS access comes great responsibility: According to the agreement, LMPs would have access to the listings in the RLS as long as they pay fees, ensure that they work smoothly and are protected from third-party access.
The data licensing fee that all LMPs must pay costs $3,960 a year, but additional costs could amount to much more than that.
An Internet Data Exchange, or IDX, licensing fee and a Virtual Online Website, or VOW, data licensing fee would each cost vendors that use those services an additional $2,500 annually. Vendors will also be charged a fee of $3,060 per year to use CoreLogic’s Trestle service.
Part of keeping those listings safe, as stated in the agreement, means regular security testing and audits incurred by REBNY, including a $500 IDX annual audit fee and a $2,500 VOW annual audit fee.
“As far as I know, we are one of the largest RLS marketplaces, and our team of 15 needs to spend resources to keep up with the annual changes,” RealtyHop’s Lin said. “I imagine smaller sites and vendors have a much harder time.”
Failure to pay the fees would cut off vendors’ access to the data. The vendors are also responsible for purchasing insurance should a third party gain access to the data.
The fact that the trade organization can expel vendors at any time has some of them hesitant to sign, saying that the agreement would put their clients at risk. Without these vendors, though, the brokerages and the RLS would have nothing, and the damage to the industry would be “devastating,” a source familiar with the matter said.

What’s at stake​

If the agreement isn’t signed by the time everyone migrates to the new system on Nov. 15, brokerages will be at risk of losing access to other firms’ listings, as well as their ability to update the RLS with their own listings.
When asked what this could mean for their business, Compass, Corcoran, Brown Harris Stevens and Warburg Realty each declined to comment. Douglas Elliman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One former LMP that confirmed they will no longer participate is the lead management firm Funnel, previously known as Nestio. But that company’s growth has been driven by multifamily property managers and its broker business has shrunk significantly over the years.
Switching over to the new RESO platform would have required the company to totally rebuild its integration with the RLS, according to Funnel CEO Tyler Christiansen, something that just didn’t seem worth it.
“The recent technical changes which the RLS has made would have required significant development work for Funnel,” Christiansen wrote. “Therefore we made the difficult decision to no longer be an RLS listing service provider.”
Brokerages that worked with Funnel were immediately notified of its decision and have the option to change providers.
Lin said that he’s sent REBNY feedback regarding the agreement and is awaiting a response. It’s no surprise that the agreement has received pushback, he said, calling it a “drastic departure from the prior year contracts.”
Still, he said his company is supportive of the RLS in its effort to support smaller brokerage firms in getting exposure for their listings. When it comes to the $3,000 fee his company had to pay, he said he doesn’t mind it as long as the platform undergoes improvements.
“In short, yes, some of the changes are annoying, but perhaps they are necessary,” wrote Lin.
Not all listing sites agree. In an email to agents last week, Phil Horigan, founder of New York short-term rental marketplace Leasebreak, announced that the site will no longer take the REBNY RLS feed, effective immediately. It was one of the first three websites to take the feed.
“We felt we could no longer take the RLS feed once REBNY made the surprising decision to start charging websites to show your listings,” Horigan wrote in the email.
Horigan added that while he believes REBNY wants the best for its agents, he disagrees with the decision to start charging websites like his, which send agents tens of thousands of free leads each year.
Agents can instead post their exclusive listings to Leasebreak for free, either manually or automatically in some cases. Leasebreak will also send 50,000 free leads to agents annually.
“Agents need every advantage they can get in a world where StreetEasy and Zillow have monopoly power and are clearly not afraid to use it,” Horigan said.
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
REBNY continues to push boundaries (and it's luck?) by trying to steamroll agents, vendors and who knows who else. I still don't see a serious effort to walk the "data integrity" walk rather than just talking the talk.

No signature, no listing service: Vendors balk at REBNY’s new data agreement​

Brokerages could lose RLS access if their listing management providers don’t sign by Nov. 15​

Tension is brewing between the Real Estate Board of New York and vendors over changes to its data licensing agreement — a dispute that could threaten brokerages’ access to its Residential Listing Service.
Some vendors are pushing back against a new licensing agreement that may determine whether brokerages will continue to have access to the syndicated service through their listing management providers, or LMPs.

LMPs are vendors that act as middlemen on the back end, transporting listings from brokerages to the RLS. Examples include RealPlus, On-Line Residential, RealtyMX, Perchwell, BrokersNYC and RESoft.
According to documents exclusively seen by The Real Deal, the new agreement calls for LMPs to pay data licensing fees, take on additional roles to protect the RLS from third parties and resolve RLS technical issues in exchange for RLS access.
The agreement could cost vendors thousands of dollars. And given that REBNY can kick them to the curb at any time, some are worried about what it could mean for their clients’ listings in the future.
While either party could end the agreement should the other side breach the contract, REBNY can terminate it at any time, without cause, so long as it gives the vendors a 30-day heads up, the agreement reads. Upon termination, vendors would be compelled to return RLS data to REBNY and rid themselves of any RLS data they had at the time of the agreement.
“The current REBNY proposal imposes substantial reporting obligations on vendors and marketplaces, shifting significant risks onto all of the technology partners in their ecosystem,” wrote Lee Lin, founder and CEO of RealtyHop and RentHop, consumer-facing listing sites which partner with REBNY’s RLS.

Business on the back end​

Buyers or renters seeking a new home can log onto portals like Zillow’s StreetEasy or brokerage’s websites to view thousands of listings, regardless whether they belong to that firm or not. It’s why someone can log onto Compass.com, for example, and see listings courtesy of Corcoran or Douglas Elliman.
REBNY launched RLS syndication back in 2017, partly in response to new fees and ad features on StreetEasy, which had gained a dominant position in the absence of a centralized citywide listings service. REBNY’s RLS lets brokers choose which websites they want their listings syndicated to. (The Real Deal has a property listings portal that partners with the REBNY to provide free property listings to brokers.)
Several players work to get that listing data from one place to another. Brokerages send their data to LMPs, who then send it to REBNY’s RLS. LMPs then pay a nominal fee of roughly $4,000 to distribute that data back to their brokerage clients, a REBNY representative said. From there, brokerages can access a portal and choose which of several RLS-approved consumer-facing sites they want to opt in to.
The data itself isn’t perfect, and REBNY has taken steps to curb inaccurate and unlawful data in the syndication service. It has yet to have one solid consumer-facing site of its own, though there were previously talks of a deal with Homesnap that would have had one up and running earlier this year.
“The brokerage community has foolishly supported StreetEasy to a point where this might not ever change. I don’t know if anybody can do anything with data to supplant StreetEasy,” said William Sherman, president of the brokerage ShermanNYC. “At the end of the day, StreetEasy generates leads and money. All these other portals have yet to drive significant leads for anybody.”
Under these circumstances, REBNY has prioritized the backend. In June, it announced that consumer-facing sites would have to pay $3,000 a year for its syndicated listing feed to offset the building and maintenance costs that come with running the RLS. Weeks later, it announced a partnership with CoreLogic’s Trestle, which aids in the transference of data between the RLS and the LMPs.

A smooth move​

Last month, REBNY informed residential brokers of additional back-end changes. On top of the implementation of Trestle, it is migrating to a new data transport system called Real Estate Standards Organization — or RESO — Web API from its previous system, Real Estate Transaction Standard, or RETS, which dates back to 1999.
“These operational upgrades will modernize and streamline the RLS in line with the many other listings services nationwide that are already beginning to move in this direction,” wrote Ninve James, senior vice president of REBNY’s RLS.
The original plan was to have all vendors transition to RESO by Sept. 30, but the deadline was extended to Nov. 15 to allow them more time. Since vendors must sign the updated data licensing agreement before migrating, the extension also allows for more time for discussion, should they want to address any concerns with REBNY.
Such an update is standard protocol, a REBNY representative said, and initial changes were met with positive reactions from RLS-member sites and vendors a year ago. REBNY is not concerned about vendors not signing the agreement in due time, adding that if they don’t comply, their brokerage clients would suffer, a representative said.
When asked last week whether all LMPs had signed the agreement, the representative declined to comment. A representative from RESoft confirmed that it has signed the agreement, while other vendors did not respond to requests for comment.
The new rules
LMPs only have access to the listings of their brokerage clients. If they want access to all listings, they have to go through REBNY. But with great RLS access comes great responsibility: According to the agreement, LMPs would have access to the listings in the RLS as long as they pay fees, ensure that they work smoothly and are protected from third-party access.
The data licensing fee that all LMPs must pay costs $3,960 a year, but additional costs could amount to much more than that.
An Internet Data Exchange, or IDX, licensing fee and a Virtual Online Website, or VOW, data licensing fee would each cost vendors that use those services an additional $2,500 annually. Vendors will also be charged a fee of $3,060 per year to use CoreLogic’s Trestle service.
Part of keeping those listings safe, as stated in the agreement, means regular security testing and audits incurred by REBNY, including a $500 IDX annual audit fee and a $2,500 VOW annual audit fee.
“As far as I know, we are one of the largest RLS marketplaces, and our team of 15 needs to spend resources to keep up with the annual changes,” RealtyHop’s Lin said. “I imagine smaller sites and vendors have a much harder time.”
Failure to pay the fees would cut off vendors’ access to the data. The vendors are also responsible for purchasing insurance should a third party gain access to the data.
The fact that the trade organization can expel vendors at any time has some of them hesitant to sign, saying that the agreement would put their clients at risk. Without these vendors, though, the brokerages and the RLS would have nothing, and the damage to the industry would be “devastating,” a source familiar with the matter said.

What’s at stake​

If the agreement isn’t signed by the time everyone migrates to the new system on Nov. 15, brokerages will be at risk of losing access to other firms’ listings, as well as their ability to update the RLS with their own listings.
When asked what this could mean for their business, Compass, Corcoran, Brown Harris Stevens and Warburg Realty each declined to comment. Douglas Elliman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One former LMP that confirmed they will no longer participate is the lead management firm Funnel, previously known as Nestio. But that company’s growth has been driven by multifamily property managers and its broker business has shrunk significantly over the years.
Switching over to the new RESO platform would have required the company to totally rebuild its integration with the RLS, according to Funnel CEO Tyler Christiansen, something that just didn’t seem worth it.
“The recent technical changes which the RLS has made would have required significant development work for Funnel,” Christiansen wrote. “Therefore we made the difficult decision to no longer be an RLS listing service provider.”
Brokerages that worked with Funnel were immediately notified of its decision and have the option to change providers.
Lin said that he’s sent REBNY feedback regarding the agreement and is awaiting a response. It’s no surprise that the agreement has received pushback, he said, calling it a “drastic departure from the prior year contracts.”
Still, he said his company is supportive of the RLS in its effort to support smaller brokerage firms in getting exposure for their listings. When it comes to the $3,000 fee his company had to pay, he said he doesn’t mind it as long as the platform undergoes improvements.
“In short, yes, some of the changes are annoying, but perhaps they are necessary,” wrote Lin.
Not all listing sites agree. In an email to agents last week, Phil Horigan, founder of New York short-term rental marketplace Leasebreak, announced that the site will no longer take the REBNY RLS feed, effective immediately. It was one of the first three websites to take the feed.
“We felt we could no longer take the RLS feed once REBNY made the surprising decision to start charging websites to show your listings,” Horigan wrote in the email.
Horigan added that while he believes REBNY wants the best for its agents, he disagrees with the decision to start charging websites like his, which send agents tens of thousands of free leads each year.
Agents can instead post their exclusive listings to Leasebreak for free, either manually or automatically in some cases. Leasebreak will also send 50,000 free leads to agents annually.
“Agents need every advantage they can get in a world where StreetEasy and Zillow have monopoly power and are clearly not afraid to use it,” Horigan said.
yeah we are in middle of it. Its not easiest of processes and contracts. Def not in interests of some great sites out there like leasebreak.com for example, Phil has been 'for the industry' for years
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Historically it's always been one or more of the city's large firm throwing a monkey wrench into attempts at a unified system. I think this is because they spent so much on their own websites they thought they had bought a competitive advantage and didn't want to chance relinquishing that.

I think the problem remains that for various reasons each of the parties here in completion have given agents reasons to distrust the veracity of their statements and possible intentions.

Brokerage execs gush over REBNY, CoStar listing portal. Agents aren’t sold

Unanswered questions linger over how the portal, dubbed Citysnap, will win over consumers, make money​

A long-awaited public portal for the Real Estate Board of New York’s residential listings is officially on its way, with a well-heeled partner bent on ending StreetEasy’s reign as the city’s dominant listings platform.
Branded as Citysnap and slated to come online in the second quarter of 2022, the portal will be built through a partnership between REBNY and Homesnap, a residential software company owned by commercial data giant CoStar Group. The Real Deal first reported REBNY’s partnership with Homesnap last December.
REBNY president James Whelan called CitySnap an “extraordinary effort” that would bring upgraded technology and more transparent and accurate listing data to consumers and agents.
view
view

All of New York City’s largest brokerages appear united behind the initiative. Executives at the Corcoran Group, Douglas Elliman, Brown Harris Stevens and Compass all issued statements expressing support for Citysnap in a press release, with Richard Ferrari, Elliman’s New York CEO, calling it “the ultimate gamechanger.”
That’s a break from the past, when infighting among the major firms has repeatedly scuttled plans to create a city-wide Multiple Listing Service.

The response from agents and other industry insiders, meanwhile, has been mixed. Though most said they will support the new portal and trust CoStar’s track record for accurate data, some agents expressed wariness over why it’s taken REBNY so long to deliver on its promise of a public-facing listings portal and uncertainty about how it will work.
Terms of the partnership, including how Citysnap will generate revenue, were not disclosed by either party. REBNY declined to comment on whether membership dues would contribute to the portal’s build-out, but in a statement, CoStar chief executive Andy Florance said his company is “committed to investing the resources needed to make Citysnap successful.” Records show that Homesnap is the registrant of Citysnap’s online domain.

“My honest take on it is that it’s a little too late to be building another listing portal at this point,” said Ariel Dagan, who leads a rental-focused team at Compass. “There’s a listing portal catering to nearly every single niche you could think of, so I just hope this is not just another one of those.”
Asked about the lengthy timeline, a REBNY spokesperson responded that “innovation and transformational change don’t happen overnight.”

“Without saying too much bad about REBNY, agents are always talking all day about what exactly are they doing with these dues and how much progress are they making,” said Jed Wilder, a rental agent who also runs a team at Compass. “We’ve been waiting for a long time for something in New York besides StreetEasy.”
Antonio del Rosario of Brown Harris Stevens called Citysnap “a smart move,” but said the bigger question is how New Yorkers respond.

“It’s really all about the consumers,” he said. “Will they welcome this new platform? Only time will tell.”
Winning over consumers would mean wresting eyeballs away from StreetEasy, New York’s de facto MLS and the most popular listings site for consumers and agents alike.
A subsidiary of Zillow Group, StreetEasy has become a flashpoint within the city’s brokerage community, attracting fierce backlash from agents and brokerage executives for its advertising programs, rental listing fees and its parent company gaining a New York broker license, among numerous other dust-ups over the years.

Though many rival portals have attempted to leverage the brokerage’s community’s hostility and distrust of StreetEasy for their own gain, none have had the funding or staying power to pose a lasting threat to StreetEasy’s position. That could change given Citysnap’s backing by CoStar, a publicly-traded company with a market cap of more than $36 billion.

John Mazur, Homesnap’s president, said it would be making “significant investments” in marketing and product to make Citysnap competitive.
CoStar has been looking to expand into residential data for years and has spent more than $1.4 billion since 2014 acquiring companies including Apartments.com and Homesnap. The figure would have been over $2 billion if CoStar’s $588 million acquisition of RentPath had gone through — the deal was terminated after the Federal Trade Commission signalled it would block CoStar’s purchase.

By taking on StreetEasy in New York, one of the most notoriously data-challenged luxury markets in the country, CoStar could deal Zillow a powerful blow. Last December, a source with knowledge of the deal said Homesnap’s interest in partnering with REBNY was to “go after Zillow.”
“It’s a better customer experience,” CoStar’s Florance told Bloomberg of Citysnap on Wednesday. “With this person I’m calling, am I initiating a nightmare of telemarketing, or am I reaching the agent who knows about this listing?”
In a statement, a Zillow spokesperson said StreetEasy “arms consumers with information that puts them in control when finding their next home.”

“We do this because we know how important it is for all consumers to have someone in their corner directly representing their interests when shopping for a home,” the spokesperson added.
The New York Residential Agent Continuum, a group representing the city’s agents, has long been critical of StreetEasy’s advertising practices and is hopeful that new competition will benefit agents and consumers alike.

“It’s important for our ecosystem to have more than one trusted data source,” said Heather McDonough Domi, NYRAC’s founding chairperson. “I hope that Citysnap will finally offer that alternative to the consumer.”
But there are some concerns over CoStar’s heft and its litigious track record.
“You have to ask yourself, is this not the fox in the henhouse?” said Donna Olshan of Olshan Realty. “They’re obviously trying to buy and get ahold of as much data as possible. Where do you think that’s going to end up?”

Compass’ Dagan said a not-for-profit trade organization like REBNY and a publicly-traded behemoth like CoStar make for strange bedfellows. “That should raise eyebrows in my opinion,” he added. “The internet is a winner-takes-all market.”
For BHS’ del Rosario, however, the choice is simple: “I trust CoStar more than Zillow and StreetEasy,” he said.
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
Co-star, who owns homesnap, is certainly a monster in the RE world, cre mostly. Clearly they want in on residential. However. there will be a number of challenges to overcome SE - mainly listings depth, as homesnap will only have rebny rls and other mls listings, while SE has non-rebny, fsbo, and other listings that are not shared. Also, data quality, thats a long road. Then you need to get the consumers and professionals. Never an easy task but they have tons of $$ to throw at it.

Curious to see how this shakes out
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
The REBNY feed will always have data integrity issues as long as they only pay lip service to accuracy rather than actually enforcing strict protocols (like allowing fake unit numbers to cover up listing history, "potential" room/bedroom count based on fictional alternate floor plans, etc).
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
The REBNY feed will always have data integrity issues as long as they only pay lip service to accuracy rather than actually enforcing strict protocols (like allowing fake unit numbers to cover up listing history, "potential" room/bedroom count based on fictional alternate floor plans, etc).
Agreed. Add in - agents listing on SE days/weeks prior to listing with RLS as well. Big issue here.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
I'm seeing a decent amount of units listed as in contract or in contract after 2 days on market, and I have to say the deception involved in the claims of most of the "sold in 2 days!" claims doesn't make me happy.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
CoStar comes home to play

The commercial data giant is going all in on residential, with entrenched rivals Zillow and Redfin in its crosshairs​


For CoStar, 2021 has been a wild ride.
The commercial real estate data giant kicked off the year by aggressively pursuing, then abandoning, a bid to acquire residential property intelligence firm CoreLogic for over $7 billion.
“Now is not the time for us to aggressively buy into the residential mortgage market,” CoStar CEO Andy Florance said at the time, citing rising interest rates.
view

Notwithstanding that failed attempt, CoStar is determined to parlay its dominant position in commercial real estate intelligence into the residential sector.
“Instead of being looked at as just a commercial real estate company, [CoStar] should be looked at as a real estate software company,” said JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty. “Any time you move into a different segment of an industry, there’s going to be some time to learn, to figure out some of the systems integration and technologies that perhaps are not part of the original core capabilities of the company.”

That can mean CoStar has to play catch-up to competitors like Zillow, which, despite taking a major hit with the shuttering of its iBuying division, has spent years building a powerful position in the space.
“This is really a very large visible moment of spreading beyond commercial into residential,” said Jonathan Miller of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel. “I think the world is going to be watching.”

CoStar declined to comment for this story.

Commercial DNA​

After nearly three decades focused mostly on industrial, office and retail property data, CoStar dove into the multifamily space in 2014 with the $585 million purchase of Apartments.com. That deal was followed by acquisitions of online marketplaces Apartment Finder, Westside Rentals and ForRent.com between 2015 and 2018.

While competitors’ websites were typically cluttered with ads and other marketing strategies, CoStar applied its expertise in software development to build a unified product with an interface focused on the end user. It didn’t take long for the firm to become the market leader in rental listings, Auty said.
“That capability of development has really permeated everything that they’ve done from commercial real estate, and I think it’ll end up benefiting them with what they’re doing on the residential side,” Auty said.

It’s that expertise that caught the attention of the Real Estate Board of New York, which tapped the company to build its long-awaited, consumer-facing multiple listing service, Citysnap, set to launch in the coming months.
“We see clear opportunities to provide value in the residential industry that’s not there right now,” Florance said at Inman Connect Las Vegas in November.

Success will mean unseating Zillow-owned StreetEasy, which has established primacy as New York City’s de facto listings platform. Some analysts cast their doubts on the model at hand, citing CoStar’s strong emphasis on embracing agents — whom Florance deemed “Zillow’s competitor” earlier this year — as part of the homebuying process.

“In order for Citysnap to succeed, it’s more about the consumer finding this [to be] a useful tool than it is the brokerage community,” Miller said.
Ultimately, Miller believes, agents will follow consumer preferences when determining where to place their listings.
“That might be some evidence of their lack of understanding about the residential world,” he added. “It’s going to be a learning process, but they need to learn it or this is not going to win the day.”

Big footprint​

As CoStar navigates how to extend its commercial expertise in the residential space, it must also determine whether now is the right time to double down.
Its $250 million acquisition of Homesnap last year and its $156 million deal for Homes.com this spring pushed its overall investment in the sector across the $2 billion mark.

“We are almost tripling the size of our addressable markets,” Florance said of the Homesnap acquisition, noting that the estimated value of residential property in the U.S. was $27 trillion, compared to commercial assets’ $16 trillion.
The deals, which came five months apart, established CoStar’s first major foothold in residential sales and placed residential data firms like Zillow, Realtor.com and Redfin directly in its crosshairs.

But the back-to-back major expansions put CoStar at risk of falling into a trap that might not sit well with investors.
“When you look at software companies, as they expand, when they get beyond a certain number of core competencies, they can lose focus,” according to Auty.
Investors have three things on their mind, he said: how big the opportunity in residential real estate is for CoStar, what level of investment is necessary and whether the risks are worth it.

“[Investors] understand that there is no free lunch,” Auty said. “Nothing is risk-free; they want to analyze and contextualize what is the risk-reward ratio for the company moving into another segment.”
Florance has repeatedly acquired assets in need of tune-ups that CoStar can deliver.
“He’s not buying finished solutions,” Auty said. “He’s buying things that he can piece together and plug into the CoStar platform and enhance the good market opportunity for the company as a whole.”

The company is already butting heads with those more established in the space.
“I’m aware that folks are pretty annoyed with StreetEasy and the fact that the prices are going up so rapidly,” Florance told investors on an October earnings call. “Blackmail’s too strong a word for it, but it’s Zillow-mail or something. It’s a little offensive to the industry.”

A week later, on the Inman panel, Florance accused a hypothetical competitor called “Ziltor” of “hijacking” online sales listings.
Zillow contends that it is simply serving the consumer.
“The increasing interest and investment in transforming the real estate industry underscores the incredible customer demand for an easier, tech-enabled transaction,” said Zillow spokesperson Viet Shelton.

But there may be enough room for two elephants.
“This does not have to be a winner-take-all,” Auty said.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
If you thought getting leads from Street Easy/Zillow was expensive hold onto your hat. They are projecting revenue to double over the next 3 years and odds are that's coming from agents.

From Mike DelPrete

Zillow 3.0: Back to Basics​


HPIWTRg5fTwsmxnG1W0q-_0d4TFnVYq7c6amJA0KytYOjG6EchgEigQX92111eJdR3N5LwyWdxbTobi-MGROoG-MpR7puRftIfyG4AtM-48JCKdN-F21zMZ9g2N7-99jYHCIQjzeWsYr3drgWyxvDniEdkD0kw=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow's new strategy has the company going back to its roots, doubling down on agent lead gen, and extracting more revenue from real estate commissions.

Go deeper: The biggest growth driver is Zillow's premier agent business, which it plans to double by 2025. That's an additional $1.5 billion paid by real estate agents to Zillow.
  • These are aggressive targets and a step-change from past growth rates, which reflect the audaciousness of the strategy -- and a clear signal of intent.

Ajj1PcEQ3mbHAMRors6KwtcMufztUTxNd-maDkZ0x9bCmCFUuA-lAaZRds0bLmcbQdr1C7ogGz0B0XWJ9oZ-d_TT2XQU9vfk0msI6FPWTJ1EJeGAaTGSsh0mjnYKL7CHIFVTjayK1p0NWgb3zUQ79n6Z75Hi0w=s0-d-e1-ft

By the numbers: Zillow's core business is stronger, and more profitable, than ever, giving the company a rock-solid foundation and plenty of cash for future growth.
  • Earnings in Zillow's IMT business, which includes premier agent, more than tripled over the past three years. It's the profitable engine room of Zillow 3.0.

lPFhR2lnATnTI0P2NsSK1RDUvnMzn-22ElkphYIExd3qWa57JWEu67EfEYVeASmYx9lNbJ8sfh7jyEOEB0j047h3UfjhPEH-SeVOn1drusiaI8mGrtiXr_2elpnTTHUSV-x5GIuMY7ybs8zeFiDxzOrq06TmCQ=s0-d-e1-ft

Premier Agentsaw an acceleration in revenue growth driven by unprecedented demand during the pandemic.
  • But quarterly revenue growth just dropped for the first time in 18 months. The pandemic bump won't continue indefinitely.

JKcJAXm8IDLEZhl7X0qvuF_Tn4hNzocvCmn2D5CedEjtYVeH1lJwd2plmqvglKZWuPUj7bhcVcBmdrVDgpUtCc6hC1Wb1ya1QEqiLwQ7eLmhx4uDaofpgLdgOg39r_zU0QTwkEP5yB47wIpI9-KiC5E25ePRtg=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow Home Loans, its mortgage play, is another key component of Zillow 3.0.
  • Like Premier Agent, revenue surged during the pandemic, but has slowed down significantly in the most recent quarter.

LiT_aphs6vgnnGa1CyzLE073UXLGNPVTIeUdRc9O0WQARqeu0gAu3XJQbZmUdhQ3xpZVStOZtoe2Pz0ii6w12txVHV3ca9MFQZNOjIrbKk42Dj6y4ObsAnQ2ylfZ2nlhCx3Ff3P3f0Zzvk2X1NZSK2AgE8Ho5w=s0-d-e1-ft

The pressing issueis that Zillow Home Loans is consistently unprofitable (net loss of $50 million in FY21).
  • Zillow is managing to lose a lot of money in a business that others can operate quite profitably.
  • The best case is that Zillow is smartly investing for the future. The worst case is that Zillow Home Loans is another Zillow Offers, beset by executional issues and overextension.

Dd0acTmMaAHSzW3_O6j8OxKW2IccydKKKLfyvuYT811pfCCrRahUK4vIKdNvYcz-oHIYHB2ad5xqU7XN4OeTyPzc7ajDC3g6FMQhW1XC6rRA3qFRmASGC90XvMO_BtEpDkbtYbljoRs-HqNHLHWjCQEQmR20Og=s0-d-e1-ft

The bottom line:Zillow's 3.0 plan is centered around creating more transactions for premier agents and selling consumers adjacent services (mortgage and title).
  • Creating more transactions comes down to connecting consumers and agents in such a way that Zillow earns a commission.
  • That's a huge inflow of new business for premier agents, and it comes at the expense of non-premier agents.



Mortgage is a key component of Zillow's plans, but it's not alone. Dive deeper into the building momentum in mortgage disruption.
 

Upstairs Realty

Well-known member
Texas is a really interesting submarket because, as I understand it, sold prices aren't necessarily easy to get publicly, so brokers who have pricing info have a competitive advantage. I'm contemplating using one of the StreetEasy lead generation programs, which I've never done before... curious to see what will jump out at me from the nooks and crannies.
 
Texas is a really interesting submarket because, as I understand it, sold prices aren't necessarily easy to get publicly, so brokers who have pricing info have a competitive advantage. I'm contemplating using one of the StreetEasy lead generation programs, which I've never done before... curious to see what will jump out at me from the nooks and crannies.
Be careful, read the fine print, and act accordingly. In my experience, Zillow/Streeteasy is not a good business partner.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

StreetEasy to ban listings, rather than agents, that break its rules​


Platform reduces penalty after backlash over exclusivity policy​

Compass agent Phillip Salem had a listing that he wanted to keep quiet, so rather than post it on StreetEasy, he put it on his own firm’s “coming soon” platform.
When StreetEasy found out, it retaliated by banning the agent from using its platform for two weeks. The city’s dominant listings site does not allow users to post properties elsewhere first, a policy it bills as democratic but Salem considers unfair.

“If a client decides that they want to be private, I think it’s up to the seller,” Salem said. “If StreetEasy [is] so concerned about people, they should be more concerned about how the client wants to list their property.”

Last week, StreetEasy took a step back.

In 2020, the Zillow-owned platform had told agents to post their sales listings on its site within 24 hours of advertising them elsewhere or they could lose professional access to the site. The new policy bans the offending listings, not the agents, meaning they can still post other properties on StreetEasy.

Although the revised policy is less aggressive than the old one, agents still don’t like it. For StreetEasy, it is part of a balancing act of maintaining its dominant position and maximizing revenues without upsetting agents — who are customers — too much.
“Punishing the agent for not feeding the machine within hours is definitely raising some eyebrows,” David Avgi, CEO of Avenues Real Estate, said in an email. “If I work for you, or if you pay me to do it, then I get it. But a service provider who tells you how to act on your yet-to-exist listings is somewhat questionable.”

Under the policy, a listing is considered publicly advertised if it is sent to the RLS, syndicated to a third party site, made available to the general public on a website or shared with third parties via email, according to a StreetEasy spokesperson.

“New Yorkers trust StreetEasy to help them find their next home, and they deserve access to the most accurate and up-to-date listings available,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “It’s why we have policies like this in place to hold ourselves — and all of our partners — to the highest data standards, ensuring customers are receiving the best possible experience every time they visit.”

Not everyone sees it that way.
“This is them trying to create an ironclad de facto MLS,” said Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty. “They are seeking to make StreetEasy as powerful as possible.”
With listings scarce and flying off the market, sometimes within days of posting, some view the update as an attempt by StreetEasy to ensure it gets a piece of the action.

“There’s no question that this is a hot market with very little inventory. StreetEasy is simply looking for another advertising edge compared to the other search engines where they can capitalize and make more money,” said Jamie Safier, a top agent with Douglas Elliman.
In a memo to staff after StreetEasy’s 2020 announcement, Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman called its “strong-arm tactics reprehensible.” In an interview last week, she deemed the new policy “some momentum in the right direction” but still inadequate.

“Everybody feels like they’re powerless against aggregators, in particular StreetEasy,” Freedman said. Agents “want to be able to do what they want with the listings that they’ve worked hard for, and being penalized in any way is unfortunate.”
Safier said agents have also been hearing “chatter” about the Real Estate Board of New York’s forthcoming residential listing service, a partnership with Homesnap. REBNY calls the service, dubbed Citysnap, the “most complete inventory of residential real estate listings in New York City.”

It is expected to launch in the second quarter and could give StreetEasy a run for its money.
StreetEasy has not said how it will enforce the policy. “They would have to go out and create something that scrapes the data … and matches it up with what they have in their database,” Olshan said.
Even with the market as hot as it is, StreetEasy’s dominance as a property search engine in the city leaves many agents with no choice but to abide by its rules.

“Agents will tell you that they just despise StreetEasy because they feel like they don’t have a choice and StreetEasy will monetize everything and anything,” Freedman said. “The agents feel they’re really pushed back into a wall.”
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member

StreetEasy to ban listings, rather than agents, that break its rules​


Platform reduces penalty after backlash over exclusivity policy​

Compass agent Phillip Salem had a listing that he wanted to keep quiet, so rather than post it on StreetEasy, he put it on his own firm’s “coming soon” platform.
When StreetEasy found out, it retaliated by banning the agent from using its platform for two weeks. The city’s dominant listings site does not allow users to post properties elsewhere first, a policy it bills as democratic but Salem considers unfair.

“If a client decides that they want to be private, I think it’s up to the seller,” Salem said. “If StreetEasy [is] so concerned about people, they should be more concerned about how the client wants to list their property.”

Last week, StreetEasy took a step back.

In 2020, the Zillow-owned platform had told agents to post their sales listings on its site within 24 hours of advertising them elsewhere or they could lose professional access to the site. The new policy bans the offending listings, not the agents, meaning they can still post other properties on StreetEasy.

Although the revised policy is less aggressive than the old one, agents still don’t like it. For StreetEasy, it is part of a balancing act of maintaining its dominant position and maximizing revenues without upsetting agents — who are customers — too much.
“Punishing the agent for not feeding the machine within hours is definitely raising some eyebrows,” David Avgi, CEO of Avenues Real Estate, said in an email. “If I work for you, or if you pay me to do it, then I get it. But a service provider who tells you how to act on your yet-to-exist listings is somewhat questionable.”

Under the policy, a listing is considered publicly advertised if it is sent to the RLS, syndicated to a third party site, made available to the general public on a website or shared with third parties via email, according to a StreetEasy spokesperson.

“New Yorkers trust StreetEasy to help them find their next home, and they deserve access to the most accurate and up-to-date listings available,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “It’s why we have policies like this in place to hold ourselves — and all of our partners — to the highest data standards, ensuring customers are receiving the best possible experience every time they visit.”

Not everyone sees it that way.
“This is them trying to create an ironclad de facto MLS,” said Donna Olshan, president of Olshan Realty. “They are seeking to make StreetEasy as powerful as possible.”
With listings scarce and flying off the market, sometimes within days of posting, some view the update as an attempt by StreetEasy to ensure it gets a piece of the action.

“There’s no question that this is a hot market with very little inventory. StreetEasy is simply looking for another advertising edge compared to the other search engines where they can capitalize and make more money,” said Jamie Safier, a top agent with Douglas Elliman.
In a memo to staff after StreetEasy’s 2020 announcement, Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman called its “strong-arm tactics reprehensible.” In an interview last week, she deemed the new policy “some momentum in the right direction” but still inadequate.

“Everybody feels like they’re powerless against aggregators, in particular StreetEasy,” Freedman said. Agents “want to be able to do what they want with the listings that they’ve worked hard for, and being penalized in any way is unfortunate.”
Safier said agents have also been hearing “chatter” about the Real Estate Board of New York’s forthcoming residential listing service, a partnership with Homesnap. REBNY calls the service, dubbed Citysnap, the “most complete inventory of residential real estate listings in New York City.”

It is expected to launch in the second quarter and could give StreetEasy a run for its money.
StreetEasy has not said how it will enforce the policy. “They would have to go out and create something that scrapes the data … and matches it up with what they have in their database,” Olshan said.
Even with the market as hot as it is, StreetEasy’s dominance as a property search engine in the city leaves many agents with no choice but to abide by its rules.

“Agents will tell you that they just despise StreetEasy because they feel like they don’t have a choice and StreetEasy will monetize everything and anything,” Freedman said. “The agents feel they’re really pushed back into a wall.”
Bullies.
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member

From Mike DelPrete​

Zillow Flex Grows In a Cooling Market​

MB8PqftekxeD2Jx_qWJHb0sle-AlIwNeYNImmjK7SjYO4qjiDqoQLTns5L0TQEVDZqmsTac88jzDJUnUrukdQMt45F1ZvqLrjKpM_CxEjXCXFL6j4jWoMlcsNBFN1S0fbMtUKF1l0FR_4s2TCiDM_ufVj_Rhhg=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow and realtor.com's Q1 results shine a light on two key factors: overall revenue growth is slowing in a cooling market, and Zillow's next gen lead gen business, Zillow Flex, is building momentum.

Why it matters: Zillow is going all in on next gen lead gen; it's an important evolution of the real estate portal business model, and perhaps the singularly most critical component of Zillow's future growth (Zillow 3.0: Back to Basics).
  • Revenue growth in Zillow's Premier Agent business, which includes Flex, has slowed, and is projected to remain relatively flat in the months ahead.
gAk_MiFYe1pxwiQnqNZH5FoT7YP0P6sCKaZDAOvSj8vKM9RpDbfXfvSWS4nMaCKjsy9Kb_8k9gqqhSZIs59zwaggVqZbf1FM034syTtwqHe73RWECrcGVb71lZVdXr1i05SR5YObSMVYcC4TQNzR_xMce2O5gQ=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow's plan is to double premier agent revenue by 2025.
  • It's far too early to pass judgement, but the results highlight future challenges -- and that Zillow will need to do something new to re-accelerate its business.
Comparatively, realtor.com's revenues are also flat, and its next gen lead gen business accounts for a similar amount of revenue as at Zillow (28 vs 25 percent).
HfTdRG2Lz662-gv3PBJMr0q7DeUzhS3qvhRBy50Je45YqFVDTLqWxr8e7C-bDDYLrcN8BWaxtaKeWIxVxOrlP6xAvYm4fZscAXUWt5Xws8SdmCyCLnKVIIQg3uYICW20Cf-zTEXKMGdC3Z3LC5Rm5JbErkTeIA=s0-d-e1-ft

But growth rates are radically different. Zillow's Flex revenues increased 200 percent from the same period last year, compared to an 18 percent increase at realtor.com.
  • Meanwhile, revenue in Zillow's traditional lead gen business dropped (!) 10 percent during the same time, compared to growth of 3 percent at realtor.com.
qAM1ScDzqYN7oUpS0xkeNitfPa9oX2XdTXQZQlrIiZncAZMrxYPmoYWRA4RIBa3byvwPK3abIU9YTyI2XPGragyqp1LLKzs2k0R_2dH4glRvsnGdWeCUh-It1_EYxIgl1Ywa9DZ4N0s45_oHJQRd3HfRC9nJSg=s0-d-e1-ft

The evidence supports the narrative that Zillow is going all in on next gen lead gen.
  • It's extremely unlikely that Zillow will hit its 2025 targets with traditional, market-based pricing; it's all about Flex.
Yes, but:Even though traffic and lead volumes are down at the portals (22 percent lower for realtor.com), overall lead gen revenues are up (7.5 percent at realtor.com and 9 percent at Zillow).
  • The portals always win: In a slowing market, agents are paying more money for fewer leads.
The bottom line: It won't happen overnight, but the future of Zillow appears very much tied to the future of Flex
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member

From Mike DelPrete​

Zillow Flex Grows In a Cooling Market​


MB8PqftekxeD2Jx_qWJHb0sle-AlIwNeYNImmjK7SjYO4qjiDqoQLTns5L0TQEVDZqmsTac88jzDJUnUrukdQMt45F1ZvqLrjKpM_CxEjXCXFL6j4jWoMlcsNBFN1S0fbMtUKF1l0FR_4s2TCiDM_ufVj_Rhhg=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow and realtor.com's Q1 results shine a light on two key factors: overall revenue growth is slowing in a cooling market, and Zillow's next gen lead gen business, Zillow Flex, is building momentum.

Why it matters: Zillow is going all in on next gen lead gen; it's an important evolution of the real estate portal business model, and perhaps the singularly most critical component of Zillow's future growth (Zillow 3.0: Back to Basics).
  • Revenue growth in Zillow's Premier Agent business, which includes Flex, has slowed, and is projected to remain relatively flat in the months ahead.

gAk_MiFYe1pxwiQnqNZH5FoT7YP0P6sCKaZDAOvSj8vKM9RpDbfXfvSWS4nMaCKjsy9Kb_8k9gqqhSZIs59zwaggVqZbf1FM034syTtwqHe73RWECrcGVb71lZVdXr1i05SR5YObSMVYcC4TQNzR_xMce2O5gQ=s0-d-e1-ft

Zillow's plan is to double premier agent revenue by 2025.
  • It's far too early to pass judgement, but the results highlight future challenges -- and that Zillow will need to do something new to re-accelerate its business.
Comparatively, realtor.com's revenues are also flat, and its next gen lead gen business accounts for a similar amount of revenue as at Zillow (28 vs 25 percent).

HfTdRG2Lz662-gv3PBJMr0q7DeUzhS3qvhRBy50Je45YqFVDTLqWxr8e7C-bDDYLrcN8BWaxtaKeWIxVxOrlP6xAvYm4fZscAXUWt5Xws8SdmCyCLnKVIIQg3uYICW20Cf-zTEXKMGdC3Z3LC5Rm5JbErkTeIA=s0-d-e1-ft

But growth rates are radically different. Zillow's Flex revenues increased 200 percent from the same period last year, compared to an 18 percent increase at realtor.com.
  • Meanwhile, revenue in Zillow's traditional lead gen business dropped (!) 10 percent during the same time, compared to growth of 3 percent at realtor.com.

qAM1ScDzqYN7oUpS0xkeNitfPa9oX2XdTXQZQlrIiZncAZMrxYPmoYWRA4RIBa3byvwPK3abIU9YTyI2XPGragyqp1LLKzs2k0R_2dH4glRvsnGdWeCUh-It1_EYxIgl1Ywa9DZ4N0s45_oHJQRd3HfRC9nJSg=s0-d-e1-ft

The evidence supports the narrative that Zillow is going all in on next gen lead gen.
  • It's extremely unlikely that Zillow will hit its 2025 targets with traditional, market-based pricing; it's all about Flex.
Yes, but:Even though traffic and lead volumes are down at the portals (22 percent lower for realtor.com), overall lead gen revenues are up (7.5 percent at realtor.com and 9 percent at Zillow).
  • The portals always win: In a slowing market, agents are paying more money for fewer leads.
The bottom line: It won't happen overnight, but the future of Zillow appears very much tied to the future of Flex
there will be some Generational buying opps this year with this selloff: rdfn at 8.50, comp at 4, expi at 12, zg at 35
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
Is it possible that NAR is raising fees to brokers in order to drive more traffic to Realtor.com in order to them sell the leads to brokers who paid for the advertising which generated the traffic to begin with?

Did NAR Just Raise Dues By $10 To Compete Against Its Own Members?​

  • By Rob Hahn
  • May 6, 2022
Inman has the story:
The 1.5 million members of the National Association of Realtors will see a $10 increase in their yearly bill from the trade group next year for its consumer advertising campaign.
The trade group’s special assessment for the ad campaign started as $15 in 1999, went to $20 in 2002, $30 in 2007 and $35 in 2009, remaining unchanged since then.

“With escalating media costs paired with emerging media channels, and an increasingly crowded real estate category, the committee feels that increasing the per member assessment $10 is the best way to generate the funds needed,” the Consumer Communications Committee said in its rationale for the change in a packet distributed to the board of directors.
That’s all fine and dandy, and $10 a year can’t be much of a hardship when inflation is north of 8%. But there was something else in this story that caught my eye:
“With ad spend expected to rise nearly 50 percent over the next several years in a crowded category all competing for the same mindshare, we need to remain competitive with our investment that we have made,” he told directors, while showing a slide with the names of several “new entrants” in the industry, including Compass, Opendoor, Knock, Homie and HomeLight.
Included with that statement was this image:

Am I crazy or does that slide include a few companies who are actual members of NAR?
  • Zillow is a REALTOR member.
  • RE/MAX is a REALTOR member.
  • Compass is a REALTOR member.
  • Opendoor is a REALTOR member.
  • Offerpad is a REALTOR member.
  • Redfin is a REALTOR member.
I can’t make out all of the logos, and I don’t know if Ribbon, Flyhomes, Knock or HomeLight are REALTOR members or not. These companies have tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of REALTOR members as agents.
So the proposition here is what? That NAR will charge Compass agents, RE/MAX agents, Redfin agents, Opendoor agents, etc. etc. to promote a brand that directly competes against their own brands? Sure, this has always been the case with NAR’s consumer advertising campaign, but this is the first time I’ve seen it spelled out so clearly, that NAR considers these other real estate brands as competition.
I mean, I guess if they’re all cool with it, then it’s all copacetic. But having been a veteran of the whole “MLS public facing website” battles of the past, I can’t help but wonder how this is all going down.
-rsh
 

Noah Rosenblatt

Talking Manhattan on UrbanDigs.com
Staff member
Is it possible that NAR is raising fees to brokers in order to drive more traffic to Realtor.com in order to them sell the leads to brokers who paid for the advertising which generated the traffic to begin with?

Did NAR Just Raise Dues By $10 To Compete Against Its Own Members?​

  • By Rob Hahn
  • May 6, 2022
Inman has the story:

That’s all fine and dandy, and $10 a year can’t be much of a hardship when inflation is north of 8%. But there was something else in this story that caught my eye:

Included with that statement was this image:

Am I crazy or does that slide include a few companies who are actual members of NAR?
  • Zillow is a REALTOR member.
  • RE/MAX is a REALTOR member.
  • Compass is a REALTOR member.
  • Opendoor is a REALTOR member.
  • Offerpad is a REALTOR member.
  • Redfin is a REALTOR member.
I can’t make out all of the logos, and I don’t know if Ribbon, Flyhomes, Knock or HomeLight are REALTOR members or not. These companies have tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of REALTOR members as agents.
So the proposition here is what? That NAR will charge Compass agents, RE/MAX agents, Redfin agents, Opendoor agents, etc. etc. to promote a brand that directly competes against their own brands? Sure, this has always been the case with NAR’s consumer advertising campaign, but this is the first time I’ve seen it spelled out so clearly, that NAR considers these other real estate brands as competition.
I mean, I guess if they’re all cool with it, then it’s all copacetic. But having been a veteran of the whole “MLS public facing website” battles of the past, I can’t help but wonder how this is all going down.
-rsh
hm
 

David Goldsmith

All Powerful Moderator
Staff member
And now shots fired from OpenDoor.
Mike DelPrete

The Opendoor MLS​

UsRr03WYqxuG3HfvhCFnC8_E3tMVZNNG4eHQzeCGbpRyc-YvLFC9yYzAD1Vymgo9boG4zROFIKz_VxL8qoXam5gIYC3o6MC-ipWP0UClJKCEXA4u04UbMLzEl4hwGI1IE2e6IwwbxGL5Z-UQ7yxDpo6mLfS2XQ=s0-d-e1-ft

Tucked away in Opendoor's recent earnings call was an enlightening statement by its CEO, Eric Wu, which sheds light on its exclusive supply strategy.

Why it matters: Exclusive contentis a strategy being driven by VC-funded real estate tech disruptors, with important implications for consumers and a spotty track record of success.
  • A possible endgame for Opendoor is to match exclusive supply with demand directly -- off the MLS -- through an Opendoor ecosystem.
cK0Ww-oCEEj71Owsy7fpaKFm-DMC2VuCf4CwN50KOPC0ZrEKl-PTfKw576qmSzV7t90qvPoB9XglrIa7vepM0CX2mcBWwU-OK0-IO0iGLWxJ72eJzMpN83VtWvzLXsTMxAmfGvqXwStfS_Jqb1yyXvkNnLteiw=s0-d-e1-ft

The benefits to Opendoorare clear: avoiding agent commissions, controlling the consumer experience start to finish, and streamlining the sales process.
Opendoor is not alonein wanting to build a supply of exclusive inventory to draw consumers to its private platform.
wXCFu-4BItMyGaikCMkhOlzCLILCngpCvV_dWEDTi-8OYxuAeqF7ilJkwqnfjXJDZLtn0PV9XAtI0f1rrp8ONLshlFqTYa1-HBXapbpuUwIEU145dvEqZPKkeQUCJKaQ-4VLQa9TIlb3zZdF6XFhgKtQouZOgw=s0-d-e1-ft


Compass also uses exclusive content to drive consumers directly to its platform, a clear endgame for the business.
  • Compass encourages sellers to list exclusively and privately on its platform.
  • Nearly a quarter of Compass' current listings are exclusive; a homebuyer has to call a Compass agent for access.
Dmyr81MRETLi-skzvPngLVc4fTj1xYE4lnuF2TwliOHoXYldp-irqZJfH6r8uBDaLdd6GqJ3adSD9LR9AUEIYLHWDT5fsfIJvW54MVsOpmMKky13KpDq2Ep1cZ2hlDudr9w_nY83Z4s6pELXIy49FYsIwFLxHw=s0-d-e1-ft

Yes, but: This isn't new.
The rise of exclusive contentin real estate risks fragmenting the search and discovery process -- with considerable implications for consumers.
  • Buyers lose easy access to a complete view of the market by being forced to visit multiple sites (or call an agent like it's 1995).
  • For sellers, it fragments and artificially reduces the number of possible buyers, which could lead to less demand and a lower price for a property.
The bottom line: There is incredible value to whoever controls the home search platform. In the U.S., that's Zillow, realtor.com, and hundreds of MLSs.
  • New platforms -- leveraging exclusive content -- are a significant threat to these incumbent platforms.
  • And so far, the benefit to consumers is questionable.

Go deeper: I've previously explored this topic in my Strategic Analysis of The Top Threat to Real Estate Portals. Spoiler alter: It's exclusive content.

This analysis looks at several case studies from around the world.

 
Top