Where is the real estate industry headed?

I will give you my ideas from 100,000 feet. There are many pieces to this, that includes a long, but relevant history, and culminates in where the industry sits today.

• Understanding the “Context” will help us find the answers.
• Major litigation, from the Department of Justice, as well as a series of civil cases against NAR, major brokers, and large MLSs, is currently being pursued, and are of, perhaps, enormous consequence(s) not envisioned by the people listing and selling real estate today.
• Those affected will be just about everyone you can think of who are stakeholders in today’s real estate Industry, including consumers.
• Land use policy in the United States is undergoing a paradigm shift currently that will fundamentally change the entire real estate buying and selling experience, including title services and loan services.
• All will be monitored and approved by governing regulatory bodies, such as HUD, the DOJ, the FTC, the IRS, and whatever other powers the Executive Branch can determine how to use, to accomplish these goals and aspirations. (Visit this site for more details.)
• Policy and funding will facilitate major change. If you haven’t already, read the White House Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy date July 9,2021. If you have read it, read it again.

The country is confronting many problems which, the federal government under the current administration plans to address…infrastructure, affordable housing, homelessness, climate change and more, using the full power of the Executive Branch…policy and funding.

Include in the mix the use of distributed ledger and blockchain concepts, data ownership and data rights, and even data as labor. And don’t forget the effects of rent moratoriums and forbearance complications.

There is also the lending side, both the primary and secondary markets.

And what about Zillow as a broker, Zestimates, and Ibuying?

Zillow will continue to “push the envelope.” Trying to do what it can to be profitable…But bigger and more important events are taking place, I believe. Zillow is fighting for its survival, and so should every other entrepreneur in this space. There is going to be a reset.

I have been fortunate to be at the table when many of the issues of today originated and grew, and have a different perspective than you will hear any where else. I am the guy who took the listings to the Internet in 1995 as a key member of the original REALTOR dot com team, and as a Real Estate Broker Consultant and Advisor to NAR. Along with my partners, John Reilly and Mike Barnettt, we created the NAR ePRO Online Technology Certification Program and delivered the course in an online learning environment, to the Industry, from 2001 to 2010. As CEO of a software development company headquartered in Canada, Point2 Technologies, we became a major player in the MLS data distribution and data rights business, with Listhub as our major competitor, and Zillow was one of “customers”).

Remember, when a paradigm shifts, everyone goes back to zero. Your past success guarantees nothing when a paradigm shifts. Often, one’s great past success can block them from seeing the changes ahead.

Because of all that is going on, John Reilly, Terri Murphy and I relaunched our blog (http://TheDataAdvocate) and plan to provide information on some of these major shifts as they happen. Our point of view is unique, and we still know many of the horses — We often get information straight from the horse’s mouth

The changes coming are equal to if not larger than any of the challenges of the past that I have been personal witness to, in different capacities…as a participant and a student of the Industry for the last 46 years. Follow us at TheDataAdvocate.com and we will try to keep you in the loop.

There is a period of time, between the discovery of something, and that something becoming ubiquitous, referred to as “Lag.”

Opportunity is abundant during lag. I find it exciting, what’s old, truly is, what is new again…antitrust, Code of Ethics, Agency, license laws, and large budgets for enforcement at the federal level. Look for the opportunity, and avoid the dissent