What do you get when two of real estate’s most well-known, outspoken bloggers get together to hash out controversial topics about the industry you know and love?
The new Industry Relations podcast.
Rob Hahn, managing partner of real estate consulting firm 7DS Associates and author of the the Notorious R.O.B. blog, and Greg Robertson, co-founder of real estate software company W&R Studios and the publisher of the Vendor Alley blog, have joined forces to produce the podcast, which centers on “organized real estate.”
The entities of organized real estate mainly consist of Realtor associations, MLSs and other trade groups that affect how agents and brokers do business across the country.
“Each episode is about 30 minutes, and stuffed full of our particular brand of wit and insight and stirring shit up,” Hahn said in a blog post Monday.
Rob Hahn
The first two episodes
In the first episode, Hahn and Robertson — known for saying what others in the industry won’t — tackle what they call “The Troubled Marriage of Associations and MLS.”
They debate whether it’s time for MLSs and associations to divorce and whether that will solve the grievances some big brokers have against their MLSs.
They ponder questions such as: Do MLSs charge enough? Will the relationship between brokers and MLSs improve? Will good Realtors get tired of being lumped in with their incompetent Realtor brethren?
Greg Robertson
In the second episode, “The State of Organized Real Estate, NAR Leadership and the ‘Trumpening,'” released this past weekend, the pair take on the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) search for a new CEO and the challenges he or she will face.
These include the impact of technology on MLSs and associations, how to deal with the “masses of marginal agents” identified in NAR’s DANGER report, and the possible loss of personal relationships between NAR lobbyists and long-time bureaucrats leaving the Trump administration.
Robertson and Hahn also bat around some names of potential female NAR CEO candidates, including:
- Pam O’Connor of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE)
- Ginger Downs of the Chicago Association of Realtors
- Sherry Chris of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate
- Rebecca Jensen of Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED)
- Tessa Hultz of the Raleigh Regional Association of Realtors
- Andrea Bushnell of the North Carolina Association of Realtors
Perhaps exemplifying his out-of-the-box thinking, Hahn is pulling for former presidential candidate and Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.
More podcasts!
Industry Relations is the second podcast Robertson has launched recently. In December, he announced the creation of Listing Bits, featuring interviews with industry players about the present and future of real estate technology.
At the same time, Robertson hinted at a second podcast.
“It’s an interesting and fun format, and I know you are going to love it,” he wrote.
Now you can judge for yourself. The podcast is available free on iTunes.