Reposted from VendorAlley with permission from Greg Robertson.
If you ask Wiktionary, to swim upstream means “to opt for a difficult course of action when a simpler alternative is available.” And if you ask Rob Hahn and Greg Robertson, real estate’s Upstream venture is a prime example of doing things the hard way.
Here, Hahn and Robertson discuss the MLS response to the brokerage community’s push for data sharing and the probability of Upstream’s success. They also cover other hot topics in real estate technology news, including Zillow’s new millennial consumer brand announcement, the extraordinary capital raised by Placester, and Realogy’s recent changes in management.
Listen in as Robertson explains how to think about the “real estate ecosystem,” and Hahn outlines the inevitable development of a new brokerage model.
What’s discussed:
- Zillow Group’s recent announcement regarding its launch of new consumer brand
- Why Zillow Group is likely adding RealEstate.com as a search portal
- The real estate industry’s “millennial worship”
- Half of new home buyers under 36
- The stereotypes associated with millennials vs. the reality
- What a site designed for millennials might look like
- The staggering capital being poured into the industry
- Placester raised $50M in March, bringing its total to $100M
- Placester’s recognition of the aspirational nature of real estate
- Willingness to take any agent
- Why Zillow focuses on ‘super agents’ and teams
- Placester’s role in the ‘real estate ecosystem’
- Realogy’s recent changes in management
- How technology undermines the idea of a ‘real estate ecosystem’
- The necessity for transformation of the current brokerage model
- The mammoth undertaking that is Upstream
- The feasibility of Upstream clearing all the hurdles it faces
- How MLSs have responded to the brokerage community’s call for consolidation
- Hahn’s suggestion to add representatives from the broker community to the CMLS Board
