Weekly Radar

A collection of 52 posts

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #309: Co-buying's Finance Moment, Carb-free Treasure, Four Weeks Can Change Four Generations

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Grimshaw Architects' new a decarbonization toolkit, Minoro, shows the potential for high quality content marketing...a missed opportunity for a tech company to gain mindshare with building owners. * A recent Zillow "Homeowner Mates" ad promotes co-buying as a cost-effective solution for

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #308: The Hedge Fund Farce, The Sustainable Sourcing Gorilla In The Room

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Rep. Katie Porter supports the End Hedge Fund Control of American Homes Act, but John Burns research indicates hedge funds are not the ones driving prices. * McKinsey’s new Sustainable Materials Hub helps clients create sustainable supply chains, signaling a new focus on decarbonization

Members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #307: Legal Battles Roll On, Big Box Retail Wades In

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Move, Inc. sued CoStar for trade secret theft, prompting a call for industry leaders like Zillow, Redfin, Homes.com, Realtor.com, and Movoto to prioritize product innovation over lawsuits. * Costco plans to build a new warehouse in L.A. with 800 apartments, including 184

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #306: Is Now The Time For Cutting Out The Agent?, Bidding For Listings, World Climate War II

In this Weekly Radar, we cover: * Companies like 280 Earth and Neustark, which raised $69 million for carbon mineralization, innovate in decarbonization, but their existence may conflict with the goal of completely eliminating carbon emissions. * In a rough time for startup funding, peer practice pitches would be a great way

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #305: Hooking Commission Disclosures, Chokepoint of Innovation is Regulation, the Next Chapter: Building Profitable AI

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * HUD announced a potential pilot for direct cash housing assistance to address Section 8 challenges, inspired by successful programs in Philadelphia, D.C., and Rochester, and tech innovations from Propel and Code for America. * At the Innovative Housing Showcase, regulators and

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #304: A Proptech Excursion For The Ages, Stormproofing Against Mother Nature, To Lunar Infinity And Beyond

I couldn't be more excited to announce GEM's first international excursion, GEM Walks the Camino. The seven-day journey starting in Sarria, Spain and ending at the Cathedral Santiago de Compostela will take place in May 2025. The cultural experience has been on my radar for years.

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #303: Ideas Are Everything?, Freddie Mac Goes For Seconds, A Material Question

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * Freddie Mac's proposal to enter the secondary mortgage market by purchasing second mortgages has received support from Wall Street analysts and fintech startups like Point, Figure, and RenoFi, but also raises concerns about potential risks reminiscent of the 2008

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #302: Zero To A Billion, NWMLS Charts A Different Course, Sucking Carbon

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * NWMLS decided against joining NAR's settlement agreement, citing it reduces compensation transparency and restricts sellers' options. * Alphabet-backed 280 Earth opened its first carbon capture plant and secured $50 million in funding, furthering the ability for landlords to use

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #301: The State of the the Insurance Crisis, Red Rentals, Renting in Chunks

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * With climate change driving up insurance costs homeowners and renters, especially those who are "house poor," are at risk. * Keyper, a UAE rent payment startup, joins a competitive market with U.S. players like Bilt Rewards and Piñata after

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #300 🎉: Robots Coming To A Home Near You, Two Mynds Are Better Than One, GPT 4o = Voice Is Here

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * GPT-4o could popularize Hume's emotionally intelligent experience, making it crucial for AI developers to focus on unique data as big tech will dominate innovations in other areas. * Roofstock's merger with Mynd provides complete SFR solutions, highlighting the

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #299: Automating Buyer Inquiries, Proptech Index down 2.55%, Office Amenities Get A Clue

In this week's Weekly Radar, we cover: * Redfin launched "Ask Redfin," a nationwide AI assistant for home searches, which often pushes for tour scheduling over addressing buyer queries, highlighting a need for improvements in the consumer experience. * Office occupiers may find a winning recipe for their

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #298: Sustainability Is But A Flip Away, Yardi Doubles Down on Flex Space

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #297: Futurizing With Geek Estate 4.0, HSA Agrees To A Cool Quarter B, The Struggle Is Real, Completing A Courtship Of The 3D World

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Our team has launched Geek Estate 4.0. - our brand-new marketing site! * Drew covers the recent HomeServices of America settlement, and comes to the conclusion that the lawyers have won. * The Foundation for Innovation in Real

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #296: Fracking Green, Rates The Other Way

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Is it possible to use every part of a building to generate energy or sequester carbon? Logan dives into clean startup Modern Hydrogen and how the company is helping to reduce carbon emissions. * The potential for another

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #295: Grassroots To Green Loans, Seller Concessions Unpacked

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Building Decarbonization In-a-Box is launching in nine cities, addressing the emissions of sub-50,000 square foot multifamily and commercial buildings that represent the vast majority of properties in America. * Drew revises his thoughts on the future of

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #294: The Glass Act, Have A Little Empathy Mate, Co-Ownership's Price Moment

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Smart window maker View declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy and goes private. * Hume AI's Empathic Voice Interface (EVI) technology optimizes for human well-being. The demo is open for new users to try. * Pacaso is lowering the

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #293: Flexing Flex Living, Climate Conveyor Belt, The Bull For $34M In MLS Fees, Free Riding On Water

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Landing acquired Barsala for $30M + Blueground raised a $45M Series D. * Montauk Climate is a new climate-focused incubator. Founded by Casper founder Philip Krim, the incubator focuses on electrification and decarbonization. * There are 30 MLSs that are

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #292: Painting Small Offices Green, $57M Added to Settlement Sum, REW Strikes First

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Logan dives into the increasing demand for sustainable office space and how inventory appears to be falling short. * Compass "agreed to settle in its commission lawsuits" for $57.5 million. * Drew covers the first buy

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #291: The $418 Million Settlement, It Pays To Sign, Sustainability Arms Race

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Drew covers this week's $418MM NAR settlement and what it means for brokerage entities. * How are buyers incentivized to participate in Redfin's new Sign & Save program? We cover the program details. Geek

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #290: An Unlikely Cooperation, Binging a Comeback, Gold N Green?

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * Realtor.com and Zillow have agreed to a partnership - an unlikely agreement between two arch rivals. * We cover Microsoft's return to online real estate with Bing Homes. * Which PropTech categories are investors most interested

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #288: The SaaS Carbon Grass Is Greener, Lender or Portal

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * BlueLayer raised a $10M seed round to build a product supporting carbon developers. * Drew Meyers covers Tomo, a new entrant into the home search portal space. Will the way it uses AI differentiate it enough from other

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #285- The Climate Joneses, Standing Together in Shared Living Arrangements, and AI Teamed with Buses

What's covered in this week's GEM Crystal Weekly Radar: * The Science Based Targets initiative aims to help real estate firms contribute to the Paris climate agreement’s 1.5°C temperature reduction target by instituting new methods of emissions target-setting, accounting, and reporting. * Padsplit was recently

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #284- Removing the Easy Button, “Greenhushing”, John Deere Partnerships, AI Revolution...

Here's what we're covering in this week's edition of the GEM Crystal: * New FCC regulation went into effect this week, looking to curb rampant robotexting. Real estate practitioners should expect lead volume to go way down but lead quality to improve drastically. * Companies are

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar #283- Sharing the Way Forward, The Good Bad and Ugly of Recreational Reuse, Tools of The Office Conversion Trade, Equity Angels, and Coffee to the Future

Here's what we're covering in this week's edition of the GEM Crystal: * Mark Choey from Highnote spoke with us for our Executive Interview Series. * REColorado recently partnered with four major MLS groups, unlocking listings in relocation markets for REcolorado agents. * Indianapolis' Bush Baseball

Paid-members only

Weekly Radar

Weekly Radar # 282 - A Peculiar Inman Decision, Adding Gravy to Agent Selection, Influx of As-a-Service, Blocks of Physicality Built of Blocks...

Here's what we're exploring in this week's edition of the Crystal Radar: * Inman is doubling down with two more events...a move that will degrade production quality. * A homeownership accelerator, Gravy, is set to be acquired by Clever Real Estate. Another soft landing for