Weekly Radar #319: Proptech-Pleasing Policy Package, Affirmation Of The Long, CCP Axe To Grind, Hacking The Way, A Virtual Stronghold Out Of The Gate
In this Weekly Radar, we cover:
- Compass CEO Robert Reffkin is leading efforts to end the Clear Cooperation Policy, but spinning the fact the motive is not homeowners' best interests but Compass' best interest.
- Proptech companies involved in property sustainability should advocate for policy recommendations from nonprofit groups like USGBC and Carbon Leadership Forum, which could position them as key partners in future government collaborations.
- eXp is hosting a hackathon that challenges participants to build tech solutions using the OpenAI and eXp APIs, with significant cash prizes, reflecting the company's commitment to fostering innovation within real estate.
- Airbnb is focusing on long-term rentals as a strategic priority, positioning itself as a future competitor to Zillow in the rental market.
- Realty of America, a new virtual brokerage led by industry veterans, is rapidly expanding with over 2,000 agents, offering technology and equity incentives, and could drive industry-wide innovation by embracing transparency in agent metrics.
- The GEM Proptech Index had a combined market cap of $238B, a 1.44% decrease from the previous week.
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Geek Estate Blog Recap:
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Jonathan Klein
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Transmission Recap:
Most recently, Drew Meyers discussed how founders must be ready to answer key investor questions on distribution, unit economics, and leadership to secure funding. Before that, Drew Meyers pondered the future of AI home search.
CLIMATE
PROPTECH-PLEASING POLICY PACKAGE
By: Logan Nagel
A group of nonprofits including the USGBC, Institute for Market Transformation, New Buildings Institute, and Carbon Leadership Forum have released a package of commercial real estate efficiency and resilience policy recommendations for the next presidential administration. The recommendations cover a lot of ground:
- Expanding the Section 48E Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credit to include energy efficiency improvements, not just energy generation and storage.
- Implementing a tax credit for office-to-residential conversions.
- Building domestic and export low-embodied carbon markets.
- Working with financial and insurance firms to provide data and incentives for commercial building efficiency and resilience.
- Providing guidance and resources for indoor environmental quality.
- Using federal agencies to improve access to and the deployment of commercial building data.
If implemented, each would require close cooperation from proptech firms. Consequently, companies operating in property sustainability and resilience would be well-served to advocate for these suggestions. Those who become respected voices for these policies will be positioned well to become government planning or execution partners when push comes to shove and “improve data access” turns into “select a nationwide property data vendor.”
REAL ESTATE
THE CCP AXE TO GRIND
The assault on Clear Cooperation Policy feels like all anyone is talking about over the last couple of weeks. AREA launched a petition to end it, but the most vocal critic has no doubt been Compass CEO Robert Reffkin. This week, he was in Seattle where he spoke at CMLS about "how the MLSs can improve." No surprise, his answer is to rid the MLSs of CCP...
With Clear Cooperation removed, MLSs will need to earn their business, not force it. This will result in MLSs needing to ask agents & homeowners what they can do to make the MLS a better place to list. Homeowners will ask for options to reduce the risk of MLS exposure - no days on market, no price drop history, no price, no address, no syndication to aggregators that divert buyer inquiries away from their listing agents - all features that Compass private exclusives offer based on homeowner feedback. This will lead to more inventory on the market as the risk of MLS exposure is removed. More inventory will be good for everybody.
For MLSs that treat agents and homeowners like clients and don’t enforce Clear Cooperation, Compass will support them in every way possible to grow and expand - providing a data feed of all Compass listings in the US, asking other brokerages to provide them with their national data feeds, and helping the MLS expand to other markets where MLSs are enforcing Clear Cooperation.
Approximately 50% of our markets are in MLS regions that don’t enforce Clear Cooperation. These are markets where the MLS understands that the Clear Cooperation Policy violates NAR’s Code of Ethics, forces agents to break State privacy laws, and interferes with the agents relationship with their clients. The MLS should not be an enforcer of NAR rules.
Come on, what a spin that is. As Brian Boero says, just be honest about this. It has nothing to do with a homeowner's best interest, and everything to do with Compass' best interest. Generating leads, without paying the portals a tax. ❇️More pocket listings is a path to more leverage ❇️, and that's why Reffkin is fixated on this topic. As the largest brokerage already leveraging pocket listings, it stands to gain the most if the policy is exiled.
That said, there's no way every brokerage running its own pocket listings network is a benefit to consumers. Way back in 2005 inside Zillow, those "features" that Compass private exclusives offer (no days on market, no price drop history, no price, no address) were the exact real estate search realities we heard over and over as the shit buyers hated. All were used to force buyers to contact agents. At Zillow, we built our early audience and brand by not caving on those issues simply because some agent or broker wanted to use them to generate leads. Sure, there are celebrities that have privacy concerns. But, the notion that homeowners are demanding these features in droves is laughable--as is the idea that removing CCP will increase inventory.
Do we really want to go back twenty years and make all those crappy features the norm again in real estate search? Take a wild guess where I stand.
AFFIRMATION OF THE LONG
By: Drew Meyers
Don't believe me that ❇️Airbnb will eventually be a rentals competitor for Zillow ❇️? Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky spoke (virtually) at the Skift Global Forum 2024 in New York on September 18, 2024. Watch the entire interview: