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RealEstateNews.com •

Anywhere CEO: ‘Our industry needs more leadership’

Ryan Schneider tells Real Estate News that being the “first mover and the fastest learner” helped the brokerage prepare its agents for the changes ahead.Anywhere Real Estate CEO Ryan Schneider has remained bullish on his company's ability to navigate the tricky housing market — particularly via its luxury-focused brands — and he believes Anywhere's leadership and agents are prepared for the industry practice changes set to go into effect this weekend.
RealEstateNews.com •

Don’t offer buy-side compensation upfront, consumer group says

A real estate watchdog supplemented recent recommendations from the Consumer Federation of America with additional do’s and don’ts for buyers and sellers.Another consumer group has chimed in on the conversation about agent compensation and negotiation. As a supplement to the guidance released by the Consumer Federation of America in recent weeks, Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate (CAARE) offered additional recommendations for buyers and sellers ahead of the industry practice changes.
RealEstateNews.com •

NAR: 'The free market' will determine commissions

NAR reps discussed upcoming rule changes and reiterated that it does not promote or set compensation: “NAR is agnostic as to where the commission levels are.”With the August 17 deadline for industry practice changes just ten days away, NAR held a media call with reporters on Wednesday to underscore — and further clarify — some of the bigger themes of the settlement agreement, as well as tackle other issues that agents and consumers have been seeing in recent weeks.
RealEstateNews.com •

Broker sees uncertain future for MLSs and associations

There’s “going to be a point at which it doesn't make sense to belong” to small, local MLSs, one broker-owner — and member of 7 MLSs — told Real Estate News. Preparing for industry rule changes won't end when the NAR deadline hits on August 17. Brokerage owners and team leads also will have to navigate the increasingly complex MLS system, as well as regional and national association memberships, as the industry resets its approach to cooperative compensation.
RealEstateNews.com •

President floats 5% rent cap on ‘corporate apartments and homes’

Biden calls out corporate profits in pitch for targeted rent limits, while the FHFA unveiled new tenant protections on Fannie- and Freddie-financed housing. Housing affordability has become a major issue at the national level — and one that is top of mind for many voters. Last summer, the Biden administration announced the so-called "Blueprint for a Renters Bill of Rights," a policy initiative that would introduce new rules to protect renters during the screening, leasing and eviction processes.
RealEstateNews.com •

Commission-sharing sites are cropping up — will they last?

MLSs will no longer display offers of compensation, but some online startups say they have workarounds that comply with new rules. The DOJ may disagree. As MLSs work to scrub compensation fields from their platforms, some entrepreneurs are seeking to fill that gap. Two recently launched sites, ListingSplit and Nesthook, accomplish similar goals through different methods, but one thing they both do is provide a way to publish offers of buyer agent compensation online.
RealEstateNews.com •

Portals ‘should not work against outcomes’ the government seeks

In his first year as the leader of one of the nation's top home search sites, Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales has had his hands full. He has been tasked with navigating industry changes while working to ensure that consumers are being well served. And he believes that portals can play an important role in helping drive the desired outcomes of the commissions litigation and DOJ actions: greater transparency and professionalism.
RealEstateNews.com •

CoStar, Realtor.com CEOs on traffic, ads and fierce competition

Long before legal battles dominated the real estate landscape, the leading home search portals had been engaged in their own industry-shaping fight for consumer attention and agent loyalty. The competition — and rhetoric — heated up over the last year after CoStar jumped into the contest with Homes.com. CoStar execs have been clear from the start that they believe their business model is better for consumers and agents.
Business Insider •

The meteoric rise — and spectacular fall — of the Queen of Airbnb

On a mild Tuesday evening in early 2022, some 150 people packed into the VFW hall in Tulsa to hear the Queen of Airbnb make her pitch.Post-pandemic, with interest rates low and travel once again booming, Airbnb listings had been popping up all over the city. For average investors, the back-of-the-napkin math was irresistible. In Tulsa, you could buy a suburban-style home for less than $75,000 and rent it out for $117 a night.
Streetsblog Chicago •

Metra notes big increase in bicycle ridership while Amtrak shares details on Union Station concourse overhaul

Metra and Amtrak staff hosted a public virtual meeting this week as a part of the Bicycle Working Group initiative that Metra launched last autumn. Metra provided new insights on bicycle ridership on trains since the regional rail service initiated a new policy allowing bikes on all trains starting in February while an Amtrak representative shared updates on upcoming changes to Union Station.
RealEstateNews.com •

Industry seeking clarity — and change — in FHA and VA lending

NAR this week sent letters asking government lending agencies to allow buyers to finance agent compensation. Thursday, it started getting answers. As the industry prepares for major rule changes in the wake of NAR's commissions settlement, there remains some uncertainty as to how exactly buyers will pay their agents if compensation is not offered by the seller — especially if the mortgage is being financed through FHA and VA programs.
RealEstateNews.com •

NAR reaches $418 million deal to settle commissions lawsuits

The settlement, which still requires court approval, adds a new rule prohibiting offers of broker compensation on the MLS.The National Association of Realtors announced this morning that it has reached an agreement to end its lengthy and costly fight with home sellers who have claimed the organization is at the center of a conspiracy to inflate commissions and unfairly force sellers to compensate buyers agents.
Streetsblog Chicago •

The Tour de Illinois: Riding the perimeter of the Prairie State on Chicago’s West Side

"The goal today is to trace the outline of the shape of Illinois," said Kenny Labbé, a Chicagoland resident who rides bikes and is the announcer for the Chicago Cross Cup, to a few dozen people at the start of a ride last Sunday afternoon.The winding 17-mile route, which organizers dubbed the "Tour de Illinois," started and ended in Humboldt Park and traced the state's outline.
WBEZ Chicago •

Renovating Chicago’s historic Thompson Center

The Thompson Center, was home to the Illinois state government outside Springfield. Google bought the 1.2 million-square-foot building back in 2022 for $105 million.

Chicago is rich with architectural history – and how long one leg of that history sticks around is now in the hands of Google. The tech giant purchased the Thompson Center in Chicago’s Loop in October 2022 with plans to breathe in new life.

Reset digs into that architectural history and learns more about its future.
RealEstateNews.com •

Most agents barely making it in this ‘part-time industry’

In its latest report, the CFA continues to cast a critical lens on what it sees as a bloated industry where too few agents can succeed.

Real estate sales has a relatively low barrier of entry — nearly anyone can become a licensed agent with as few as 40 hours of education and a small financial investment. But that doesn't mean success comes easy.

In a challenging market, and at a time when the industry may be forced to change, it has only gotten tougher for the massive number of agents.
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