June 5th was an interesting day in Washington, DC for the real estate industry. The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice held a workshop to gain insight on the competitive environment in real estate.
In the advent of Inman Connect this week, these were three stories I found which piqued my interest this last week. Will Amazon Uber-ize the Real Estate Industry? Cisco and Juniper Networks stocks slipped last Friday on news from The Information that Amazon was entering the $14 billion data center equipment business. While searching for more news I stumbled upon investment firm, TwinRock Partners, article about Amazon and real estate.
Consumer data protection continues to be a focus for governments after the latest round of data breaches and Facebook allowing Collaborative Analytics harvesting of its user’s data. In a hastily crafted bill, California legislatures and the governor passed AB 375, or the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018. There is good reason for hardly anyone noticing this new law; it was fast-tracked through the legislative process within seven (7) days. California legislature rapidly created a consumer privacy bill in response to an initiative of a privacy ballot supported by the Alastair Mactaggart’s non-profit, Californians for Consumer Privacy. Mactaggart’s organization garnered [...]
Over the last 13 years, Google Maps API has been a cost-effective solution for website developers and owners, especially for those in the real estate industry, allowing the display of maps and geo-location of properties by address for a nominal fee (essentially free). Well, the easy road is over as all this is changing on July 16th.
This week, there was breaking news about an iBuyer receiving $325m in series “E” funding as well as lots of talk about their business model and game plan. Given all the buzz, I thought it would be a good time to spend time under the hood, to understand how this motor is put together!
Last week I was introduced to a new application while working on a project with a client. The application is Airtable and has changed my view on using the standard spreadsheet and database tools.
It’s only been a week since GDPR has become a law and we need to start this week’s discussion with a simple question. How many of you thought the GDPR was only about privacy policy change emails and subscription notifications we have received over the last few weeks? Well, that was just the beginning.
It was a great week at NAR Midyear to re-connect with fellow colleagues, have sonorous discussions about the industry, and – of course – chitchat about the current controversial brew-ha-ha that seems to occur around these types of events. Over the last month – especially last week – I had the pleasure of talking to many real estate technology companies who provide products and services to brokers and agents. When the discussion would lead to back office architecture, the discussion was segmented into two groups.
When I was a young kid traveling in the car with my family, I would always see these signs “Truckers Welcome”. I didn’t understand why there was this special invitation to truckers. Wouldn’t everyone be welcome? As I grew older, I quickly realized the sign was to inform truckers there was ample parking space for their large rigs. Truckers had a big use case! As a trucker, if I wanted to visit a diner for a nice sit-down warm meal, I must have space large enough to safely park my rig. Diners caught on fast to this requirement and realized they could enjoy the revenue by creating a space for them to park. Once the parking problem was solved, they needed a method to entice truckers to use their parking and stop for a meal. Therefore, the signs!
Over the last month, a lot of people are talking about data. Inman Disconnect crafted a data statement as one of its Parker Principles, Real Estate Standard Organization (RESO.org) Spring 2018 Conference was all about data, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held a panel to discuss how real estate can be more competitive with technology, which included data as a component of its theme. Here are some thoughts on the good, bad and ugly uses of data.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance crisscrosses every business in the real estate industry. Yes, it’s another acronym and it is not tech driven. Well, almost not tech driven.
Consolidation of Associations and/or Multiple Listing Systems (MLS) at any level has its pros and cons. Consolidation can tip the scale in the way that it improves the business, the industry and most importantly, how it impacts all the stakeholders. This of course includes the consumer who is at the top of pyramid!
