About Kevin Hawkins

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So far Kevin Hawkins has created 352 blog entries.

Clareity26: An industry in motion, not in transition

Clareity26 didn’t feel like a conference about change. It felt like a conference inside of change. More than 200 MLS executives, brokers, and industry leaders gathered in Tucson with a shared understanding that the rules are shifting in real time. From AI adoption and cybersecurity threats to private listings and legal pressure, the conversations weren’t about what might happen next. They were about what’s happening now. This was also the final Clareity Workshop after a 24-year run. That added weight to every discussion. This wasn’t just another event. It was a moment of reflection for an industry that is being [...]

By |2026-04-03T06:37:07-07:00April 3rd, 2026|Business Intelligence, Conferences, MLS, PropTech, Real Estate Events, Real Estate Technology, Technology, WAV Group Research|Comments Off on Clareity26: An industry in motion, not in transition
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Top AI Survey of Real Estate Leaders Shows AI Moving from Agent Adoption to Brokerages Creating Safe Infrastructure

By Kevin Hawkins Artificial intelligence did not enter real estate through formal brokerage rollouts. It entered agent by agent. What began as individual experimentation by these independent contractors in 2023 has now become nearly universal agent usage across the brokerages that drive most U.S. transaction volume.  The latest Delta Media Real Estate Leadership AI Survey shows the industry has crossed an important threshold. 97% of brokerage leaders surveyed said their agents use AI. AI adoption is no longer the challenge. Broker responsibility is. Delta Created Real Estate’s Benchmark AI Survey  Now in its third consecutive year, the Delta Media AI [...]

By |2026-01-30T10:24:00-08:00January 30th, 2026|Artificial Intelligence, Real Estate Technology|Comments Off on Top AI Survey of Real Estate Leaders Shows AI Moving from Agent Adoption to Brokerages Creating Safe Infrastructure
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Shadow AI is one of real estate’s biggest hidden risks

By Kevin Hawkins Brokerages, MLSs, and Associations may not see it, but their agents are already using it. It’s called Shadow AI. These are unapproved generative AI tools like ChatGPT, image and video generators, and other apps, most often free, that agents use to support their business without any oversight. While today’s leadership is focusing on AI strategy, policy, and systems, Shadow AI is already active inside their organizations. And just because these tools are invisible to leadership doesn’t mean they’re harmless. Shadow AI can expose client data, violate copyright, trigger fair housing violations, and compromise your brand’s trust. What [...]

By |2026-01-26T12:57:59-08:00January 26th, 2026|Artificial Intelligence, Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS, Real Estate Technology|Comments Off on Shadow AI is one of real estate’s biggest hidden risks
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NAR Report: Americans are buying homes farther from work and waiting longer to do it

When did “location, location, location” stop meaning “close to work”? According to the NAR's just-released 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, the number of buyers who cited proximity to their job as a top factor in choosing their neighborhood has dropped to just 31%. That’s nearly half the share from 2014, when it was 52%. It’s a striking reversal, given that many employers have tightened their return-to-office policies over the past year. So, what’s really going on here? The great reshuffle is aging, literally It turns out today’s homebuyers are the oldest in modern history. The median age hit [...]

By |2025-11-11T12:23:17-08:00November 11th, 2025|Reports, Research, Uncategorized|Comments Off on NAR Report: Americans are buying homes farther from work and waiting longer to do it
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Takeaways from the 2025 RISMedia CEO & Leadership Exchange.

From Left to Right: Rajeev Sajja, Rajeev Sajja from Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Michael Hickman from Seven Gables Real Estate, Matthew T. O’Connor from Terrie O’Connor Realtors, Kevin Greene from Cotality Real Estate Solutions, and Kevin Hawkins from WAV Group Communications Some of the best conversations happen behind closed doors. That's probably why one of my absolute favorite events for years has been the RISMedia CEO & Leadership Exchange. Unlike our industry’s bigger conferences, this gathering is more intimate. It attracts the top brokerage leaders, many of whom you rarely see at other events. What really [...]

By |2025-09-08T12:36:31-07:00September 8th, 2025|Artificial Intelligence, Industry Observations, Real Estate Events|Comments Off on Takeaways from the 2025 RISMedia CEO & Leadership Exchange.
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ChatGPT is not killing Google Search: AI myth debunked

Over the past year, a wave of AI experts have suggested that the major LLMs – ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini – are poised to replace Google Search. Even at HousingWire’s excellent AI Summit this week, the myth that AI is already killing search was also stated as fact on stage by at least one AI speaker. The implication is that SEO as we know it is dying. Some go as far as to claim that SEO is dead. The reality? The data tells the truth. The numbers don’t lie Even as ChatGPT’s usage explodes, now processing more than 2.5 [...]

By |2025-08-14T16:27:39-07:00August 14th, 2025|Artificial Intelligence, Technology|Comments Off on ChatGPT is not killing Google Search: AI myth debunked
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NAR says REALTORS® do 179 different tasks – AI says it can do 110 of them

What if you could harness dozens of hours each month without cutting a single corner in your client service? For real estate professionals, this is fast becoming a new reality as AI transforms the way agents manage their daily workflow. It all starts with one surprising number: 179. AI versus the checklist: What can be automated today NAR’s widely circulated list of 179 tasks that a REALTOR® may perform during a transaction is a powerful reminder of how comprehensive – and often irreplaceable – an agent’s role really is. But when you look at this list through the lens of [...]

By |2025-11-20T16:03:17-08:00August 7th, 2025|Artificial Intelligence, Real Estate Technology|Comments Off on NAR says REALTORS® do 179 different tasks – AI says it can do 110 of them
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The incredible life of Chris Coile: In remembrance

Jon Coile sent us an email recapping the remarkable life of his brother Chris Coile, a real estate icon who passed last week. Many of us know Jon well from his own real estate journey. He’s widely regarded as one of real estate’s most visionary and respected leaders. Whether serving as chair of Bright MLS, through RESO or leading influential initiatives at HomeServices of America, Jon is a trusted industry voice. What many of us may not have realized was his brother also was a real estate pioneer and a serial entrepreneur.  Below is the email Jon shared with us, [...]

By |2025-08-05T13:33:58-07:00August 5th, 2025|News|2 Comments
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Real estate reporters want relationships, not pitches. Are you listening?

What’s the most underrated skill in public relations today? It’s not mastering AI tools, or writing punchy subject lines, or even generating a buzz on social media. For the long game? It is relationships. Not the superficial, connect-and-forget kind built through mass emails or casual LinkedIn DMs. I’m talking about actual relationships. The kind that takes time, trust, consistency, and a deep understanding of the journalists we aim to work with; the kind built over years, not news cycles. The latest Cision One State of the Media survey, which gathered insights from over 3,000 journalists across 19 global markets, drives [...]

By |2025-08-05T12:10:20-07:00August 5th, 2025|Real Estate Technology|Comments Off on Real estate reporters want relationships, not pitches. Are you listening?
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Real estate is suffering from AI misinformation

History repeated itself at Inman Connect San Diego this week. Once again, after sitting through AI session after AI session on the first day, I was struck by how much confusion still exists in the real estate industry. As I experienced in early June after attending NAR Midyear, the AI "experts" on stage gave incomplete, misleading, or simply wrong information. One example just floored me. During an AI panel, a presenter proclaimed that Gemini Pro was better than ChatGPT. In what way? For content creation, hardly. Learning about your voice? No way. For daily use? Are you kidding me? And there [...]

By |2025-08-01T13:46:29-07:00August 1st, 2025|Artificial Intelligence, Real Estate Events, Real Estate Technology, Thought Leadership|1 Comment
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NAR Midyear: Political advocacy using AI on your smartphone?

  At this year’s NAR Legislative Meetings, well-known REALTOR®, educator, and author Marki Lemons Ryhal offered a new way to use artificial intelligence as a political advocacy engine. She reframed this unconventional use of AI by giving practical examples for brokers, agents, and association staff to engage with AI in scaling their influence. If you’ve been thinking of AI strictly as a marketing or productivity tool, here’s another reason to think outside the standard AI box. Use your content to drive engagement One strategy is deceptively simple: combine a strong call-to-action with your tone and let AI scale it. She [...]

By |2025-06-02T09:35:53-07:00June 2nd, 2025|Artificial Intelligence, NAR, News|1 Comment
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Ben Caballero: Real Estate Titan, Tech Innovator and Texas Legend Sets a New World Record for Home Sales

$27,000,000,000. Nine zeros. That atmospheric number is Iceland's annual GNP. It's also the total homes sales volume real estate titan and Texas legend Ben Caballero of HomesUSA.com did as an individual sales agent over the last two decades (2004-2024). As a solo sales agent for every listing verified by the MLS, Ben averages over $1 billion in home sales annually. Last year, Ben did nearly $4 billion in home sales. Again, that's $4,000,000,000. That's greater than the combined annual GDP of Grenada and St. Lucia! Over seven thousand home sales: one year, one man Ben’s record-breaking billions are only eclipsed [...]

By |2025-05-28T15:09:09-07:00May 29th, 2025|News, Uncategorized|Comments Off on Ben Caballero: Real Estate Titan, Tech Innovator and Texas Legend Sets a New World Record for Home Sales
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