To all the agents in the house,
There is a lot going on. Here are three things that have caught the attention of real estate agents I've spoken with in the past week:
* Crypto-certified
If I had to take a drink every time this phrase was mentioned at Propy's inaugural Crypto Real Estate Summit last week, I'd still be in a Miami Beach hospital.
Basically, one of the revenue streams of Propy, a Palo Alto, California company, is to train agents to be crypto certified, a designation bestowed by Propy itself.
Taylor Parrino, a Miami agent, explained to me that in November she got a Black Friday discount to be crypto certified, paying Propy $300 (non-crypto) dollars. The experience, Parrino said, "definitely helped me gain a better understanding of how crypto works in real estate" from giving a down payment in crypto to, one day, transferring a title deed with a QR code over a blockchain platform.
Will there be an entire side industry of agents being trained to work with crypto and blockchain? Might Propy corner the market?
An audience member I didn't catch the name of asked one sharp summit question: Does certification mean anything in the eyes of the National Association of Realtors? The answer is not for now, though NAR's investment arm has put money into Propy.
* Building blues
The U.S. Census Bureau is releasing this week monthly stats on the number of permits issued to build homes, how many homes actually start getting built, and how many are completed. As HousingWire Lead Analyst Logan Mohtashami wrote when last month's numbers came out, there is a disconnect between the number of permits, which are relatively high historically, and the amount of completions, which are fairly low.
Amid frustration over the lack of lumber, which seemingly remains a 200-year-old prerequisite for most American homes, builders lament they are not meeting demand. Still. I could have written this 15 months ago.
I did write back in August how agents feel like the victims of builder's frustrations, ignored as a no longer necessary part of the home sale. Agents, what is the relationship now with builders?
* Compass's profitability
Compass has not responded to my questions regarding the company's first yearly report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But on Monday I got hold of Leonard Steinberg, one of Compass's "principal agents" the brokerage focuses upon in its report. Steinberg was also one of Compass's first hires and he has the company title Chief Evangelist.
I asked Steinberg about Compass's profitability path. His answer? "I will call you in two years time." Why not tell me now? "In two years, I will give you the breakdown." What's going to happen in two years? "I will give you a call in two years time, and then explain to you exactly what happened."
Agents, mark your calendars for the March 14, 2024 edition of OpenHouse. Also, please let me know if you have any thoughts about this one. You can write to me anonymously at mblake@housingwire.com.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
Senior Real Estate Reporter
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