Weekly Real Estate News Quiz: Think You're Up On The Biggest Headlines?
Screenwriter Charles Randolph, who won an Academy Award for his work on The Big Short, is reportedly penning a new screenplay about the rise and fall of WeWork, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
San Francisco-based Culdesac launched publicly last week and aims to build the “first car-free neighborhood from scratch in the U.S.” In a blog post, Ryan Johnson — Culdesac’s co-founder and CEO, and a co-founder and former vice president at Opendoor — explained that the idea is to construct a community for 1,000 people that will have zero cars.
HomeSmart International, the 19-year-old Scottsdale, Arizona-based brokerage, has acquired TriStar Realty, a Mid-Atlantic based independent brokerage with more than 650 agents, it was announced Wednesday.
Trulia, an online search portal owned by Zillow Group, is being sued over its Premier Agent program, which allows agents and brokers to advertise buyer’s agent representation on listings.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York and first reported by The Real Deal, seeks $5 million in damages from the company, claiming its practices are “unfair and deceptive towards traditional real estate brokers and listing agents and cause consumer confusion, economic harm and deception.”
After a failed motion to dismiss in September, Compass is looking to end its nearly six-month-long battle with Realogy outside of the courtroom.
Compass filed a motion to stay on Nov. 25, claiming the majority of Realogy’s accusations come from The Corcoran Group, a fellow Real Estate Board of New York member, according to a report by The Real Deal.
As a REBNY member, Compass said Realogy must follow REBNY’s code of ethics and universal co-brokerage agreement, which requires “members associated with different firms [with disputes] arising out of their professional activities to submit the dispute to arbitration.”
At this point, iBuyers like Zillow, Opendoor, Offerpad and offerings from brokerages have been only focused on expansion in the United States. That could change in 2020, according to Chawla, who believes iBuyers will begin to operate outside of the U.S.
Roelof Opperman, also a principal at Fifth Wall, believes the top European real estate companies will start to invest heavily in technology like their American peers.
Neil Dholakia is leaving Keller Williams after two-and-a-half years as its chief product officer, the franchisor confirmed to Inman Wednesday.
A trendy new building constructed from more than 5,000 3D-modeled, interlocking bricks has been erected in London’s Fitzrovia neighborhood.
The five-story mixed-use building, named “The Interlock,” was designed by Bureau de Change and developed by HGG London, according to Curbed. The idea, according to the architectural firm, was to use a traditional medium such as brick to add a stylish touch while fitting comfortably in the neighborhood’s 19th century aesthetic.
All of the above.
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), a major multiple listing service based in the Chicago area, announced Wednesday that it has developed a new voice-activated digital assistant that should help agents stay productive while on the go.
The new tool is part of connectMLS, MRED’s technology platform, and can be accessed via devices running Amazon’s Alexa or Google’s Assistant artificial intelligence software. That includes products such as Amazon’s Echo line of smart home speakers, as well as cellphones that have the Alexa or Google Assistant apps.