\n<\/p>\n
We all love The Consumer.<\/p>\n
We speak knowingly on their behalf. We fight for them. We concede their power to determine our industry\u2019s future.<\/p>\n
The Consumer fuels passionate arguments and noble initiatives.<\/p>\n
The Consumer also lends justification to cynical strategies, padding to weak arguments, and perfume to rank bullshit.<\/p>\n
The truth is that we all have an idea about what is right for The Consumer. Those ideas are different.<\/p>\n
Redfin launched 20 years ago and still exists today to \u201cgive consumers a better deal,\u201d as they put it. CEO Glen Kelman believes that with every fiber of his being. But there are those, including myself, who are not so sure that Redfin\u2019s deal is better, but nonetheless admire the vision (and the man). Some believe Redfin does consumers a terrible disservice and think Kelman is full of it. So it goes.<\/p>\n
Zillow states that consumers are their \u201cNorth Star.\u201d Shout that in a room of 100 real estate industry types and you\u2019ll find yourself in a fistfight.<\/p>\n
Opportunistic attorneys earned a fortune bringing a class action lawsuit on behalf of The Consumer, only to make real estate transactions more complicated for them.<\/p>\n
See, there it is \u2014 my own view of what\u2019s best.<\/p>\n
I think about this a lot lately because of the Clear Cooperation Policy debate. In all my time in this industry, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen such wild invocations of The Consumer\u2019s rights, interests, and vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, the loudest anti-CCP voice, has spent the past few months telling everybody from CNBC to CMLS that he\u2019s fighting for homesellers\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n
I shared my own opinion on CCP a few weeks ago, which was based upon my own view of what best serves home buyers and sellers.<\/p>\n
Some people agreed with me. Others didn\u2019t. That\u2019s how it goes. You set up your stall in the marketplace of ideas and hope to pull people your way.<\/p>\n
But there is another factor. The obvious one. The Consumer themselves. We \u2014 me included \u2014 listen too little and proclaim too much.<\/p>\n
An industry friend who disagrees with me on CCP called me this week asking \u201cwhere are the consumers in this debate?\u201d<\/p>\n
She asked a good question.<\/p>\n
It seems like a good idea to bring them in. Stay tuned.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
I worry about the potential consequences of a private listings free-for-all for our industry as well. That includes the potential for negative blowback onto large brokerages pushing to have CCP repealed. The words \u201cbe careful what you wish for\u201d are at the top of my mind.<\/p>\n
Large brokers are some of my closest friends in this business, and I want to see the best of them win. But I worry that going bigger (you can do private listings now, after all!) on exclusives is a poke at a very large and angry bear.<\/p>\n
Last month I gave a talk at the CMLS conference in which I elaborated on this idea. CMLS has given me permission to share the video here:<\/p>\n \n