News dropped yesterday that four of the biggest real estate companies announced a new initiative called Open Real Estate (ORE). Unfortunately, I was driving most of the day through the desert with spotty internet, though I did manage to speak to a number of people both inside and outside ORE.
My initial reaction is positive, since ORE tracks very closely to a number of initiatives that I worked on for the past few years and the players involved are major people with real intelligence, drive, and smarts. However, I only had time during rest stops to glance through press releases and media stories, with very little detail even on important high level things. So I have a lot of questions.
Then I learn that Byron Lazine and his team at BAM managed to interview all four CEOs. What an amazing get that is. They ought to be congratulated for pulling that together with so little time. If you don't follow or subscribe to BAM, you really should. Here's BAM's original video.
In any event, I thought with so little detail available, the most entertaining and interesting thing I could do was to watch the interview and react to it in real-time. I did that. First time watching, instant reaction, no deep thought, no analysis, just off-the-cuff questions and points.
I enjoyed doing it and it did help me think about some of the deeper questions and identify some of the more obvious issues. Perhaps it will do the same for you. So here you go:
In the days and weeks ahead, I am sure that we will get more details and more information that will help think through the promise and the reality of ORE. It is a real positive sign, but one fraught with pitfalls. For now, I remain cautiously optimistic.
-rsh
