Brandon Newman has joined Coldwell Banker Real Estate as vice president of marketing. There, he will lead marketing efforts for the network, promoting its narrative through national advertising. Newman, a storyteller, has spent over 15 years working with brands like Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz USA. Most recently, at Aston Martin, Newman head of marketing for brand’s the North American, Latin American and Canadian regions. At Mercedes-Benz, he was a customer retention manager as well as a digital experience and marketing director. Newman also has an MBA in Legal Studies and Finance from Hofs ..read more

This vibrant, orange stucco home in Palm Springs is even more colorful on the inside. Many of the interior walls are adorned with custom artwork, including a desert mural and a Van Gogh-inspired bathroom ceiling. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom property is listed by Joseph Giacomazzo of Keller Williams Realty EastBay for $406,000. 3231 N. Sandspring Drive (via Joseph Giacomazzo) 3231 N. Sandspring Drive (via Joseph Giacomazzo) 3231 N. Sandspring Drive (via Joseph Giacomazzo) The post An orange work of art in Palm Springs appeared first on Denver Agent Magazine ..read more

HomeServices of America has reached a $250 million settlement in the Sitzer-Burnett class-action lawsuit. HomeServices of America, the last defendant to settle in the case, is the largest residential real estate brokerage in the U.S. and is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy.  The HomeService settlement covers some of the company’s subsidiaries, including Long & Foster Companies Inc., BHH Affiliates LLC and HSF Affiliates LLC. The plaintiffs had previously reached settlements in the case with the National Association of REALTORS® in the amount of $418 million and for ..read more

At World Properties LLC, the Chicago-based company that owns @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate, has agreed to settle all claims brought by sellers relating to broker commissions. This agreement comes one day after the company was added to the nationwide lawsuit, Gibson, which echoes the now-infamous Sitzer-Burnett suit and previously named Compass, eXp, Redfin, Douglas Elliman, and other real estate companies. At World Properties’ settlement applies to that and all future lawsuits with the same cause of action. It also covers all company-owned brokerages. In addition to @pro ..read more

CoStar Group Inc., a global real estate information marketplace, will acquire Matterport, which pioneered the development of “digital twins”: the 3D capture method which can deliver photorealistic, virtual home tours. Founded in 2011, Matterport’s patented technology enables anyone to digitize a property using just about any camera, including ones found on smartphones. “CoStar Group and Matterport have nearly identical mission statements of digitizing the world’s real estate,” Andy Florance, founder and CEO of CoStar Group, said in a press release. “The world has changed and today, a Matterpor ..read more

Builder confidence remained flat in April compared to March, ending a four-month streak of growing positive sentiment, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reported Tuesday. The builder confidence score for newly built single-family homes rated a 51 this month, the same as March, NAHB said. Any number above 50 indicates more builders view the market as good than poor. “With many frustrated buyers back on the fence waiting for interest rates to fall, policymakers can help ease affordability challenges by reducing inefficient regulatory rules that raise housing costs and limit supply ..read more

The government cannot charge large development fees from property owners in exchange for building permits, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week.  The ruling was praised by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) as a win in the fight to uphold property rights in the face of rising development fees. The case rose to the high court from a 2016 lawsuit filed by George Sheetz of California. According to his lawsuit, Sheetz was told to pay his county $23,000 for a traffic impact study in order to receive a permit to build an 1,800-square-foot home on his property. Sheetz’s attorneys said ..read more

A years-long legal battle involving the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) was resurrected Friday when a three-judge appeals panel ruled the Department of Justice could resume its antitrust investigation into the association.  By a 2-1 vote, the panel sided with the DOJ, allowing it to pull out of a settlement reached with NAR in 2020. That settlement, reached under the Trump Administration, ended the DOJ’s investigation, and NAR agreed to amend policies that investigators alleged were anti-competitive.  Under the Biden Administration, the DOJ sought to halt the settlement and r ..read more

Leo Pareja will now serve as CEO of eXp Realty. Pareja replaces former CEO Glenn Sanford, who will maintain his roles as founder, chairman and CEO of eXp World Holdings, the parent company of eXp Realty. First joining eXp Realty in 2022, Pareja previously served as the company’s chief strategy officer, spearheading company-wide initiatives including eXp Exclusives and Revenos. In his new role, he’ll focus on company growth and innovation. “Leo’s innovative and recognized industry leadership has elevated our agent-value proposition by reshaping referrals and lead generation,” Sanford said in a ..read more

The word “no” doesn’t hold much weight in my world. To me, it doesn’t signal a dead end; it’s an opportunity to explore further. During my time as a police officer on the streets of Miami, I witnessed firsthand the chaos caused by crooked moving companies. Families would get hit with bills two to three times higher than expected once their belongings were loaded onto trucks. As a cop, there was nothing I could do to help these people. So I took another route. And that’s how my company, Good Greek, came to be. I didn’t have any formal training in the moving business. But what I did have was con ..read more