A new wrinkle in the NAR settlement, a Trump-hating Airbnb host and an upcoming 24-hour stock exchange. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of Nov. 25-29.
Miss: The Neverending Story? The $418 million settlement by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) of the Sitzer/Burnett case received its final approval in federal court on Tuesday. NAR President Kevin Sears welcomed the news by declaring, “This is an important moment for NAR members, home buyers and sellers, and the real estate industry.” However, this chapter may not be over – two days before the court’s approval, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a Statement of Interest on the settlement, declaring it “does not address whether the proposed settlement prevents and restrains current antitrust violations, remedies past violations, or contains revised policies and practices that comply with the antitrust laws.” The DOJ also stated that the settlement’s provision requiring written agreements between buyers and brokers prior to home tours “may harm buyers and limit how brokers compete for clients.” Hopefully, the incoming Trump administration will respect the 2020 settlement between the DOJ and NAR and pull the plug on this new effort that seeks to endlessly prosecute the trade organization.
Miss: Trump Derangement Syndrome Hits Home. And speaking of Trump, a Washington, DC-based resident who lists her home on Airbnb is attempting to start a grassroots effort to prevent Trump supporters from being able to access Airbnb properties during January’s inauguration events. Stacy Kane, a 40-year-old charter school executive director, has reached out to other Airbnb hosts in the Greater Washington area to either take their rentals off the market for the Jan. 20 inauguration or jack up the rental prices and donate the money to nonprofits that support progressive causes. Kane accused the president-elect and his supporters of advocating for hate and misogyny. However, only four Airbnb hosts signed up with Kane’s crusade – the Washington Post found more than 950 available rentals on Airbnb for the weekend leading up to the inauguration.
Hit: Do You Want Fries with Your New House? New Zealand realtor Sanjay Kumar had a unique approach to marketing one of his properties in Auckland – he emphasized it was within walking-distance proximity to a McDonald’s eatery. Kumar’s listing had the headline “Close to McDonald’s” and a promotional text that called out for “all burger lovers who want to buy house walking distance to McDonald’s and walkdown whenever you want.” Kumar acknowledged the Big Mac appeal was to attract buyers who could not afford to drive to their favorite fast-food eatery. His strategy began to generate results, with two inquiries from McDonald’s-loving homebuyers.
Miss: Here We Go Again. Dawn Mangum, who gained notoriety several weeks ago for attempting a deed theft scam on the mansion of dentist Craig Adams in Raleigh, North Carolina, has obviously not learned any lessons from her miscreant shenanigans. According to Wake County Register of Deeds Tammy Brunner, Mangum allegedly filed two liens by mail when she was in jail on charges related to Adams’ home, but the paperwork was rejected due to technical errors. When she was released from jail, she tried to file a deed on a second home, but that was also rejected. And if that wasn’t enough, she turned up at Brunner’s office for a title search on the Adams property. Mercifully, Mangum isn’t taking her criminal activities to other markets where she is not easily recognized. But, seriously, this woman is in desperate need of a new hobby.
Miss: Not So Fast. A property in Bristol, England, that features a mural by the artist Banksy has been listed for sale – but there is a major catch for any prospective buyer. ArtNews reports the property has an asking price of just under $900,000, but that’s peanuts when you consider Banksy’s work can sell for much more – his “Love is in the Bin” sold at auction for more than $23.5 million. But listing Hollis Morgan agent warned that buyers cannot disconnect the mural from the property. “Accordingly, the purchaser will be required to accept a restrictive covenant in the lease ensuring that the image cannot be removed from the building,” Morgan said. Oddly, there is nothing preventing a buyer from painting over the mural, which is titled “Well Hung Lover” and features a man dangling from a windowsill by his finger to avoid being seen by his paramour’s angry husband.
Hit: Trading Around the Clock. Publicly traded real estate companies and the investors who put their money into them will be interested to know that the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the creation of a 24-hour stock exchange. The Financial Times reported the new 24 Exchange is backed by Steve Cohen’s Point72 Ventures fund and will initially operate at regular hours before expanding to a 24-hour format for trading between Sunday and Thursday. “Traders are most at-risk when the market is closed in their geographic location,” said Dmitri Galinov, founder and CEO of the new exchange, adding this endeavor “will seek to alleviate this problem by facilitating around-the-clock US equities trading.” The regulatory approval follows an application filed by the New York Stock Exchange to expand its trading day to 22 hours.
We hope that our American readers are having a restful Thanksgiving holiday weekend. We’ll see you again on Monday!
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
Photo by Karen Crewe / Getty Images
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