Housing News
Redfin sued by CoreLogic over their Home Price Tool
Recently, Redfin launched a new tool to educate homeowners on the pricing process, but the company has now been sued by CoreLogic for violating their automated valuation model patent filed 20 years ago.
Redfin’s Home Price Tool
Launched just over two months ago, Redfin’s Home Price Tool was created to educate homeowners on the pricing process so they have an estimate before entering discussions with an agent, but CoreLogic has filed a lawsuit1 against Redfin claiming patent rights over the technology being used in the Home Price Tool, according to GeekWire2.
With Seattle-based Redfin’s Home Price Tool, users begin with a price range based on similar, recently sold homes in the neighborhood, then eliminates comparable homes that are dissimilar (new constructions, abandoned foreclosures, too big, too old, or unimproved, for example). Redfin says this results in a fair, competitive price range to guide users as to what their home is worth or how it should be priced.
At the time of its release, AGBeat columnist Tara Steele wrote, “While Redfin is not pioneering the CMA, nor the AVM (automated valuation model where a price is electronically generated), they are making strides toward what they call transparency by allowing consumers to interact with the data. This move will ruffle real estate professionals’ feathers, but could also be advantageous to Realtors whose listing clients refuse to budge on pricing, and for homeowners who feel the need to verify what their agent says. It’s not a revolutionary move, it’s an attempt to improve an existing technology and an existing concept in a transparent way.”
CoreLogic files against Redfin
In East Texas, CoreLogic has filed a patent suit alleging Redfin has infringed on their patent3 on “Real Estate Appraisal Using Predictive Modeling,” in other words, their Automated Valuation Model patent which was filed in 1992 and granted in 1994. Patents filed prior to 1995 expire 20 years after being granted, which means CoreLogic has just over two years remaining to defend their patent, although some commentary floating around alludes to patents expiring in 17 or 18 years which is only accurate if filed after 1995, so it is not likely that CoreLogic is filing in an effort to do so under the pressure of an expiring patent.
East Texas is, however, notorious for patent lawsuits as the majority filed in the district win. Neither CoreLogic or Redfin is headquartered in Tyler, Texas, but both do business in the district, so it is technically fair ground for filing suit.
This is not CoreLogic’s first lawsuit defending their patent, nor their first filed in the Eastern District of Texas, in 2010, the company sued4 Zillow, Inc., Lender Processing Services, Inc., Real Data, Inc., Realec Technologies, Inc., Fiserv, Inc., Intellireal, LLC, Interthinx, Inc., American Flood Research, Inc., Electronic Appraiser, Inc., and Espiel, Inc. CoreLogic settled5 with Intellireal in 2011, entering into a patent license agreement, and Precision Appraisal was dismissed from the lawsuit in December 2010.
We have reached out to CoreLogic and Redfin for comment and will update the story as statements are made.
Update: Friday May 25, both parties have declined to comment due to this being active litigation. AGBeat is still working to obtain some form of comment.
1 CoreLogic v. Redfin, full lawsuit
2 GeekWire story
3 U.S. Patent number 5,361,201
4 CoreLogic’s 2010 Lawsuit
5 Patent License Agreement
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Housing News
Average age of houses on the rise, so is it now better or worse to buy new?
With aging housing in America, are first-time buyers better off buying new or existing homes? The average age of a home is rising, as is the price of new housing, so a shift could be upon us.
The average home age is higher than ever
(REALUOSO.COM) – In a survey from the Department of Housing and Urban Development American Housing Survey (AHS), the median age of homes in the United States was 35 years old. In Texas, homes are a bit younger with the median age between 19 – 29 years. The northeast has the oldest homes, with the median age between 50 – 61 years. In 1985, the median age of a home was only 23 years.
With more houses around 40 years old, the National Association of Realtors asserts that homeowners will have to undertake remodeling and renovation projects before selling unless the home is sold as-is, in which case the buyer will be responsible to update their new residence. Even homeowners who aren’t selling will need to consider remodeling for structural and aesthetic reasons.
Prices of new homes on the rise
Newer homes cost more than they used to. The price differential between new homes and older homes has increased from 10 percent traditionally to around 37 percent in 2014. This is due to rising construction costs, scarcity of lots, and a low inventory of new homes that doesn’t meet the demand.
Click here to continue reading this story…
Housing News
Are Realtors the real loser in the fight between Zillow Group and Move, Inc.?
The last year has been one of dramatic and rapid change in the real estate tech sector, but Realtors are vulnerable, and we’re worried.
Why Realtors are vulnerable to these rapid changes
(REALUOSO.COM) – Corporate warfare demands headlines in every industry, but in the real estate tech sector, a storm has been brewing for years, which in the last year has come to a head. Zillow Group and Move, Inc. (which is owned by News Corp. and operates ListHub, Realtor.com, TopProducer, and other brands) have been competing for a decade now, and the race has appeared to be an aggressive yet polite boxing match. Last year, the gloves came off, and now, they’ve drawn swords and appear to want blood.
Note: We’ll let you decide which company plays which role in the image above.
So how then, does any of this make Realtors the victims of this sword fight? Let’s get everyone up to speed, and then we’ll discuss.
1. Zillow poaches top talent, Move/NAR sues
It all started last year when the gloves came off – Move’s Chief Strategy Officer (who was also Realtor.com’s President), Errol Samuelson jumped ship and joined Zillow on the same day he phoned in his resignation without notice. He left under questionable circumstances, which has led to a lengthy legal battle (wherein Move and NAR have sued Zillow and Samuelson over allegations of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets), with the most recent motion being for contempt, which a judge granted to Move/NAR after the mysterious “Samuelson Memo” surfaced.
Salt was added to the wound when Move awarded Samuelson’s job to Move veteran, Curt Beardsley, who days after Samuelson left, also defected to Zillow. This too led to a lawsuit, with allegations including breach of contract, violation of corporations code, illegal dumping of stocks, and Move has sought restitution. These charges are extremely serious, but demanded slightly less attention than the ongoing lawsuit against Samuelson.
2. Two major media brands emerge
Last fall, the News Corp. acquisition of Move, Inc. was given the green light by the feds, and this month, Zillow finalized their acquisition of Trulia.
…Click here to continue reading this story…
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Roland Estrada
May 25, 2012 at 1:09 pm
I would love to be sad about this but the reality is that most Realtors don’t care for discount brokers. So I say, bring on the litigation baby!
David Pylyp
May 25, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Do Automated CMA’s eliminate the need for a Realtor? Mere Listings allow self Marketing and Negotiation? Whats next Rebates for Buyers? I’m in Toronto Reach out…