by Lillian Dickerson | May 13, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Corcoran asked $12 million for the Fifth Ave. duplex with sweeping Central Park views and reportedly received multiple bids that pushed the contract price above asking.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
Shark Tank star and Corcoran Group founder Barbara Corcoran knows how to make a deal.
The fixture of Manhattan real estate listed her Carnegie Hill penthouse last Thursday for $12 million, and the property was under contract by Friday.
Olshan Realty highlighted the deal in its weekly luxury market report, where it was the seventh priciest apartment contract signed the week of May 5-11.
“Sources say it went over the asking price with multiple bidders,” the report noted.
The converted greenhouse at 1158 Fifth Avenue | Credit: Melanie Greene
Corcoran purchased the home 10 years ago for $10 million, and the $12 million asking price is less than what she spent total on buying the property and renovating it. But, she told The New York Times that she hoped with that list price, she’d receive multiple bids — looks like she got her wish.
The five-bedroom duplex at 1158 Fifth Avenue was represented by Carrie Chiang and Scott Stewart of The Corcoran Group. The feature that first drew Corcoran to the property was stunning views of Central Park from the home’s landscaped terrace. The top floor also features a greenhouse that was converted into an indoor-outdoor dining area.
A sitting room at 1158 Fifth Avenue | Credit: Melanie Greene
During the report period, 36 homes in Manhattan asking $4 million or more went under contract, up from 33 homes the week before.
The priciest contract signed during the week was a penthouse at 15 East 30th Street that was listed for $25 million. That property is a 5,100-square-foot condo that first hit the market in September 2019 when the sponsor initially asked $23.5 million. The building, known as Madison House, includes 30,000 square feet of amenities, like a concierge, fitness center, yoga room, 75-foot lap pool, cold plunge, hot tub, garden, children’s playroom, lounge and bar. The unit itself features a 26-foot terrace and 23-foot ceilings.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Lillian Dickerson
This post was originally published on this site
by Matt Carter | May 13, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
The Trump administration will withdraw its nomination of attorney Jonathan McKernan to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as CFPB acting director Russell Vought presses forward with what Democratic lawmakers claim are efforts to dismantle the bureau.
In the latest development, Vought on Monday rescinded dozens of CFPB policy and regulatory guidance documents dating back to 2011 — including some issued during the first Trump administration — on topics including disclosure of consumer complaint data, fair lending, overdraft fees and mortgage loan servicing.
In notice published in the Federal Register on Monday, the CFPB outlined 67 guidance documents to be withdrawn pending further review, including eight policy statements, seven interpretive rules, 13 advisory opinions and 39 circulars and bulletins.
In some cases, the CFPB now claims its guidance relied on interpretations that were inconsistent with lawmakers’ intentions, or imposed compliance burdens without providing opportunities for notice and comment.
But even in cases where the bureau’s guidance is consistent with the law and provided opportunities for the public to weigh in, it’s now the bureau’s policy “to avoid issuing guidance except where necessary and where compliance burdens would be reduced rather than increased.”
While Monday’s recissions are not necessarily final — the bureau “will continue reviewing all guidance documents to determine whether they should ultimately be retained” — they won’t be enforced while the review is ongoing.
“Americans deserve an open and fair regulatory process that imposes new obligations on the public only when consistent with applicable law and after an agency follows appropriate procedures,” the CFPB said in a notice signed by Vought.
The American Bankers Association (ABA) welcomed the move, saying the CFPB has sometimes been too casual about issuing guidance that should have been subject to the more formal rulemaking process.
“While banks welcome guidance that helps them understand and comply with the law, too often in the past the CFPB has characterized something as guidance that is actually a rule Congress requires to go through the notice-and-comment process,” ABA President and CEO Rob Nichols said in a statement. “In the most egregious cases, the guidance announces expectations that exceed the CFPB’s statutory authority.”
As director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Vought is leading the Trump administration’s efforts to downsize the CFPB.
With Elon Musk expected to step away from his unofficial role in running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), it will be up to Vought to “lock in” many of DOGE’s cost-cutting efforts throughout the federal government, through avenues including the 2025 budget, eliminating job protections for high-level federal workers, and impounding funds appropriated by Congress, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson put a temporary hold on the Trump administration’s move to fire all but 200 of the CFPB’s 1,700 employees, saying she has yet to weigh the merits of a lawsuit challenging the legality of dismantling the bureau.
Attorneys representing the CFPB’s union employees claimed that a DOGE employee who managed the bureau’s “reduction in force” (RIF) team failed to properly prepare a particularized assessment of why the employees it intends to fire are not needed to perform duties mandated by Congress.
That employee, a 25-year-old software engineer assigned to the CFPB in March, owns shares in a number of companies that are regulated by the bureau and was warned by ethics lawyers not to participate in any actions that could benefit him personally, ProPublica reported last week. Neither the employee or the CFPB responded to ProPublica’s requests for comment.
With oral arguments on the CFPB’s appeal of Berman’s order scheduled to be heard on May 16, more than 200 House and Senate Democrats signed an amicus brief Friday urging that Berman’s Jackson’s order be upheld.
“Without an act of Congress abolishing the CFPB or authorizing the President to do so, [Vought has] no power to shutter the bureau,” Democratic lawmakers said.
More than two dozen state attorneys general have signed a similar amicus brief.
Three of the lawmakers who signed the amicus brief — Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman, Rob Menendez and LaMonica McIver — made headlines Friday after inspecting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey.
While the lawmakers said they were exercising their right to conduct a congressional oversight visit of the newly-opened, privately operated immigration detention facility, the visit generated controversy when Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested on trespassing charges.
On Friday, Vought’s top deputy at the OMB, Dan Bishop, suggested that those lawmakers and Baraka had “committed an insurrection” and urged law enforcement to “Hunt them down.”
Source: May 9, 2025 post by OMB Deputy Director Dan Bishop on the social media platform X.
Baraka told the New York Times that a security guard allowed him to enter the property through a locked gate, but said he was not allowed inside the facility while the three House Democrats were touring it.
“If I was on that property, I was invited there,” Baraka told the Times.
When the three Democratic lawmakers emerged, Baraka was arrested in what the Times described as “a brief but volatile clash that involved a team of masked federal agents wearing military fatigues and the three lawmakers.”
A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN that members of Congress who were at the scene could face charges for “assaulting our ICE enforcement officers.”
Watson Coleman rejected the DHS’s claim in a press release that she and Menendez, “stormed the gate and broke into the detention facility.”
“The author of that press release was so unfamiliar with the facts on the ground that they didn’t even correctly count the number of Representatives present,” Watson Coleman told CNN.
With the fate of the CFPB apparently up to be determined in court, the Trump administration’s pick to lead the bureau, Jonathan McKernan, is set to be nominated to serve in a different role — undersecretary of domestic finance at the Treasury Department.
McKernan’s nomination to lead the CFPB was endorsed on March 6 by the Senate Banking Committee in a 13-11 party line vote, but had not yet been voted on by the full Senate.
In the meantime, the former FDIC board member has has been working as an advisor at the Treasury Department, where he has become “an integral part” of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s senior team.
“His continued service at Treasury will ensure that his experience and expertise are best put to advancing the President’s America First agenda,” the Treasury Department said in a press release Friday.
Get Inman’s Mortgage Brief Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly roundup of all the biggest news in the world of mortgages and closings delivered every Wednesday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Matt Carter
This post was originally published on this site
by Taylor Anderson | May 13, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Judge called Davis’ demand for arbitration “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, and scandalous,” but ruled the former CEO made reasonable attempts to arbitrate his case against Keller Williams.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
A 184-page demand for arbitration filed by John Davis is “redundant, immaterial, impertinent, and scandalous” and will be stricken from the record, a magistrate judge ruled Thursday in a long-running fraud case between the former Keller Williams CEO and the Texas-based residential brokerage.
Magistrate Judge Hal R. Ray, Jr. stopped short of holding Davis in contempt, as Keller Williams had requested, in a case that originated after sexual misconduct accusations were leveled against the former chief executive in 2022, several years after he’d left the brokerage.
Those allegations were settled a year ago, only to be followed with a second suit from Davis accusing Keller Williams Executive Chairman Gary Keller and others of inflating key profitability metrics, such as company sales and profits, to convince individuals to purchase Keller Williams Regions and Market Centers, according to legal filings.
“[The] plaintiffs’ Demand for Arbitration is not only redundant, since the Court appointed an arbitrator for this matter, but it also is impertinent and contains immaterial and scandalous allegations,” Ray wrote in his May 8 ruling. “Defendants have repeatedly requested that Plaintiffs withdraw this pleading, and after a failed agreement, the undersigned strikes the Demand sua sponte,” meaning “of one’s own accord.”
The May 8 order was a legal rebuke that struck some of Davis’s allegations from the court record in a case the former CEO filed targeting Keller, former KW President Josh Team and others over alleged fraud.
In his order, Ray ruled that Davis’s “Demand for Arbitration is not only redundant, since the Court appointed an arbitrator for this matter, but it also is impertinent and contains immaterial and scandalous allegations.”
Ray didn’t specify which claims he viewed as scandalous. But the filing that was stricken alleged that a Keller Mortgage employee was fired after reporting sexual misconduct by John Keller, KW’s executive vice chairman and Gary Keller’s son. According to that filing, the allegations were allegedly covered up by general counsel Stacie Herron and Gary Keller paid off the accuser with $1 million of his own money, while he gave Herron a $1 million bonus and a promotion to interim COO for her work in the alleged cover-up.
The updates are part of an ongoing and years-long legal tit-for-tat between Davis, other past Keller Williams executives and the franchisor.
At issue of late has been whether either side in the case has been wrongfully delaying a court-ordered arbitration process.
Andrew Miltenberg, Davis’s attorney, said the order was a win for Davis.
“Perhaps most important is what Judge Hal R. Ray, Jr. did not say — he did not say that the case was false or lacked merit, or was otherwise without basis,” Miltenberg said. “Indeed, the Court’s Order did not dismiss or alter Davis’ claims in any manner. As such, the arbitration will move forward on all of the issues upon which Mr. Davis has sought justice.”
Keller Williams declined to comment on the order.
Keller Williams asked the court to hold Davis in contempt, remove the filing containing the alleged attacks from the public docket and order Davis to pay their attorneys’ fees and expenses.
The request came in response to Davis’s allegations that his former employer was trying to “bully and intimidate” him through the courts.
After the filing was made public, Keller Williams characterized Davis’s allegations as “untrue personal attacks,” “baseless and false claims,” and a continuation of “his public smear campaign against Keller Williams and its leadership.”
Email Taylor Anderson
This post was originally published on this site
by Darryl Davis | May 13, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
From budget to competing buyer’s agents, Darryl Davis looks at the unsaid things that can cloud a client relationship, so you can communicate more clearly.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
In real estate, silence speaks volumes. Clients don’t always tell you what they’re thinking — but oh, they’re thinking it.
They’re forming opinions, second-guessing decisions and, sometimes, smiling politely while secretly freaking out. If you want to build trust, stand out and keep things moving along, you’ve got to read between the lines.
Here are five things your clients aren’t saying but absolutely need you to know.
1. They’re totally stalking you
Before they reply to your email or answer your call, they’ve already Googled you, scrolled your Instagram and read every review since 2017. If your digital presence looks like a garage sale — random, outdated and kind of sad — they’ll swipe left without saying a word.
Teachable moment: Your online presence is your first showing. If you wouldn’t take a buyer to a listing that looks like a mess, don’t let your digital brand be one either. Update those bios. Share those wins. Be someone they’d trust with their home — and their hopes.
2. They’re scared you’ll judge them
They’ll smile through the showing, but inside? They’re cringing over the carpet, the clutter or the fact that their credit score is hanging on by a thread. They may not say it — but trust me, they feel it.
Teachable moment: Create a judgment-free zone. Tell them, “Hey, I’ve seen it all. Nothing surprises me. My job is to help, not critique your throw pillows or finances.” When you lead with empathy, they’ll relax and open up.
3. They don’t really know what you do (but they think they do)
Clients think you pop a sign in the yard, post a few pics, then sit back waiting for the offers to roll in. They’re not trying to be rude; they just don’t know better, which is exactly why some flinch at your fee.
Teachable moment: Don’t assume they get your value — show them. Educate as you go. Say things like, “Here’s what I’m doing behind the scenes to protect your price point.” Explain the strategy, the negotiations and the magic you bring to the deal. You’re not a door-opener; you’re a rainmaker.
4. They’re lying about their budget (just a little)
Buyers will say, “We’re capped at $500,000,” then fall in love with a $550,000 stunner. Why? Because they want to test the waters without getting soaked — or judged. Sellers? Same deal. They might “forget” to mention the lien or the weird neighbor with the drum set.
Teachable moment: This is where trust comes in. Ask better questions. Create a safe space. When people feel seen, they get real. And when they get real, you can actually help them.
5. They’re seeing other agents (but it’s not personal)
Yes, even the ones who seem super into you. They’ve got other agents bookmarked, saved and maybe even texting them listings. They’re hedging their bets and hoping you won’t notice.
Teachable moment: Don’t panic. Outperform. Be responsive, prepared and personable. Show up sharp. Make every interaction feel like, “Oh … this is the agent I’ve been looking for.” Let your service speak louder than their silence.
Real estate isn’t just contracts and comps — it’s connection. If you want to win the client, win their trust. And if you want to win their trust? Start by hearing what they don’t say.
Because the agents who listen between the lines? They don’t just close transactions. They build clients for life.
This post was originally published on this site
by Lillian Dickerson | May 12, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
The SERHANT. CEO jabbed at Compass’ launch this month of physical books of the brokerage’s exclusive listings in offices nationwide, likening it to old-school bookstores like Barnes & Noble.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
Luxury broker and CEO Ryan Serhant has likened rival Compass to old-school bookstore Barnes & Noble. Ouch.
The SERHANT. founder pushed back against the brokerage’s own narrative as a forward-looking firm on the cutting edge of new technology by saying Compass is banking on the “real estate model of yesterday.” The comments were made during The Real Deal’s New York City Showcase + Forum last Wednesday.
Cast members of the Netflix real estate reality TV series Owning Manhattan also joined Serhant on stage where the CEO also took aim at Compass’ recent acquisitions and its tug-of-war with portals and the National Association of Realtors over private listing networks.
“Compass’ goal is to break everything and own the pieces,” Serhant said on Wednesday. “They’re not building Amazon, they’re building Barnes & Noble. And that story has already been told.”
The call out to the brick-and-mortar book chain came on the heels of a decision by Compass to release physical books of private listings in the brokerage’s offices. Those books will update weekly with new listings, and a digital version will also be updated in real time. Marketing properties privately is the first phase of the brokerage’s “Three-Phase Marketing Strategy,” which also includes marketing properties as “coming soon” during a second phase and entering properties into the local multiple listing service during phase three.
Serhant seemed to agree with Compass’ general attitude that brokerages should resist “third-party vendors that hold our listings and lead flow and business hostage,” but found Compass’ approach to be a backward-looking model.
“If you want access to our listings, you have to come together on a physical book in a physical brick-and-mortar office,” Serhant said. “High tech, high touch books, right? It’s Barnes & Noble.”
When Inman reached out to Compass for comment, the brokerage pointed to comments CEO Robert Reffkin made last week during the company’s first quarter earnings call.
“I don’t know a homeowner who would say they want NAR, the MLS or a portal to tell them how they must market their home,” Reffkin said.
He also asserted that the brokerage’s moves surrounding private listings were not about what Compass wants, but rather, what homeowners want. “Homeowners want more choice, not less choice,” Reffkin said.
Reffkin also likened moves by portals and MLS’s to discourage consumers from private marketing to those made by power players in the cable and music industries in the past to raise prices.
“In both industries, the incumbents tried to block change by making it harder to leave, but that strategy only made consumers more aware of their dissatisfaction and sped up the shift,” Reffkin said.
“The same is now happening in real estate: MLS’s and portals are raising friction to discourage homeowners and listings agents from marketing off-MLS. But that resistance is increasing the migration to off-MLS alternatives because it’s making listings agents increasingly question the risks of MLS exposure for their clients — which are days on market, price drop history, diverted buyer inquiries, valuation estimates less than the value of the house — and ultimately, this is creating less trust with the people that give them their inventory.”
Reffkin also predicted that those negative factors will only lead to more private listings in the upcoming year, which will be to Compass’ advantage with their growing network of office exclusives.
Get Inman’s Luxury Lens Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly deep dive into the biggest news in the world of high-end real estate delivered every Friday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Lillian Dickerson
This post was originally published on this site
by Matt Carter | May 12, 2025 | Industry, News Feed
Navy Federal RealtyPlus commission rebate program turns the credit union’s 14.5 million members into “high quality leads” for Better Homes and Gardens, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, ERA and Sotheby’s agents.
Bigger. Better. Bolder. Inman Connect is heading to San Diego. Join thousands of real estate pros, connect with the Inman Community, and gain insights from hundreds of leading minds shaping the industry. If you’re ready to grow your business and invest in yourself, this is where you need to be. Go BIG in San Diego!
Navy Federal Credit Union is celebrating its 36-year referral partnership with Anywhere Real Estate by honoring brokerages that have demonstrated “service excellence” to homebuyers and sellers.
When they’re ready to buy or sell a home, the Navy Federal RealtyPlus program turns the credit union’s 14.5 million members into “high quality leads” for affiliated brokers and agents in the Anywhere Leads Network.
In return, buyers or sellers receive commission rebates of $400 to $9,000, depending on the price of the home they’re buying or selling. For a buyer purchasing a median-priced $403,700 home, the program would provide a $2,525 commission rebate, according to a calculator on the Navy Federal RealtyPlus homepage.
A referral client closing on a $1.4 million home would get $6,000 back, or 0.4 percent of the sale price. To qualify for the maximum $9,000 cash back requires buying or selling a home valued at $3 million or greater.
“When you buy or sell a home through our program, the real estate company splits their commission with Anywhere Leads Inc.,” a website FAQ explains. “This commission split is a common practice in the real estate industry and is used to increase business for the broker and provide a savings to homebuyers and sellers.”
Anywhere Leads refers buyers and sellers to brokers and agents affiliated with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Corcoran, ERA and Sotheby’s International Realty.
Fred Quick
“For over 35 years, Navy Federal’s RealtyPlus program has helped our members achieve their home ownership goals,” Fred Quick, head of mortgage lending at Navy Federal, said in a statement. “Our partnership with Anywhere allows us to connect our members with the highest quality real estate agents. We’re proud of the great service this provides for the military community and their families.”
Navy Federal on May 6 honored three top performing brokerages in the RealtyPlus program with “SPIRIT Awards:”
- Coldwell Banker Brown Realtors, Edwardsville, Illinois
- Coldwell Banker Realty Central, Pennsylvania
- Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Native American Group, Virginia Beach, Virginia
Kristin Aerts
“It’s rare in today’s fast-paced business environment to witness two brands maintain a longstanding relationship, and we are incredibly proud of the 36-year strategic partnership with Navy Federal Credit Union,” Anywhere executive Kristin Aerts said, in a statement. “Our RealtyPlus program brokers and agents understand the unique needs of Navy Federal members and are committed to delivering exceptional service to those who’ve served our country, including their families.”
Anywhere Leads Inc. has similar commission rebate programs for AARP members and military and veteran families providing up to $7,500 cash back.
The programs aren’t available in states that prohibit or restrict commission rebates — such as Alaska and Oklahoma — or for some transactions with restricted agent commissions including many new construction, for sale by owner or for sale by iBuyer transactions.
Get Inman’s Mortgage Brief Newsletter delivered right to your inbox. A weekly roundup of all the biggest news in the world of mortgages and closings delivered every Wednesday. Click here to subscribe.
Email Matt Carter
This post was originally published on this site
