Trending: Skipping the middleman, ‘White Lotus’ energy, travel trends
From “White Lotus”-fueled wanderlust to TikTok trends and creator-friendly tools, this edition of Trending breaks down what’s shifting — and how real estate pros can stay ahead.
Each week on Trending, digital marketer Jessi Healey dives into what’s buzzing in social media and why it matters for real estate professionals. From viral trends to platform changes, she’ll break it all down so you know what’s worth your time — and what’s not.
From AI updates that might reshape the social landscape to meme-worthy travel trends driving commerce, there’s never a dull moment online. OpenAI hints at building a new social platform, Instagram experiments with recap tools and cultural influence is once again proving to be a powerful marketing tool, thanks to the White Lotus effect.
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Here’s what’s shaping strategy this week — and how it could help real estate pros stand out, connect and sell smarter.
OpenAI might be building its own social platform
OpenAI is reportedly developing a social media platform built on real-time data — something that would allow its AI models to learn more like humans do. The goal? To compete with the likes of X, formerly known as Twitter, by tapping into trending content and engagement patterns.
While it’s unclear if this will live inside ChatGPT or become a standalone app, the implications are big: AI trained on current conversation could change how content is recommended, ranked and created.
For real estate professionals, this is a signal that future social media may be shaped not by human behavior alone, but by how AI observes and learns from us in real time.
White Lotus proves cultural clout drives conversions
The White Lotus season 3 finale may be over, but the ripple effect across fashion, hospitality and lifestyle brands is very much alive. From Four Seasons hotel bookings to Banana Republic sellouts, the show’s opulent, drama-soaked aesthetic has shifted consumer interest toward “loud luxury” and destination envy.
Real estate takeaway?
- Tie your listings to aspirational travel aesthetics
- Use bold, statement visuals inspired by luxury hotels or dream destinations
- If you’re marketing a second home, vacation rental or luxury property, now’s the time to lean into the “wellness travel” narrative
For real estate professionals, remember that cultural storytelling creates an emotional connection, and when paired with the right visuals, it can elevate listings beyond price and square footage. Don’t be afraid to lean into pop culture trends when you can, but don’t take part in something you are unfamiliar with either. No one wants to get caught creating or sharing a meme that doesn’t mean what they think it does.
LinkedIn launches content hub, confirms what works
LinkedIn has launched a mini-site full of best practices, content ideas and templates for better posting. If you’ve ever wondered what performs best on the platform, new research shows multi-image posts, native documents and videos win on engagement.
Pair that with LinkedIn’s recently added organic audience targeting for company pages, and you’ve got a serious opportunity to tailor your message, without paid ads.
For real estate professionals, this is a reminder that LinkedIn is becoming more creator-friendly, and smarter use of format and audience tools can drive real results.
TikTok trend: Skip the middleman
A new viral trend sees U.S. consumers bypassing Western retail brands and shopping directly from Chinese wholesale platforms like DHgate, now a top free app in the U.S. App Store.
This direct-to-source mindset reflects a broader shift: Consumers want transparency, control and affordability — and they’re willing to change how they shop to get it.
For real estate professionals, this trend reinforces the appeal of transparency. Offer clear pricing, walk-throughs and open access to key info — and consider leaning into content that demystifies the buying process.
Instagram plans iPad app and creator recaps
Instagram may finally launch an iPad-optimized app, alongside a new monthly recap feature for creators. Recaps include total views, follower breakdowns, top posts and activity insights.
For real estate professionals, this is a reminder to check in on your metrics regularly — because knowing what’s working helps you post more of what moves the needle.
Snapchat sees virtual tours as key to travel discovery
Snapchat’s new travel report highlights how virtual tours inspire destination interest — with 79 percent of users saying tours helped them explore places they wouldn’t have considered otherwise.
For real estate professionals, this is a reminder that virtual property tours are more than a trend — they’re a discovery tool. Use them to showcase spaces in a way that builds trust and drives imagination.
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Offerpad joins Opendoor, Fathom in the stock delisting danger zone
Offerpad’s market capitalization has dropped below $50 million for 30 consecutive trading days, and the New York Stock Exchange wants to know what it’s going to do about it.
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Cash offer and renovation platform Offerpad Solutions Inc. has been put on notice by the New York Stock Exchange that it could be delisted from the exchange because its market capitalization has dropped below $50 million.
Offerpad informed investors on April 16 that it plans to submit a business plan within the next 45 days detailing how it will get back into compliance with the stock exchange’s listing standards within 18 months.
The April 10 compliance notification that Offerpad received from the New York Stock Exchange “has no immediate impact on the listing of the company’s Class A common stock,” the company said.
A spokesperson for Offerpad told Inman the notification is “a standard procedural matter” and that the company is confident in its ability to submit a compliance plan within the required timeframe.
“As we mentioned on our most recent earnings call, we have multiple pathways to success, and are actively executing on initiatives that support sustainable long-term growth,” Offerpad Chief of Staff and Vice President of Operations Cortney Read said in an email.
Over the past 12 months, shares in Offerpad have traded for as little as $1.36 and as much as $8.37. Friday’s closing price of $1.48 valued the company at $40.5 million.
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The compliance notification was triggered because Offerpad’s average global market capitalization fell below $50 million for 30 consecutive trading days.
With 27.38 million shares outstanding, Offerpad’s price per share would need to rebound to at least $1.83 for the company’s market capitalization to meet the $50 million threshold.
Assuming the New York Stock Exchange accepts its plan to regain compliance, Offerpad’s common stock will continue to be listed and traded on the exchange during the 18-month cure period.
Offerpad reported a $62.2 million 2024 net loss on Feb. 24 — a 47 percent improvement from the company’s $117 million in 2023 — and will release Q1 2025 earnings on May 5.
Rival iBuyer Opendoor is flirting with listing compliance issues on the Nasdaq exchange if its price per share remains below the exchange’s $1 minimum bid requirement.
Shares in Opendoor briefly dipped below $1 on April 1 and touched a 52-week low of $0.85 three days later, but bounced back to close at $1.09 on April 9. Shares in Opendoor were at $0.95 Friday, up 3 percent.
Shares in Fathom Realty’s parent company, Fathom Holdings, have also been trading below the $1 threshold since March 3, triggering a compliance warning from Nasdaq.
Fathom notified investors Friday that Nasdaq put it on notice on April 14 that it has until Oct. 13 to regain compliance with its bid price rule.
If shares in Fathom close at $1 or higher for at least 10 consecutive business days, it will be considered back in compliance. If shares in Fathom remain below $1, it could qualify for another 180-day reprieve and regain compliance through a reverse stock split, if necessary.
Fathom reported a $21.6 million 2024 net loss but finished the year with 14,300 agents — 2,505 more than it started with.
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Lofty promises faster, smarter marketing with Bloom release
Real estate software company Lofty has developed a new product to assist agents with hands-off lead generation called Lofty Bloom.
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Real estate software company Lofty has developed a new product to assist agents with hands-off lead generation called Lofty Bloom, Inman has learned.
The company said in an April 14 statement that Bloom silos email and print outreach, market-specific community content, display ad re-targeting and sequenced follow-up powered by artificial intelligence.
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This kind of multi-channel vertical alignment helps messaging stay consistent because each action and form of content remains linked. Agents don’t need to record an email, manually strategize and create a response, and then record each action in their CRM — Bloom does it for them. It also helps ensure communications are timely and contextual.
“This advancement will enable real estate professionals to dominate key zip codes by offering guaranteed exclusivity and positioning agents as the “go-to” local neighborhood expert,” Lofty said in the release. “Each ZIP Code comes with guaranteed exclusivity, allowing teams to dominate their local area and help sellers get top dollar for their property.”
Marketing automation is becoming a common and powerful value contributor for agents and brokerages who want to shrink operations and create efficiencies (not necessarily the same thing) with software.
Brokerage tech-stacks are often redundant or fragmented and sometimes both, meaning one agent uses Mailchimp for email and Salesforce for contact management, and a colleague of theirs works with a local print house to send flyers and Hootsuite to manage social media content.
While each product and vendor is good at what it does, they collectively compound multiple risks, such as losing data between actions, eliminating the benefits of immediacy or sending out-of-context messages. Also, users have multiple channels of support and training to which to adhere. Vertically integrating each step can execute a marketing effort with more consistency in cadence and overall offers a higher chance of success.
In one use case, a postcard sent via Bloom will use a QR code to offer the recipient a home valuation. In turn, the user is tagged in the database, triggers an email sequence and is then targeted on Facebook with location-specific display ads. Such efforts can be set up to collect buyer interest, promote open houses and for general brokerage branding, among other uses.
“Lofty Bloom is the most dynamic, end-to-end digital farming tool, seamlessly combining postcards, digital marketing, AI-powered nurture, and follow-up for exclusive ZIP Code targeting. Designed to engage homeowners and sellers, it maximizes exposure and ensures agents stand out in their most targeted markets,” said Dave Carter, vice president at Lofty, in the statement.
Lofty announced an internal initiative last summer to accommodate the needs of “modern brokerages.” It involved a number of product updates to appeal to larger teams and enterprise operations. Many of the updates rolled out in the fall, Inman reported.
Zillow Group’s Samuelson defends, clarifies listing ban in blog post
Zillow Group Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson took to LinkedIn on Friday to clarify how the company’s listing ban applies to Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings and chastise those who spread “misinformation” about the policy.
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A week after Zillow Group announced its controversial listing access standard that bans privately marketed listings on Zillow and Trulia, Zillow Group Chief Industry Development Officer Errol Samuelson penned an op-ed defending the company’s decision and clarifying points of confusion, primarily around Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings (DMEL).
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Errol Samuelson
“At Zillow, we believe that every buyer, seller and agent deserves equal access to information,” he said. “Our new listing access standards — requiring that a listing marketed to some buyers should be available to all buyers — reinforce this belief.”
“While a few argue that buyers and sellers might benefit from exclusive private listings, the reality is that they create an uneven playing field,” he added. “Buyers who are not able to access these hidden listings are at a significant disadvantage, missing out on potential opportunities simply because they aren’t aware of the listings or were already working with an agent who also didn’t have access to these listings. A healthy housing market thrives on competition and transparency.”
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Samuelson said Zillow Group’s listing access standard, which bans listings that aren’t added to the multiple listing service (MLS) within 24 hours of public marketing, doesn’t apply to these categories of listings:
- True private listings on MLS for sellers who need privacy throughout the life of the listing and never intend to market it online
- Office exclusives that are within a brokerage company but not publicly marketed or available to consumers directly
- Coming Soon and all other pre-marketed listings put into the MLS and distributed to all participants for display
- Delayed marketing listings put into the MLS and distributed to all participants for display
- For sale by owner listings
- Rental listings
- New construction listings sold by the builder
“What isn’t okay is a listing publicly marketed to some buyers but hidden from others,” he said. “That’s the line … The goal isn’t to catch anyone unaware; the goal is to encourage consumer transparency.”
The Zillow leader chastized industry members who spread “misinformation” about the company’s motivations and sought to discover “loopholes” to circumvent the ban.
“Since we announced our standards on April 10, there have been many reactions across the industry and beyond,” he said. “We knew there would be. Most have been supportive, including from some surprising voices who aren’t always ‘pro-Zillow’ but are, in fact, pro-consumer like we are.”
“There are also some voices spreading misinformation and looking for loopholes as they try to undermine our consumer-first position and capitalize on a moment to lean into the microphone,” he added. “These ‘what ifs’ are intended to distract from the core of this pro-consumer stance.”
Samuelson said Zillow Group will explain the logistics of the ban before it goes into effect in May.
“Zillow was founded to empower consumers with real estate information and to help them make thoughtful, informed decisions. And we know great agents and brokers are experts at informing, educating and advising their clients,” he said. “No matter the tools or the technology, agents cannot do their best work when they are unable to compete freely and fairly, earning business based on the value they offer, not because they are members of a private listing club.”
Zillow Group’s listing access standards marked a new chapter in the fight over the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), which NAR leaders amended on March 25 to include a new delayed marketing exemption under a new Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy. The exemption allows listing brokers, at the informed request of homesellers, to delay the syndication of their listing to sites like Zillow through an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed.
Proponents and opponents of the CCP each took the addition of Delayed Marketing Exempt Listings as a win, with proponents praising NAR for standing against pressure to axe the rule under lingering antitrust fears and opponents largely taking such listings as another step toward full seller choice.
However, Zillow Group’s ban added fuel to longstanding debates over CCP, PLNs and antitrust litigation, with major industry players quickly — and passionately — choosing sides.
EXp Realty and NextHome immediately pledged to follow Zillow Group’s listing access standard, with eXp launching advisory forms that educate homesellers about the potential downsides associated with private listings. Redfin also announced a listing ban, noting the importance of maintaining a transparent marketplace for buyers, sellers and agents.
Meanwhile, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and CoStar founder and CEO Andy Florance cast Zillow’s move as an anticompetitive “power play” rooted in fear that agents and consumers may abandon the platform if PLNs are allowed to thrive.
Both sides have called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to adjudicate the matter, but the department has yet to comment.
Trump administration makes its case for massive CFPB job cuts
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A federal judge has put a temporary hold on the Trump administration’s move to fire all but 200 of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s 1,700 employees, saying she has yet to weigh the merits of a lawsuit challenging the legality of dismantling the bureau.
Layoff notices went out Thursday to more than 1,500 CFPB employees, as an “approximately 200-person agency allows the bureau to fulfill its statutory duties and better aligns with the new leadership’s priorities and management philosophy,” CFPB Chief Legal Officer Mark Paoletta said in a court filing Friday.
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Paoletta said employees who received layoff notices Thursday “are still CFPB employees for 60 days” and that the bureau “will continuously assess … workforce needs and assess and adapt and make appropriate changes to ensure compliance with statutory duties and account for changing circumstances.”
U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over the case that could determine the CFPB’s fate, issued a temporary restraining order Friday halting the layoffs, pending an April 28 evidentiary hearing.
“I’m willing to resolve it quickly, but I’m not going to let this RIF [reduction in force] go forward until I have,” Jackson said during a hearing, as reported by the Associated Press.
A union representing many of the CFPB’s staff sued Acting Director Russel Vought on Feb. 9, challenging what it characterized as the Trump administration’s “ongoing effort to dismantle the CFPB.” Consumer groups, including the National Consumer Law Center and the NAACP, joined the legal battle, and attorneys general of 13 states and the District of Columbia also filed an amicus brief seeking to forestall mass layoffs.
Jackson put layoffs of 1,200 CFPB workers on hold in a Feb. 19 temporary restraining order. But a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 11 ruled the Trump administration could lay off workers it had determined through a “particularized assessment” were not needed to perform duties mandated by Congress.
Trump administration details cuts
The CFPB provided that assessment to Jackson on Friday — the day after the layoff notices went out. In a five-page declaration, Paoletta detailed the cuts to be made in each of the bureau’s departments and why those workers were no longer needed.
Paoletta also submitted a memo that he sent to all CFPB staff on April 16, detailing the Trump administration’s supervision and enforcement priorities for the bureau.
Mark Paoletta
“The Bureau will focus its enforcement and supervision resources on pressing threats to consumers, particularly service members and their families, and veterans,” Paoletta said in the memo. “To focus on tangible harms to consumers, the bureau will shift resources away from enforcement and supervision that can be done by the states.”
Paoletta said in his court declaration Friday that the CFPB’s single biggest department, the supervision and enforcement division, will be cut from 487 employees to 50, as most of its workers no longer needed under the Trump administration’s new priorities, Paoletta said.
Since Trump began his second term in office, the CFPB has dropped nine pending consumer lawsuits, including a controversial RESPA complaint against Rocket Homes.
In his April 16 memo, Paoletta called for the supervision and enforcement division to “decrease the overall number of ‘events’ by 50 percent” with a focus on “conciliation, correction, and remediation of harms subject to consumers’ complaints” and “collaborative efforts with the supervised entities to resolve problems so that there are measurable benefits to consumers.”
The CFPB’s Operations Division of 323 employees performs duties “not required by statute” and will be cut to 30 employees, Paoletta said in his declaration.
The Research Monitoring and Regulations Division includes the Office of Service Members Affairs, the Office of Financial Protection for Older Americans, and the Office of the Private Education Loan Ombudsman.
While those offices perform duties mandated by Congress, Paoletta said he determined “that the statutory duties of each [office] could be performed by one person.” The division’s current staff of 230 employees will be reduced to 22.
Similarly, the CFPB Director’s Office includes the Office of Minority and Women’s Inclusion and the Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, which enforces the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) and Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA). Although those duties “are required by statute,” Paoletta said he determined “that the statutory functions of each of these offices could be performed by one person” and staffing in the Director’s Office will be cut from 86 employees to five.
The CFPB’s Consumer Response and Education Division of 149 employees will also be cut “substantially,” as the bureau “retains dozens of contractors to field consumer complaints,” Paoletta said.
Now that the Trump administration has provided a “particularized assessment” of why the employees it intends to fire are not needed to perform duties mandated by Congress, Judge Jackson will hear arguments to the contrary.
Lauren Saunders
“Congress created the CFPB to address the gaps that allowed nonbank mortgage lenders, student lenders, payday lenders and other nonbank companies to escape accountability,” Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, said in a statement. “The CFPB cannot simply shirk the consumer protection responsibilities Congress gave it and expect states to enforce federal law.”
In his April 16 memo, Paolleta said the bureau will shift its focus away from nonbank lenders and “focus on the largest banks and depository institutions.”
“Nonbanks’ shoddy business practices were a significant driver of the financial crisis of 2007, causing millions of people to lose their homes, jobs and savings,” Saunders said. “By focusing solely on large banks, and ignoring the statutory mandate to supervise nonbanks and enforce the law across its entire jurisdiction, this Administration is clearing the way for unscrupulous companies to once again violate the law and take advantage of ordinary people.”
DOGE staffer allegedly drove layoff process
How rigorously the CFPB analyzed the duties of the workers to be fired is another area of contention.
A CFPB employee who was part of the “reduction in force” (RIF) team claimed in a court declaration Friday that the team was managed by a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) employee who “kept the team up for 36 hours straight to ensure that the notices would go out” Thursday and “was screaming at people he did not believe were working fast enough to ensure they could go out on this compressed timeline, calling them incompetent.”
The anonymous employee’s declaration — filed by attorneys representing the CFPB’s union employees — also claimed members of the team expressed concerns that “there was a court order requiring that they do a particularized assessment, but they were told that all that mattered was the numbers.”
“The direction to ignore the concern came from Mark Paoletta, who said that the numbers-based RIF should move forward, and that leadership would assume the risk,” the employee claimed.
The CFPB did not respond to Inman’s requests for comment.
Paoletta was appointed by President Trump in November as the Office of Management and Budget’s general counsel. In that role — which remains his full-time job — Paoletta was expected to “work closely” with DOGE “to cut the size of our bloated government bureaucracy, and root out wasteful and anti-American spending,” Trump said in an announcement.
After the November election, DOGE cheerleader Elon Musk posted on his social media platform, X, that the Trump administration should “Delete CFPB. There are too many duplicative regulatory agencies.”
Consumer groups and Democrats who support the CFPB have pointed out that Musk’s plans to provide a mobile payment service through X would be regulated by the CFPB.
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Holly Parker sues Douglas Elliman over $1.5M clawback dispute
Parker alleges the brokerage, which she departed in February after 25 years, is demanding $1.5 million in clawbacks while refusing to pay commissions on deals that closed after her move to Compass.
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After 25 years with Douglas Elliman, top-producing real estate veteran Holly Parker is suing the brokerage, alleging it’s incorrectly demanding $1.5 million in clawbacks and refusing to pay her commissions on deals that closed after her move to Compass, The Real Deal reported Friday.
Parker, the founder and CEO of The Holly Parker Team, filed the lawsuit seeking release from the clawback demands, as well as approximately $385,000 in damages — double the amount of withheld commissions — along with attorneys’ fees and related costs.
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Parker made the switch to Compass in February after a long career with Elliman, where she ranked among the firm’s top 10 agents for more than 15 years and served as a leading producer in new development sales.
At the time of her exit, Parker had 16 deals under contract. According to the lawsuit, she was entitled to a 40 percent commission split on any of those transactions that closed after her departure, per the terms of a 2020 independent contractor agreement (ICA) with Elliman. That agreement stated commissions were to be paid within 30 days of closing.
However, Parker claims that 10 of those deals have since closed, all more than 30 days ago — and that Elliman has withheld nearly $193,000 in commissions.
Beyond the ICA, Parker argues that side letters signed during her time at Elliman should override the original contract. One letter, signed in 2020, increased her commission split to 70 percent. Another, signed in 2022, provided up to $205,000 in reimbursements for assistant and receptionist costs as well as a performance bonus tied to her team’s transactions.
The clawback clause in those letters allowed Elliman to recoup those funds only if Parker left before Dec. 31, 2024, a threshold she crossed before leaving the firm earlier this year. Nonetheless, on Feb. 28, Elliman issued a letter demanding $1.6 million in clawbacks, including $1.1 million in bonuses, $394,000 in assistant funding, $85,000 in advertising and $92 in StreetEasy fees.
A key point of contention is a policy manual Elliman is allegedly relying on to justify its claims. According to the complaint, Elliman refused to provide the full manual, offering only two partial excerpts after Parker agreed to sign a nondisclosure agreement that included a liquidated damages clause.
In the complaint, Parker’s attorney, Michael Rakower of Rakower Law, described Elliman’s legal position as “unsustainable.”
“The limits of its clawback rights are evident in the agreements it signed with Parker,” as stated in the lawsuit. “Elliman is willfully ignoring those limits and wrongfully withholding money owed to Parker as punishment for her departure.”
Inman has reached out to Douglas Elliman, as well as Holly Parker and her legal team, for comment but did not receive an immediate response Friday.