Zillow Buys Trulia for $3.5 Billion

1. Zillow Buys Trulia for $3.5 Billion • Zillow will acquire Trulia in a $3.5 billion stock deal, the companies have announced. The deal, approved by both companies' boards, is expected to close next year. • The real estate brands will continue to operate under their individual names. Trulia CEO Pete Flint will maintain his position and report to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff. • Trulia shareholders will receive 0.444 shares of Class A Common Stock of Zillow for every Trulia share they own. Trulia shareholders will own about a third of the combined company. The value of the deal is a 25% premium on Trulia's Friday closing price of $56.35. • "This is a tremendous opportunity to combine our resources and achieve even more impressive innovation that will benefit consumers and the real estate industry," Rascoff said in a release. • The companies expressed hope that the merger will provide better opportunities for leveraging ad sales, the primary source of revenue for both companies. According to a release, the combined revenue of both companies represents less than 4% of the estimated $12 billion real estate professionals spend on marketing.

2. Real Estate Agents as W-2 Employees • In 2015, Congress proposes changing legislation such that real estate agents would be treated as W-2 employees. • There are a couple of lawsuits currently making their way through California courts that may result in real estate agents being classified as employees. • With that in mind, real estate blogger Notorious Rob has launched a contest. He’s looking for the best consumer-centric reason why real estate agents should remain 1099 independent contractors, instead of employees: How does the home buyer or seller benefit from having real estate agents be 1099 independent contractors? • Notorious Rob asks that you email your best answer — as long or as short as you’d like — to rhahn@7dsassociates.com. He will select a few that he thinks are the best, then post them on the Notorious Rob Facebook page. The top vote-getter (by likes) will then win. • For more information about Rob’s first-ever Notorious Reader Contest, see http://bit.ly/UxZ5rL.

3. Weekly HAR Market Stat You might say we're leaning too heavily toward a seller's market as prices rise, that another buyer's market is over the horizon if inventory pushes up or that things are just right for the first time in years. No matter where your submarket sits on the scale, it's safe to say that MLS data is the best base for a meaningful opinion and that a doppelbock is not a good base for an outdoor barbecue in the middle of July. In the Houston region, for the week ending July 20: • New Listings increased 1.1% to 2,574 • Pending Sales increased 20.1% to 2,211 • Closed Sales decreased 6.9% to 1,757

4. New HAR One-Hour Webinar Series • Your clients have spoken and we listened!HAR’s all new one-hour webinar series: • Buyers Expectations:  How to give them what they want! • Seller Expectations:  How to give them what they want! • Real Estate Tools that give consumers what they want! • Whether you represent the buyer, seller or just need some extra tools to sharpen your real estate skills, this is the webinar series for you! • Join real estate consumer training experts Katrina Barnes and Tara Whitting as they guide you through a series of one-hour webinars based on real feedback and statistics from local home buyers and sellers. This course will help you gain the knowledge you need to increase your business by giving consumers what they want! These interactive webinars will be available every Wednesday throughout the rest of the summer. • Register online today at www.har.com/edu. Questions? 713-629-1900 ext. 6 Register at www.har.com/edu