Here's the Valentines Day offering from Bobby . Please RSVP below:

EXCLUSIVE DEMO for RECALL (Real Estate Consumer Alliance): 

Saturday, February 14 · 10:00 – 11:00am
Time zone: America/Chicago

Google Meet joining info
Video call link: 

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 219-690-8951‬ PIN: ‪765 183 713‬#

More phone numbers:

https://tel.meet/rtb-dcnc-rup?pin=7983192812538

Bravo, Frances Thorsen thanks for these words of encouragement & wisdom. Well-timed both for Valentines Day and National Consumer Protection Week, 3/1-7/26. Who wants to use the next two weeks to respond to the invitation / challenge below?  Discuss at RECALL Roundtable this afternoon?  Will post link in this thread, please RSVP:

A Love Letter to My Generation (and Beyond)

To my fellow Boomers and post-Boomers: we are not obsolete. We are not too old to learn new tricks. We are not done creating, building, and making our mark on the world.

AI isn’t here to replace us—it’s here to amplify us. It takes our decades of knowledge, our hard-won expertise, our understanding of how the world actually works, and it gives us superpowers we never had before.

I built a website in three days because I combined 40 years of real estate knowledge with cutting-edge technology. That’s not a replacement of human expertise—it’s a multiplication of it.

The Invitation

So here’s my challenge to you: What have you been putting off because you thought you were too old, too late, too far behind the technology curve?

What expertise do you have locked up in your head that the world needs to see?

What would you build if you knew you couldn’t fail?

Topic: RECALL Roundtable: Can AI superpowers deliver #ClassActRE savings?
Time: Feb 13, 2026 04pm ET / 3pm CT (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/88634628791?pwd=ipJk2ZTVIrTjVb44BOFUzyRJ98Jtrz.1

Meeting ID: 886 3462 8791
Passcode: RECALL

Join instructions
https://us05web.zoom.us/meetings/88634628791/invitations?signature=pbimyxDwtU6pcbojO6gpAMoXs7gcY3tbsWZ7Bla5_4w

Frances can you join us for a quick tour of your site? Vinnie want to talk about your upcoming podcast series. Anyone else want to add topics on this thread or use this link to invite fellow real estate consumer advocates?

https://public.3.basecamp.com/p/5YHybn2iyhmnY5AjzrecNHBc 

LIGHTNING ROUND 

As usual, anyone on the call / Zoom meeting can take up to 3 minutes to share what they're working on, and how others can help them achieve their goals. 

If you'd like to talk before the meeting starts, post on Basecamp, text or call: 

Bill Wendel
@RealEstateCafe
realestatecafe@gmail.com
617-661-4046

Thanks for sharing, Bill.  I love what you folks are doing here, looking forward to becoming more engaged. I am also working on an AI project involving real estate referrals. I look forward to seeing more here.

BREAKING NEWS: or old news in a broken system?  Trying to listen into the MassREBoard's session today, which is focusing during the 1st part of their meeting on polishing a new (?) continuing education course on Teams.

They've just edited the header to reflection the scandal / timebomb hiding in plain sight. Teams are NOT legally recognized in Massachusetts.

Implications as Compass morphs into an eight-handed conflict of interest octopus with the purchase of it's rival, Anywhere?

Will homebuyer be able to get undivided loyalty anywhere in the market, when buyer agents are strangled because they cannot access listings hidden by team that double dip preMLS?

Hmmm - see anything wrong with the text in the screen below? Does it say:

Everything is shared and each team member has their own client? Does this mean that

1.  Every listing has the potential to be sold in-house, preMLS; and

2. Members of the team can have RIVAL buyers, in-house, so a bidding war can occur before the listing ever reaches the open market?

Not only is this a conflict of interest and agency fraud, but it extends surveillance capitalism into surveillance pricing because team members are able to use personal data to calculate the purchasing power of in-house buyers and their in-house dasnboard can share that with the listing agent preMLS!

It's a Venus Fly Trap - the Team lead generation system captures confidential buyer information which can be used to

3. Price the property; and then

4. Manipulate buyers - their own clients - into overpaying.

URGENT REQUEST: Can someone else try to log into the meeting and take screenshots? I'm on an older mac (2019) and the audio is not working at all for me:

https://www.mass.gov/doc/re-education-subcommittee-agenda-2-13-26/download

I've tried to request the video recording of meetings in the past and been stonewalled.  Wendy Gilch have you, Doug Miller or anyone else had success with freedom of information requests in the past?

Does anyone have a working relationship with NLCL (National Consumer Law Center), the group that hosts an annual anti-trust conference? Have already alterted them to the Compass / Anywhere merger and it's potential negative implications for homebuyers in Massachusetts, where NLCL is located.

I'm on the Mass Mtg, they were talking about CE Global Classes, and currently 1031 Exchanges. I see Teams as a tab on the agenda, but not certain if they have already covered that topic. I only have about 15 mins before I head into another meeting. 

They have adjourned, so I missed the Teams portion. Sorry. Attached are the 4 screen shots I was able to grab.  Hoping I finally get to attend the Friday meeting today at 4:00 PM EST. V

Vanessa thanks for visiting the #MassREBoard hearing.  Yes, the section on teams was the first 30+ minutes of the meeting from what I could tell before I lost my internet connection.

I'll try to do today's 4pm ET / 3pm ET Zoom from a library room with a whiteboard so we can post stickies - real and virtual - to reflect who's doing what and how we might collaborate this Spring, starting with National Consumer Protection Week - just two weeks from now (3/1-7/26)!

Valentines Day has always been a fertile (pun intended) opportunity to be creative in the past. (See sample & share your own?)

https://x.com/RealEstateCafe/status/1625203586475954177?s=20

The gentleman who wrote this guest Valentines Day post for HousingWire is one of the most likable vendors I've had the pleasure of chatting with at NAR conferences but we have different perspectives on some issues (as I would expect we will have on a variety of issues, including the board's discussion today on teams.)

If we can all agree that we should use AI to reset real estate on trust, maybe it won't matter that humans have turned blind eyes to conflicts of interest in the past. Wanna to turn HousingWire's article into teachable moment?

https://x.com/RealEstateCafe/status/2022348241111781676?s=20

I’m all in on using AI to improve clarity.

But trust is not a software feature.

Trust happens when loyalty is clear, visibility is verifiable, and consumers do not feel cornered into signing something they do not understand. AI can surface conflicts. It can standardize disclosures. It can timestamp exposure. But if the underlying structures still reward opacity, then we are just rearranging furniture with better tools.

The lawsuit was loud. While everyone debates commissions and buyer agreements, the real shift is quieter and more consequential: who controls visibility, access, and leverage.

That is why this ultimately comes back to trust. Trust is handing someone the keys to your castle and believing they will protect it as fiercely as you would.

I just published the connect-the-dots version of what we are circling:
 https://open.substack.com/pub/vanessasaunders/p/do-you-own-a-home?r=4sessy&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

For National Consumer Protection Week (March 1–7), I think the umbrella message is simple: TRUST REQUIRES CLARITY.

If anyone wants to turn this into a one-page consumer checklist, a short explainer video, or a public Zoom session, I’m in.

Buyers are asking the most rational question in the room right now: “Why am I signing an agreement before I can even see a house?” We owe them a plain-English answer.

Heading into a lunch meeting now. Hoping to "see" you later. V

Vanessa thanks for flagging this essential question, as I think it's one of the flaws in the NAR Settlement"

And who's setting the terms of the agreement? Doc & Joyce , haven't said much about real estate use cases we've discussed in the past. Are you or anyone of your VRM / personal AI peers talking about MyTerms during National Consumer Protection Week, 3/1-7/26?

Did you know this event falls in the middle of the NCPW26?

​a one‑day, deep‑dive event co‑located with SCaLE 23x at the Pasadena Convention Center on March 5, 2026. Hosted by Kwaai, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit AI lab, the summit explores how AI can be open, people‑owned, and run on decentralized infrastructure instead of a few central platforms.

Vanessa - inspiring and thanks for sharing Bill! I vibe coded www.vexcy.com - an education focused disruptive real estate concept. The most similar site I've seen to date is Steven Koleno's Open Access that debuts next month.  I have been studying AI and modern communications extensively in the last few months as I've been going through the CE shop broker course (which is terribly outdated). This deep dive investigation has given me an arsenal of articles in preparation for an upcoming lawsuit against NAR, FAR, CPAR and a couple of brokers. All US systems are in critical failure as AI has given resources and knowledge to people that haven't had them in the past. I write about control systems in human lives after being raised in a cult. I dismantle them in real estate with Vexcy. As Brene Brown has so eloquently stated, "transparency, honesty and vulnerability are the keys to leadership." NAR is not providing that, our government is not even in the ballpark - so the companies and voices that succeed in the coming era will be those who shout truth from the rooftops. And especially those who have fun while doing it! :) 

Crystal Thank you so much for chiming in, as I enjoyed our initial one-on-one call and think your writing skills and creativity will delight in meeting kindred spirits.  Should we talk about using NCPW (National Consumer Protection Week to set up an April Fool's Day funfest of somekind?

Parody playwriting festival among peers? Why not, everyone in mainstream real estate considers us to be Real Estate Reform Fools, right?

Or take teachable moments to the street via social media?  Here's an example featuring a well-known LAUGHtivist out of Boston, Alex the Jester from a decade ago when 1 in 4 people in the People's Republic of Cambridge were paying $100K over asking price!

By WK 21, 2022 that expanded to 1 in 6.5 sales statewide across MA.  What a joke!

http://realestatecafe.com/fooled-again-lets-use-tech-to-reform-real-estate-blind-biddings-wars/

OMG, if you want to see preview of how AI can amplify a lifetime of expertise and how general or collective intelligence could be mobilized by AI agents to clean up the #RECartel, check out Frances last post on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/16R8Vs3Rxr/

Will AI do what our group of would-be real estate reformers has failed to do over the past three decades?

When we hosted a two-day conference in Boston called the Consumer Revolution in Real Estate (4/2-3/93), Realtors were aghast that we had the audacity to include a panel entitled:

Think AI agents are going to turbocharge that opportunity and deliver BILLIONS in restitution?

---

UPDATE: Frances will NOT be able to join us today at 4pm ET, 3pm CT but is available tomorrow 10am CT to talk about her work.  Bobby Bryant, are you OK with her sharing the meeting you're convening to DEMO your app or want to separate the two?

Re: the Housing Wire article that your friend wrote, I shared it with comments on LinkedIn. but would like to add this here:  Pie is nice. Clarity is nicer.
 What actually earns your trust from a service professional? 

Also...Why cant I get into the Zoom? Has the link changed? I had moved Hell and High Snow to be here today in time for this meeting. So frustrating...

Bill, if this morning does not work I can create a walk-though video and post it here and we can have a discussion at a time that works.

Vanessa my apologize. The roundtable was only two of us but Paige and I had much to talk about.

Did anyone else have trouble with Zoom. Bobby Bryant is convening us this morning via the Microsoft Meeting platform. I’m not familiar with that system so glad to let him lead at 10am.

Bobby  can you share the time with Fran?

Fran, I remember an explainer video you made on flag day about 7 years ago for Maureen Glasheen’s Pledge of Allegiance. It’s had a long shelf life!

If you do something similar for Valentines Day, maybe Forest Gump can make an appearance and you explain how you should expect more from real estate agents than an occasional box of chocolates.

Expect clarity as Vanessa says and compensation options, and maybe a claim check too!

Oh Bill.

Nothing says “Happy Valentine’s Day” like Forrest Gump, a box of chocolates, and a claim check for your buyer agreement.

First, the Zoom gremlins were not just you. I half expected Clippy to pop up and ask if we were trying to convene a roundtable in 2007. Hoping for better luck next time,  ( though I’m traveling next Friday, so in two weeks perhaps?)

Second, if we’re invoking Forrest Gump, then let’s do it properly.

“Real estate is like a box of chocolates” is precisely the problem.

Consumers shouldn’t have to guess what they’re going to get.

They shouldn’t wonder:

Valentine’s Day marketing in real estate has always leaned toward roses and ribbon. But this is not a Hallmark holiday. It’s the largest financial transaction most families will ever make.

Love is nice.

Clarity is better.

 Oh and, I’m posting a Valentines special over on LinkedIn. Just working on a graphic!

Cheers!

V

Good Morning! I look forward to seeing and sharing with you this morning. By the way Happy Valentines Day to each of you. The link is actually Google Meet: EXCLUSIVE DEMO for BASECAMP MEMBERS: homhub
Saturday, February 14 · 10:00 – 11:00am
Time zone: America/Chicago
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/rtb-dcnc-rup
Or dial: ‪(US) +1 219-690-8951‬ PIN: ‪765 183 713‬#
More phone numbers: https://tel.meet/rtb-dcnc-rup?pin=7983192812538

Bill  I'm okay with sharing the meeting. She can surely kick it off. 

OMG!  People at Starbucks are wondering what I've laughing at and I'm tempted to slide my laptop onto the table next to me where they're talking about housing so can get in on the jump:

Not sure if Ronn , Tom , Tom , Rosemary , Avery , Ron , Rona , Avery , or Corey are reading along, but haven't had this much fun or seen this much creative synergy since the early days of buyer agency when events hosted by the Mass. Association of Buyer Agents (MABA) earned the name, MABAritaville.

Who knew that consumer advocacy is more than a cause, it's comedy - maybe even a Divine Comedy.  See you at 10am.

Well 11:00 up here in the frozen tundra of NH! But yes, “see you” then XO-V

Remember that Bobby is leading on a different platform this morning. He shared this info and I may have accidently erased so posting again:

Google Meet:

EXCLUSIVE DEMO for BASECAMP MEMBERS:

homhub

Saturday, February 14 · 10:00 – 11:00am

Time zone: America/Chicago

Google Meet joining info

Video call link:

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 219-690-8951‬ PIN: ‪765 183 713‬#

More phone numbers:

Frances demo'ing her site, jump in if you like!

Tried to post a screenshot but my laptop is too slow.

Bobby demo-ing now, framing his value proposition for HomHub

Bobby demo-ing a peer-to-peer AI driven house search. User-centric functionality. One of his "comps,"

Facebook has more listings on Marketplace than the MLS!!!

Joyce Searles thanks for jumping in... Ask Bobby to circle back on the Homeownership cycle

Demo-ing VOICE-driven search.... long a dream, two decades plus, now it's on HomHub

Giving sellers three different options from full-service at a fair price as well as
DSIY (Do Some of It Yourself) homesellers

"Consumers don't buy what you do, they buy why you sell it."

Demo-ing AI host who is explaining that commission lawsuits have changed the industry, "here's what it means for you."

Talking about the importance of privacy, can it be achieved through a platform or will the future see decentralized trust where consumers own and control their own data.

Two different approaches to the market, one articulated by Joyce Searles previewing the importance of MyTerms and Bobby who's also championing privacy through HomHub.

It's launching Monday, 2/16/26 President's Day.

Great session! So happy to be here. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

Bobby, I saw your message before sigining out. Thank you. Good Luck on Monday with the launch. I have so too many ???s  Sorry, not sorry... 

Frances, your website is overwhelmingly great. However, I would need to spend much longer looking at all that you have made it do to understand how and who is the right market for it. 

Bill as ever, thank you for your introductions to this awesome crew, and making this all happen. 

Joyce, nice to meet you. Looking forward to learning more about you...

Happy V day!
Cheers!
V

In my car, about to drive off with a sense of gratitude and optimism about the work Bobby and Fran are doing.

Their willingness to invite feedback in real time was fruitful.  Open to ideas about how we can use these peer-to-peer feedback session to elevate individual business models / missions as we pursue best practices

Happy Valentines Day!