How It Runs

About How It Runs

How It Runs is a podcast about how real estate actually works, the operations, people and technology behind the businesses that move the industry forward. From brokerages and agents to the proptech shaping what comes next, the show goes inside the real mechanics of how things get built and run. It's hosted by Michael Walliser, a licensed North Carolina broker with more than twenty years of experience operating independent brokerages. Each episode is a conversation with someone who has actually built and run something, focused on how the work really happens, where it breaks, and how it gets better. Not theory. Not pitch decks. The work itself. New episodes are released every two weeks on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

Publisher

Easy Digz

Category

business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

22 Jul 2026

Latest episode

12 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   12 Oct 2026

   Independent Brokerages and the Future of the MLS

   hat does it take to run an independent brokerage today, and what role should the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) play in it? Michael Walliser, Founder and CEO of EasyDigz, sits down with Jaye Kreller of Dwell Real Estate and Jenn Cole of Be Home Realty for a wide-ranging conversation about independent brokerages and the future of the MLS. Jaye and Jenn share how they built their careers outside the big franchises and why they want a stronger voice for independent brokers in how the MLS is run. They talk through the legal challenges and leadership changes facing the MLS, what agents need from MLS technology, what large brokerages building their own listing networks could mean for independent brokers, how MLS data supports property values, and when a private listing truly serves the seller. The episode closes with a rapid fire round on what clients get wrong about buying and selling, running a brokerage with partners, and the biggest threats facing brokerages today. About the guests Jaye Kreller is a full-time REALTOR® with Dwell Real Estate in Chapel Hill, serving Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Durham and Pittsboro since 2002. A former renovation contractor and two-time Orange Chatham REALTOR® of the Year, Jaye has more than 850 closed transactions, all with independent brokerages, and more than eight years of board service through the Orange Chatham Association of REALTORS®. Jaye has also served on the Doorify Strategic Advisory Council and is a candidate for the Orange Chatham Association of REALTORS® seat on the Doorify MLS Board of Directors. Jenn Cole is Broker and Owner of Be Home Realty and has spent nearly her entire career with independent brokerages, including as one of the founders of Go Realty. In 2015, she opened Be Home Realty with her two business partners, building an independent, women-owned brokerage centered on relationships, collaboration and community. She serves on the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS® Board of Directors and as a North Carolina REALTORS® Director, chaired the REALTOR® Giving Network in 2024, and helped relaunch the Council for Independent Brokerages at the Raleigh Regional Association of REALTORS®. Chapters 0:00 Preview 0:59 Meet Jaye Kreller and Jenn Cole 2:40 What's at stake for independent brokers 3:28 Choosing independent over franchise 7:55 Jenn on what the MLS needs now 9:26 Jaye on giving independent brokers a voice 11:50 Legal challenges and leadership changes 13:33 What agents need from MLS technology 16:33 Search tools that actually work 19:32 Large brokerages and their own listing networks 23:48 How MLS data supports property values 26:19 Private listings and seller's choice 32:39 Rapid fire questions 38:54 The biggest threats to brokerages 42:38 Who to bring on next Guests' views are their own. Jaye Kreller on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaye-kreller-73a76116/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaye-kreller-73a76116/) Jenn Cole on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cole-5250238 (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-cole-5250238) Jenn Cole on Instagram: @jenncole Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PsIWDUsdAwU?si=vbD2odmZq1Nn_OO- (https://youtu.be/PsIWDUsdAwU?si=vbD2odmZq1Nn_OO-) All episodes: easydigz.com/podcast

2. 

   3 Oct 2026

   Is a Backyard ADU Worth It? A Durham Case Study

   Is a backyard ADU worth it? Michael Walliser, Founder and CEO of EasyDigz, works through a real Durham, NC lot with Reynolds McFarlane, Managing Broker at Carolina Land Experts, and Christopher Britt, Partner at Enduring Oaks Venture Partners and Chief People Officer at EasyDigz. They cover North Carolina's new ADU law, power and utility upgrades, setbacks and stream buffers, why sewer access can make or break an ADU, Durham's ADU size rules, and whether one ADU breaks even. Corrections and updates: • NC law (SL 2026-59, signed Aug 11, 2026) now requires cities of 50,000+ outside the coastal area to allow at least one ADU on single-family lots. Check your city's effective date. • The panel upgrade discussed is 400-amp service, not volt. A typical 400-amp upgrade runs about $8K to $22K. • On a $150K build at 7% over 30 years, the loan payment is about $1,000 a month. The $1,600 to $1,700 rent target also covers taxes, insurance, upkeep and vacancy. • Fannie Mae now counts rent from one existing ADU on a 1-unit primary home, up to 30% of qualifying income. Construction loans are still less standard. Notes on the numbers: • Stream buffers: 50 ft is a common baseline. Durham also buffers intermittent streams, and widths grow in watershed overlays. Check UDO Sec. 8.5 and the county. • The 681 sf median rental size comes from 2 rentals (560 sf and 802 sf) in 27703 over the last 6 months. • The $150K to $170K build estimate is for a small prefab. For comparison, an 800 sf detached ADU in Raleigh runs about $180K to $260K all-in. Durham ADU rules (UDO 5.4.2): • One ADU per lot • Up to 1,000 sf per story and 1,200 sf total, smaller than the main home • No added parking required • Not allowed in flood hazard areas • Density limits don't apply • Rural Residential setbacks: front 50 ft, side 12 ft, rear 25 ft The break-even: at $1,750 a month in rent (three rentals of 900 to 1,100 sf in 27703), one ADU breaks even at about $170K to $175K all-in, assuming a 7% 30-year loan and about 35% for taxes, insurance, upkeep and vacancy. Allowed, maybe, no: • Allowed: one ADU per lot, connected to water and sewer, up to 1,200 sf and smaller than the main home, with no added parking • Maybe: an ADU built as a duplex (both units total 1,200 sf or less), or more units through a rezone • No: a second ADU on the same lot, extra units on the existing septic, or ADUs in a flood hazard area Chapters: 0:00 Preview 0:29 Meet the guests and the plan 2:47 Why ADUs now: North Carolina's new ADU law 4:22 ADUs for family and rental income 5:57 Buying a smaller home with a backyard ADU 7:04 Can an ADU raise your land value? 8:40 Utilities and power upgrades 11:18 Setbacks, stream buffers and usable land 13:02 Analyzing a real Durham parcel on GIS 16:22 ADU rent comps with EasyInsights 18:05 Sewer vs septic: the real limiting factor 21:08 Durham ADU size rules 23:22 ADU cost vs rental income: does it break even? 26:55 What the land costs in 27703 28:25 Takeaways: allowed, maybe, no Numbers are napkin estimates for discussion, not investment, legal or zoning advice. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F7EOc1dWTP0 (https://youtu.be/F7EOc1dWTP0) All episodes: easydigz.com/podcast

3. 

   17 Sept 2026

   The Median Homebuyer Is Now Over 40 and Still Priced Out | Nate Broman-Fulks | How It Runs Ep 5

   How It Runs is a podcast from EasyDigz about how real estate businesses actually operate. Conversations for the operators, builders and independents shaping real estate and proptech. Hosted by Michael Walliser, founder of EasyDigz and a licensed North Carolina broker with more than 20 years in the business. This episode features Nate Broman-Fulks, Vice President of Development at the Taft-Mills Group, where he works on tax credit financing across North and South Carolina. Nate spent a decade inside local government first in Carrboro, then in Chapel Hill helping shape affordable housing communities in the area before crossing over to the private development side. The median homebuyer is now over 40 — not early career, but well into it and still struggling to buy where they work. Michael and Nate get into why that happens: housing that only pencils an hour from the jobs, zoning that blocks projects even when the numbers work, and a market where a new development simply can’t hit the rents working families need without a program behind it. They break down who actually qualifies for affordable housing in a market like the Triangle, it can mean a household earning around $90,000, so the people who qualify are teachers, servers, and the manager at the store, not only those at the lowest incomes. Michael and Nate break down who this housing is really built for, why the quality is often indistinguishable from market-rate and why housing that sits far from work becomes a problem for employers and the local economy, not just the person making the drive. Want to be a guest on How It Runs? Tell us about yourself: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8ueAQTbMv5pJjyVDV3Ckz9NjHZJTEUYtvcalr_vquj7g-nw/viewform (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8ueAQTbMv5pJjyVDV3Ckz9NjHZJTEUYtvcalr_vquj7g-nw/viewform) Subscribe for new episodes, and turn on notifications so you don’t miss the next conversation. #HowItRuns #EasyDigz #AffordableHousing #RealEstate #HousingPolicy #Proptech

4. 

   3 Sept 2026

   The Hidden Problem With New Construction | How It Runs Ep 4

   Michael is joined by Christopher Blair Keeter, who spent 25 years in supply chain and operations, starting at General Electric and later running global operations at Cleaver-Brooks, where he integrated five acquired companies into one organization. Today he applies that same discipline to electrical and HVAC trades that sit on the critical path of nearly every new home and development build, leading operations at the Romanoff Group, an employee-owned trades company operating from Ohio down through Florida. They get into why new construction quality varies so much even within the same neighborhood, and why coordinating plumbing, HVAC, and electrical is often the hardest part of a build, what Blair calls "the three-headed snake." He explains how cheap contractors can actually cost more over time, why a builder's standardized trade practices show up in resale value over a decade later, and the practical checklist buyers should look at before trusting a new build: water heater age, HVAC install date, and who actually built the house. Blair's advice to anyone in the industry: find out who the builder's trade partners are before you recommend the house. It tells you more than the paint on the walls ever will. Full show notes: easydigz.com/podcast (http://easydigz.com/podcast) Want to be a guest? Guest inquiry form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA)... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rVFlaWXVKcGZYSEdPWnlvZ2hvT0p0Z3xBTl9pYzRjX3otS2dtZmIyTENMdXNuMjJmMkN4SExla2hSanZqY1prZEloMjgwMExkaGJ4NjVuNDdLbWRGdjRwc1IxTnJNay1MUzlQOTltdDkyUG1OMlQwS2ZwTXN5QWkwMDlz&q=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fforms%2Fd%2Fe%2F1FAIpQLSf8ueAQTbMv5pJjyVDV3Ckz9NjHZJTEUYtvcalr_vquj7g-nw%2Fviewform&v=nydB1cNUybs) Learn more about EasyDigz: easydigz.com (http://easydigz.com) #HowItRuns (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/howitruns) #EasyDigz (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/easydigz) #RealEstate (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/realestate) #RealEstatePodcast (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/realestatepodcast) #NewConstruction (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/newconstruction) #HomeBuilding (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/homebuilding) #Trades (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/trades) #HVAC (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/hvac) #PropTech (https://www.youtube.com/hashtag/proptech)

5. 

   20 Aug 2026

   Why Normal Homes Stopped Getting Built | How It Runs Ep 3

   Aaron Lubeck explains why accessory dwelling units stall on financing rather than construction cost, why zoning codes grew from a booklet to a library, and the advice he gives everyone in the industry: read your zoning code.

6. 

   6 Aug 2026

   $440K Homes, a New Housing Law, and a Tower That Buckled | How It Runs Ep 2

   One week in real estate brought three shocks: a record-high median home price, the biggest federal housing law in a generation, and a near-collapse at a major office-to-residential conversion in Manhattan. Michael Walliser and Christopher Britt connect all three, then dig into what the new housing law changes and where AI actually helps brokers versus where human expertise still wins. #HowItRuns #EasyDigz #RealEstate #HousingMarket #RealEstatePodcast

7. 

   22 Jul 2026

   $78B in Commissions: Who Controls Real Estate? | How It Runs Ep 1

   How It Runs is a podcast about the real mechanics of the real estate business, hosted by Michael Walliser, founder and CEO of EasyDigz. Each episode features brokers, operators and industry people who actually run these businesses, talking about how transactions really move, where the systems break down, and what it takes to operate independently in an industry that keeps consolidating. Michael is a licensed North Carolina broker with more than 20 years in the business, from foreclosure work on the institutional side to running his own deals and development projects. In the first episode, Michael sits down with his business partner Christopher Britt, Principal Partner and  Chief People Officer at EasyDigz, who came to real estate after 25 years in operations and state government and learned fast that running a real estate business is a completely different animal from being a client of one. The two cover what it took to get started as the 2008 market collapsed, what changes when you move from client to operator, and the 97 things an agent does that clients never see. They get into the due diligence behind their own investment deals, how market cycles and broker bias distort pricing, why the MLS catches blame for problems it never created, and why portals sell agents leads that are already under contract. It all builds to the number that frames the entire industry, roughly 78 billion dollars a year in commissions, and their case for open ecosystems built around a common MLS instead of any one company controlling the pipeline. Interested in becoming a guest on How It Runs? Fill out the form here: Guest Inquiry Form (https://forms.gle/wVhYzJ1Wv9AqSwDv9) New episodes every two weeks. Candid conversations on what's shaping real estate today. ABOUT THE GUEST Christopher Britt is a real estate investor, venture partner, and technology entrepreneur whose career bridges the worlds of public policy analysis, human capital management, and full-cycle real estate development. He entered real estate through his partnership with Michael Walliser, and together they have purchased, renovated and developed over a dozen residential properties across North Carolina through a bootstrapped, hands-on approach covering everything from renovation labor to financial structuring and property management. That residential foundation has since grown into commercial real estate and land development. Since 2018 he has served as Operating Partner and CFO of Enduring Oaks Venture Partners, and since 2023 as Principal Partner and Chief People Officer of EasyDigz. ABOUT THE SHOW How It Runs is a biweekly interview podcast hosted by Michael Walliser, founder and CEO of EasyDigz and a licensed North Carolina broker with more than 20 years in the business. Conversations for the operators, builders and independents shaping real estate and proptech. Interested in becoming a guest on How It Runs? Fill out the form here: Guest Inquiry Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8ueAQTbMv5pJjyVDV3Ckz9NjHZJTEUYtvcalr_vquj7g-nw/viewform) For any additional questions, please reach out at pr@easydigz.com (mailto:pr@easydigz.com) Learn more about EasyDigz: https://easydigz.com (https://easydigz.com) Subscribe for a new episode every two weeks. #HowItRuns #RealEstate #RealEstatePodcast #IndependentBrokerage #RealEstateBroker #Proptech #NorthCarolina #MLS

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Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.