HomeServices 1000WATT: Who Gets the Research?

HomeServices announced its acquisition of 1000WATT on October 1, 2026, bringing research and creative capabilities inside the company. The announcement names operating businesses and franchise affiliates as beneficiaries but leaves access terms and delivery schedules unspecified. For brokerage leaders, the practical distinction is between promised support and services they can plan around.

The team and capabilities moving inside

Co-founder Brian Boero will become HomeServices’ chief marketing and strategy officer, and co-founder Marc Davison will become chief creative officer. The announced capabilities span strategy, research, copywriting, design, creative development, project leadership and marketing.

In their October 1 note, the founders said the entire team would accompany them, specifically naming Jessica Swesey and Natasha Jones. They described plans to expand their membership platform and distribute proprietary research and research-based marketing assets to 60,000 real estate professionals within HomeServices. That is an intended reach, not a count of people already using the expanded service.

The founders also described a change in how the team would work. In an October 1 interview with Inman, Davison said joining HomeServices would let the team take responsibility for executing creative work that clients previously implemented themselves. That describes his intended role; it does not establish that campaigns will perform better.

Closer involvement in execution could connect research more directly to campaign delivery. Marketing directors will need to establish how much room local firms have to adapt centrally developed work to their own audiences.

Which companies and franchisees are included?

The release names HomeServices operating companies and HSF Affiliates, including the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchise network.

That scope makes the acquisition relevant to franchise leaders as well as managers of owned businesses. Inclusion in the intended audience, however, does not establish whether every office receives the same services, whether agents have individual access or who can commission a project.

Access to a finished research report also differs from access to researchers or a creative team. A report can inform an office’s planning without providing the staff time needed to develop a local campaign.

Consider a hypothetical franchise office preparing a recruiting campaign. A national study of agent preferences could help it choose a message. Turning that finding into local advertisements would still require decisions about creative work, approvals and budget. The acquisition announcement does not specify which of those tasks the incoming team would handle for that office.

These questions about brokerage strategy and support warrant their own assessment, separate from HomeServices’ servicing expansion.

What is established about outside clients?

The founders’ public explanation goes beyond the acquisition release. In the October 1 interview, Boero said the membership platform would become an exclusive benefit for agents, brokers and staff within the HomeServices family. In separate original reporting that day, Inman also said 1000WATT would stop taking outside client work.

Those October 1 accounts establish the direction of the business. They do not spell out how every existing agency engagement or paid membership will transition: neither provides client-by-client completion arrangements or subscription expiration and renewal rules. They should not be read as proof that every outside account ended on acquisition day.

Existing agency clients should seek written confirmation of remaining deliverables, the responsible team, handover dates and continued use of completed work. Research members need to establish how long their current access lasts and whether renewal remains available. Keeping those relationships separate avoids treating a research subscription as though it were a custom consulting contract.

What needs a delivery commitment?

The acquisition announcement provides no service catalogue, fee schedule or rollout calendar. Before replacing an existing vendor or allocating staff around the promised support, a brokerage or franchise leader should request answers to four questions:

• Eligibility: Which offices, agents and staff can use the resources, and how will access be granted?
• Scope and cost: What is included, what requires a separate project, and who pays?
• Delivery: What will arrive first, when will it arrive, and who handles requests or delays?
• Use and adaptation: Can offices edit materials, publish findings and retain assets, and what approvals apply?

Ask for a sample deliverable alongside those answers. A sample makes it easier to assess whether the offering addresses a current need or duplicates work the office already buys.

Evaluate usefulness before assuming gains

To assess the research, ask who was surveyed, when fieldwork occurred, how questions were asked and whether the sample supports the intended local use. A national result should not automatically become a claim about one office’s customers.

Then define a limited operational test. A marketing director could assess whether supplied materials reduce production time, while a recruiting leader could track responses to a campaign built from the research. Record the starting point and other changes that might affect the result; a better outcome alone would not prove the acquisition caused it.