News represents change in real estate. It also represents staying the course. There were lots of both today. Not knowing what to expect, the industry unloaded today. Bullets were flying everywhere.
The MOVE acquisition by News Corp was the headline –
If you look at our post on it, we have added the letter that NAR sent to the membership, the letter that MOVE sent to the industry, and the press release. Taking the temperature on this, it is probably a good thing. The only big concern is that REA group from Australia has investments in the top 3 portals in America. They are minor unless you give credence to The Motley Fool http://www.fool.com.au/2014/06/25/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-rea-group-limited/ In their country, the price of a premium ad for a listing is $2000 per month – most agents pay $1000 per month for onlin
e advertising. We are miles from that in America where brokerage firms pay about a buck or two for listing enhancement. The Australian model is not sustainable in the USA.
Edina Direct Syndicates to Trulia (and Zillow)?
Trulia sent an email to the world today that Edina is sending listings directly to them. You can read the entire story here http://www.trulia.com/industry/announcements/edina-direct-agreement-with-trulia/ I did not make any calls to fact check what I am about to say, but here are my instincts on the matter. Real Estate Digital (RED) provides a variety of web services to Edina and some of the other Home Services brokerages. For syndication, RED offers a product called REData Vault. REData Vault is a solution that provides the brokerage with a number of features that are not included in other syndication solutions, and since RED is already handling their data – it makes direct syndicaition easier and includes a link back to the agent or broker website (RED already has the URL). With REData Vault, Edina can also allow firms to manage exactly what information goes to publishers – the number of photos, modified description text, etc. You probably can also imagine that Edina has a pretty square agreement on fair display of their listings on Trulia and Zillow. Online advertising works when done carefully. You can be certain that this is being carefully monitored. Clearly, this is a big win for Trulia and Zillow and they deserve it. They earned Edina’s trust, and it took years of persistence and learning about the principles of Edina Realty. That is exactly the way that you overcome adversity in business.
WestPenn MLS announces new board chairman
WestPenn MLS is a broker owned and broker governed MLS operating in a sea of NAR affiliated MLSs. Executive Barbara Kohl runs the ship and the brokers steer. The new chairman is Tom Hosack, CEO of Northwood Realty Services. Also on the board is Goerge Hackett, CEO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Services (NRT); Ronald Croushore, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services The Preferred Realty (BHHS franchise), Treasurer Robert Freeman of Freeman Realty, and Gloria Schucolsky, appointee from Howard Hanna. It is a great company with great leadership and Hosack is sure to do a great job.
Realtor’s Property Resource Goes Big on Mobile
When you are offering a service as extensive as RPR, with a huge data base of property information, lots of business rules, and lots of reports – there is nothing simple about taking all of that overhead and making it available on mobile. If you are an agent or a broker who wants everything you possibly would need to know about any real estate property in America on your phone – download the app. They did a really good job on the iOS and Android platform. Its free***, but you need a NRDS ID to get started.
Windermere partners with RealtyTrac
RealtyTrac continues to expand their broker network. Windermere has 7000 agent is 300 offices and more than $25B in sales. The network offers the brokerage the full force of RealtyTrac’s data assets, full marketing on RealtyTrack, plus an awesome amount of publicity as Windermere is cobranded to all of the ReatlyTrac announcements in the markets they cover. http://www.realtytrac.com/content/press-releases/windermere-real-estate-joins-the-realtytrac-network-8141
