About Kevin Hawkins

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So far Kevin Hawkins has created 328 blog entries.

Tech Helpline Now Provides Support for One in Three REALTORS® in North America

Unless you are an agent who actually has Tech Helpline, you may not be aware of this agent-centric, genuinely friendly, U.S.-based tech support created by Realtors for Realtors. Here's a news release from the Florida Realtors® about their Tech Helpline services: “Friendly” U.S.-Based Staff Helps Agents Solve Computer, Software, and Smartphone Glitches Orlando, FL., (September 15, 2015) – During a hot real estate market, what happens when a real estate agent is printing a Purchase and Sale agreement and the printer freezes or the computer crashes? Today, nearly 400,000 Realtors throughout the U.S. and Canada now turn to Tech Helpline for [...]

Why Millennials won’t buy Boomer McMansions

Self-confession: I love surveys. Data is my kryptonite. I got hooked in my grad school stats class and I’ve never looked back. At Great Western Bank, I created the Realty Confidence Index, which surveyed face-to-face broker-owners in 23 states. At Fannie Mae, I got to pitch to reporters nationwide the most comprehensive housing surveys of its day. At Imprev, I helped craft and launch the real estate industry’s first Thought Leader Survey and continue to spearhead that effort. This all means I know intimately what Mark Twain meant when he popularized the saying, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.” [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category|4 Comments

Unintended Consequences That Cause Spectacular Results

I just returned, as some 3,000 other folks have, from attending Inman’s Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. For many of the industry leaders whom I spoke with, it was one of the most successful Connects that they have attended and certainly the busiest. I found myself squarely in the same camp. I discovered something incredibly special about what I think makes Inman Connect unique: It fosters the creation of what I call “unintended consequences that cause spectacular results.” I have a few great examples from this most recent Connect to illustrate what I mean. Origins of Real Estate Connect [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category|1 Comment

Austin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director

AUSTIN, Texas – Aug. 3, 2015 – Today, the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) announced the appointment of Tim Dain as Multiple Listing Service Director.   A seasoned MLS executive, Dain brings a unique combination of experience to ABoR, including leading a regional MLS, where he oversaw significant growth for the MLS; working as a REALTOR®, both as an agent and a broker; working in information technology outside the REALTOR® organization; and serving four years in the U.S. military. ABoR CEO Paul Hilgers commented on the announcement, “Tim’s extensive experience in evolving MLS organizations and his industry acumen will be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 3rd, 2015|MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Austin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director

Learning from chickens: Are agents putting their leads in someone else’s incubator?

Who's incubating your eggs? I recently read an article about today’s modern poultry business. I was struck at the parallels between the real estate business and the poultry business and how both industries have changed with new technologies and automation. I was most fascinated to learn that the behavior of hens has changed with automated egg incubators: Hens have learned that they no longer need to lie on their eggs to incubate them, so they don't. This means that the modern day value of the industrial hen has been reduced only to its ability to produce eggs, not to incubate [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:38-07:00July 23rd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|3 Comments

Listing ownership: Whose grass is it anyways?

“Who owns the listing?” appears to be a never-ending debate in real estate, despite a recent court case that certified the broker owns the listing and the MLS can protect it. Somehow there remains this belief among some incredibly intelligent people in the industry that real estate agents do the work, so they own the listing content. They do not. This has never been the case, and unless an agent becomes a broker/owner, it never will be. A listing was, is and will be owned by the broker/owner and not the agent. Whose grass is it? Think about your grass.  [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:38-07:00July 23rd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Listing ownership: Whose grass is it anyways?

Broker Public Portal Retains Larson Skinner PLLC

Arroyo Grande, CA – July 14th, 2015 – The Broker Public Portal (BPP) today announced that it has retained the Minneapolis law firm of Larson Skinner PLLC to assist in developing a broker-friendly and MLS-friendly content license agreement for BPP’s projects. BPP continues its progress to bring a national MLS consumer-facing website to market.  As with any other portal, multiple listing services that will be participating in the Broker Public Portal will need to enter into data license agreements that allow MLS-participant listing information to be displayed on the site. One of the founding covenants of the Broker Public Portal [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:39-07:00July 14th, 2015|Main category, Press Releases|Comments Off on Broker Public Portal Retains Larson Skinner PLLC

Listingbook Delivers A “Better than Zillow” Platform to 500,000 Agents

Greensboro, N.C. – July 8, 2015 – After four years and a six millions dollar investment in its commitment to deliver the best search experience that an agent can provide their clients, Listingbook has recently deployed its new platform in the San Diego MLS market. The addition of San Diego County’s MLS Sandicor marks the 35th deployment of the new Listingbook system, covering over 500,000 real estate agents nationally. Listingbook was designed for real estate agents to give consumers the most up-to-date and comprehensive search experience allowing them to “search like an agent”, while enabling the agent to view the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:39-07:00July 8th, 2015|Main category, Press Releases|1 Comment

ListTrac Breakthrough Allows Real Estate Professionals to Monetize Listings

ListTrac, known as the "Google Analytics for real estate listings," today unveiled its revenue model, a breakthrough for the real estate industry as it allows, for the first time, a method for real estate professionals to monetize their own listing content as it's distributed across the Internet. "Just as musicians are compensated each time their song is played on the Internet, ListTrac wants real estate professionals to be rewarded every time their listing is viewed on the Internet," said Trent Gardner, CEO of ListTrac. ListTrac is a free tool allowing real estate professionals to monitor their listing's online performance in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:39-07:00July 6th, 2015|Main category, Press Releases|2 Comments

5 Ways Towards a More Perfect Panel

The old cliché “You get one chance to make a first impression” still resonates with me, particularly when I attend a real estate conference and listen to panels and presentations Each speaker, moderator and panelist has the opportunity to make a powerful impression with the audience, but to do that right; most people can’t just wing it. Nearly everyone who speaks at a conference needs to take NFL Quarterback Russell Wilson’s advice: “The separation is in the preparation.”  You need to prepare, and not on the plane on the way to the conference. The hubris of so many executives thinking [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:40-07:00June 25th, 2015|Main category|Comments Off on 5 Ways Towards a More Perfect Panel

Putting Marketing on Autopilot

Today, not a single agent among the nearly 3,000 that staff 170 RE/MAX of New Jersey offices is marketing a single listing. That’s because their marketing is on ‘Autopilot.” That’s the name of RE/MAX of NJ’s new marketing automation solution. Not one of their agents has to lift a finger to market a listing: It is being done for them, automatically, for every single listing. Autopilot creates, publishes and distributes both digital and print marketing material, including a printed “Just Listed” flyer and postcard, a digital ePostcard, a Single Property Website for the listing, a Virtual Tour and posts a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 10th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Putting Marketing on Autopilot

What ever happened to Trade Show Etiquette?

It could be just me. I may have attended too many trade shows. Yet somehow I believe Emily Post would have been appalled if she walked the exhibits at NAR Midyear. To add a little context, I have attended, exhibited, sponsored and run trade shows. In fact, I’m afraid to count the number of miles I have walked on trade show floors, having attended many NAR-FAR-CAR annuals, NAR Midyears, HomeBuilders/IBS, PCBCs, COMDEX, CES, IBC and others. I have also been the lead for many firms exhibiting at these same shows, and have found myself staffing exhibits, including too many hours [...]