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So far THE WAV GROUP has created 605 blog entries.

Gaining an Edge with Edutizing

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post about moving from Advertising to Edutizing. The whole idea is that consumers are interested in working with agents who clearly demonstrate indepth knowledge of all facets of the real estate industry and the local community.  The concept of Edutizing is really taking off around the country.  The California Association of REALTORS has put together a 3 hour session to help agents take advantage of this new communications phenomenon. The session called Gaining An Edge with Edutizing will be held from 1:30 to 4:30 pm on August 4th, immediately before the Inman conference. The [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 14th, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on Gaining an Edge with Edutizing

CAR 2009 Homebuyer Survey Released

Increased affordability, low mortgage rates motivating home buyers, according to C.A.R.s “2009 Survey of California Home Buyers” Quick Facts: · Share of first-time buyers rose to 38 percent in 2009, compared with 19 percent in 2008 · Forty-nine percent of all buyers purchased a home through a traditional market sale · Eighty-eight percent of traditional market sales were financed through fixed-rate mortgagesLOS ANGELES (July 7) Favorable home prices, record-low interest rates, and the belief that rates will rise in the near future were the primary motivators leading home buyers to purchase in 2009 compared with last year, according to the [...]

By |2009-07-09T16:12:43-07:00July 9th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on CAR 2009 Homebuyer Survey Released

MLS Vendor Accounts by Map

I have been chatting with Mike Sparr, CEO and Founder of Goomzee, thier Realty Connect product is among the premier providers of real estate text message marketing.  Mike is preparing some excellent research about MLS, and was kind enough to share a preview of some of his research.  Please enjoy this map below which details MLS vendor accounts across the United States.  It is very interesting to see the geographic preferences of one vendor over another - Fidelity and Rapattoni are very popular in the west but their number of accounts deteriorate as you move into the South East.  Marketlinx [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 8th, 2009|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MLS Vendor Accounts by Map

Northern California MLS take Leadership role in supporting REALTORS

In a move to keep REALTORS in the center of the conversation between consumers and access to local and concise real estate property informaiton, Six Northern California Associations of REALTORS agree to offer Clarus Market Matrix as a member benefit. The member Associations of of BAREIS and SFAR offering the solution include Coastal Mendocino, Marin, North Bay, Northern Solano County, San Francisco and Solano Associaitons of Realtors.  In total, this agreement which pushes the customer count over 100,000 allows the California Association of REALTORS to count nearly 50% adoption of the Clarus product across the state. […]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 7th, 2009|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Northern California MLS take Leadership role in supporting REALTORS

Will the last newspaper please shut off the lights

A year ago I blogged about the decline of the newspaper industry in a piece called“Newspapers are like nursinghomes.”. A year later the decline has accelerated. The economic crisis has hurt the newspaper industry as it has so many industries. The question is whether it will recover (or at least rejoin its slower downward path of last year) when the economy as a whole recovers; or has the economic crisis merely revealed the terminal status of the industry. I am pessimistic about a recovery by the newspapers. One reason is the current economic situation. A serious, protracted economic crisis can [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 5th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Will the last newspaper please shut off the lights

six real estate strategic thoughts for the second half

Our end of the month client financial reviews were hopeful for the first time this year.  June seems like it turned out to be the best month of the year for brokers, and sales are ahead of cancellations for most of our technology clients.  Hip Hip Hooray! Nevertheless, this coming winter may be tougher than last winter, so build reserves.  We advise keeping these six covenents in mind as you plan the balance of your year. Hold Cash - Be sure to have enough cash on hand to cover cash flow shortfalls between November 2009 to March 2010. Continue to [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 5th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on six real estate strategic thoughts for the second half

You Think The U.S. Was overleveraged?

in a recent article from China Daily, there was an amazing fact from The China Statistics Yearbook 2008 revealed.  They found that the average home price in Beijing was 23 times a local family’s average income, compared with the international level of four to six times.  Do you think they are setting themselves up for a MAJOR fall?  Their government has come through with up to 30% discounts on mortgages for first time home buyers, but it doesn’t seem like that will be enough to make those loans truly a prudent investment over time. China is also experiencing irrational property price [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00July 3rd, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on You Think The U.S. Was overleveraged?

Mobile Outlook 2009 – Sounds like Real Estate – It’s all about Location, Location, Location

According to the Mobile Outlook 2009, published by Mobile Marketer, a leading journal for mobile marketing, media and commerce, location-centric centric services are one of the key drivers of adoption to the mobile web.  Sure sounds like great news for the real estate industry. The study goes on to say that consumers are getting used to getting content online and they are even starting to trust the medium enough to transact banking business.  All good news for the future of mobile. The emphasis, however, should be on mobile’s complementary nature - it gives legs to other channels, including retail, online, television, [...]

By |2009-07-03T15:46:31-07:00July 3rd, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on Mobile Outlook 2009 – Sounds like Real Estate – It’s all about Location, Location, Location

Housing Economic Summary from Jim Welsh

In Jim Welsh’s June newsletter he offered the following synopsis of where we are heading in real estate.  I hope that he is wrong, but nevertheless believe it valuable enough to republish his thoughts.  He is offering his opinion based upon some pretty credible data sources.  Be sure to read the entire report to understand why he feels that “The combination of higher unemployment and underemployment, along with another round of mortgage resets will lead to another wave of foreclosures. This next wave will increasingly impact the mid to upper end of the price range.” […]

By |2017-06-27T01:06:00-07:00July 1st, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Housing Economic Summary from Jim Welsh

CMLS 2009

Details are coming together for our fast approaching CMLS Conference in Lake Tahoe, Calif.  Check the Web site as agenda, event and sponsorships are continually updated. Agenda Items: […]

By |2017-06-27T01:04:46-07:00June 30th, 2009|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on CMLS 2009

Cyberhomes and Glenn Roberts top winners list for NAREE’s 59th Annual Journalism Awards

The National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) announced the winners of its 59th Annual Journalism Awards today.  NAREEs awards program recognizes excellence in reporting, writing and editing stories about both residential and commercial real estate. This year’s Robert F. Brennan Award for Best Overall Entry by an Individual went to Mara Der Hovanesian of Business Week magazine.  The best Freelance Collection Award went to Sharon Stangenes for her freelance contributions to the Chicago Tribune.  The James D. Carper Award for Best Entry by a young Journalist went to Polyana da Costa, Daily Business Review. The award winners were selected by a panel of expert judges from [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:24-07:00June 29th, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on Cyberhomes and Glenn Roberts top winners list for NAREE’s 59th Annual Journalism Awards

Google Voice for Real Estate

Coming Soon, Google Voice will be available.  The service has launched, but only available to a selected number of alpha users.  Google Voice is simple to understand.  Google will issue you a phone number.  You can give that phone number to anyone – friends, family, work – everyone.  Then Google Voice will allow you to configure your preferences for which of your phones rings depending on the caller, time of day, or however you like.  Google will either ring all of your phones at once, or ring different phones for different types of callers.  This will be great for real [...]