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So far THE WAV GROUP has created 603 blog entries.

MRIS, Nation’s largest MLS hires new CIO

Michael Belak Joins MRIS as Chief Information Officer Michael Belak has been appointed as Chief Information Office for Metropolitan Regional Information Services(MRIS) the nation’s largest multiple listing service. In this role, Mike is responsible for all facets of MRIS technology planning including providing the vision and leadership for developing and implementing information technology (IT) initiatives in a constantly changing, competitive marketplace.  In addition, he will ensure that MRIS systems and technology continue to lead the industry.  As a key member of the executive management team, he is also responsible for monitoring and validating the enterprises compliance with security policies. Mike [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:25-07:00June 26th, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on MRIS, Nation’s largest MLS hires new CIO
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Closing.com Launches Online Source for Real Estate Closing Services

Consumers and Real Estate Professionals Can Shop and Save on Title Insurance and Real Estate Closing Costs at Closing.com San Diego June 24, 2009 – Closing.com, the most comprehensive source of information about real estate closing service providers ever assembled online, has announced the launch of its 2.0 Web site (in beta). Now consumers and real estate professionals can create instant closing cost estimates while shopping for and saving on all their real estate closing services. Visitors to the site can choose from a database of more than 140,000 companies providing real estate services in 11 major categories ranging from [...]

By |2019-08-14T12:52:29-07:00June 25th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Closing.com Launches Online Source for Real Estate Closing Services
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Along with the Newspaper, the News Letter is dying

Direct Marketing is causing a problem for consumers and causing challenges to print and electronic real estate property marketing. The number of online and email newsletters has jumped from 475% over the past five years, while print-only newsletters decreased 43% according to Mediafinder.com. The old consumer problem was Junk Mail in the Mail Box.  The new and growing consumer problem is Junk eMail in the Inbox.  As agents continue to SPAM consumers with drip marketing newsletters, they undermine their relationship with the very customer they worked so hard to attract.  The customer, who may very well like the agent, blocks [...]

By |2009-06-24T15:22:35-07:00June 24th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Along with the Newspaper, the News Letter is dying
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Real Estate Mortgage Rates likely to remain low until 2011

The United States is warned that interest rate hikes prior to 2011 could spell doom for any hope of a recovery in the economy. OECD Cautions Against Fed Hikes Prior to 2011. The OECD upgraded its growth outlook its 30 member nations for the first time in two years, forecasting that growth will only collapse 4.1% in 2009, as compared to its March forecast of -4.3%. Despite this “optimism", the OECD warned that the US and Japan should both keep rates on hold at least until 2011 and that the ECB should cut its target rate further. The key takeaways [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:25-07:00June 24th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|1 Comment
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Real Estate Social Networking sees dramatic growth

Social networks are exploding in popularity. Forty-three percent of the online community now uses social networking sites, including Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. This is up from 27 percent a year ago, reports The Conference Board and TNS. Social networking spans all generations and clearly hits the target of real estate home buyers and sellers. Moreover, even older people are getting involved.  About 19 percent of those age 55 and over visit these sites, up from just 6 percent a year ago. Women are more likely than men to use social networking sites (48 percent versus 38 percent), but usage has [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:25-07:00June 24th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Twitter for Real Estate|Comments Off on Real Estate Social Networking sees dramatic growth
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Bing goes bonkers to Google dismay

Microsoft’s BING search engine may cause a radical shift for real estate website SEO strategies.  In the recent WAV Group report on Broker Website Effectiveness, Google was responsible for 64% of of search engine traffic.  All other search engines (including Microsoft) were responsible for 19%.  As a result, SEO specialists have focused their optimization efforts on Google as the primary search engine for their strategy. Today, in a report from web traffic measurement agency ComScore, Bing is now responsible for 16.7% of search.  This total is up from 11% when BING launched June second.  This is a remarkable shift in such [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:25-07:00June 22nd, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Bing goes bonkers to Google dismay
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Inflation Deflation and Real Estate

Today, the Federal Funds Rate is at 0%.  This has created a surplus of Bank Reserves to fight the financial crisis.  We are also seeing deflation in the Consumer Price Index.  In parlance, the cost of living has gone down.  But deflation today, combined with a mounting Federal Deficit should lead to inflation tomorrow.  This shift should create a stimulus for real estate. In the absence of the mortgage industry and employment melt down, lower interest rates and a dip in housing prices would naturally lead to a real estate buying party.  Sadly there has not been such fanfare, and [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:25-07:00June 21st, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Inflation Deflation and Real Estate
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Closing.com launches new website and gets washington post review

Remember buying that last car - you negotiated the final price with the salesperson then they turned you over the the “Finanance and Insurance Guy” who hammers you for a warranty, mud flaps, car mats, rust proffing, chip guard and other stuff?  Somehow they always get you to buy something. The back end costs of buying a home are not much different for home buyers - inspection fees, title escrow fees, attorney fees, insurance, yadda, yadda… all adding up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  When you purchased your last home, did you shop for the best provider with [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:26-07:00June 18th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Closing.com launches new website and gets washington post review
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Make More Green with a Green Real Estate Operation

There has been a lot of emphasis on teaching Realtors how to work with clients and their green homes.  Not as much emphasis has been placed on how real estate organizations themselves can deploy tools to reduce their costs and environmental impact. WAV Group recently published a paper to help real estate organizations understand the positive impact they can make by reducing their own carbon footprints, while attracting green customers and employees. Wanna help save 1.5 billion gallons of gas?  How about 2,000,000 trees?  Real estate organizations can do the right thing for the environment while strengthening their own bottom-line. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:26-07:00June 18th, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on Make More Green with a Green Real Estate Operation
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Do Members Want a National MLS? Has Anyone Asked Them?

Over the past few years the topic of regionalization and data sharing has been high on the list for most MLSs.  During strategic planning sessions WAV Group facilitates this is always a major topic.  At every real estate convention you attend you can find a panel on regionalization and data sharing issues.  Even so, if you talk to 10 different people you may hear 5 different ideas on how to address these issues.  Difference in opinion is a good thing, but what we see in our industry, at times, are parallel attempts to address the same issue by different individuals [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:26-07:00June 17th, 2009|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Do Members Want a National MLS? Has Anyone Asked Them?
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Green Homes Sell for a Premium!

In a study released earlier this week by the Earth Advantage Institute demonstrated that homes in the Portland, Oregon market actually sold for 3 to 10% higher than average if they were green certified. It is very encouraging to see that consumers are starting to appreciate the value of green homes and reflecting it in the purchase price and ultimate the sales commission for the agent. This investigative study is part of a larger regional effort conducted by nonprofit and local government organizations. These efforts have involved some of the leading green building organizations in the Pacific Northwest, including Built [...]

By |2009-06-17T14:21:36-07:00June 17th, 2009|Main category|Comments Off on Green Homes Sell for a Premium!
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The spring increase in home sales may be yielding a slow summer crop

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released the latest mortgage data this morning.  Bad news abounded.  As a result of rates moving up over their record lows of around 4.6% a few weeks ago, all leading mortgage indexes fell.  Applications fell by 15.8%,  Refinance fell by 23.3% and purchase applications dropped 3.5%.  This is a significant reversal from the March rise. The raise in rates was triggered by the bond market pushing the yield on the then year note up to 4%. This trend must be reversed immediately for the Fed's recovery plan to work.  This issues is only compounded by [...]

By |2009-06-17T14:17:42-07:00June 17th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on The spring increase in home sales may be yielding a slow summer crop
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