The Closing Gift that Keeps on Giving Fox Energy Specialists launched the country’s first green/energy rater franchise last week at the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) National Conference in New Orleans, LA. The timing for the launch could not have been better with the announcement of the Stimulus package which includes millions of dollars earmarked for Energy Improvement projects in all 50 states. In attendance at the conference, were key staff members from the EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program and the Department of Energy who were there to educate the Home Energy Rating Industry on both current and upcoming programs, and [...]

Attending the recent Real Estate Connect conference in NY City I heard a lot of very bright individuals speak about the future of MLS.  There were some great opinions and observations a few semi- heated debates but more than anything, what really stood out for me, was how disjointed and dysfunctional our industry is in some regards.   The other thing that struck me was how well our industry and in particular, MLSs, work in spite of that fact. Think of the different tracks we see being taken by influential, bright movers and shakers in our industry and tell me if [...]

Over the past 2 years I have been very involved professionally with a brokerage/franchise model that originated in Europe and recently came to selected areas of the U.S. The name of the company is Engel & Volkers. I have been helping this company understand the US real estate industry, our technology and how they needed to modify their system to successfully enter our market. They did just that in late 2006 in Florida, where they have about 30 licenses. Next they opened in NY and New England in 2007 where they now have about 12 licenses and most recently they launched [...]