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 [...]

Last week the WAV Group partners, Mike Audet, Marilyn Wilson and Victor Lund had the opportunity to speak at the Luxury Real Estate Conference at the Hotel du Louvre, in Paris, France.  LuxuryRealEstate.com brokers from around the world came together to learn and share their experiences on serving the international markets.  Topics ranged from strategies on international marketing, branding and web strategy to how to value and sell your real estate company.  All of the participants rated the conference a huge success both in content and, of course, locale! One of the LRE attendees, Olivia Hsu Decker, owner of Deker Bullock Southeby's [...]

Despite bloggers disparaging the Dwellicious founders for plying favor with Corona and taudry late night escapades - They have come to an agreement with the Crown of the REALTOR online establishment - The first 100 REALTORS who sign up for DWELLICIOUS PRO will be funded by REALTOR.com - allowing early adopter REALTORS to gain access to this breakthrough service, gratis. DWELLICIOUS is a service that enables consumers to bookmark thier favorite listings across many of the top search sites for free.  If you have not checked out the service offering, you should. Here is the press release with all of [...]

STROKE:Remember the 1st Three Letters….S.T.R. My nurse friend sent this and encouraged me to post it and spread the word. I agree. If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks. Seriously.. Please read: STROKE IDENTIFICATION: During a BBQ, a friend stumbled and took a little fall - she assured everyone that she was fine (they offered to call paramedics) she said she had just tripped over a brick because of her new shoes. They got her cleaned up and got her a new plate of food. While she appeared a bit shaken up, Ingrid went about [...]

Historically I have been somewhat descriminating about where I announce blog posts at https://www.wavgroup.com At times, I would twitter the post, at other times, I would also post a link to my facebook friends.  For some reason, I always neglect linkedin and plaxo.  Those four combine to create the ecosystem of my online social life.  I have some other social networks that I have registered for research purposes, like myspace, brightkite, loopt, hi5 and probably some more that I have forgotten about. What I found was that the effort to publish a link for each blog post on so many sites [...]

Wouldnt it be great if you would provide your clients with a closing gift that just keeps on giving? Check out the new Wattson. http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/004115.html This cool new device allows your clients to monitor the energy usage of everything that is plugged in in their home.  It will tell them when an old refrigerator is eating up too much energy and needs to be tossed. It will tell them that their daughter has her cell phone charger plugged in even though she is away at college. Hey, and it might be time to turn off the hot tub since there [...]

David Charron has always been an industry visionary and leader through every step in his storied career.  Today he continues the implementation of his vision as CEO of America's Largest MLS - MRIS. His vision for the future of the MLS is an environment where Agents and Consumers can connect with each other to have discussions about properties, values, neighborhoods and all things real estate.  Enjoy this brief interview courtesy of Inman News. I will be moderating a panel discussion at Inman in January titled MLS 2014 - 5 things to do right now to get ready.  Here are the [...]