Forget About a Statewide MLS! How About a Statewide Consumer Site Instead?

As always there is chatter in our industry about more MLS consolidation.  After Ann Bailey’s proclamation that there should only be 12 MLSs in the United States at CMLS last year, I often get asked how many MLSs should we have?   Should we go for s statewide MLS? While it is logical in many markets to think about a statewide MLS or even multi-state MLS the politics and emotion surrounding a program like that is daunting.  The chances of getting 50 statewide MLSs is slim to none in the foreseeable future in my opinion. There IS a great way for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:56-07:00February 1st, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Forget About a Statewide MLS! How About a Statewide Consumer Site Instead?
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RESO Standards Adoption Report

The Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) has driven the most important data solution for real estate brokers over the past year. With support from the National Association of REALTORS®, all NAR® affiliated MLSs (think association-owned) are required to adopt the RESO standard for MLS data. This change compelled CoreLogic®, the nation’s largest MLS provider to make the changes to the MLS data feeds. Zillow Group also jumped into the mix with the acquisition of Bridge Interactive to complement RETSLY. But firms went further, and it‘s good for brokers. Prior to the NAR mandate to adopt RESO data dictionary, every MLS [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 11th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on RESO Standards Adoption Report
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Brokers Need To Fix Their YouTube Channel

WAV Group has studied the effectiveness of video marketing for brokers over number of years. By and large, firms are not seeing the level of engagement on video marketing that justifies the trouble or expense. Having a video on YouTube with 2 or 3 views is not a conveyance of success. The promises of video marketing are pretty significant. By using video, a property is marketed more dynamically than photo and text marketing. Videos are processed by the brain 60,000 times faster than text. Simply stated, it’s a better consumer experience. Prima facie – people enjoy a video television experience [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 11th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Brokers Need To Fix Their YouTube Channel
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About MLS Client Portals

This afternoon I was able to enjoy a delightful conversation between two very bright, very experienced real estate CEOs – Greg Robertson of W&R Studios – makers of CloudCMA and CloudStreams, and Michael Wurzer, CEO FBS Data Systems, makers of FlexMLS (America’s second largest MLS vendor). The discussion centered on speed, design, delivery, among other things. It all went down on Twitter. If you love real estate technology - @gregrobertson and @mwurzer are must follows. Bigger Considerations? Stakeholders in the MLS client portal services are a combination of broker interests, agent interests, and by extension a consumer interest. I wonder [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 10th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Twitter for Real Estate|Comments Off on About MLS Client Portals
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5 Behaviors That Develop Culture In Your Brokerage

Real estate brokers often talk about their culture. The odd part about the conversation is that the culture a brokerage has is often developed by happenstance, without intention or effort. Often, when WAV Group measures the attributes of a brokerage culture, we learn that it is people based. Simply stated, they like their manager or the broker without much understanding as to why. Ergo, culture is typically a popularity score. However, there are certain behaviors that will directly develop culture in your business if you make them an intentional behavior of your leadership. How ya doin’? The most common greeting [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 13th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on 5 Behaviors That Develop Culture In Your Brokerage
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2016 NAR Annual Moments and Musings

Like many Americans, I was glued to the television on election night, and seeing the Javits Center instantly reminded me of my first NAR Annual Convention. It was in 1986 when the brand new Javits Center opened in Manhattan. I was a young PR Turk fresh into my first full year at Great Western Bank (then Great Western Savings). I went there to plot our long-term trade show strategy. It was also my first NAREE – National Association of Real Estate Editors – meeting, a dinner at a classic NYC steakhouse. That’s especially hard to forget because it’s where the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:02-07:00November 15th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on 2016 NAR Annual Moments and Musings
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To Zap Or Not To Zap

That is the question for many brokers today who are part of the Realogy® Franchise Group. This group includes brokers who may be a member of any number of franchises spanning Century 21®, Better Homes and Gardens®, Sotheby’s®, Coldwell Banker®, ERA®, and some others. As WAV Group detailed in this case study of BH&G Metro Brokers in Atlanta – the Zaplabs platform is excellent – combining an effective mix of agent website, CRM, Lead Management and other vital agent business tools. But the question to Zap or not to Zap is really not a question about technology at all. It [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:02-07:00November 15th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Recruiting|2 Comments
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NAR Annual: Looking for 2017 trends, tech and tactics

This week, Orlando is more than home to Disney World and tens of thousands of happy tourists across the globe: it also will house nearly 20,000 enthusiastic REALTORS®, other industry organizations (RESO Booth #609), MLSs executives and staff, lenders, title firms, closing agents, technology providers of every shape and size, and of course, the Scarf King. Navigating through the maze of more than 400 exhibitors is challenging, but kudos for the NAR for making it highly accessible. The Trade Expo kicks off on Friday afternoon with its Grand Opening at 3:00 pm, running to 6:00 pm. The official hours: Expo Hours [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:02-07:00November 2nd, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on NAR Annual: Looking for 2017 trends, tech and tactics
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Aculist Edge for Brokers – Big Data, MLS Powered

There are a few companies that have developed analytic and business intelligence tools for real estate. Terradatum, RBI, 10K, Altos Research, Trend Graphics, Realtors Property Resource and others. But this past year, one of America’s leading MLSs, MLSListings launched a new product called Aculist Edge™ under the banner of their subsidiary, Aculist(the name denotes accurate listings). Based in Sunnyvale, CA, the heart of Silicon Valley, MLSListings has some of the most advanced software developers in the MLS industry, and they have leveraged those resources in ways that only an MLS operator can. Aculist Edge is something that is truly special. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:03-07:00October 19th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Aculist Edge for Brokers – Big Data, MLS Powered
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Down on the Farm with Data

The most famous mash-up of valuation data and marketing applications was Zillow’s “Zestimate,” the centerpiece of Zillow’s national launch in 2006.  Zillow’s PR folks at the time positioned their new tool aggressively.  I was VP of Public Affairs at NAR at the time, and I will never forget the phone calls we received from national reporters suggesting that maybe now consumers would no longer need Realtors to sell their homes because they could find out their home values online. Though the early Zestimates needed further refinement, there’s no doubt that the launch was a tremendous PR success.  Automated valuation models [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:03-07:00October 19th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on Down on the Farm with Data
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MLSs and Brokers Misunderstand RESO

Our industry is in the dawn of a new day. With some measure of struggle, the Nations’ MLSs and their Vendors have endeavored to adopt a set of standard fields for standardized data transportation from the MLS system to applications that support the real estate industry.  I consider this the dawn of the effort because, for the very first time, MLS adoption of the real estate standards are more strictly mandated by the National Association of REALTORS® MLS Policy. For years, the National Association of REALTORS® supported and funded the Real Estate Standards Organization, which is referred to by its [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 7th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MLSs and Brokers Misunderstand RESO
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Do Online Marketing Analytics Blind Agents to Offline Opportunities?

We’ve all been the unhappy recipients of unwanted junk mail and Internet advertisements, yet online marketing has been hailed as the Holy Grail among Realtors for turning up sales leads. However, statistics show that scattershot online marketing does not necessarily translate into sales strength. By hyper-focusing outreach efforts on online portals, agents are missing valuable opportunities to not just create leads but actually increase sales. Agents can optimize their reach and revenue by remembering the roots of marketing principles and embracing an integrated plan that engages more offline strategies. To be sure, the prospect of influence through online channels is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 21st, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Marketing|Comments Off on Do Online Marketing Analytics Blind Agents to Offline Opportunities?
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