Stop Buying Technology

It’s the season. WAV Group is fielding satisfaction surveys to determine how agents and brokers use or don’t use technology offerings. We even encounter a curious situation where we are measuring satisfaction with broker solutions and MLS solutions in the same market. Sometimes the easiest answer to a strategy is the simplest. What WAV Group sees today is that less is more. Too many technology solutions is real estate have feature creep. Regardless if it is a broker CRM or the MLS system – they are too complex.  In real estate technology, usability trumps functionality. Change is Hard The most [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:27-07:00December 16th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Stop Buying Technology

Solving for Technology-Confused Agents

WAV Group supports organizations (Brokers/MLS/Associations/Franchises) to develop support services for the technology applications used by agents. To kick off these programs we audit the systems that an agent has access to. This is an administrative process whereby we inventory all of the tools that they access from any source. 7 Sources of Real Estate Agent Technology (with one common example) National Association of Realtors – RPR State Association of Realtors – Forms Local Association of Realtors – Lockbox Multiple Listing Service – MLS system Franchise – lead management Brokerage - eMail Self – website The Big Problem: 7 different channels [...]

By |2016-07-02T04:32:55-07:00November 11th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on Solving for Technology-Confused Agents

Boost Your Member Satisfaction by offering RE Technology

Real estate agents and brokers are overwhelmed by technologies. Telemarketers pitching the latest and greatest gimmick inundate them. We have been changing this since 2010 and now serve 750,000 MLS and Association subscribers with straight shooting information. Let's meet at NAR to discuss this top rated solution for your area. Trust the Real Estate Technology Leader RE Technology is an online source where agents and brokers can learn about how to use technology to win more listings, sell homes more quickly, and maintain stronger relationships with past clients. Currently agents and brokers have access to thousands of articles and product [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:29-07:00November 11th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on Boost Your Member Satisfaction by offering RE Technology

Case Study: Finding the right Transaction Management system for your firm

WAV Group has just published a case study examining enterprise-level transaction management systems WAV Group Consulting works with real estate brokerages to perfect back office enterprise business. This case study tells the story of how Hunt Real Estate evaluated their choices for enterprise transaction management. The firm spans nearly a dozen MLSs across multiple states with a plethora of integration points for customer records, listing records, forms, and agent records.This case study is designed to represent a roadmap for other firms to consider when making such an important technology selection. Download the Hunt Real Estate case study HERE.

By |2018-05-03T21:23:29-07:00November 6th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on Case Study: Finding the right Transaction Management system for your firm

Getting The Word Out Through Agents

WAV Group works with a number of different company types. We work with large brokerage and franchise organizations, technology firms, MLSs, and Associations of REALTORS. Our specialty is enterprise strategy and enterprise systems. For a long time now, we have seen our customer segments struggle with communications. “Agents Don’t Read” The chief complaint with communications in our industry is that agents don’t read. At WAV Group Communications we call that stinking thinking. Agents do read, but only things that they consider to be important to them. Most communications strategies are deployed through bulk email with open rates that rarely go [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:33-07:00October 15th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Getting The Word Out Through Agents

Better Market Reports

Graphs, Actives, Pendings, Recently sold, yadda, yadda. I have been reviewing the market reports across a variety of brokerages recently. They all seem to be missing the same little touch of information – an AVM. What Is A Market Report? The definition of a market report is hard to pin down. They are automated reports that tend to change based upon the state of the consumer. If the consumer is actively looking to buy or sell, the market report is like a listing alert. If the consumer is not in the market, the market report is like a stock portfolio [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:33-07:00October 13th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Better Market Reports

Brokers need full data transparency and unified standards, not self reporting

The room was filled with brokers, eager to hear how the real estate industry is beginning to make great strides in wrangling Big Data to the benefits of everyone: Brokers, agents and consumers. The three panelists on stage represented a broad spectrum of the industry: Rainy Hake, a well respected brokerage leader who oversees the Technology, Marketing, Training and Strategy departments for Alain Pinel Realtors; Trent Gardner, the CEO of ListTrac, known as the “Google Analytics for Listings;” and Jeremy Crawford, the dynamic MLS leader who heads up RESO (Real Estate Standards Organization) and the chief evangelist for the Data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:34-07:00October 6th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Brokers need full data transparency and unified standards, not self reporting

Brokers Partner On Technology

Long and Foster and Windermere are both brokerages that are family owned and operated. They are large firms and they struggle with build vs. buy whenever they consider a technology solution for their companies. Windermere supports 7000 agents across 300 offices. Long and Foster has over 200 offices supporting 11,000 agents. There are a number of technology solutions that each company builds and supports. Moxi Works, the technology company founded by the Jacobi family of Windermere, builds a plethora of core technology solutions used by Windermere. Moxi Works provides the Windermere broker website, co-branded agent websites, lead management, drip marketing, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:35-07:00September 30th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Brokers Partner On Technology

Tech Helpline Now Provides Support for One in Three REALTORS® in North America

Unless you are an agent who actually has Tech Helpline, you may not be aware of this agent-centric, genuinely friendly, U.S.-based tech support created by Realtors for Realtors. Here's a news release from the Florida Realtors® about their Tech Helpline services: “Friendly” U.S.-Based Staff Helps Agents Solve Computer, Software, and Smartphone Glitches Orlando, FL., (September 15, 2015) – During a hot real estate market, what happens when a real estate agent is printing a Purchase and Sale agreement and the printer freezes or the computer crashes? Today, nearly 400,000 Realtors throughout the U.S. and Canada now turn to Tech Helpline for [...]

Broker Members of The Enterprise Network Hit Mobile Milestone

We have been talking about mobile in real estate for far too long now. Two years ago Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com all announced that mobile was passing other methods of accessing their site. As brokers began to adopt mobile solutions, the debate about mobile browser vs. mobile app went on for an eternity until everyone put down their guns and agreed that the answer is both. One of the broker website service providers that we have been tracking is Booj or The Enterprise Network. They offer a good benchmark because of their unique client base. If you are not familiar, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 19th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Broker Members of The Enterprise Network Hit Mobile Milestone

1000watt nails large broker IDX strategy

1000Watt Consulting wrote a post this week that is a must read. View it here - http://1000watt.net/2015/08/friday-flash-the-broken-down-lead-machine/# Brian Boero's point is clear: "If you are a large firm with more than 10% market share - ditch IDX." Reasons to Act This Way compromised presentation of properties raft of local competitors drafting on your listings paper brokers leverage your data with impunity relatively small number of leads that agents will probably drop the ball on. I am not going to recant the entire article. Please go and read it. But I do want to reinforce one point and add another. Reinforcement - [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 14th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on 1000watt nails large broker IDX strategy

Broker Public Portal License Agreement

WAV Group is providing consulting services to the Broker Public Portal project. This project seeks the collaboration of MLSs and Brokerages in developing a national MLS consumer-facing website that adheres to the Fair Display rules for property search. Since starting the project in January, the company has developed and filed its LLC governance, elected the board of managers, and is running three parallel projects. The first two projects include Brand development (work contracted out to 1000watt Consulting), and Request for Proposal (being done by a workgroup of the Board). The third project is the development of the data license agreement [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 11th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on Broker Public Portal License Agreement