Tech Firms Should Sell Solutions, not Software

For years, WAV Group has noticed that too many technology firms market and communicate to their customers in the wrong way. They spend all of their time in front of customers showing how their software works. It’s wrong. The only time that customers want to spend time looking at how your software works is when they are looking to replace an existing software system. Even then, the primary reasoning for wanting to replace their existing software has little to do with how the software works. The decision to change has more to do with user satisfaction or price. The way [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Tech Firms Should Sell Solutions, not Software
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Zillow Improves Broker Programs

Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Featured listings are dead, and have been replaced with a product to advertise in ways that drive the largest margin opportunity for a brokerage firm – leads to eTeams and Relocation. I call this “shared display,” where the brokerage and agent are clearly displayed and may be contacted – easily understood as “your listing, same leads.” This functionality works equally well [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Zillow Improves Broker Programs
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Brokers and MLSs Get Paid To Display This Old House Content

In a press release today, Prem Luthra of Elm Street Technology unveiled his latest venture, a partnership with This Old House. You may know Prem from his work in marketing at MOVE, Cyberhomes, Real Estate Digital, Xome, and the like. One of his primary and lasting impacts to the real estate industry was the innovation around helping brokers and MLSs monetize the consumer traffic on their website. Real Estate content around listings has been pretty lack luster from the perspective of the consumer on most broker, agent, and MLS consumer facing websites. Simply stated, firms have lacked the internal resources [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:56-07:00February 2nd, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Brokers and MLSs Get Paid To Display This Old House Content
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Upstream is Already an Awesome Tool for Brokerage Firms

Brokerage firms and franchises across America are already in the data management business. There are 85,000ish firms in America and each of them struggle to manage their information in one fashion or another. Upstream may be most simply understood as a solution that harmonizes data management into a single solution that is 100% controlled inside the firm, like Google Drive. Given the fiduciary responsibility of firms to comply with real estate law and MLS business rules, Upstream takes special care to provide a platform that delivers assurances that a firms practices are supported. I was invited to participate in their [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:56-07:00January 31st, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Product Management|Comments Off on Upstream is Already an Awesome Tool for Brokerage Firms
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Industry First from ABoR, RESO and CoreLogic Trestle Platform

Tim Dain, MLS Director at the Austin Board of REALTORS (ABoR) is known for being a tech innovator. He can now add creating an industry first to his resume, thanks to the vital support of his forward-thinking Board at ABoR, plus a big assist from Jeremy Crawford, CEO of the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO). What ABoR announced today busts open a door for real estate tech developers that has locked out the "kid in the garage" trying to develop better real estate software, as well as major franchises developing their own software as they don't have the access to MLS data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:56-07:00January 26th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Press Releases|Comments Off on Industry First from ABoR, RESO and CoreLogic Trestle Platform
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Broker Public Portal Inks Deal to Become Homesnap

●     Homesnap will be a national MLS consumer search portal ●     Portal will adhere to Fair Display Guidelines   ROCKVILLE, MD, January 19, 2017 -- Broker Public Portal, LLC and Homesnap, Inc. have executed final agreements to create the National Broker Portal, LLC, a joint venture that is equally owned by the two companies. The parties agreed that the best path to success would be served by forming a mutual partnership with Homesnap providing technology, brand and operational expertise to the new company, rather than composing a vendor agreement. The National Association of REALTORS modified their model MLS policy [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 19th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Broker Public Portal Inks Deal to Become Homesnap
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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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Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

Too often, brokers and managers get caught up in recruiting goals that they skip some basic best practices – Background Checks, Customer Satisfaction Checks, etc. Perhaps agents should be checking out the backgrounds of their broker too. Before the New Year, Todd Kohlhepp, a real estate broker was linked to 7 murders and a kidnapping. Todd was the broker in charge of TKA Real Estate. Inman news reported that the guy had spent 14 years in jail for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl. Of course – his agent ratings on popular listing syndication websites gave glowing reviews. (The agent has been [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:58-07:00January 4th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks
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Hacker Connect Agenda Released

WAV Group is excited to sponsor Hacker Connect. If you want to get the most out of Inman and you are in the technology side of the real estate industry. You want to attend this one day event on Monday before the full conference. Note: You can attend this for one day, or send your technical staff for one day without doing the entire conference. Connect is one of my favorite conferences in the industry for scheduling meetings with clients and leaders in our industry. It’s a conversation that is stimulated by counterpoint. Inman Connect breads thesis and antithesis in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00December 29th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|Comments Off on Hacker Connect Agenda Released
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What Is Ahead for Consolidation, RESO, Upstream and Broker Portal

2016 has been a great year for real estate. On many levels we see the entire industry rethinking. Giving credit where credit is due – this is an initiative that was powered by the National Association of REALTORS® - but morphed into many other things. Consolidation 2016 saw the most rapid consolidation of MLSs and Associations in history. WAV Group worked on many of them. The common drive is the notion that there are “too many MLSs and Associations.” But what we learned from deeper investigation through services reviews and satisfaction reviews is that there were “too many ineffective MLSs [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 20th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|Comments Off on What Is Ahead for Consolidation, RESO, Upstream and Broker Portal
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WAV Group DMCA Safe-Harbor Alert

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides some protection to website owners from tiresome litigation when an image or other copyrighted content is found to be on their website.  Before December 31st 2017, you should electronically register your designated agent. Even if you filed before using the old paper method, you must refile electronically by Dec. 31, 2017 or your DMCA safe-harbor will no longer be in effect. By now, I think that every website owner has gotten some form of letter from Getty Images or other copyright trolls – and this will continue. In fact, now that the Copyright office [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on WAV Group DMCA Safe-Harbor Alert
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Matterport Has Gone Mainstream

Matterport delivers the most immersive virtual tour experience in the marketplace for consumers to view property. Immersive is a term used frequently in business to describe something that is deeply engaging. But, the real definition is more than that. Immersive describes a digital technology or images that actively engage one’s senses and may create an altered mental state. Indeed, if you have sampled the Matterport experience, it does just that. The realism of the experience is mind altering, but it comes at a price. The cost of the tours varies by market, combining expensive and patented camera technology with sophisticated [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00December 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Press Releases|Comments Off on Matterport Has Gone Mainstream
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