Announcing WAV Group’s 2017 MLS Services and Support Survey

It is critical that every MLS continually evaluate its technology service offerings and support provided.  WAV Group would like to provide a FREE service to the industry to evaluate the current state of MLS services and support available today. WAV Group would like to invite our readers to participate in our upcoming nationwide MLS Services and Support Survey.  As in past years, the WAV Group survey will measure awareness, adoption and attitudes about the services and support offered by MLS organizations throughout the United States. As in past years, the WAV Group annual survey will measure the attitudes of MLS [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:40-07:00September 6th, 2017|MLS Insights, Suveys and Research|Comments Off on Announcing WAV Group’s 2017 MLS Services and Support Survey

Looking for Job Security? Brokers are Looking for THIS!

By far, an IDX feed is the most heavily used broker tool offered by MLSs today.  Most brokers offer IDX data including active listings and many also include SOLD and PENDING listings thanks to the NAR IDX policy changes which allow brokers to leverage all statuses. One progressive MLS recognized how important IDX feeds are. RMLS in Portland, took the proactive step to transition every one of their IDX feeds to a RESO Certified collection of data.  This bold step allows all brokers to take full advantage of the rich collection of data relevant to their market available with Platinum [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:40-07:00September 5th, 2017|How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Looking for Job Security? Brokers are Looking for THIS!

MLSListings Shares Best Practices for Public Relations

Public Relations is a key communication practice for leading MLSs. Silicon Valley, California-based MLSListings is leveraging Public Relations to promote the relevancy of the MLS in the best possible way. They have developed communications for the real estate trade media and the consumer media that are both having positive impact. Consumer Media Trade The real estate industry has brokers and agents who continue to invest in newspaper advertising. By and large, newspapers may not display real estate listings from the MLS unless there is a special consideration. To save brokers and agents money, MLSListings has developed an agreement with 12 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:41-07:00September 5th, 2017|Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MLSListings Shares Best Practices for Public Relations

Broker Public Portal Update Webinar

As part of our commitment to keeping CMLS members informed about industry initiatives, we want you to know there will be an upcoming webinar for the Broker Public Portal. By sharing and encouraging awareness, CMLS supports unified leadership, open communication, and market knowledge within the industry. All The Questions You’ve Wanted To Ask About The Broker Public Portal, Answered. Most people have heard about the Broker Public Portal and have questions about it. This webinar will allow you to ask your own questions and answer some common questions: What is the BPP? What is the relationship between the BPP and Homesnap? How much does it cost to join the BPP? What are [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:41-07:00August 17th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Broker Public Portal Update Webinar

The Short and Simple Road for an MLS to offer ONLY RESO-Compliant IDX Feeds

Key Takeaways The move for MLSs to transition to ONLY RESO-compliant IDX feeds is not that difficult. Moving to offering only a RESO-compliant IDX feed is not that difficult.  RMLS™, one of the first MLSs in the country to distribute only RESO-Compliant IDX feeds, made the move in just FOUR weeks. They launched a campaign to their IDX providers showing them the fields that needed to be transitioned to be RESO-compliant and requiring them to transition completely ONLY to a RESO-Compliant IDX feed. Promotion is Key According to RMLS™, to make the move MLSs will need an effective promotional campaign [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:43-07:00August 2nd, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Clients, Marketing, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on The Short and Simple Road for an MLS to offer ONLY RESO-Compliant IDX Feeds

Paragon Partners With Zillow For MLS Features

According to a news release today, Black Knight Financial Services, developers of the Paragon MLS system and has partnered with Zillow for data management tools. Zillow purchased Bridge Interactive last year, a company that is well known for RETS servers (Contact) and listing input modules (Compose) for MLSs. As part of the alignment between the two companies, the release states that Zillow will be providing the technology to aggregate data from all of the hundreds of markets into Zillow’s data repository which Black Knight calls Property Information Central (PIC). This new system will act as the solution that will provide [...]

By |2018-08-12T08:02:37-07:00June 7th, 2017|MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Paragon Partners With Zillow For MLS Features

The Emperor Has No Clothes: Why Listing Photos Are Imperative

‘Naked’ listings are a disservice to both buyers and sellers and WILL hurt your brokerage! When a listing hits the MLS and is syndicated to brokerage and portal websites — especially in 2017 — there are qualified, avid buyers who are waiting for that listing. They want to learn everything they can about their potential new home so they can decide whether it’s worth the asking price and whether they should spend some of their precious house-hunting time taking a tour. Let me ask you something: How easy do you think that is to do without any listing photos? “Naked” [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:46-07:00June 6th, 2017|How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, MLS Insights|Comments Off on The Emperor Has No Clothes: Why Listing Photos Are Imperative

How Loyal Are YOUR Customers?

It is critical for MLSs and Brokers to measure the relationships they have with their customers.  While most MLSs do not have DIRECT competition, they have tons of indirect competition.  MLSs compete against companies that generate leads for agents since that it one of their key roles. They compete against training companies providing CE credit and teaching about technologies. MLSs also compete. MLSs also compete with companies that provide ways to aggregate and distribute real estate listing information for the purposes of monetizes the information flow.  While MLSs have survived well in the real estate ecosystem, some are more well-regarded than [...]

By |2018-08-11T03:34:48-07:00June 6th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Suveys and Research|Comments Off on How Loyal Are YOUR Customers?

5 Technical Benefits to Upstream

  I think that a lot of people are confused about Upstream. Some people think that it is a consumer-facing site like the Broker Public Portal/Homesnap. Others think that it is some kind of brokerowned MLS. It is none of those things. It is a database for brokers to create, store, and distribute data. For the most part, every large firm and franchise organization is doing this today, but as an industry the process is broken. Every broker who is managing their data is doing it in different ways, and their data is not interoperable with applications without custom integration, data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00June 6th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on 5 Technical Benefits to Upstream

Upstream Adjusts and Improves

WAV Group has played a humble role in the evolution of Upstream from a concept to where it is today. The effort has been shaped by the deep involvement of leading technologists from across the brokerage and franchise community. This week, we have been pummeled by questions arising out of their recent announcement during the 2017 Midyear REALTORS LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS & TRADE EXPO in Washington D.C. Upstream is a bright concept for improving data management in real estate today. If you understand the laws of America, you understand that Licensed Real Estate Brokers supervise agent and consumer real property transactions [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 31st, 2017|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Upstream Adjusts and Improves

Highlights and Lowlights at NAR Midyear

The REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo is a mouthful, so we all just call it NAR Midyear. This one was a scorcher: both inside, as Upstream was the hot topic, and outside, as the temperatures were in the 90s in mid-May and the humidity made me remember why everyone leaves D.C. in August (except the tourists). CMLS Brings it to the Table For me, this was the highlight of the conference and it really isn’t even officially part of Midyear. It’s a tangential track that the Council of Multiple Listing Services hosted at American University, about 15 minutes north [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 25th, 2017|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

Your MLS is a Lead-Generation Machine – But Do Your Members Know That?

Think about this for a second: The more highly qualified leads that an MLS generates all represent clients who are serious about buying or selling a home. It makes sense. If those buyers are smart enough to be looking at an MLS or brokerage website instead of combing a portal at 2 a.m. for a home, then they’re probably a more serious buyer or homeowner looking at whether the time is right to sell their home. So why do MLSs insist on selling their ability to generate serious business opportunities short?  MLSs are lead-generation machines that give brokers a bounty [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:49-07:00May 25th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Your MLS is a Lead-Generation Machine – But Do Your Members Know That?