Join us for “New Data Services for Brokers to Improve Consumer Experience”

Today, all MLSs in America are prepared to provide a standard set of data from across the nation. It’s the kind of data that portals have been aggregating for years, which is now being made available to real estate brokers. With great effort Redfin championed this strategy to become one of the most successful broker websites in America. We will be hosting a webinar surrounding these topics on Tuesday October 11th at 10:00am PDT. Register here today! Our panelists on this exciting webinar include:                                 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 5th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Join us for “New Data Services for Brokers to Improve Consumer Experience”

5 MUST HAVES for your 2017 MLS Budget

We’re getting to budget time again and  starting to think about what products and services that MLS’s should offer their members in 2017 and beyond. MLSs, of course, need to continue to offer their core MLS system, but there are a few other areas to consider as you move into your next budget planning cycle that will help your members.  WAV Group believes you should offer products and services that are designed to address a core need of your subscribers.  No MLS should offer a technology just because it’s exciting or new. They ALL need to address a fundamental challenge [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00September 28th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|Comments Off on 5 MUST HAVES for your 2017 MLS Budget

Re-Inventing the Collection of Earnest Money – A Case Study

John Mosey, CEO of Northstar MLS is known to be one of those leaders that when he finds a business challenge his brokers face, he will do his best to find a solution.  He is not afraid to go first. As such he has helped to bring to market many exciting new products that serve the greater good.  I had the pleasure of interviewing him about the latest gem he has brought to the market for his subscribers. It’s a company called TrustFunds. TrustFunds, led by Lynn Leegard, was inspired by challenges she faced when she was General Counsel for Edina [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 15th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Re-Inventing the Collection of Earnest Money – A Case Study

Intermountain MLS Job Posting

WAV Group is excited to announce a really exciting job opportunity for progressive MLS leaders.  Intermountain MLS, located in Boise, Idaho is looking for a new Chief Executive Officer. I have worked with this organization for awhile now and they are one of the best run MLSs out there.  And for those of you who went to CMLS when it was hosted in Boise, Idaho you know what an AMAZING place it is!  I would love to talk to you to any of you that may be interested in learning more about the position. Also if you would like to [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00September 14th, 2016|MLS Insights, Recruiting|Comments Off on Intermountain MLS Job Posting

NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

The Northern Nevada Regional MLS could be considered a middle tier MLS, ranking around the top 100 largest MLSs in the nation. There are approximately 728 MLSs today, down from 750 in the past 6 months. As consolidation runs rampant across America’s MLS, NNRMLS has become a shining light of MLS excellence. Shelley Specchio, CEO of NNRMLS credits a combination of strong broker relationships and the influence of the Council of MLS as keystones for keeping NNRMLS well positioned to serve their brokers, especially in areas of Data Management. Data Management for MLS has three themes. The first theme is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 30th, 2016|MLS Insights, Virtual Office Website Series|Comments Off on NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

MetroList® gives agents powerful new mortgage affordability tool

  Agents using RatePlug technology report faster sales cycle, provide better data to buyers Naperville, IL (Chicagoland) – August 24, 2016 – For the first time, MetroList® agents and homebuyers will be able to view on MetroList – their local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – total monthly housing payments for every property listed for sale, including current mortgage rates, taxes, assessments, and home owners insurance information. MetroList Services Inc., the largest MLS in Northern California has released RatePlug’s new mortgage technology to its more than 17,000 real estate brokers and agents in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, San Joaquin, Stanislaus [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 24th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MetroList® gives agents powerful new mortgage affordability tool

Georgia MLS Launches Black Knight’s Paragon MLS System

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Black Knight Financial Services (NYSE: BKFS) announced that Georgia MLS(GAMLS) has launched the Paragon MLS system after a smooth and successful conversion process. GAMLS extended its long-term partnership with Black Knight by signing a multi-year agreement to use Paragon, Black Knight’s comprehensive, leading-edge MLS system that offers intuitive and straightforward navigation, cross-browser compatibility, multi-tasking capabilities and access from mobile devices. GAMLS is one of the largest multiple listing service (MLS) organization in the Southeast, with over 3,100 offices and more than 31,000 agents and appraisers.  “We are committed to providing smooth implementations and exceptional [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 23rd, 2016|MLS Insights|Comments Off on Georgia MLS Launches Black Knight’s Paragon MLS System

Does Your Email Blast Stack Up?

MLSs and Brokerages struggle constantly with how to build communications that break-through to their agents.   Sometimes, it’s hard to know how your marketing efforts stack up against others, so I thought I would share this study to give all of us some perspective. As all online marketers know, open rate and click through rate are two key metrics that need to be closely monitored to ensure that you getting the bang for your marketing buck! According to a recent study called the 2016 Email Marketing Benchmarks Study    th published by IBM, the average click through of emails sent in the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Does Your Email Blast Stack Up?

Shady Discount Broker

As a consumer, I seek to keep myself aware of services offered by brokerage firms across the county. It’s a bit of a passion of mine. A story run byNBC caught my eye: “New Real Estate Technology from Homecast Empowers Home Sellers to Sell Without An Agent.” As I browsed through it, my stomach began to churn a bit. First off, they seem to talk about being a technology company, but most the article talks about how they advertise listings on third party listing websites – specifically Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia, but also on the MLS. They offer to represent [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Shady Discount Broker

Zillow Group Buys Bridge to Go Upstream

Zillow Group announced the purchase of Bridge Interactive, making them the provider of listing input in a number of MLSs, and the data distribution manager in many others. In some ways, Bridge Interactive is like Upstream, but not a competitor. Bridge is about helping brokers solve data problems and may become a conduit that more easily permits Upstream to allow brokers to deliver listing content to MLSs. Throughout the process of developing the Request for Proposal for Project Upstream, the technology workgroup evaluated many technology offerings. At the end of the day, there were three pieces to the Upstream puzzle that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:08-07:00August 16th, 2016|MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Zillow Group Buys Bridge to Go Upstream

RESO slashes Brokerage membership dues, makes Certification member benefit

The Real Estate Standards Organization – or RESO – just announced two big moves. First, RESO is eliminating separate Certification fees by making all Certifications a member benefit, covered by annual RESO dues effective immediately. Second, beginning in January, Real Estate Brokerages with fewer than 100 agents can become a RESO member for just $50 a year, slashed from $500 a year previously. Membership fees – shown below in the news release issued this morning – have been overhauled for 2017 and takes into account folding in Certification fees, which should be welcomed news for larger MLSs. RESO is pushing hard to get [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:10-07:00July 26th, 2016|Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off on RESO slashes Brokerage membership dues, makes Certification member benefit

Will Zillow Win The MLS Data Aggregation Wars

A new war over data management has broken out among America’s largest technology firms, and no clear winner is in sight. To begin, it may be best to level set around what data aggregation is. For brokerage firms or technology companies that leverage MLS data in software, they are pulling MLS data feeds. When you are pulling more than one feed, you are aggregating MLS data. Brokerage firms and software companies that have hired WAV Group to streamline their data aggregation systems know that we have always focused on the three leading firms that have been aggregating MLS data for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 21st, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Will Zillow Win The MLS Data Aggregation Wars