The Do’s and Don’ts of MLS System Selection

MLSs are growing again. Membership is up. Agents are making money again. Life is good.  In many cases, the upward turn in the market is allowing MLSs to once again focus on evaluating their technologies to ensure they are offering the strongest tools they can. Recently we have been involved in a few system selections and I thought I would share some of our thinking about the best way to make the process as successful as it can be. Turn on all of the relevant enhancements Before you even contemplate looking at alternative MLS systems, meet with your current MLS [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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Austin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director

AUSTIN, Texas – Aug. 3, 2015 – Today, the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) announced the appointment of Tim Dain as Multiple Listing Service Director.   A seasoned MLS executive, Dain brings a unique combination of experience to ABoR, including leading a regional MLS, where he oversaw significant growth for the MLS; working as a REALTOR®, both as an agent and a broker; working in information technology outside the REALTOR® organization; and serving four years in the U.S. military. ABoR CEO Paul Hilgers commented on the announcement, “Tim’s extensive experience in evolving MLS organizations and his industry acumen will be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 3rd, 2015|MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Austin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director
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Change and Balance

WAV Group holds a quarterly webinar called the WAVes of Change. It allows companies and senior executives to get a one-hour overview of change that is happening in our industry. We wear a lot of hats in our capacity as industry researchers, investors, capital markets advisors, consultants, RE Technology publishers, and though our newest endeavor - WAV Group Communications. WAVes of Change webinars aim to pack all of this into a big ball and throw it your way so you can hit it out of the park in your business. Another way to look at change is innovation. Some call [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 16th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services, Strategic Planning|1 Comment
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The Ones to Watch: Upstream, Broker Portal, and the Kid in the Basement

Historically, the words, “location, location, location,” have guided the real estate industry; but today, a strong argument can be made to suggest that, “portal, portal, portal” has replaced location as a symbol of mysterious change and almost certain disruption. Forecasters and trend watchers such as Stephan Swanepoel, Jeremy Conaway, and Steve Murray have, for several years, warned us we were witnessing the final unraveling of our increasingly dysfunctional status quo. Our collective tone-deafness to broker concerns, including their desire to own profitable businesses and control their listings, the endless wave of new third party portal competitors and the ever present [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 10th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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Putting Marketing on Autopilot

Today, not a single agent among the nearly 3,000 that staff 170 RE/MAX of New Jersey offices is marketing a single listing. That’s because their marketing is on ‘Autopilot.” That’s the name of RE/MAX of NJ’s new marketing automation solution. Not one of their agents has to lift a finger to market a listing: It is being done for them, automatically, for every single listing. Autopilot creates, publishes and distributes both digital and print marketing material, including a printed “Just Listed” flyer and postcard, a digital ePostcard, a Single Property Website for the listing, a Virtual Tour and posts a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 10th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Putting Marketing on Autopilot
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Instanet Provides Remote Add-Edit to 100000 Agents

There has been a lot of discussion about the challenges of separating listing add/edit from MLS systems. This has long been the practice is many MLSs and this announcement today adds yet another to the list. Instanet Solutions Implements New Listing Upload Interface for NWMLS NWMLS members reduce redundant data entry using InstanetForms® in TransactionDesk® June 3rd, 2015 Austin, TX - Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) members can now create an MLS listing from a listing input form in TransactionDesk®. With one click, the data entered in the listing input form is processed and uploaded to the MLS as an [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 3rd, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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Are you Obsolete as a Leader?

According to NAR’s newly released D.A.N.G.E.R report, one of the threats facing Associations today is the average tenure of its leaders. The report goes on to say that Association leaders run the risk or burn-out and lack of action because they have been at the job too long. While I clearly understand why this one made the list I would also like to make some suggestions about how to deal with the reality of where we are today. If you’re one of those Association Executives or MLS CEO’s that have been in your position for a very long time, here’s [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 1st, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|Comments Off on Are you Obsolete as a Leader?
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RESO: Your job depends on it!

At the “CMLS Brings it to the Table” meeting at NAR Mid-Year, there was a great discussion led by some early adopters of the RESO Data Dictionary. They talked about the inherent benefits of creating a consistent data standard for all MLSs, Brokers and Technology Vendors. They talked about how data consistency creates an environment that will stimulate innovation and new thinking that will make it easier for REALTORS® to be successful. They talked about all how brokers will be able to operate more easily in multiple markets with a consistent data standard. Basically, our world with the RESO Data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00May 28th, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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IDX Rules Continue to Become More Broker-Friendly

Way to go, MLS Policy Committee for staying on a continued path to overhaul the IDX rules to make them work harder for brokers! As you may recall, back at NAR National, there were great strides made to evolve IDX rules to encourage data standardization, broker marketing in multiple MLS markets and an increased focus on data accuracy. I am proud to say that WAV Group, along with the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, brought forth just about all of the topics that were approved at this meeting, just like the NAR National meeting. These positive initiatives continued [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:44-07:00May 22nd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|2 Comments
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Time to Market

Shaping an idea or a strategy takes time. More importantly, it takes a well-structured catalyst that “just makes sense.” WAV Group has had the opportunity to work with some pretty fantastic visionaries on the future of real estate – powerful market makers that rethink things many times to carefully construct strategies for the greater good. The outreach with peers and competitors only drives the momentum and refines the structure. It is impressive and inspired. But these things take time to develop correctly. Upstream and the Broker Public Portal are the outcroppings of this industry-wide thinking. We are blessed to be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:44-07:00May 22nd, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Time to Market
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What ever happened to Trade Show Etiquette?

It could be just me. I may have attended too many trade shows. Yet somehow I believe Emily Post would have been appalled if she walked the exhibits at NAR Midyear. To add a little context, I have attended, exhibited, sponsored and run trade shows. In fact, I’m afraid to count the number of miles I have walked on trade show floors, having attended many NAR-FAR-CAR annuals, NAR Midyears, HomeBuilders/IBS, PCBCs, COMDEX, CES, IBC and others. I have also been the lead for many firms exhibiting at these same shows, and have found myself staffing exhibits, including too many hours [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:44-07:00May 22nd, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Our Services|14 Comments
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No HATERS in Real Estate Please!

After just coming back from the NAR Mid-Year meetings I harken back to one of our greatest spiritual leaders of all time – The Dalai Lama. He has an amazing quote that I feel bears repeating – “We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasing resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us and make us kinder. You have always the choice.” For those of you that are following the latest real estate news, NAR Mid-Year was a very exciting meeting. There were great strides taken with the Broker Public Portal [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:44-07:00May 22nd, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|7 Comments
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