Keep your organization ahead of the WAVes of Change happening in 2015!

As we end 2014 now is a great time to sit back and reflect on the best ways to help prepare your organization for the inevitable evolutions and revolutions we may experience next year. Do you sometimes feel like your Board of Directors and key staff are out of touch with what’s really happening in the real estate industry today? Do you sometimes feel a bit isolated and would like to know if other organizations are facing the same challenges you are? Is your organization suffering from stifled and cumbersome decision-making? Here’s what can happen when an organization is out [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 18th, 2014|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Our Services, Strategic Planning, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on Keep your organization ahead of the WAVes of Change happening in 2015!

RealScout Secures $6M to Empower Brokers and Agents with Collaborative Search

When the Department of Justice and the National Association of REALTORS® agreed to a settlement that made virtual office website platforms available to every broker in the Nation, WAV Group expected widespread adoption and innovation of client servicing tools leveraging full/VOW data. It did not happen. Perhaps it was because of the economy was slumping or perhaps it was because of category killers like Listingbook, rDesk, and AgentAchieve. Regardless, we have kept our eyes open for innovation. A Silicon Valley based company called RealScout jumped up on the radar in a significant way this week with the announcement of over [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:55-07:00November 18th, 2014|MLS Insights, Press Releases, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on RealScout Secures $6M to Empower Brokers and Agents with Collaborative Search

Waves of Change Are Coming…Are you Ready?

We all know that the floor is shifting in the real estate industry. There’s a general discomfort among brokers and Associations that the world as we know it could go away soon. So what can you do to prepare?   Are you staying close to the new players entering the real estate space? Are you listening closely to what today’s real estate customers are demanding and many times NOT getting from their agent?  Are you proactively talking about the ways that the industry is changing and how it is affecting your local real estate marketplace? Here’s what can happen when an [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:56-07:00October 31st, 2014|Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Our Services, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Waves of Change Are Coming…Are you Ready?

MLSListings in the Lead Pack of MLS Adopting Homesnap

Homesnap is approaching the Nation’s leading MLSs with one heck of a value proposition. The company optimizes all of the MLS data for mobile devices and delivers it through an app to agents…..for free. Well, its free for the first year. Homesnap is among a small handful of mobile solution providers that offer agent-only data.  The agents can access the full listing data along with showing instructions, commission splits, agent roster, and other confidential fields. The MLS data is organized and combined with census data, tax data, and geographic boundaries that are important to agents in the field. The solution [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:57-07:00October 16th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|2 Comments

Raising MLS User Intelligence with MLS Drip Training

All MLS systems are pretty easy to use. Without any training, even a new real estate professional should be able to access the MLS and use its core features like search and add/edit listings. Watching a new agent log into the MLS is a great way to measure the ease of use. Try it sometime. Raising MLS user intelligence is a goal of every MLS organization. When WAV Group performs MLS user satisfaction surveys we learn that a large problem is that MLSs provide services and features that many users don’t know about. We did a survey last year for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:57-07:00October 15th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|Comments Off on Raising MLS User Intelligence with MLS Drip Training

Broker Back Office Powered By MLS

MLSs have taken a relentless beating by large brokers over the last year.  The message was clear, help us! Brokers are fighting for their lives in a technology cold war where they see everyone as a co-petitor.  Third party sites are co-petitors in attracting consumers to property search websites. MLS consumer sites are sometimes co-petitors too. Obviously, other brokers are co-petitor's, especially when it comes to the paradox of the MLS services vs. brokerage services. For many brokers today, it is hard to know who is your friend and who is your enemy. It begs the question, “why can’t we [...]

Welcome David Mele, Homes.com President

WAV Group has a strong working relationship between many portal operators and the brokers and MLSs we support. Homes.com is among the largest portals in real estate and among the top providers of a franchise, MLS agent, and broker tools in real estate. Last week, Homes.com announced that David Mele was appointed the President of Homes.com. Previously, Terry Slattery was responsible for Homes.com business and the ForRent businesses. Homes.com effectively split the job in half and brought in David Mele to head up the Homes.com unit. Mr. Mele has worked for Landmark’s Dominion family of companies for a long time [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:58-07:00October 6th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|2 Comments

CMLS Wrap UP

The Council of MLS held their annual conference in California last week. It was most well-attended show in its history. They did a great job of blending outside perspectives from leading technology firms with MLS-to-MLS sharing. Kudos to the CMLS board of directors and the California Regional MLS led by Art Carter and their staff who were the hosts. It may be the most well-run conference in real estate. Even the vendors were happy, especially those on the innovation track. My understanding is that the legal meetings went really well. SourceMLS is off to a great start. And, the message [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:58-07:00October 1st, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on CMLS Wrap UP

Today’s News Summary

News represents change in real estate. It also represents staying the course. There were lots of both today. Not knowing what to expect, the industry unloaded today. Bullets were flying everywhere. The MOVE acquisition by News Corp was the headline - If you look at our post on it, we have added the letter that NAR sent to the membership, the letter that MOVE sent to the industry, and the press release. Taking the temperature on this, it is probably a good thing. The only big concern is that REA group from Australia has investments in the top 3 portals [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:58-07:00September 30th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Today’s News Summary

News Corp buys MOVE operators of Realtor.com

And so it goes. Move, the operators of the National Associaton of REALTORS portal called Realtor.com have agreed to sell the company to News Corp in an all-cash deal valued at $950 million. MOVE's board of directors were swift to approve the offer, representing a 36% bump in the value of the company. News Corp owns other real estate assets including The Wall Street Journal ( a popular spot for luxury property advertising) and Australian real estate portal - realestate.com.au (part of the REA Group). REA Group will apparently pay for 20% of MOVE, and News Corp will pay the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:58-07:00September 30th, 2014|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on News Corp buys MOVE operators of Realtor.com

The Lasting Value of Knowing What Your Customers Are Looking for 

The Case for Measuring Customer Satisfaction Regularly MLSs are monopolies right?  They OWN their territory so they don’t have to worry about customer satisfaction.  Few in the industry would ever agree to this statement but in reality, many act as though they are a monopoly – not paying close attention to what their customers are asking for.  Can you honestly say you know what your MLSs strengths and weaknesses are?  Do you know what frustrates your customers or how you might hinders them from selling real estate as effectively as they could?   Do you occasionally get a board member that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:59-07:00September 23rd, 2014|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|Comments Off on The Lasting Value of Knowing What Your Customers Are Looking for 

SourceMLS launches as the seal of approval and accuracy

The sourceMLS™ initiative is set to launch next week at the Council of MLS meetings in Huntington Beach, CA and I am excited! If you are displaying a listing from the MLS, you can display the sourceMLS Logo. It’s that simple. Think of it as the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. This is a no-frills way for every listing agent, every listing broker, and every MLS to finally identify the value of a listing to the consumer. There is not a day that goes by when a consumer is not bilked by dozens of inaccurate, incomplete, expired, or just flat [...]

By |2018-08-12T08:45:19-07:00September 19th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|2 Comments