Can’t Miss Webinar: Why are some of the best Association Execs in the business getting fired?

After receiving about my 15th call is as many weeks from a distraught Association Executive telling me they just been fired, mostly for irrational and indefensible reasons, I just had to get my thoughts down to see what we can do to fix this systemic problem. I wrote an article entitled Why are so many of our strongest Association Executives getting fired?, about the ill-fated careers of many amazing Association staff leaders.

By |2025-03-16T06:45:46-07:00August 26th, 2024|Associations, Industry Observations, MLS, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Can’t Miss Webinar: Why are some of the best Association Execs in the business getting fired?

The Irreconcilable Conflict Between Settlement Terms and NAR Membership Requirements

Now that the attorneys have been awarded nearly $1 billion, I believe we are going to see a lot more attorneys come out the woodwork to try to find additional vulnerabilities in our policies and procedures/traditions. I believe the attorneys and DOJ are just getting warmed up. Here’s one potential vulnerability that keeps me up at night….

Do you really want to FORCE Agents to Join Your Association?

Since the Biden Administration announced their priority to “un-tie” real estate 4 years ago, I have been urging my MLS clients to get serious about opening up their subscription services to all licensees. 

By |2025-03-16T06:28:03-07:00August 15th, 2024|Associations, MLS, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Do you really want to FORCE Agents to Join Your Association?

How Volunteer Leaders can Avoid Inadvertently Firing Top Notch Association Executives

Today brokerages representing over 600,000 agents cannot or will not require NAR membership because of their proposed lawsuit settlements. Whether from litigation, DOJ rulings or the belief from brokerages (especially the $2 billion crowd) that NAR let them down, it is anything but business as usual right now. All Association leaders need to be open to new ways to doing business to be able to ride out this storm. Forward-looking, strategic AE’s recognize these vulnerabilities. They are effectively partnering with their volunteer leaders to push the envelope, eliminating outdated or poorly attended programs and focusing their attention on preparing for future scenarios that may be foisted on the industry from lawyers, the DOJ or some other unknown threat.

By |2025-03-16T06:27:20-07:00August 13th, 2024|MLS, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|1 Comment

Moneywise Article Indicts National Real Estate Broker For Listing Fraud

I do not know why Associations and MLSs do not impune this broker’s conduct with sanctions that are in place for this egregious behavior.

Ahead of NAR Settlement Changes, San Diego MLS Partners With The MLS On Checkmate Compliance System

These systems are complex, allowing the MLS to configure playbooks for different types of violations on both images and imputed text.

By |2024-07-18T13:28:51-07:00July 22nd, 2024|Announcements, MLS Insights, Real Estate Technology|Comments Off on Ahead of NAR Settlement Changes, San Diego MLS Partners With The MLS On Checkmate Compliance System

Why are so many of our strongest Association Executives getting fired?

Today, it is more important than ever that the real estate industry nurtures and protects its best and brightest staff executives. We need people that are thoughtfully helping the industry navigate the uncertain waters we are swimming in right now. I have noticed an alarming trend, though, counter to this need. In the past year or so, many progressive Association Executive leaders have been dismissed without cause, advance notice, or well-documented justification. It seems as though as the market has gotten tougher the number of firings has increased. This alarming trend made me think about a few things that may be lacking in training and governance orchestration we may want to consider.

By |2025-03-16T06:25:45-07:00July 22nd, 2024|Associations, Industry Observations, MLS Insights, Recruiting, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Why are so many of our strongest Association Executives getting fired?

The 5 Reasons why North Carolina Regional MLS successfully continues its Southeast expansion

The latest Association addition to North Carolina Regional MLS moves the organization beyond the walls of their state and opens them up as one of the MLSs gaining traction in the formation of Southeast MLS collaborations.  They are arguable one of, if not the fastest growing MLS in the country when measured by the addition of new Associations and moving beyond contiguous markets. When examining their meteoric expansion, I observed a few lessons that can be leveraged by other markets to deliver brokers the broader data access they are demanding. In my opinion there are five key reasons NCRMLS is successfully expanding to support its brokers and the agents and clients they serve:

By |2024-07-19T06:24:20-07:00July 19th, 2024|Industry Observations, MLS, MLS Insights|Comments Off on The 5 Reasons why North Carolina Regional MLS successfully continues its Southeast expansion

Are you treating your MLS subscribers as the Customers they are?

MLSs mistakenly refer to their customers as members. They are NOT members. MLSs are not trade associations. They are technology companies. Have you ever heard Verizon, Apple or AT&T call their subscribers – “members”? Have you ever Starlink or Spectrum call their paid subscribers – “members”?  These subscription-based technology companies think of every one of their paid subscribers as customers. They understand that every one of their customers has a choice to pay for their services or not so they continually focus on how to retain their customers

By |2025-03-16T06:24:10-07:00July 11th, 2024|MLS, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Are you treating your MLS subscribers as the Customers they are?

New MLS Trend: IntraMatrix Bringing Florida and California MLSs Together – Link Up

MLSs continue to focus on delivering services that matter most to their participants and subscribers.

By |2024-07-02T14:17:57-07:00July 2nd, 2024|Conferences, MLS Insights|Comments Off on New MLS Trend: IntraMatrix Bringing Florida and California MLSs Together – Link Up

Why are we not treating MLSs as the Technology Companies they are?

Approximately 75% of MLSs are owned by Associations today. With the history of being launched as a for profit arm of trade associations, MLSs naturally adopted the governance models and board make-up of their parent companies. Here’s why I believe that approach is no longer valid.