2012 - Page 5 of 17 - WAV Group Consulting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Bean Group Appoints Richard Burbine as President and Andrew Werry as Chief Operations Officer

Bean Group Appoints Richard Burbine as President and Andrew Werry as Chief Operations Officer New England real estate brokerage expands C-suite to accommodate growth Portsmouth, NH, Sept. 12, 2012 – Bean Group, one of the largest independent real estate brokerage firms in New England, has appointed Andrew Werry as the company’s Chief Operating Officer and Richard Burbine as its new President. Combined, these executives bring more than 50 years of experience to the executive team at Bean Group. “After evaluating our current business organization and strategy, we were quick to identify the need to expand the executive leadership team in [...]

By THE WAV GROUP|2018-05-03T21:24:52-07:00September 12th, 2012|Press Releases|0 Comments

The funny economics of public companies

Zillow has a market valuation of over $1B. They are authorizing 3.5 Million more shares and raising north of another $140 Million-ish in cash (they can sell up to 4 million shares if they have heavy demand, and their stock is around $42 to $42 per share). It is amazing stuff. Smart stuff. With that kind of cash, Zillow can take strong positions in any area of the real estate industry that interests them: Buy a national brokerage, buy a national MLS vendor, buy leading companies that provide any number of agent or broker services, etc. Cash is King - [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:52-07:00September 10th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category|2 Comments

Homes.com partners with newspapers

Following in the path of Homefinder, Trulia, and Zillow, the Nation's 4th largest portal - Homes.com has announced that they are seeking to partner with Newspapers to offer online property search. Moreover, they are offering this service to Newspapers for free, in line with others. The new twist is that Homes.com seeks to leverage the relationship that Newspapers have with advertisers to develop a sales channel for their other products. The announcement of the new strategy is coupled with the launch of their first newspaper partner. In this case, it is actually an announcement of a partnership with 50 newspapers [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00September 9th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

What is a participant

NAR published revised guidelines this year that outline the definition of a Participant in the MLS. It is a long description, so I will put it at the end. One key element is that the mere possession of a broker's license is not sufficient, the broker must actively endeavor to make or accept offers of cooperation and compensation with respect to properties of the type that are listed on the MLS. If you are an NAR affiliated MLS, you probably have already adopted this language and amended your rules and regulations. Some MLSs go further. They require the broker to take training. Some state [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00September 4th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Move buys Tigerlead Solutions

Move, operators of Realtor.com, AOL Real Estate, and MSN Real Estate, Listhub, Top Producer, is growing through acquisition as they announce their purchase of Tigerlead. Presumably, Tigerlead will be alternative product with similar functionality to Top Producer. The company was purchased for $22 Million. The executives from TigerLead Solutions will be joining the Move management team, strengthening their already deep bench of experts who understand how to attract, convert, cultivate, and close online home buyers and sellers. Existing Tigerlead customers will benefit from MOVE's consumer traffic that will fill lead funnels. Here is the Move Buys Tigerlead press release. "Move has long [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00September 4th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments

The Unproductive Agent Exposed

In today’s Real Trends eMail update, Steve Murray talks about an important topic for REALTOR Associations and Brokers – the unproductive agent. The unproductive agent is both a blessing and an anchor on our industry. However, taking advantage of the unproductive agent may be a great source of new business for an emerging business model in real estate brokerage. The unproductive agent is a great source of revenue. Lets face the reality – without the unproductive agent paying dues to REALTOR Associations, the Associations would fail, or at least be delimited. The nation’s largest trade association, which does the most [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00August 31st, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|0 Comments

What’s Right for Me?
Gallery
What’s Right for Me?

Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation

What’s Right for Me?

A new era is born for MLSs delivering technology solutions to their subscribers: Tiered Pricing. What do I get from My MLS/Association? Service levels offered by MLSs across the nation vary widely. Some MLS offerings are as minimal as a base MLS system, rules enforcement, and a RETS server. No training or help desk (vendor does that); no tax system, just a core MLS. Minimum Service MLS: This is really not as minimum as it sounds. MLS systems today are feature rich and have many necessary features that come standard like: CMA; User defined Hot Sheet; Roster; Prospect Management & [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00August 29th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|1 Comment

How the MLS ‘Language’ May Die
Gallery
How the MLS ‘Language’ May Die

MLS Insights

How the MLS ‘Language’ May Die

In many ways, the MLS is like a dictionary. They each contain the language of their respective communities – in a dictionary, these are words; in the context of the MLS, these are listings. The MLS and the dictionary each began as books and have been modernized and digitized to fit the online space. A dictionary does not tell a story, it is merely a set of words. In a similar way, the tools that are layered on top of MLS data give the agent the ability to verbalize data into meaning. The data does not have real meaning until [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00August 28th, 2012|MLS Insights|0 Comments

Annual WAV Group MLS Technology Survey – Get the Benefits!

WAV Group has always been passionate about research and helping our industry obtain data that assists professionals in making the right decisions for their organizations. We conduct numerous studies every year to that end and this September we will be fielding one of the most important studies we do, the annual WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey. We started this survey in 2011 meaning 2012 will be the first year we are able to see how this critical data is trending and to see how our vendors are moving up or down in various rating areas. We would like every [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:53-07:00August 28th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services, Technology Evaluation|0 Comments

MLS Photo Fail

"A picture is worth a thousand words" is a rather famous old adage that refers to the notion that an idea with complex meaning can be conveyed in a single image. It allows the viewer to experience large amounts of information in a moment, and in doing so - often have an emotional reaction. In real estate, photos are the most powerful and compelling elements of a listing - they are the essence of meaning. Many suggest that without the substance of a photo, you fundamentally do not have a listing. The notion dates back to the days of Aristotle, [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:54-07:00August 28th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights|8 Comments

MRED Gives Company Website a Facelift

MRED Launches the New Look and Enhanced Functionality of MREDLLC.com LISLE, IL–(Marketwire – Aug 20, 2012) – Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS), announced that it has launched the new MREDLLC.com. This redesigned website gives real estate professionals across the Midwest a more interactive and user friendly site with which to learn about the extensive set of products and services provided by MRED, including easy access to its workhorse MLS system, connectMLS™. This new site is the place to find tools Realtors® can use and to get all of the information and training on how to use [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:54-07:00August 20th, 2012|Clients, Main category, Press Releases|0 Comments

Contagion is a New Word for Brokers

If you spend much time around me, you would know that I get attached to words like “curate,” and use them so frequently that it annoys the good people who are around me every day. I am working on that. I have been a student of the effort to develop, to launch, and to save the Euro. A currency sharing standard among nations is more serious, and more important than a data sharing standard. However, in many ways real estate data sharing standards are analogous. I love some of the terminology used by economists and leaders to talk about the [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:54-07:00August 17th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments