It’s Your Data – Make Sure You Can Use It!

I do a lot of work helping MLSs choose their next MLS technology vendor and I also work with brokers that use multiple real estate technology tools.  The one thing both sets of technology have in common is the fact that without good data the technology is worthless.  Numerous roadblocks exist today, however, on the data front that often derails the best software.  Some roadblocks come from within the MLS but some come from the technology vendors themselves. MLSs can serve as roadblocks to listing and sales data at the source, meaning they may put arbitrary restrictions on data use [...]

Brokers Losing Agent SEO Battle to Portals

Years ago, when consumers searched for keywords like City Name + Real Estate, an actual real estate broker would appear in the search results. Those days are long gone for most cities in America. Unless a broker has invested richly in the goal to appear on page one, Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, and Homes.com dominate. With the advent of mobile search and the consumer awareness of long tail search, the goal of SEO strategies by portals expanded to include property address. Again, four or five years ago, if you searched for a property by address, and that property was for sale, [...]

WAV Group 2013 MLS Technology Survey Report

It is our pleasure to share the results of the WAV Group 2013 MLS Technology Survey report with you.  The WAV Group 2013 MLS Technology Survey was fielded on September 13 and closed on October 16. 11,176 staff and users completed the survey.  Survey results are only included for those MLSs that provided both staff and user ratings.   Staff and user results are presented separately in the report. Overall,  MLSs are happy with their MLS technology but there is some churn in the industry.  43% for the participating MLSs have been with their vendors for 10 years or more.  [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:23-07:00November 27th, 2013|Main category|1 Comment

Happy Thanksgiving!

All of us at WAV Group would like to wish all of our friends in the industry a happy, healthy and enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.  We all have very much to be thankful for in our industry and this is a great time to take stock of our blessings. Our real estate market has turned around from a period when things looked very dark and gloomy to one where the future looks very bright.  Our real estate system for all its imperfections is the best in the world.  All of you who have had the opportunity to live abroad know what [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:23-07:00November 27th, 2013|Main category|0 Comments

Fear of Agent Ratings

The real estate industry seems to want to avoid judgments and ratings of any and all kinds. It may be for good reason, or it may be for fear. The reality is that agents resist ratings for fear and reason. Most people react to change with emotion and justify that emotion with logic. Fear According to the source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, fear is an emotion induced by a perceived threat that causes entities to quickly pull far away from it and usually hide. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain [...]

SEM and VTs

SEM and VTs, sounds a little more than conspicuous. It's code for using some Internet strategies to do a little more with online marketing. There is a gaping area of unexploited territory available to cleaver brokers who understand how to leverage unbranded virtual tours in real estate. As WAV Group has discussed before, the unbranded virtual tour allows a broker to publish a Virtual Tour to other broker and agent websites. If done correctly, that virtual tour provides a link back to the broker’s website. It is not a link that the consumer sees or can even touch, but search [...]

Top 5 Articles of the Week

How to Lose a Listing My neighbors really like their original real estate agent, Agent One. They wanted to work with her again. But they tell me that they probably won't choose her to list their home. This is pretty catastrophic for her, whether she knows it or not, because repeat and referral business is a real estate agent's bread and butter. 4 NAR ® Member Benefits You Should Be Using The REALTOR® Benefits Program brings members of NAR discounts and special offers on real estate products and services. The value of the Program isn't just the financial savings; it [...]

LeadRouter Gets Much Better

LeadRouter is the solution that is used by the REALOGY firms to manage the hundreds of thousands of leads generated by the franchises and the franchisees across the world. It is arguably the most commonly used lead management solution on the planet. Today, it just got better for the agent and for the consumer. In Thursday’s version release, LeadRouter has taken steps to allow agents to immediately contact the consumer by phone when the lead comes in, and the record of that contact record is automatically published in LeadRouther. It is simple, elegant, better. If you are not a LeadRouter [...]

Top 5 Articles of the Week

Broker Webinar: Convert More Buyers with the Next Generation of School Content Did you know only 3% of homebuyers compromised on the quality of schools during their home selection process last year (according to the National Association of REALTORS®)? This webinar will teach you about incorporating the newest in school-based search into a web and mobile experience that meets the needs of today's buyers. Learn how you can use School Attendance Zones and advanced School Profiles on your site to help users find matching homes. Brokers will also discover how to arm agents with better decision support tools to add [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:24-07:00November 8th, 2013|Main category|0 Comments

Why are MLSs surprised?

WAV Group has been purposefully quiet during the storm of enlightenment whereby the industry pundits that recognize the role of the real estate broker in our industry.  In truth, the leading MLSs in America are perfectly cognizant of the role and needs of brokers in real estate. Frankly, many of The Realty Alliance brokers own MLSs or are standing members of the Board of Directors. Even in the absence of having a broker-owned MLS or having broker led governance in your MLS, there is plenty that you can do that involves the broker in your MLS strategic planning. Every WAV [...]

What would it take for YOU to be one of the Top 100 most Loved Brands in the World?

Anybody that runs a company wants to believe that consumers LOVE their brand – after all we love our brands don’t we?   While that’s a great goal, it’s a lot harder than it looks to create a strong emotional connection with your customer base. Apco Worldwide, a public relations firm recently fielded a global survey. Here’s the list of the Top 100 Most Lived brands.  According to Apco’s press release, here’s what it takes to rank as a loved brand: “APCO's proprietary Emotional LinkingSM model served as the basis for evaluating the companies by measuring consumers' emotional attachment to brands [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:24-07:00November 4th, 2013|Broker-Agent Information, Marketing, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Cheap MLS Systems

The results are in from the annual WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. We will be working on the report in the coming weeks. Last year’s report showed that there were not any MLS software solutions with super high ratings. This year’s survey showed that the ratings have dropped down for every vendor. What can be done about that? As you may know, WAV Group provides RFP services to MLSs who are facing a contract termination date. It is smart to shop around to see if there are solutions that are better shaped to meet the evolving needs of agents and [...]