Spending Over $60K Per Month on Zillow

It is not very hard to find out who Zillow's top customers are. Just visit the website and look at the Agent Reviews section. One of those top customers is Samer Kuraishi Group from the Washington, D.C. area. Samer is a second generation real estate agent. The brokerage, A-K Real Estate, Inc. ("A-K") is a boutique 40 agent firm, located about two blocks from the White House, that was founded by his father. Together, they have grown the company significantly, supporting consumers in Maryland, DC, and Virginia. Much of the company's growth has happened over the past few years and was [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:51-07:00December 23rd, 2014|Broker Technology Research, Main category|1 Comment

Your Communications Plan: An Editorial Calendar for 2015

  Real Estate  has a problem when it comes to editorial calendars. We are an industry that often stares at the wall wondering what consumers want to know. It is really not that hard to craft a meaningful story to get pick up in your local newspaper or lead to a local radio or television interview. You just need a roadmap. This list was created by scouring the headlines from leading journalists to see what they were writing about. The best news (pun intended) lay in the data and that data is only an MLS search away.   25 headlines [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:51-07:00December 22nd, 2014|Main category|1 Comment

News Corp Announces New Leadership At Move, Inc.

Ryan O’Hara Named CEO New York, NY (December 17, 2014) – News Corp announced today that Ryan O’Hara will become Chief Executive Officer of Move, Inc. (“Move”), effective January 5, 2015. Mr. O’Hara will replace CEO Steven Berkowitz, who has led the company since January 2009. News Corp acquired Move, a leading provider of online real estate services, including realtor.com®, last month. “We are excited to have secured Ryan O’Hara to take the helm at Move, given his record of transforming businesses in the digital age and his clear determination to accelerate the growth of the company. We are also [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 18th, 2014|Press Releases|0 Comments

What’s Your Big Idea?

Our lives become intense at this time of year. As the door closes on 2014, we are consumed with things undone, like holiday shopping. We also consider the goals that we expected to reach, and the number of days to reach them. If you are thinking about your next big idea for 2015, it is a good time to build some lists and to get rid of clutter. It took me a few years, but I finally learned to leverage the Notes feature on my Apple devices. Unlike paper, I have them with me most of the time and can [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 18th, 2014|Main category, Strategic Planning|0 Comments

Help us Prioritize the Best Ways for IDX feeds to work Harder for Brokers

I have to tell you that every time I think about the MLS Policy Meeting at this year’s NAR Conference in New Orleans, it puts a big smile on my face.  For the first time that I’ve witnessed, four important, but fundamental changes were made to the IDX policy with absolutely UNIVERSAL acceptance.   Brokers, MLS Executives, Associations and Technology Companies also spoke from one voice about the relevance and importance of the changes that were proposed and approved. Check out my blog post from a few weeks ago to see the details about what was approved at that time.  In [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 18th, 2014|Main category|0 Comments

Time for WAV Group’s MLS Technology Survey

WAV Group would like to invite you and your MLS to participate in the fourth annual WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. This is a free, non-sponsored survey we provide for the benefit of the industry.  The more participation we have, the more accurate and valuable the findings will be for everyone. In 2013 we had over 75 MLSs participating with over 15,000 agents completing surveys. With your help, we will surpass that number this year. We are modifying the approach to the survey process. This year we will be fielding the survey in two stages for the purpose of saving [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 18th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

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 [...]

There Will Be No Gifts This Year

Every year, WAV Group and RE Technology have adopted a family at Christmas. This year is no different. However, we have elected to take on a huge family that really needs a lot of help. This year, we are helping out a mother of four who has been living with an abusive drug addict. There is a boy age 1. There is a boy age 4. There is a boy age 6. There is a girl age 16. We learn very little about the families we help each year. We just know that we have helped someone. Our local CASA [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:52-07:00December 17th, 2014|Main category|0 Comments

Using your brand to build relevance for your MLS organization

I can’t tell you the number of times I have asked an agent what MLS they belong to and they tell me “Paragon”, or “Rapattoni” or “Matrix”.   They don’t even know the name of the MLS organization they belong to. How can you build value in your brand if your customers literally do not know even know your name? Some of the best organizations like TheMLS/CLAW have taken the time to create a naming convention.   First of all, check out this amazing list of products and services they offer to their members. Pretty impressive. Next I would like to draw [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:53-07:00December 17th, 2014|Main category|0 Comments

Are you delivering customer service or lip service?

[Part 1 of 2] I have a theory: Customer service provided by most technology companies sucks. Ask yourself when was the last time you told someone or posted something on Facebook about a great customer service experience from any technology company with a first letter other than “A” (Apple, Amazon don't count). Better yet: When have you ever posted a rave review about your customer service experience with a real estate technology company? Or a vertical technology company for any industry? My guess is that’s as rare as rain in the Sahara. Yet how many tech firms tout publicly that [...]

By |2019-09-15T10:04:37-07:00December 17th, 2014|Main category, Technology Evaluation|1 Comment