Annual Strategy Planning and Management Retreat

There is a curious coincidence about the relationship between strategic planning and success. Large, successful companies always have strategic plans and management retreats to celebrate accomplishments and recognize opportunities for success. Interestingly enough, start ups do the same thing. Where is the middle ground? For whatever reason, companies that are in the middle of the pack typically do not have plans. Or, the plan they do have is stale – the product of a moment in time when the leadership or board of directors insisted to cobble something together which, in turn, was saved in a remote desktop folder or [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:03-07:00October 19th, 2016|Product Management, Strategic Planning|0 Comments

Schmooze vs. Substance – What are YOU using to make Technology Decisions?

Let’s face it. We operate in a very social industry.  We’re all a bunch of sales people. We love to go to parties, catch that final drink at the bar after dinner and attend swanky events sponsored by technology companies. In general, we just love to schmooze!  Its part of our real estate DNA! I definitely count myself on the list of schmoozers. We host at least three parties a year and countless dinners and events beyond that. They are a great way to get to know people and start new relationships. All of this networking is great, but we [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 19th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|0 Comments

WAVes of Change: The Fright Stuff – Halloween Special

With the end of 2016 fast approaching, and 2017 on the horizon, now is a great time to reflect on the best ways to help prepare your organization for the evolutions and revolutions which may happen next year. Are you Making Informed Decisions? Many things can happen when an Association or MLS is detached and not paying attention to the transient nature of the real estate industry and market. They can delay or even completely avoid decisions because they simply seem too difficult or controversial, causing the organization to fall behind or lose its competitive advantage. Even worse, Boards of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 17th, 2016|Wav of Change|0 Comments

Elm Street Technology Poised for Acquisition Growth

Prem Luthra founded Elm Street Technology this year, and they are off to a fast start. Before founding Elm Street Technology, Luthra was a member of the senior leadership team at Real Estate Digital when the company was sold to Nationstar Mortgage, the parent company of Xome. After serving as Xome’s Chief Marketing Officer for over a year, Luthra decided to leave Xome to pursue his vision of creating Elm Street Technology, which he formed in February with a group of investors. In July, Randall Kaplan joined Elm Street as its Chairman through the first acquisition, Listingbook. In September, Elm Street [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 10th, 2016|Press Releases|0 Comments

2017 RESO Board of Directors Nominations

RESO is now accepting nominations for five open seats on the RESO Board of Directors. The RESO Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of RESO and development of the organization’s Strategic Plan. Two Vendor seats are available (Class B-5), for Vendors with revenues over $25 million. Three MLS seats are available (Class C 1-4), for MLSs with fewer than 50,000 members.  All five positions are for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2017. Candidates for the Board must be an employee of a RESO member organization. With the exception of NAR, no more than one person from a given [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 10th, 2016|Recruiting|0 Comments

MLSs and Brokers Misunderstand RESO

Our industry is in the dawn of a new day. With some measure of struggle, the Nations’ MLSs and their Vendors have endeavored to adopt a set of standard fields for standardized data transportation from the MLS system to applications that support the real estate industry.  I consider this the dawn of the effort because, for the very first time, MLS adoption of the real estate standards are more strictly mandated by the National Association of REALTORS® MLS Policy. For years, the National Association of REALTORS® supported and funded the Real Estate Standards Organization, which is referred to by its [...]

Are You Going to Get Blind-Sided in 2017?

As we head to the end of the year in 2016, 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? Are you busy doing your daily tasks and feeling a bit overwhelmed by the speed of change coming at you from within and outside the industry? Are you worried that there could be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 7th, 2016|MLS Insights, Wav of Change|0 Comments

Join us for “New Data Services for Brokers to Improve Consumer Experience”

Today, all MLSs in America are prepared to provide a standard set of data from across the nation. It’s the kind of data that portals have been aggregating for years, which is now being made available to real estate brokers. With great effort Redfin championed this strategy to become one of the most successful broker websites in America. We will be hosting a webinar surrounding these topics on Tuesday October 11th at 10:00am PDT. Register here today! Our panelists on this exciting webinar include:                                 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 5th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

5 MUST HAVES for your 2017 MLS Budget

We’re getting to budget time again and  starting to think about what products and services that MLS’s should offer their members in 2017 and beyond. MLSs, of course, need to continue to offer their core MLS system, but there are a few other areas to consider as you move into your next budget planning cycle that will help your members.  WAV Group believes you should offer products and services that are designed to address a core need of your subscribers.  No MLS should offer a technology just because it’s exciting or new. They ALL need to address a fundamental challenge [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00September 28th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Drones: A Game-Changer for Real Estate Marketing

For most real estate agents, marketing with aerial photography or video has been considered an extravagance reserved only for high-dollar properties and luxury homes. However, a new federal policy now permits Realtors to market properties at all price-points in ways that were cost-prohibitive in the past. The “Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule,” expands the possibility for commercial drone usage for the real estate industry—without the previous restrictions and complicated application process. With this new accessibility, aerial photography and video are shaping up to be the next evolution of transformative real estate marketing solutions. While video has already proven its value for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00September 27th, 2016|Marketing|1 Comment

Do Online Marketing Analytics Blind Agents to Offline Opportunities?

We’ve all been the unhappy recipients of unwanted junk mail and Internet advertisements, yet online marketing has been hailed as the Holy Grail among Realtors for turning up sales leads. However, statistics show that scattershot online marketing does not necessarily translate into sales strength. By hyper-focusing outreach efforts on online portals, agents are missing valuable opportunities to not just create leads but actually increase sales. Agents can optimize their reach and revenue by remembering the roots of marketing principles and embracing an integrated plan that engages more offline strategies. To be sure, the prospect of influence through online channels is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 21st, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Marketing|0 Comments

What’s the Real Value of Portal Marketing?

A recent survey of over 120 broker-owners and senior leaders at some of the top real estate firms in the U.S. and Canada revealed an apparent disconnect between revenue goals and business strategies. According to the survey, 85% of brokerages focus their marketing investments on lead generation activities– despite the fact that nearly two-thirds of sales are the result of repeat clients and past client referrals. Clearly, agents and brokers are spending too much time and money marketing on portals when long-view strategies produce a better return-on-investment. While lead generation is an undeniably important tactic for targeting specific market segments, [...]