WAV Group Blog
Why Innovation Fails To Change Real Estate
02-21-2012
Every year, real estate sees the launch of beautiful products, offering awesome features, advantages, and benefits. Excellent marketing programs back them and the press creates a jubilee – Innovator of the Year! Then the product launches, and the industry shrugs its shoulder. It is the conundrum of new product development and innovation for real estate. Most of these companies are doing everything right. They are doing research, spotting trends, holding focus groups, testing usability, and modeling lovely financials. If they can only get 1% adoption Read more...
MLS iPad apps have NOT gone far enough yet
02-19-2012
Recently, WAV Group has completed several customer satisfaction surveys from around the country in the Southwest, Mid-West, Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. In every case there has been a lot of discussion and requests for more MLS access via smartphones and especially for iPads and other tablet devices. While many MLSs think of their iPad application as a property search tool, agents want their MLS iPad apps to go much further than that. Even for those that have launched Tablet solutions, there are two major areas Read more...
MLS Domains Association acknowledges likely competing bid for MLS Name
02-17-2012
MLS Domains Association acknowledges likely competing bid for .MLS Operator of real estate website MLS.com appears poised to apply to ICANN Minneapolis, February 20, 2012: MLS Domains Association announced today that at it will likely not be making the only application to ICANN for the new .MLS top-level domain on the Internet. ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and is responsible for managing top-level domains worldwide. Its window for applications for new TLDs is open from now until April 12, 2012. “We know of Read more...
MLS strategy to diversify revenue
02-16-2012
WAV Group, RE Technology, and Zuora sponsored a webinar on the topic of non-dues revenue on February 15th, 2012. Panelists for the webinar included Jeremy Crawford of MLSListings.com, Melissa Olson of Metrolist Colorado, John Heithaus of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Kevin Green of Real Estate Digital, and Travis Hutch of Zuora. Victor Lund of WAV Group was the session moderator. Overview Associations and MLSs have been in the business of offering non-dues related products for some time now. They have sold yard signs, closing documents, Read more...
GLVAR hires longtime association leader Nelson Janes as CEO
02-15-2012LAS VEGAS – The Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR) announced today that it has hired seasoned real estate association executive Nelson Janes as its new chief executive officer. Janes, who previously ran the Sacramento Association of REALTORS®, expects to start work at GLVAR on May 7. He was hired after GLVAR leaders conducted a national search to replace Irene Vogel, who is retiring after guiding the association for nearly 30 years. Devin Reiss, chairman of GLVAR’s CEO Search Committee, said Janes “brings extensive Read more...
Illinois Bans Real Estate Agents
02-14-2012
Catchy headline. What the State of Illinois is doing is similar to what Colorado, New Mexico and possibly other States have already done. All real estate agents will need to become real estate brokers to retain their license. Brokers who manage agents will need to become Managing brokers. Oh, and did I mention that the state licensing fees go up 83%. Many view this move simply as a way to tax professionals. Illinois real estate agents have until March 15th to complete the training (15 Read more...
Keller Williams Family Reunion a Huge Success
Give credit where credit is due. Keller Williams may not be the largest franchise organization in the US or the World – but they are working hard to get there, and are awfully close. They recruit like crazy. Keller Williams is a franchise organization whose core focus is on the agent. They consider themselves mentors, trainers, and solution providers to support the agent in reaching their potential. Moreover, they profit share. If the company makes money, the agent wins. Last year, they made a profit Read more...
Bob Bemis Joins Zillow as VP of Partner Relations
Zillow announced today (full press release below) that Bob Bemis, former CEO of the Arizona Regional MLS, has joined Zillow as the Vice President of Partner relations. This is a major event in our industry on multiple levels. Having known Bob personally and professionally for many years I congratulate Zillow for an outstanding hire, well done! As a consultant in the industry watching the march of Zillow this hire tends to fuel some of my concerns about where this is actually leading. In almost Read more...
Howard Hanna Syndication Announcement
02-13-2012
Another shoe is going to drop today. Howard Hanna, one of America’s largest brokerages will announce their new listing syndication strategy. This is an important announcement because it brings forth a new chapter to the ongoing saga of finding an online advertising paradigm that balances the broker’s needs with the publisher’s needs, in the best possible way. Howard Hanna has spend the past 15 – 18 months studying. They study their website. They study the website of similar size brokerages. They have studied publisher websites. Read more...
How Metrolist, MRIS, and MLSListings are wining with eCommerce
02-11-2012Join us for this special webinar with some of America’s leading MLS system operators, John Heithaus from MRIS, Melissa Olson from Metrolist, and Jeremy Crawford from MLS listings. MLSs have abundant opportunities for delivering the best products to their subscribers for lower costs, but it is difficult. In this webinar, you will learn how MRIS, MLSListings, Metrolist and many other leading MLS are consistently amplifying the reach and effectiveness of their services to their subscribers with powerful new communications and eCommerce platforms. WAV Group partner Read more...
Syndication as in insolent teen
02-10-2012
I received a call yesterday from a sage MLS executive. He saw the article in RE Technology about Sandicor adding a new syndication field into their MLS. We had discussed this a few years ago after some broker focus groups. At the time, the brokers did not seem to care too much about syndication, so the idea did not go anywhere. That changed. Adding the field is on the agenda at their next board meeting. He is probably not alone. Aside from that, he shared Read more...
Integrating MLS tools into Agent Browsers
02-06-2012
Until today, MLSs have been walled Internet gardens. The MLS is accessed through the browser, but is entirely separated from the rest of the open Internet. iMapp just released an innovation that may begin a trend to change all of that. With iMapp, real estate agents with accounts may install a search plugin into their browser. This plugin puts a layer of MLS tax data on top of any website. With the search plugin, agents can look up tax on any property address found on Read more...
Non Dues Revenue for MLS
WAV Group Webinar Feb 15th at 10:00am PST This WAV Group webinar will focus on a panel discussion about the topic of non-dues revenue. Numerous MLSs around the country have launched or are in the process of launching these programs to provide lower cost business solutions to MLS subscribers. According to the recent CMLS survey – 54% of today’s MLSs offer some form of non-dues revenue. “These companies are pushing the boundaries of their non-dues revenue programs,” says Marilyn Wilson, WAV Group Partner. Topic: Why MLSs Read more...
LPS sells tax solutions to Lereta
02-01-2012
LPS saw the spin off of their Agent-Broker products division in a management led buy out last September. The new company formed is called Real Estate Digital. Today, it was announced that the LPS Tax company was sold to Lereta. This company has nothing to do with the data that is licensed to RPR or MLSs. This is a tax services company totally separate from the Applied Analytics Data Solutions company that licenses public records and serves MLS. These are interesting times. We will keep Read more...
Balancing exchange rates in listing syndication
01-29-2012
Online listing syndication presents complex strategic challenges to real estate brokerage in America today. The structure of economic trade between real estate brokers and publishers has many variables that are often misunderstood and often hard to measure. At the heart of the conversation is an unresolved understanding of the exchange rate in listing syndication. Even people with business analyst certification may be baffled. Do brokers subsidize the success of publishers by providing listings? Do publishers subsidize brokerages by providing willing homebuyers? Some of the policies Read more...
Frugyl launches with great buzz and fanfare
01-27-2012
A new company launched yesterday called Frugyl. It is the child of Jimmy Mackin and Chris Smith, creators of the “What should I spend My Money On?” Facebook Group. This will be of interest to those with analyst careers. The goal of Frugyl is to crowd source information and satisfaction on real estate tools and services used by real estate agents. Additionally, Frugyl will endeavor to provide group discounts on products purchased as a group. The Frugyl site had a great start yesterday when they announced the launch on Read more...
The New World of Predictive Data in Real Estate – An Opportunity for MLS
01-23-2012
Real estate professionals today, for the most part, advise clients on both buy and sell decisions with data that is, in many ways, inaccurate. It is inaccurate because sales data is the result of offers that were made and accepted months earlier. Things change quickly in our business, or at least they can. We need to know what is happening today yet our basic MLS data model can only tell us historic sales information and current listing information. Today, neither of these data sets necessarily Read more...
ARMLS launches Rent Check with Heat Maps
01-21-2012
ARMLS is the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service. Centered in the Phoenix metropolitan area, they are the largest MLS in the State of Arizona. They are among the largest MLSs in the United States and leverage MLS data resources in unique ways to deliver value to their subscribers. I recently became aware of RENT Check™. Rent Check is a monthly report that examines the residential single family leasing market. RENT Check also features the RENT Check Quotient™ (RCQ) which compares leasing activity to sales. As Read more...
Earthcomber sues real estate mobile app developers
01-20-2012
Mobile real estate applications are the largest growth area in real estate technology. This is why so many people are attending online school to learn app development. Like anything expanding rapidly, there is big opportunity at stake, and pioneers who filed patents for methods of delivering mobile solutions are working hard to protect their intellectual property. We saw a similar pattern in real estate when mapping was experiencing great growth in real estate. As you may recall, that ended with the National Association of REALTORS® negotiating an Read more...
CoreLogic® Signs Multiyear Agreement with Realcomp
01-18-2012
SANTA ANA, Calif., January 12, 2012 — CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today announced it has signed a multiyear agreement to provide multiple listing service (MLS) solutions to Realcomp II Ltd., Michigan’s largest REALTOR®-owned MLS. Serving nearly 11,000 members from more than 2,100 real estate offices in southeastern Michigan, Realcomp has selected the Matrix platform from CoreLogic to augment its current MLS system and to serve as its future replacement solution. Realcomp CEO Karen Kage listed usablility, performance Read more...
How Listhub’s Real Estate Network Works
01-17-2012
It is not uncommon for detailed questions to arise whenever there is major change afoot in the real estate industry regarding data. Listhub’s announcement of the launch of the Real Estate Network precipitated many questions regarding a broker’s ability to manage and control websites that display their data. The Listhub Real Estate Network includes the opportunity for any broker to publish listings on Century 21, Coldwell Banker, RE/MAX, and the Realty Executives websites. WAV Group has researched this topic of the Real Estate Network with Read more...
What real estate can learn from Zappos cyber attack
01-16-2012
Zappos, a division of Amazon focused on online shoe sales announced that their customer database of 24 million customer records was hacked over the weekend. Fortunately, the credit card database was not accessed. This is a huge problem for Zappos. They will now need to go through a process of getting all 24 million customers to update their password, and notify each user that their username and password have been stolen. The implications of this hacker stealing this information is far reaching. Many consumers use Read more...
Pacific Union International Announces New VP of Digital Marketing
01-12-2012
Pacific Union International is proud to announce the arrival of CC Holland as Vice President, Digital Marketing. CC is recognized as one of the premier brand and content strategy marketing executives in the San Francisco Bay Area. “We outlined our digital media strategy last Fall and we will now begin to execute. Our confidence in our business strategies, marketing platform, CC Holland and this new digital media initiative should help to provide for exceptional performance in 2012.” CC Holland joins PUI with an extraordinary content Read more...
Real Estate Digital to build new MLSLI Consumer Website
01-11-2012
Although Real Estate Digital is a new brand in the real estate industry, the management and owners of the company are industry vetrans whose consumer website prowess dates back to the first consumer property search solutions. Real Estate Digital was formed when former LPS company executives formed the new company with assets acquired from LPS early in the fourth quarter of 2011. Since Real Estate Digital began standing on its own, they have shown a remarkable, albeit somewhat predictable ability to transition customers over to Read more...
MOVE launches the Real Estate Network for Franchises
Franchise Networks have taken the first step to declare their independence from the MLS rules and regulations, and third party listing websites. Today MOVE, operators of REALTOR.com and the Listhub listing syndication network, announced that they have created a data sharing solution called the Real Estate Network. Participant in the network include the two largest REALOGY networks of Century 21 and Coldwell Banker along with Realty Executives and RE/MAX. Under the terms of the agreement, the four participating Franchise Organizations will reciprocate in a listing Read more...
New Study Measures Consumer Interest in MLS, Reinforces Efforts to Obtain .MLS Top-level Domain
01-10-2012
The WAV Group has published results of research that demonstrates the high value consumers place on the term “MLS”. The research, commissioned by the MLS Domains Association, includes surveys of consumers using MLS public websites and of a representative sample of consumers who have purchased or sold real estate in the last twelve months. It supports three key conclusions: For consumers, an MLS represents property search, home valuations and “the good stuff”, as one respondent described it—the term “MLS” equates to high quality, educational, objective Read more...
Trend MLS launches Find from MOVE
It has been about a year now, and Move has successfully launched the Find product into many of the nations’ leading MLSs. In score with this roll out, today Find launched in Trend MLS, serving 15 counties in southern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware is the latest MLS to launch the product. You may know that Trend MLS is what industry insiders call a “home grown” system – meaning that they are responsible for programming the MLS software. Owning the code and having programmers on staff Read more...
New White Paper: What Does The Future Look Like For MLSs?
01-09-2012
In this white paper, we explore what the future may look like for MLSs and steps they can take to make sure they position themselves ideally for their market. It’s not a one-size fits all answer. To download the complete report, click here! MLSs have come a long way over the years and we have seen what were once small, localized operations formed by associations and brokers morph into more and more large regional organizations. We have seen technology expand at exponential rates with the Read more...
Why Dominant MLSs are Vulnerable
Today, there are numerous MLSs that have become dominant companies relative to their smaller competitors. In the world of survival of the fittest, one would assume that the large and strong eat the small and weak. But this is not necessarily true. For the purposes of this writing – I am using the term MLS to refer to MLS vendors and Regional MLSs. Most MLSs in the United States grew through merger and acquisition than through organic growth. As these companies began to reach dominant Read more...
Instanet launches information website about REIS suit
01-08-2012
The lawsuit Instanet vs. REIS and Florida REALTORS has taken an interesting twist this weekend. Instanet launched a public information website about the lawsuit called TransparencyisGood.com. Before I talk about the website, I would add that REIS is not commenting publicly on this matter. In an informal statement they advise the following: “Federal litigation is a serious matter and should never be entered into lightly. REIS declines to engage in a public debate about legal matters that are best left for the Court to decide. Anyone interested Read more...
Smarter Agent throws arrow at Zillow and others
01-07-2012
Brad Bloomberg of Smarter Agent is a fighter, and I like that. He takes a position and battles from his corner of the ring. Today, he released a blog post on their company website goes nose to nose with Zillow, Trulia and REALTOR.com. Given that his company is suing them all for patent infringement (another story) – they will never be friends anyway. But this new war is one about his view of listing syndication. Post Title : Listing Aggregators like Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com Read more...
RE Technology Plans Joomla 2.5 Launch
01-06-2012
Real estate technology portal, RE Technology (www.RETechnology.com) is working to utilize the benefits provided by the Joomla community to develop their second generation website on the new Joomla 2.5 platform. RE Technology, a business education and product research portal for the real estate industry is among the most visited Joomla websites in the world. Other major companies developing on the Joomla include Tesco, the third largest retailer in the world, Avis, Nikon, Citibank (intranet), and Harvard University. ‘The new Joomla 2.5 is being released this Read more...
Metrolist Colorado launches new consumer website
01-05-2012
Congratulations to Metrolist MLS on the relaunch of their MLS consumer facing website. Looks and works great! Here are the top new features Mobile – Use your smartphone to search the mobile-optimized site. Property Alerts – Property alerts notify you when potential properties become available. Open Houses – Search for local open houses to tour properties first-hand. Home Valuation – Check out your home’s current estimated value. Rentals – A searchable rentals database is coming in early 2012. Visit the website now and let us Read more...
Listing Publishers Are Not Responsible For Your Bad Data
A crazy phone call came my way today from a large third party listing website. It does not matter which one. The person was very concerned that the industry is on a mission to stop brokers and agents from syndicating listings to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing listings is a fundamental obligation that the listing firm delivers as a service to the seller. Certainly online advertising is a component of fulfilling that obligation. WAV Group has been very outspoken about problems Read more...
New York Real Estate Group Forges Statewide Stats Partnership with 10K Research
01-04-2012Minneapolis, MN (January 4, 2012) – The New York State Association of REALTORS® (NYSAR) and 10K Research and Marketing are pleased to announce the February 2012 launch of a statewide housing market reporting partnership using combined data from Multiple Listing Services from throughout New York State. 10K will gather and organize housing sales data from the state’s array of 31 MLSs and provide unique, attractive and localized market reports to 33 participating local associations within NYSAR, making each group the definitive voice of real estate in Read more...
The First Regional MLS Turns 30
Congratulations to ARMLS (Arizona Regional MLS) who turns 30 this month! ARMLS was the first regional MLS when it was founded in 1982. They will be hosting special events, prizes and celebrations throughout the year. You can view a full calendar of events on the ARMLS 30th Anniversary page. Click here for the full press release
The role of Scent Marketing in Real Estate
12-27-2011
What does your brand smell like? Perhaps there is no better time than the holiday season to remember that humans have 5 senses (at least) that are used in interacting with all things in the world. As the smell of Christmas trees and holiday cookies linger in our homes and offices, there can be no argument that smell plays a role in marketing. Home Scenting It is not just folklore. Baking cookies and other scent tactics are effective at open houses. Victorian Homes should smell Read more...
Inman Agent Survey
12-22-2011Inman News is running a survey right now to understand today’s real estate agent. It would be a good idea for you to share this survey with your agents so that you can benefit from the results. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/freeagent The survey collects baseline demographic data and transaction data to understand how age, location, years in the business, certifications and other profiles of an agent predict behavior, success, and excellence in real estate. Are there differences between NAR members and non-members? Are their differences between Franchises and Read more...
Inman ICNY Conference Preview
12-20-2011
Inman News has been gracious enough to extend a $450 discount to their New York conference coming up in three weeks. If you have not already purchased your conference pass, you can buy one on this special webpage for $650. The conference is January 11th-13th, 2012 at the Marriott Marquis Times Square. WAV Group will be arriving on the 10th. They had a schedule change and Brad Inman and other keynotes are speaking on the morning of the first day of the conference. Here are Read more...
Instanet Sues REIS and Florida REALTORS
12-16-2011Instanet, a leading provider of Forms used in real estate transactions, was the provider of Forms Solutions to real estate agents and brokers in Florida for seven years, concluding in 2008. REIS, a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of the Florida Association of REALTORS® was an Instanet reseller until their contract expired/was cancelled – and REIS launched a competing product, Forms Simplicity. With two products in the marketplace, many Associations and MLSs were conflicted about which service to use. Some chose the new service from REIS, others entered into agreements Read more...
New White Paper - How does age and technology comfort relate to performance?
12-15-2011
Download – A deeper look at data from the WAV Group 2011 MLS Technology Survey From September 23, 2011 to October 21, 2011 WAV Group fielded the WAV Group 2011 MLS Technology Survey to participating MLSs. 66 MLSs, representing 33 different states and provinces participated in the survey at both staff and user level. 10,779 individual participants filled out the survey completely making it the largest survey of its kind. At the conclusion of the 2011 survey, WAV Group published the 2011 MLS Technology Survey Read more...
My Brief Nostalgia on Inman Conferences
12-14-2011As a consultant in the real estate technology industry, we go to a lot of conferences each year. The time leading up to a conference is always very busy for us. We leverage conferences to meet perspective clients, and deliver work to our existing clients. The effectiveness of having 8 to 10 “in-person” meetings per day is über-efficient. Conferences are the great gathering places of the industry. I was trying to think back to my first Inman Conference – it must have been sometime in Read more...
Impacts of browser Geolocation technology on real estate
12-13-2011
Real Estate brokers invest a lot of time and money into maintaining and sustaining a strong relocation business. Franchise Organizations and broker networks like Leading Real Estate Companies of the World connect brokers across the country. Advances in technology have enabled location aware Internet browsers. This allows technologists to create predictable outcomes on user visits. If you are a broker in Ohio, and a consumer visits your website from California – you can say “We welcome Californians! Leading websites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and Read more...
Mobile Passes Print in Consumer Engagement
12-12-2011
WAV Group joined the parade of consults declaring the death of print media in late 2006. Inman News confirmed its death during their conference in San Francisco in 2007 (one of my favorite events of all time). Believe it or not, print actually made a bit of a comeback in 2010. Nevertheless, the Internet is the place that consumers increasingly spend their media time. The new news is that people are actually spending more time on their mobile phones today than they are spending interacting Read more...
Stewart Information Services Corporation Appoints New Executive Team
12-09-2011
Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC) announced today a new executive team. Recently appointed CEO Matt Morris created the new executive team to capitalize on Stewart’s strengths and further align the organization for smart growth and continued market leadership in the real estate services industry. The structure increases focus, speeds decision making and provides for greater alignment between operational areas and key customer segments. “I am extremely excited to announce our new executive team and to be surrounded by some of the greatest leaders within Read more...
MLSs Need to Move From Historic to Predictive Data
12-08-2011
The data we use in the real estate industry to understand market trends and to help buyers and sellers in their real estate transactions is largely historic. Another way to look at that, is, it is dated, old news. We have real estate markets today that are changing very quickly. Changes may be driven by high numbers of distressed property sales, REOs, short sales, and foreclosures etc. or normal market activity but the results are the same. Much of the real market activity in the Read more...
3 Bedrooms and 2 baths just doesn’t cut it anymore
12-07-2011
Build your business by giving consumers what they REALLY want to search for! Have you ever had the pleasure of relocating from one city to another? You have the stress of the move compounded by the fact that you are losing all of your trusted resources and most importantly your “local knowledge”. Let’s say you’re moving because you’ve been promoted to run a new division out of state. You have a young child so you’re looking for good schools within your area and a family-friendly Read more...
RE Technology Launches MLS and Association Newsletters
12-06-2011
The real estate technology leader now offers a free newsletter solution for their partners. ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – December 6th, 2011 With more than 1.5 million visits per month, RE Technology (www.RETechnology.com) has proven that comprehensive information and training on real estate technology is a must-have for today’s top real estate agents and brokers. To support MLSs and Associations in delivering daily real estate technology information to subscribers, RE Technology has launched custom MLS and Association newsletters – free to all RE Technology partners. Already Read more...
Dot MLS May Face a New Opponent
12-04-2011
The United States Senate may be a new challenger to the successful bid by a group of MLSs (MLS Domains Association) to gain approval for a Top Level Internet Domain. A top level internet domain is .com, .net, .org, .XXX, or the curent application for the new .MLS. .MLS promises salvation for many of the ills that torment consumers and real estate brokers online. Notably - it suggests a rule set for displaying listings to consumers in order to qualify to purchase a .MLS domain. By subscribing Read more...
The Bigger LPS Paragon 5 Story
12-01-2011
LPS, developers of the Paragon MLS system, announced that they have secured an agreement to replace a competitors’ MLS system with Paragon 5. This only happens about 12 times each year. The news is less about just getting a win, but tells a larger story about the future of MLS and how one MLS vendor is positioning for long term success. WAV Group performs upwards of 40 MLS customer satisfaction surveys each year to help MLSs understand what agents and brokers expect from their MLS. Read more...
