We write so much in our industry about stuff.  Stuff like technology, politics, data and other topics dominate our blogs and daily reading but today I want to share a few thoughts about a person that many of you may not know, Chris Warner, who was very important to me, and others, in our early days in our industry.  Chris recently passed away.  Chris and I, like many of our cohorts in our industry, worked together at PRC Realty Systems in the 80’s when the whole MLS industry was in the process of becoming computerized.  I actually learned of Chris’s passing through a PRC group we all belong to on LinkedIn from his wife Pat, which shows how strong that early connection still is.  It was very sad to hear about Chris’s passing and our deepest sympathies go out to Pat and Chris’s whole family.  Today, though, I want to share something I learned from Chris that has always stayed with me that I have shared with others through the years.  It was a simple lesson really but like many simple things that are true it has stood the test of time for me.  I pass it along as a gift from Chris.

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Core service offerings for MLSs continues to evolve and expand as MLSs look for ways to help their subscribers save money while serving the needs of their clients better. According to the 2009 CMLS MLS Operations Benchmarking Survey, nearly 60% of MLSs now provide Electronic faxing and Document Management as a core service offering.

As noted in the 2009 WAV Group Transaction Management Adoption Study, usage of methods for processing transactions online continue to grow.  Agents first become comfortable with processing forms online. That process worked so well that they are now quickly adopting other online tools to make the process of closing a transaction easier.  Electronic Faxing is one of those tools that is exploding.  Whenever we conduct satisfaction surveys with MLS subscribers, Electronic Faxing is consistently ranked as one of the most highly valued services available through MLSs today.  Agents love the fact that they can actually “read” the fax when they get it. They especially value electronic faxing when they can automatically upload executed documents into an online file folder in a document management system so they can easily store and distribute all of their transaction documents in one place. 

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WAV Group is beginning to schedule meetings for the upcoming REAL Estate Connect conference brought to us by Inman News.  We have long supported the conference as attendees and speakers.  It is always a great conference to learn about emerging trends in agent, broker, and consumer facing technologies.  For a number of years now, Inman has supported the MLS executives in attendance with a specific track of sessions.

This years Theme:  Everyone has an opinion about the MLS system - who is doing it right and who is not.

Technology has forever changed the MLS. MLS information is now being parsed out and syndicated all across the internet. Is this a good thing? Or something we need to seriously evaluate? 

We invite you to check out the special MLS Track at Real Estate Connect.

4 Hot MLS Topics:

1.     The Standards Imperative: How to Create a Meaningful MLS Data Standard in 2010

2.     Naked Crunch: Radical Transparency and MLS Data

3.     What - and Who - You Need to Reboot Your Organization. Learn how to structure your organization for change - and who you need to drive it.

4.     The RPR/FirstAm/Realtor.com Taste Test - MLS operators who have executed partnerships with the Big Three share the straight dirt on what’s working, what’s not and how they see the future.

Featured MLS Speakers at Connect Include:

• Mark Allen, CEO, Minneapolis Area Association of REALTORS, @mplsREALTORS
• Lauren Emery, CEO, IRES, LLC, @merylau
• Bob Hale, CEO, Houston Association of Realtors, @B0bHale
• Justin LaJoie, CEO, Diverse Solution, @jlajoie
• Marilyn Wilson, Partner, WAV Group @marilynwilson
• John Heithausm CMO, MRIS, @MRIS_Real_News
• Kevin McQueen, Focus Forward Consulting, @kmcqueen
• Michael Wurzer, CEO, FBS Data Systems, @mwurzer

Register today for Real Estate Connect and take advantage of the special offer from WAV Group!

Save 25% off! Use the promo code ‘WAVGROUP’

View the complete program »

Questions? Contact registration@inman.com

LoopNet™ has 4 Million members and they are the dominate player in offering MLS like services to the commercial real estate industry.  Their business model is different.  Commercial Sales agents and consumers all pay for subscriptions.  Some would say that LoopNet is highly successful, others would say that they are holding the commercial real estate industry hostage.

As we have seen in the past, the National Association of REALTORS® has done plenty to intercept these types of trade concerns in real estate.  Perhaps the best example is the formation of Sentrilock™ as a competitor to GE Supra’s lock box domination.  NAR is also in the process of launching a new company to compete against Rapattoni, who has an enormous market share in Association management software.

The NAR solution to LoopNet is called Commercial Source.  The Los Angles California data sharing initiative called CARETS has now partnered with Commercial Source to offer their services to CARETS participants and subscribers.  This is great news for Commercial Source and probably great news for commercial real estate specialists in the Greater Los Angles Metropolitan area.  I think it will be a long time before commercial agents stop posting listings to LoopNet, but at least they have an alternative.  Here is the press release.

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MRIS and RBI are pleased to announce the launch of the data analytics company, RealEstate Business Intelligence, and its new website, www.rbintel.com.  RBI is a wholly owned subsidiary of MRIS, the nation’s largest MLS provider to agents and brokers.

Agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals can now receive the most reliable housing market data in the Mid-Atlantic region via www.rbintel.com - empowering them to make more educated decisions for their clients.

RBI provides an in-depth understanding of real estate activity at the regional, county and local levels in the Mid-Atlantic housing market that has not previously been available. Based upon data from MRIS, RBI is the only company in the region that provides timely, online access to statistical information directly from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). This new data analytics company brings value to real estate industry professionals by providing intelligence derived from the nearly five terabytes of information accumulated in the MRIS database.

MRIS members may now access the product at www.rbintel.com. Use the self-generating report tool under the Statistics tab, and learn more about what’s coming soon under the Custom Solutions tab. RBI also welcomes feedback concerning its current statistics displays and welcomes ideas for new market analysis and reports. The site provides multiple opportunities for visitor feedback and suggestions.

Read the full press release on this new company on the MRIS website .