The Future of Anything

I would attribute the series of postures on The Future of the MLS to Saul Klein. He may not have been the first to coin the phrase, but he has embraced it and made it his own. It is with due respect that we leave that posturing behind and set forth on a new journey. Our industry is at an inflection point, and my fear is that we are too blinded by current affairs to look beyond the steps in front of us. This morning, I encountered a quote from Antoine de Saint Exupery, a French writer, poet, and aviator [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:35-07:00May 30th, 2013|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning, Suveys and Research, Technology Evaluation|0 Comments
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Welcome Back Mr Foley

What do you do when your $6B company (Fidelity) has an extra $1.5B in cash languishing in your bank accounts? You buy back a company (LPS) that you spun out and you start all over again. If you ever doubted the value of providing software and data services to the financial industry, Mr. Foley just answered it. He is now officially back in the MLS business…. Almost. Deal is not quite done. But wait, there is more. Foley is a self made Billionaire who may perhaps be best known for his personal investing in the wine industry – having purchased [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:35-07:00May 29th, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments
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The MLS Battleground

The National Association of REALTORS® Midyear Legislative meetings may have reached a tipping point on the role of the MLS in real estate. To be sure, it is the battleground of our industry where brokers and associations struggle for power within the oversight of the Department of Justice. Competing MLS entities develop their operating philosophy that draws the boundaries of how everyone coexists without behaving like a monopoly. To be sure, the MLS is a common use term that takes on a lot of different definitions. Here are the top 5 governance models that define the operating philosophy. Association Owned, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:35-07:00May 28th, 2013|Broker Technology Research, How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments
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Your Elected Friend

MLS and Association leadership brings forth an unusual ‘changing of friends’ on an annual basis. It is in the spring of each year that we begin to see these friendships take hold as CEOs arrive at NAR Midyear with their new Board Chairman in tow. It is all part of an important synthesis that takes place in our industry – one that often goes unappreciated. For five or more weeks each year, CEOs are on the road with their Chairman, building a friendship that is pivotal to a successful year, and in some cases, lasting a lifetime. WAV Group strategic [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:36-07:00May 13th, 2013|Clients, How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Company, Strategic Planning|0 Comments
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HAR.com Keeps on Rolling

The Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR) hit a significant milestone this month. They supported their brokers and agents in eclipsing the mark of 1 million transactions representing $190 Billion in real estate sales. I really appreciate the way HAR keeps track of everything, with clear focus on where they started and the progress that they have made on behalf of their members over time. WAV Group partner, Victor Lund discussed this success with Houston Board Chairman, Danny Frank. To begin with, Danny Frank is one of the most genuine, humble, and sincere leaders of any large real estate organization that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:37-07:00May 8th, 2013|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|1 Comment
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NAR REach Program announces 6 companies joining accelerator

For those of you who do not know, there is a derivative initiative of NAR's Second Century Ventrures venture capital fund called REach. The REach program has a grand board of advisors, and a board of mentors. The program requests submissions from companies who are looking to enter the real estate industry. If selected, the REach programs provides support and advisory services to these businesses so that they hit the ground running with some industry awareness. Here are the top 6 BombBomb - Provides a complete e-mail and video marketing platform for developing, sending and tracking results of traditional and video e-mail [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:39-07:00March 26th, 2013|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|1 Comment
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Indiana Regional MLS Is Born

In a press release yesterday, Indiana Regional MLS announced the selection of LPS as the vendor for consolidating 13 MLS systems into one. The effort was led by Kevin McQueen of Focus Forward Consulting. McQueen successfully managed to get 13 different MLSs serving an aggregate of 5000 subscribers to combine their MLS. The subscribers should be very excited about this. It is likely to reduce their costs and improve their services. There will be some bumps along the way as they accomodate change - but this is a great opportunity to advance the industry. Well done by all! There is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:41-07:00February 23rd, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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Where is the Genius Bar for Real Estate Tech?

There is no doubt that consumers trust an expert more than they trust themselves. If you look back at breakthroughs that have lead to consumer success and major increases of consumption and adoption, it always occurs when the vendor provides a local expert. Apple was not the first company to figure this out. There are many examples, but certainly Rite-Aid did it with an in-store pharmacist; Home Depot did it with in store builders and remodelers; and Best Buy did it in technology. What Apple did was take it all to a new level with product super heros. The Strategy [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:42-07:00February 11th, 2013|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|0 Comments
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SFAR hires Association Vet Baczkowski from Point2

Congratulations to Walt Baczkowski as he returns to his roots in Association Leadership, taking the helm in San Francisco. Walt is departing his post at Point2 where he was VP of Marketing and wingman to division leader Saul Klein. San Francisco is a great Association and MLS - the crown jewel of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco covers about 49 square miles, pinched between BAREIS to the north and MLSListings to the south. East Bay and Contra Costa are in the East Bay. They share some data, and most agents are members of more than one Association or [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:45-07:00December 18th, 2012|Main category, Press Releases|0 Comments
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Cindy Miller joins NTREIS

WAV Group had the opportunity to work with North Texas Real Estate Information Systems in 2012, facilitating the company's strategic plan. NTREIS is among the largest MLS service providers in the nation, and probably covers more square miles of real estate than anyone (not fact checked). It is a great organization with a popular governance model that establishes each Association of REALTORS® as the MLS Service provider to their members, powered by NTREIS. The Associations are the first line of support, training, and billing to the agents. During our project, we had the opportunity to work closely with Cindy Miller [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:46-07:00December 4th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|0 Comments
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CMLS brainstorms new approach for MLS Rules

The CMLS meetings (Council of MLS) were held on Wednesday, November 7th. There were numerous presentations but one in particular seemed to engage the Nation's leading MLS executives in attendance - ReThink MLS. The question before the panel was "What If We Started from Scratch?" As we all know, MLS rules (including Broker Reciprocity) provides structure for how brokers and agents will behave when sharing listings with one another: Two problems have arisen since these rules were first crafted more than a dozen years ago. The MLS rules have become cumbersome in length and somewhat unwieldy to manage and enforce. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 12th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|1 Comment
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Trying to figure out how to generate non-dues revenue? Attend our webinar on October 30th

eCommerce image Many Associations and MLSs today are looking at ways to offset the membership losses of the past few years by generating new revenue other than membership dues. While generating non-dues revenue is a noteworthy and sound objective, it's a lot harder than it looks. While I was at Fisher-Price, I launched the company’s first ever eCommerce program. Since then I have worked with several companies in many business sectors launching their own eCommerce programs. While the Fisher-Price eCommerce division is now one of the most profitable divisions of the company, it did not come without gaining [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:49-07:00October 17th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights|2 Comments
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