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, [...]

Real Estate Mobile – Who Will Change the Paradigm?

I love mobile technology and I have really been enjoying watching the advent of some very cool products finally become real in our industry. We have been talking about it for years and today, finally, there are some excellent mobile tools on the market. Make no mistake, though, mobile is still in the baby step phase in my opinion and we are going to see some big advances in the coming years. Mobile, after all, is destined to become the norm rather than the add on, so rather than just catching up to our MLS desktop tools it will pass [...]

CRS and iMapp merge strategies

WAV Group was provided with an announcement today that may be of interest to current iMapp customers, current CRS customers, or anyone looking for tax services. CRS and iMapp have entered into a strategic agreement that has CRS focused on tax systems and iMapp focused on advertising revenue. The companies will remain separate corporations, but align themselves to serve their customers in a way that leverages assets and capabilities of both companies. Tax systems used by professionals in real estate are very important, and very different from simple access to tax data that may be available in a variety of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:37-07:00April 24th, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments

Tips on Choosing the Right Mobile Solution For Your MLS

For years now our industry has talked about how mobile devices will soon be the primary device used by agents in their day-to-day business.   We have been waiting for our MLS vendors to introduce cutting edge mobile products that would allow this vision of our future to become real.  Advances in mobile are coming, however, not all MLS vendors have kept pace  There has been progress and some solutions are better than others but the reality is, because MLS vendors were slow to provide really compelling mobile solutions, 3rd party mobile vendors saw an opportunity and filled the void.  It [...]

Goodbye Mongofax

Mongofax was awesome. Now it is no more. The company is closing today. It is never a celebration when companies go away - jobs are lost and customers who relied on their services scramble to find a replacement. I am pretty sure that their primary marketplace was in Florida. Instanet, which supports faxing as a feature of their forms solution may have put pressure on Mongofax. According to a post by Jeremy Crawford of MLS listings over on the VendorAlley Blog - the Mongofax's patent is available for purchase For Associations and MLSs that offer ZipForms, be aware that zipVault can [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:40-07:00March 15th, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

IRES MLS Launches Tablet Solution

WAV Group MLS Customer Satisfaction Surveys have demonstrated that agents want the ability to access all of their MLS services on the iPad or other tablet device. It is refreshing to see IRES MLS in Colorado take on that need and address it by launching their own iPad app for members. IRES built their iPad application themselves, proving that some MLSs with strong developers can accomplish the delivery of MLS services on an iPad quickly and cost effectively. The IRES app supports the most meaningful and highly used features of the MLS service, including full listing search of all MLS [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:40-07:00March 4th, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments

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

Is the MLS In Danger?

I do not really know Alain Pinel as well as I would like to. He sold the company that bears his name and pursued other interests. He is back now and runs the Luxury division of Intero Real Estate, one of Alain Pinel Real Estate's chief competitors in San Jose, along with Coldwell Banker and others. What I do know of Alain Pinel I like and respect a lot. I have a similar level of respect for the maverick efforts of Intero, who used passion combined with technology (AgentAchieve) to launch a powerful brokerage in a very competitive marketplace. In a [...]

Putting the Broker in Charge of the MLS Service Offerings

Most MLSs today have a very simple pricing structure.  One size fits all. Every MLS customer receives exactly the same level of service and technology tools. There is no consideration for what services they may have available from their brokerage. This is the crux of why many large brokers are not best friends with their local MLS. They believe the MLS is “leveling the playing field”.  Large brokers believe their secret sauce and recruiting advantages lie in the technologies they offer to their agents.  They argue that the “full-service” MLS is diluting the impact of their significant investments in breakthrough [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:42-07:00January 31st, 2013|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|5 Comments

For CoreLogic, Customer Focus Starts At The Top

CoreLogic is a solid company with solid earnings, low debt, and large cash reserves. As of late, their stock has performed very well. Much of their favor in the markets has been driven by the company’s focus on becoming more customer-centric in their approach to business. In a press release today, the media was provided with a taste of the new CoreLogic business strategy under the leadership of senior company executive, George Livermore. Livermore’s title was previously group executive and executive vice president for the Data & Analytics segment of CoreLogic. Today, George Livermore was named Group Executive, Global Sales [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:43-07:00January 14th, 2013|Main category, Press Releases|1 Comment

REALTORS Really Hitting It Off A Few Rows Back On Airplane

PHOENIX—According to sources currently seated in rows 14 through 18 aboard flight 763, two middle-aged REALTORS® are really hitting it off during the trip to Inman in New York. Using terms like “AVM” and “CMA,” the slightly overweight, average-looking men are reportedly engaged in a detailed discussion about overwhelmingly exciting work-related topics and, sources said, seem to be getting along great. “They got to talking as soon as we boarded, and you could tell they just clicked right away,” said 31-year-old Camille Catteano of 16B, adding that one of the men, upon looking up from his REALTOR Magazine™, immediately recognized [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:44-07:00December 28th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey Report – Released!

We are pleased to present the results from the WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey for your review and ongoing technology evaluation.  From September 29, 2012 to November 4, 2012 WAV Group fielded the WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey to participating MLSs.  72 MLSs, representing 37 different states or provinces participated in the survey at both staff and user level. 15,130 individual participants filled out the survey completely making it the largest survey of its kind.  WAV Group would like to thank all of the MLSs and individual respondents that participated. Download the report here! Participants Receive Additional Report This [...]