NARs HOUSELOGIC uses Facebook to reach REALTORS

The National Association of REALTORS has moved headlong into finding new ways to communicate with REALTORS. Among those strategies are Facebook pages and now, Facebook Ads! Imagine my surprise today when this ad poped up on a Facebook page I was visiting.  The call to action was “Are you a REALTOR? and the link takes you to the Houselogic Content Resource page. I thumbed it up.  I like the ad and I like the strategy.  Advertising on Facebook is easy and very inexpensive relative to other online advertising strategies.  Choosing Keywords like Real Estate, REALTOR, etc will insure that your ad [...]

By |2017-06-30T02:13:07-07:00April 20th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Dynamic Page Solutions releases indexable IDX solution

The National Association of REALTORS yielded to requests to allow agent and broker IDX listings to be “spidered” or “indexed” by search engines last year.  Prior to this ruling, the suggested NAR rules and regulations for IDX was to not allow this activity.  This change plays a significant role in search engine optimization whereby a search engine will ‘index’ every listing in an MLS along with all of the content associated with each listing and attribute that to the website. Most agent websites were previously only being indexed for 20 or so pages of content by search engines - examples would include [...]

Russ Bergeron to Join MRED as Executive Officer

Midwest Real Estate Data Lands New CEO   Lisle, IL (April 16) - Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), the Chicagoland Multiple Listing Service serving nearly 40,000 real estate professionals, announced today that Russ Bergeron will be assuming the role of Chief Executive Officer at the end of May. Mr. Bergeron comes to MRED from Southern California Multiple Listing Service where he has been CEO since its formation in 1993. As head of the largest MLS in the state of California and second largest in the nation, he is known throughout the world for his leadership in bringing technological advances [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 16th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Be careful when blogging

Pardon my rant. WAV Group has been blogging for a long time.  We believe that it is an excellent way to stay connected to our clients or potential clients, and to showcase the type of (hopefully) thoughtful approach we have to our consulting business.  We also are endeavoring to keep clients informed about new ideas in the real estate technology industry - some good, some not so good.  We also like to celebrate the success that companies have and publish press releases. Recently we watched some situations of blogging gone bad.  This happens innocently as people make disparaging comments on blogs.  Indeed, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 16th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Clarus Resource Goes International

Clarus MarketMetrics® enters Canadian market; offered as member benefit to Centris®   LOS ANGELES (April 16) - Real Estate Business Services Inc.® (REBS®) today announced that Centris®, a division of the Greater Montreal Real Estate board and technology arm of the Quebec Federation of Real Estate Boards (QFREB), has signed a 3-year agreement to provide Clarus MarketMetrics® as a member benefit to QFREB’s approximately 15,000 members. Centris® is the first entry into the Canadian market by Clarus MarketMetrics®.   “We’re very excited to be the first MLS in Canada to offer our members access to ClarusMarketMetrics®,” said GMREB and QFREB CEO Michel Beauséjour. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 16th, 2010|Main category|0 Comments

First American launches new brand for Tech Products

Ben Graboske of First American Core Logic Marketlinx shared the announcement at HAR REIS meetings about the division of First American into two separate companies - roughly dividing the title business from the technology and data business.  We saw Fidelity do this a few years ago which resulted in the creation of LPS. Graboske was “hush hush” about the new name of the new company.  Many rumors have been circulating. Yesterday, First American announced the new company name to the employees - all 10,000 of them.  Believe it or not, the new name was leaked out. Drum Roll please……. Core [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:09-07:00April 16th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

MRIS Launches XactSite

MRIS has long offered premium products and services to their participants and subscribers.  Below you will see the announcement of a new service of offering agent and broker website and IDX offerings.  It looks to be a very complete solution that will cover the needs of the majority of their customers.  You will also notice that they are rolling it out as they would any other MLS service - complete with localized information and training classes through collaboration with shareholder Associations of REALTORS. Press Release MRIS will soon launch the XactSite agent and broker web site and IDX packages. The [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:10-07:00April 14th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Clareity Security advances MLS security options

    This is great news for the data sharing among MLSs in Northern California.  Unlike the data share in Southern California called CARETS, which pulls all regional listings into your home MLS system – Northern California data share uses reciprocal linking – so any participant may click into another MLS system and have full access….and now, without logging in again! CLAREITY SECURITY LAUNCHES SCOUT FOR SAFEMLS AND SINGLE SIGN ON SOLUTION FOR cooperative MLS of Contra Costa, East Bay Region Data, Inc. and the Bay East Association of REALTORS Scottsdale, Arizona — April 14, 2010 — Clareity Security is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:10-07:00April 14th, 2010|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

Flipping the switch on your new MLS system

Flipping the switch on your new MLS system There is perhaps no more daunting task that could face an MLS than switching MLS vendors.  Most MLSs opt for choosing consultants to work with staff to create communications and training programs to make the transition as sooth as possible,  and run systems in parallel until a cut over is complete - but not all MLSs can afford this. Recently we have seen a lot of feedback from some rather challenging CalRedd conversions - most notability in Fresno and subsequently in Lake County.  But perhaps it is best to look outside of [...]

Palm gives up and posts For Sale Sign – Lenovo suspected buyer

For sale: Slightly used, slightly abused, completely iconic mobile phone brand. Real fixer-upper, tons of potential. Yes, in a move that has been suspected by fans of the brand for some time now, Palm has put itself up for acquisition. The move comes after recent sales numbers for Palm’s Pixi and Pre units disappointed already low expectations, making the company’s independent survival all but impossible. Existing mobile brands HTC and Lenovo are rumored to be interested. Some question the wisdom of HTC buying the brand, as Palm’s operating system, WebOS, would clash with HTC’s Android system. But Lenovo? A purchase [...]

Who is your company’s CSO?

In real estate, we love our letters.  CSO is Chief Social Officer.  Hence the question begins; who is your company’s designee that owns your social media strategy? As we look back over the past few years, social media evolved slowly.  Most corporations started with the tactic of outlawing Social media by employees.  After all, like personal cell phone usage, it was viewed as a distraction from the work at hand.  Now things have evolved, and progressive organizations have learned that social networking by employees (if done correctly) enhances the company’s brand and strengthens relationships with customers. The challenge is to [...]

Alan Arora, C.A.R. exec moving to First Am

Alan Arora, formerly CEO of the California Association of REALTOR’s for profit division called Real Estate Business Services(REBS) has been hired as the Vice-President, Customer Facing Technology for the First American Corporation. This newly created position will be responsible for coordinating the evolution of the various technology interfaces First American uses to reach its customers, which today are primarily in the areas of order origination and communications. The goal is ’simple’…to be recognized as providing the industry’s best interactive technology experience for products and services across all platforms, from enterprise level to mobile device, and by all customer groups, from [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:10-07:00April 12th, 2010|Main category|0 Comments