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 [...]

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

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, [...]

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 [...]

LoopNet chases dotloop into Court

LoopNet and dotloop are to appear in Los Angles court on Monday, July 22ed to settle their differences around the use of the word Loop. LoopNet has a registered trademark and claims that they are the sole user and owner of trademarks containing the term Loop. In the answer to the complaint, dotloop admits that the company was founded as MLS Contracts in 2008 and that its name was changed to dotloop in 2009. The company filed for a trademark registration for dotloop in September 2011, an action that LoopNet claims they opposed at that time. Registered trademarks are managed [...]

Contact Sync

Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in professional technology solutions for real estate that has been mostly characterized by “the move to mobile.” Generally speaking, applications that do not work on mobile devices, either using a mobile browser or using a mobile app, are being cast aside. But there are secondary realities about the shift that many software companies seem to have neglected, namely, contact record sync. Everyone who has a mobile device understands that contact records that are created on any device need to be synchronized across all devices. Having some contacts in one location [...]

Consumers are the drivers of the industry and we need to get over it!

I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a conversation with someone in the real estate industry where they tell me that the consumer is NOT their client.  We prefer to think of the agent as the primary audience and simply ignore the fact that agents do not provide the checks. As the saying goes...follow the money...If you want to succeed in real estate, you have to address the needs of those that secure mortgages to buy and sell homes, not simply those that get a commission check from the sale. That seems like a simple concept, [...]

Find the Right Tools for Your Business with the 2013 Technology Guide

Looking for an easy way to help prepare your Technology Committees before they head to NAR Mid-Year next week?  Check out RE Technology's third annual Technology Guide! Just released today, this free resource helps them identify technology solutions that can be considered for your organization. Every product in the guide features a list of conferences and trade shows that each company will be attending. View a live demo or speak face-to-face with company representatives to learn more about their solutions. Trying to navigate the crowded sea of available tech tools can be a daunting task for technology committees and real [...]

How to Succeed with eCommerce

Many MLSs are now considering offering additional products and service to their members. MLS leaders like MRIS, Metrolist and IRES have made forays into the eCommerce space and are leading the industry to figure out the best methods and promotional paths to success with eCommerce. While the concept of generating more revenue per member is an attractive concept, it is not nearly as easy as one might think. The most successful programs are borne out of constant offer, copy and pricing testing.  Like every eCommerce site online today, customers don’t simply show up and push the “buy now” button. They [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:36-07:00May 8th, 2013|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

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 [...]

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

Trulia buys Marketleader

In a release today, Trulia announced that they are buying Marketleader. As a result, Trulia has taken ownership of a brokerage. That means that they can compete with other online brokerages like Redfin, ZipRealty, Sawbuck, Movoto, and others. However, I do not think that is their strategy. There is a persistant paradigm emerging in the portal business whereby these companies combine the portal with technology products and services offered to agents and brokers. Operating a portal that relies on ad spending alone does not seem to be sustainable for the type of growth and stable recurring revenue for investors. Advertising has, and always will be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:24:37-07:00May 8th, 2013|Main category|3 Comments