Earnest Money Spoils The Online Transaction

The Inman Connect conference does not often have many brand new ideas. But if you look hard enough, they are there.  A year or so ago I met a company that was focused on transforming home prices to Total Cost Of Living prices (TLC Engine). This year, I met Lynn Leegard who co-founded a company called TrustFunds, with the tag line of Earnest Money Made Easy. Coincidentally, both TLC Engine and TrustFunds are both services offered through NorthstarMLS, based in Minneapolis, MN. Northstar CEO John Mosey seems to have a knack for launching very unique services that solve significant problems [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 26th, 2015|Main category|1 Comment
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Rapattoni Makes Big Move in Association Management Software

Rapattoni has been the leader in Association Management Software (AMS) for decades. Historically an Association would host the Rapattoni solution, called Magic™, on hardware owned and maintained by the Association of REALTORS®. Associations did a pretty decent job of hosting, but managing hardware servers and security has become increasingly complex and expensive. Dallas based MetroTex Association of REALTORS® with 15,000 members was among the first group of five Associations to move to the new hosted solution. The new service maintains the name Rapattoni Magic, but adds the tag, Cloud AMS. Press Release Follows SIMI VALLEY, Calif., August 19, 2015 - [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category, Press Releases|0 Comments
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The Do’s and Don’ts of MLS System Selection

MLSs are growing again. Membership is up. Agents are making money again. Life is good.  In many cases, the upward turn in the market is allowing MLSs to once again focus on evaluating their technologies to ensure they are offering the strongest tools they can. Recently we have been involved in a few system selections and I thought I would share some of our thinking about the best way to make the process as successful as it can be. Turn on all of the relevant enhancements Before you even contemplate looking at alternative MLS systems, meet with your current MLS [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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Why Millennials won’t buy Boomer McMansions

Self-confession: I love surveys. Data is my kryptonite. I got hooked in my grad school stats class and I’ve never looked back. At Great Western Bank, I created the Realty Confidence Index, which surveyed face-to-face broker-owners in 23 states. At Fannie Mae, I got to pitch to reporters nationwide the most comprehensive housing surveys of its day. At Imprev, I helped craft and launch the real estate industry’s first Thought Leader Survey and continue to spearhead that effort. This all means I know intimately what Mark Twain meant when he popularized the saying, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.” [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category|4 Comments
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Unintended Consequences That Cause Spectacular Results

I just returned, as some 3,000 other folks have, from attending Inman’s Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. For many of the industry leaders whom I spoke with, it was one of the most successful Connects that they have attended and certainly the busiest. I found myself squarely in the same camp. I discovered something incredibly special about what I think makes Inman Connect unique: It fosters the creation of what I call “unintended consequences that cause spectacular results.” I have a few great examples from this most recent Connect to illustrate what I mean. Origins of Real Estate Connect [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Main category|1 Comment
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DotLoop and Zillow

As far as I know, DotLoop customers were happy enough with the product and service until the announcement that the company was being purchased by Zillow. That news, along with the $108M price tag of the acquisition was the fundamental buzz at Inman Connect conference last week. About the price of $108 Million. Typically companies’ sell for a multiple of profit – 6x to 10x profit is not bad. The last acquisition of this type was the Real Estate Digital deal, which sold for a much lower multiple than DotLoop. In the case of DotLoop, it looks like Zillow paid [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:36-07:00August 19th, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Our Services|5 Comments
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Broker Members of The Enterprise Network Hit Mobile Milestone

We have been talking about mobile in real estate for far too long now. Two years ago Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com all announced that mobile was passing other methods of accessing their site. As brokers began to adopt mobile solutions, the debate about mobile browser vs. mobile app went on for an eternity until everyone put down their guns and agreed that the answer is both. One of the broker website service providers that we have been tracking is Booj or The Enterprise Network. They offer a good benchmark because of their unique client base. If you are not familiar, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 19th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments
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1000watt nails large broker IDX strategy

1000Watt Consulting wrote a post this week that is a must read. View it here - http://1000watt.net/2015/08/friday-flash-the-broken-down-lead-machine/# Brian Boero's point is clear: "If you are a large firm with more than 10% market share - ditch IDX." Reasons to Act This Way compromised presentation of properties raft of local competitors drafting on your listings paper brokers leverage your data with impunity relatively small number of leads that agents will probably drop the ball on. I am not going to recant the entire article. Please go and read it. But I do want to reinforce one point and add another. Reinforcement - [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 14th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Strategic Planning|0 Comments
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IRES MLS and CREN MLS Partner For Public Listing Display on ColoProperty.com®

  Information and Real Estate Services, LLC (IRES Multiple Listing Service) is pleased to announce they are the new public listing display provider for the CREN MLS (Colorado Real Estate Network). Effective immediately, this new partnership merges the listing information from two of Colorado’s largest MLS’s onto one public site: ColoProperty.com®. “We are thrilled to assist brokers, buyers and sellers by displaying southwestern Colorado listings on our very popular public listing site, ColoProperty.com®”, said Lauren Hansen, IRES CEO. “As the number one lead generator for Northern Colorado listings, we will aim for similar success with the newly added Southwest Colorado [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 13th, 2015|Main category, Press Releases|1 Comment
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Broker Public Portal License Agreement

WAV Group is providing consulting services to the Broker Public Portal project. This project seeks the collaboration of MLSs and Brokerages in developing a national MLS consumer-facing website that adheres to the Fair Display rules for property search. Since starting the project in January, the company has developed and filed its LLC governance, elected the board of managers, and is running three parallel projects. The first two projects include Brand development (work contracted out to 1000watt Consulting), and Request for Proposal (being done by a workgroup of the Board). The third project is the development of the data license agreement [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 11th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Our Services|0 Comments
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CoreLogic Purchases LandSafe Appraisal

I always thought that it was a bit incestuous for Bank of America to own LandSafe Appraisal. I could never understand how they could use their own appraisal company and insure an arms length loan transaction. Soon, LandSafe will be part of CoreLogic. LandSafe is an appraisal management company that employs about 500 appraisers and operates a Qualified Appraiser Network of independent appraisers. LandSafe was a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America and providing services to Bank of America mortgage. CoreLogic will now be the vendor to Bank of America. The size of the transaction is reported to be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 10th, 2015|Main category|0 Comments
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Austin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director

AUSTIN, Texas – Aug. 3, 2015 – Today, the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) announced the appointment of Tim Dain as Multiple Listing Service Director.   A seasoned MLS executive, Dain brings a unique combination of experience to ABoR, including leading a regional MLS, where he oversaw significant growth for the MLS; working as a REALTOR®, both as an agent and a broker; working in information technology outside the REALTOR® organization; and serving four years in the U.S. military. ABoR CEO Paul Hilgers commented on the announcement, “Tim’s extensive experience in evolving MLS organizations and his industry acumen will be [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:37-07:00August 3rd, 2015|MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments
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