Brokers, even those that invest significant money in their online presence struggle to engage potential customers. In just about every market, brokers have taken a backseat to venture-backed sites that are constantly launching new bells and whistles to capture the attention of potential home buyers and sellers.

There’s been a group of hard-working technology leaders at work creating the Real Estate Standards Organization or RESO, as it is called.

This smart community of thinkers, led by many of the largest broker organizations including Keller Williams, Home Services of America, REALOGY, Watson, Crye-Leike, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, The Realty Alliance, Michael Saunders and Company, The Group and many others, has built a standardized way to describe real estate used for websites, marketing tools, back office systems and just about every system that brokers use today that are dependent on MLS information.

So, what does that buy a Broker in everyday, practical terms?

Lots of things.  I am going to explain just one of them that can be a huge advantage for a broker website.

Consumers bounce around a lot today when they’re searching for properties. They might look at a home on their phone as they drive by it. They really like it from the outside and want to save it for later to share with their spouse and their REALTOR®.  That evening they might be at home reviewing properties on their laptop while they’re watching television. They find a few more that they like. They want to save them so they can share it with their REALTOR in the morning.

Because they’re actively looking for a home, they also have set up a saved search on their broker’s website so they can watch the market.

Today, most consumers save properties in multiple websites and on multiple devices making it really difficult for them and their agent to keep track of all of the homes they might be interested in. RESO now allows  a broker to be able to sync what a consumer is doing into their lead management tools and their mobile solution seamlessly, as an example… As the consumer changes the search in one of the places, the agent is notified of the consumers updated preferences and can better assist.

Richard Renton, CEO of Triad MLS and Secretary for RESO says

“RESO has created a standardized way of defining and displaying saved searches and favorite properties on a variety of devices seamlessly. By simplifying the process of creating and seamlessly integrating saved searches, a broker can offer the consumer a superior online search experience.”  Mr. Renton goes on to say, “We’re working hard at RESO to help brokers leverage real estate information to their best advantage. Saved Searches is just one small example of the myriad of standards that have been built to make it easier for brokers to engage with consumers and better satisfy their information needs.”

Attend the 2017 Fall RESO ConferenceresoFallConference

RESO is coming of age.  After more than 10 years of arduous work, standardized real estate information is readily available from just about every MLS in the country.

Brokers can provide richer, deeper and more engaging real estate information than ever before.

At this year’s RESO Fall Conference in San Diego, there is entire Broker Business Solutions Workshop dedicated to sharing practical ways that brokers and their technology companies are creating innovation approaches to attracting consumers to broker websites.

Contrary to popular belief, RESO is NOT just for Geeks anymore. There are tons of presentations and hallway conversations among attending brokers talking about ways that rich, standardized real estate information can be used to attract and engage potential clients and get consumers AWAY from relying solely on third party sites.

Come join us at this exciting and intimate gathering. It is absolutely my favorite conference of the year.  Unlike other conferences where there are thousands of people with diverse backgrounds, skillsets and roles, RESO attendees come with a single purpose: to find ways to leverage standardized information to gain a competitive advantage.

RESO purposely limits its attendance to maintain an environment that encourages tons of inspiration and idea-sharing. Broker attendees that I have spoken with tell me they come away with a much deeper and more practical understanding of the business power of a rich set of standardized information. Many brokers bring with them their “pie in the sky” ideas only to find out that the RESO Data Dictionary already includes what they need to bring their innovative ideas to life! Come join me there this year and you’ll see what I mean. If you cannot afford the time away from the office, then I would highly suggest you send your Technology and/or Marketing leaders to attend as well.

Please CLICK HERE to register now for the conference

RESO DataComp

There’s an exciting new addition to the RESO Fall line-up this year – RESO DataComp. This exciting data competition is attracting some of the best and brightest minds in the business. They will be competing to devise relevant, yet highly unique ways to help brokers innovate with standardized real estate information. There will be thousands of dollars in  cash awards and prizes given away. If you attend the event, you’ll be among the FIRST to see some new breakthrough solutions  that can revolutionize your business. Don’t miss it!

Please CLICK HERE to register now for the conference

Can you tell that I’m excited about RESO? It is an amazing organization with a far-reaching, yet practical vision to help brokers succeed by leveraging real estate information more effectively.  Come join me on October 17th to 19th in San Diego at the gorgeous, brand new Pendry Hotel.  You’ll be glad you did!