Big Data Can Drive Bigger Broker Margins

WAV Group spends a lot of time consulting with brokers on how to re-margin their business. We published a paper in 2013 called Harvesting Business From Broker Data.  That paper characterized the methods that we developed with a number of brokers to harvest business from across the enterprise of title, mortgage, residential, relocation, insurance, commercial, and property management businesses. It has worked very well for many brokers to recapture repeat transactions and new business though cross sell. In many ways, the rethinking that went into the thesis around harvesting business across the enterprise was the first intellectual break from the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:46-07:00June 9th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Strategic Planning|0 Comments
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Paragon Partners With Zillow For MLS Features

According to a news release today, Black Knight Financial Services, developers of the Paragon MLS system and has partnered with Zillow for data management tools. Zillow purchased Bridge Interactive last year, a company that is well known for RETS servers (Contact) and listing input modules (Compose) for MLSs. As part of the alignment between the two companies, the release states that Zillow will be providing the technology to aggregate data from all of the hundreds of markets into Zillow’s data repository which Black Knight calls Property Information Central (PIC). This new system will act as the solution that will provide [...]

By |2018-08-12T08:02:37-07:00June 7th, 2017|MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments
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The Emperor Has No Clothes: Why Listing Photos Are Imperative

‘Naked’ listings are a disservice to both buyers and sellers and WILL hurt your brokerage! When a listing hits the MLS and is syndicated to brokerage and portal websites — especially in 2017 — there are qualified, avid buyers who are waiting for that listing. They want to learn everything they can about their potential new home so they can decide whether it’s worth the asking price and whether they should spend some of their precious house-hunting time taking a tour. Let me ask you something: How easy do you think that is to do without any listing photos? “Naked” [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:46-07:00June 6th, 2017|How to Make Strategic Planning Really Work in your MLS, MLS Insights|0 Comments
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How Loyal Are YOUR Customers?

It is critical for MLSs and Brokers to measure the relationships they have with their customers.  While most MLSs do not have DIRECT competition, they have tons of indirect competition.  MLSs compete against companies that generate leads for agents since that it one of their key roles. They compete against training companies providing CE credit and teaching about technologies. MLSs also compete. MLSs also compete with companies that provide ways to aggregate and distribute real estate listing information for the purposes of monetizes the information flow.  While MLSs have survived well in the real estate ecosystem, some are more well-regarded than [...]

By |2018-08-11T03:34:48-07:00June 6th, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Suveys and Research|0 Comments
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Can Luxury Real Estate Learn From Luxury Clothing?

Customer experience is the cornerstone of luxury purchases. Buying luxury yachts, jewelry, clothing, cars, restaurants……you name it – its always different. Now lets look at the other side of the coin. Have you noticed that retail in your downtown area is dying? Have you noticed that malls are struggling? Macy’s, Target, Walmart, Gap, Nike and so many other retailers are struggling. The silent voices are the small, non-chain merchants, commonly known as the mom and pop retailers. When is the last time you went into an independent toy store? The consumer has gone online, and Amazon is the category killer. [...]

By |2018-08-11T03:11:33-07:00June 6th, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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5 Technical Benefits to Upstream

  I think that a lot of people are confused about Upstream. Some people think that it is a consumer-facing site like the Broker Public Portal/Homesnap. Others think that it is some kind of brokerowned MLS. It is none of those things. It is a database for brokers to create, store, and distribute data. For the most part, every large firm and franchise organization is doing this today, but as an industry the process is broken. Every broker who is managing their data is doing it in different ways, and their data is not interoperable with applications without custom integration, data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00June 6th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|0 Comments
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NAREE Denver Conference Destined to Dazzle

Even when it comes to working with reporters who cover our industry, the real estate business is unique. Think about it. You could spend a month and tens of thousands of dollars on transportation, lodging and meals, trekking across the country to meet with a couple of dozen reporters, or you could attend a single conference and in a few days accomplish much the same thing. That’s exactly what’s happening in Denver next week: an opportunity to meet with journalists, face-to-face, who write for the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, Dallas Morning News, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00June 6th, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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Boston Logic Acquires Propertybase – Shakes Up Real Estate CRM Space

               Boston, MA — June 1st, 2017 – Boston Logic today announced it has acquired global real estate CRM and marketing software provider Propertybase. Propertybase provides a best-in-class brokerage and team focused CRM built on the Salesforce platform, serving clients in over 60 countries. Propertybase management and team of 48 will continue in their roles with the company. “The Propertybase team has built an impressive product and a global business,” said David Friedman, CEO of Boston Logic. “Built on the Salesforce platform, augmented with numerous CRM and marketing features tailored for real estate, the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00June 1st, 2017|Press Releases|0 Comments
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Upstream Adjusts and Improves

WAV Group has played a humble role in the evolution of Upstream from a concept to where it is today. The effort has been shaped by the deep involvement of leading technologists from across the brokerage and franchise community. This week, we have been pummeled by questions arising out of their recent announcement during the 2017 Midyear REALTORS LEGISLATIVE MEETINGS & TRADE EXPO in Washington D.C. Upstream is a bright concept for improving data management in real estate today. If you understand the laws of America, you understand that Licensed Real Estate Brokers supervise agent and consumer real property transactions [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 31st, 2017|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|0 Comments
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The Problem With Real Estate Is That Nobody Cares About Quality

As a Founding Partner at WAV Group consulting, I have the opportunity to talk to fund managers about their investments in real estate. Some investors are focused on supporting public companies such as Realogy, RE/MAX and others are betting against them with short positions. The truth is that we do not ever know the position of the investors when they ask questions. We just answer them as best we can. On a call this morning, I was asked a profound question about customer experience in two parts. Part 1. What brand has the highest customer satisfaction rating? Part 2. What [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 31st, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, Strategic Planning|0 Comments
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HomeSmart Acquires Large Colorado Brokerage in Exponential Growth Move

HomeSmart has acquired Cherry Creek Properties, a large real estate brokerage serving the Denver, Colo., metropolitan area, the company announced Wednesday. The acquisition makes HomeSmart the No. 1 real estate firm in the state based on agent count, according to the company. The addition of Cherry Creek Properties’ 1,500-plus agents brings the firm’s total agent count to over 13,000, and widens its reach to 123 offices in 16 states. HomeSmart and its franchises’ closed sales volume, combined with Cherry Creek Properties’, totaled more than $14.6 billion in 2016, with more than 53,000 in closed transactions, according to RISMedia’s Power Broker [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 31st, 2017|Broker-Agent Information, Press Releases|0 Comments
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Highlights and Lowlights at NAR Midyear

The REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo is a mouthful, so we all just call it NAR Midyear. This one was a scorcher: both inside, as Upstream was the hot topic, and outside, as the temperatures were in the 90s in mid-May and the humidity made me remember why everyone leaves D.C. in August (except the tourists). CMLS Brings it to the Table For me, this was the highlight of the conference and it really isn’t even officially part of Midyear. It’s a tangential track that the Council of Multiple Listing Services hosted at American University, about 15 minutes north [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:47-07:00May 25th, 2017|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment
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