MLS Terms of Use Changes and Copyright FAQ

This post is the result of a collaborative effort amongst the Council of Multiple Listing Services, The Realty Alliance, The National Association of REALTORS®, and Larson Skinner PLLC.  Many MLSs have been making changes to the way they file copyright applications and their MLS terms of use. Those changes have raised some questions from participants and subscribers. This FAQ is intended to answer some of those questions and emphasize that the MLSs are not forcing participants or subscribers to give up ownership of listing content.

By |2018-03-27T06:00:37-07:00March 27th, 2018|Broker-Agent Information|0 Comments

Keller Williams Betting $1 Billion on Voice

Keller Williams had another great family reunion, their annual convention in Anaheim drew more than 17,000. Perhaps the most remarkable information conveyed is that they have hit a lot of their ambitious targets for growth, and are now re-targeting to leverage data and technology as their next conquest. According to Teresa Metcalf, their big bet is on the underlying framework and Platform – and the AI component is on top of that.

By |2018-03-20T05:00:03-07:00March 20th, 2018|Broker-Agent Information|0 Comments

Paid Newswires: Are They Worth It?

One of the tools in the Public Relations’ publicity toolkit to communicate for decades has been a paid newswire. PR Newswire and Business Wire early on dominated the business in the U.S. What people don't realize is that the reason one used a paid newswire has evolved with technology and our times.  Initially, the popularity of newswires was fueled by federal regulations that required public companies to meet specific disclosure laws. With the digitization of news and the expansion of the Internet, firms like Marketwire and PRWeb emerged (and much later, GlobeNewswire), and so did the value proposition of newswires. Technology firms became the client of these more Internet-focused firms, and the value proposition became SEO.

By |2018-03-19T21:00:34-07:00March 19th, 2018|Main category|3 Comments

A Tech View on Consolidation

Consolidation of Associations and/or Multiple Listing Systems (MLS) at any level has its pros and cons. Consolidation can tip the scale in the way that it improves the business, the industry and most importantly, how it impacts all the stakeholders. This of course includes the consumer who is at the top of pyramid!

By |2018-03-19T06:00:21-07:00March 19th, 2018|IDX, Strategic Planning, Technology|1 Comment

Are You Passionate About Building Software That is Built for the Way Agents Really Work?

Are you passionate about building software that is easy to use and provides really powerful information to help real estate professionals prospect more effectively and provide better information to their clients? Do you wake up at night thinking about ways to help REALTORS® be more successful?   Do you LOVE to find new ways to display real estate data to make it more actionable? Do you believe your experience has uniquely prepared you to understand the practical workflows of agents and the REAL informational needs that agents will actually USE? If so, we have a really exciting position to tell you about!

By |2018-03-13T10:32:37-07:00March 13th, 2018|Recruiting|1 Comment

RESO Confabs are Real Estate’s Club 33

Denver will be my fourth RESO Spring Tech Summit. Compared to many of the RESO leadership, who, like WAV Group, work for companies that are charter members, I’m still a newbie. Even so, RESO conferences have come a long way from the Chicago spring meeting I attended in 2015 at the NAR HQ.

By |2018-03-10T13:05:08-08:00March 10th, 2018|RESO|0 Comments

Qualia Raises $33 Million for Transaction Management

It is always interesting to me when I hear about a company I have never heard of raises a pile of cash. Qualia, a real estate technology company that aims to make the closing process better for consumers just closed a series B round, led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from 8VC and Bienville Capital.

By |2018-03-08T12:05:50-08:00March 8th, 2018|Main category|1 Comment

Brand Refresh Creates Big Opportunities

I will always vividly remember riding to a meeting with a large broker in Marin County, California back in 2002ish. We were discussing the brutal competition among brokers in Marin County. At the time, Keller Williams did not have much of a presence in San Francisco or Marin. I was wondering why Keller Williams had failed to grow as they have in other markets. Moreover, Century 21 was conspicuously missing from the market altogether. Coldwell Banker was huge, along with Pacific Union. A bunch of independent brands like Frank Howard Allen and Melissa Bradley Real Estate were performing well in upper Marin. Decker Bullock held their own with the large firms in Southern Marin.

By |2018-03-05T10:45:29-08:00March 5th, 2018|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|0 Comments

Effective PR Means One Message Does Not Fit All Audiences

Too often public relations activities rely on the “spray and pray” method these days. It’s just too easy. First, there’s the availability of cheap digital news wire services to blast out a news release for a few hundred dollars or less. If you want to get some quick online news cover and links to post to social media, it’s just a few clicks away.  Second, creating email lists of reporters and bloggers has never been more accessibility. So much so, I would venture to guess reporters are suffering from unsubscribe fatigue.

By |2018-03-05T07:00:30-08:00March 5th, 2018|Main category|0 Comments

Why do so Many Brokers Think TECHNOLOGY is the Way to WIN?

It seems like every week we’re hearing about a new announcement from a large brokerage or franchise telling us they are spending millions on technology and re-positioning their brand story around their technology suite.

A Winning Formula to Increase MLS Technology Adoption

The Miami Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and Multiple Listing Service supports 46,000 primary subscribers and more than 4000 out of area secondary subscribers. Miami have an insatiable curiosity to identify and launch products that will help their brokers, teams, and agents be more successful.

By |2018-03-01T16:34:17-08:00March 1st, 2018|Main category|0 Comments