Victor Lund, Author at WAV Group Consulting

Purpose Built Data for Listing Syndication

Over the past three years, I have spent time with listing publishers, real estate brokers, MLS executives, and real estate agents collecting information on the strengths and weaknesses of listing syndication. At the core of these conversations was the topic of data quality, terms of use, the value of the listing, the effectiveness of online marketing, and overlapping syndication disorder. Without dissecting each issue, suffice it to suggest that listing syndication is not meeting the needs of todays stakeholders. The systems in place today need to evolve to meet everyone’s needs. This article will suggest that IDX data was not built for [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 11th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Product Management, Suveys and Research|Comments Off

The Table Is Set for a Housing Boom

The real estate industry may have received a gift this week, a weak stock market will cause investors to increase their exposure in real estate, which is distressed and priced at a discount. Unless you have no savings at all, you likely watched your savings go down 10%-15% in the past few weeks. For every $100,000 that was invested, you are now staring at $85,000. This will come as a tremendous shock to many Americans when they open their 401K statements in September. Given this erratic performance in stocks, suddenly real estate is looking like a great investment. Real Estate, [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 9th, 2011|Main category|1 Comment

Arizona forms largest statewide MLS in the Nation

By a margin of 3 to 1, the Arizona Association of REALTORS voted to acquire the assets of ARMLS today forming the largest statewide MLS in the nation and possibly one of the top 5 largest MLSs in the nation. By our accounting, only MRED in Chicago, MRIS in the Mid-Atlantic would be larger. CRMLS in Los Angles, SoCAL MLS in Los Angles, MFRMLS in Central Florida are all smaller, but possibly in reach. Not that the numbers matter all that much. The difficult next step will be to encourage other Arizona MLSs to join the party. Bob Bemis, current [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 8th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Building Member Value with IDX and Websites

Across America, WAV Group has recognized that MLSs and Associations have been working with MLS vendors and IDX vendors to develop property search solutions for their members. These solutions are offered in one of three ways: Free, Freemium, and Premium. What follows is a basic description of how these programs are comprised along with a shortlist of MLSs and their partners. Free: In some Associations or MLSs, the IDX solution is offered as a complimentary (free) product for agents and brokers. This is unconfirmed, but we think that Rapattoni may have the most subscribers to the free solution. Rapattoni [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 4th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

William Raveis Wins Inman Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage Award

Last Thursday afternoon was a surreal moment for William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance. The company was announced as the “Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise” at Inman News’ 2011 Innovator Awards, held in the beautiful Hilton San Francisco. Inman’s Annual Innovator Awards recognize exceptional national achievements in real estate technology and marketing. To give a simple analogy: winning an Innovator Award is akin to winning an Oscar at the Academy Awards. Every year, the real estate glitterati, from world renowned brokerages to Silicon Valley startups-gone-mainstream, gather in San Francisco and New York to talk about what they see in the [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 3rd, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off

Russ Bergeron honored as Industry Leader

Today’s RE Technology Follow the Leader Series profiles Russ Bergeron. According to RE Technology, Bergeron, CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC (MRED) deserves recognition for his leadership on every level, but we’re going to be a bit more specific for this article. We’ll be focusing on his implementation of MRED’s “public service apps,” creating a new way to bring leading-edge technology and support to his customers. MRED Public Service Apps Mr. Bergeron proves that a great leader never rests on his laurels, no matter how successful his company may be. MRED is one of the largest MLSs in the [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 2nd, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

REALOGY to become Syndication Site

At the Inman Data Summit, many of the hot topics concerning MLS and broker data policies were rehashed. Perhaps the most radical statement of the conference came from Bob Bemis, CEO of the Phoenix area MLS (ARMLS) “Scrap all IDX rules and use the Code of Ethics and State Law to guide data policy.” I believe that he gave credit to Marty Frame of RPR for originating the idea. Aside from that rather far fetched thesis, insight was shared by two of the members of the NAR MLS Policy committee on the possible outcome of the Franchise IDX issue. Rather [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00July 27th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off

Shelley Specchio from NNRMLS honored

RE Technology is publishing a new series called Follow the Leader. The Leader to follow this week is Shelley Specchio, CEO of Northern Nevada Regional MLS. Shelley impressed us with her out-of-the-box thinking, tech-savviness, and commitment to serving real estate professionals in the Reno and Northern Nevada MLS. […]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:37-07:00July 5th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

Bob Hale honored as CEO Communicator of the Year

WAV Group would like to congratulate Bob Hale of the Houston Association of REALTORS® for being selected as the 2011 CEO Communicator of the Year. Hale was presented with this honor by the Public Relations Society of America through its Houston Chapter. As CEO of the Houston Association of REALTORS®, Bob Hale exhibited communications excellence by combining public relations, social media, a website, print, and outdoor advertising to successfully communicate the value of REALTORS® as the trusted resource for real estate consumers, and HAR as the trusted partner to broker and agent membership. Hale has been leading the Houston Association [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:37-07:00June 30th, 2011|Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off

Case-Shiller Trashed by, Zillow, and RBI

If you add up the comments across the real estate technology space during the past few days, you will find a resounding thunder of criticism over the quality of the S&P Case-Shiller index, powered by Fiserv data. Companies like, Zillow, and RBI were the most vocal on their blogs. LPS and CoreLogic probably have opinions similar to Zillow and RBI. They have observed the weaknesses of the Case-Shiller index for years. I think that they are just a little less apt to douse Case-Shiller publically. Talk to any of the data specialists at either LPS or CoreLogic, and you will [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:37-07:00June 29th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

Online Reputation for Brokers and Agents

In real estate, QSC is the leader in Agent Ratings, but today, Facebook is raising the bar and having an impact on the online reputation of agents and brokers. Facebook is big, really big. In fact, it is the most heavily trafficked website in America. It is bigger than Google! And it has an impact on your broker and agent brand – especially if you do not have a facebook page. Although Google is the leader in search, Facebook is catching up and they have partnered with Microsoft Bing to deliver search results that are informed by your friends. When [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:38-07:00June 27th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Googles Next Step in Real Estate Search

Google Real Estate Last July, search and technology giant, Google announced an agreement to acquire ITA Software for around $700 Million. ITA software is a company that cut its teeth in the travel industry powering websites like Orbitz and Kayak. Google has been struggling with supporting consumers in real estate search for many years. They have had many fits and starts, including Google Base. With Google Base, the company tried to aggregate listing data and sort it out. Google Base was a failure and they shut it down. Now with ITA Software, Google may be back on track with [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:38-07:00June 25th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

About Victor Lund