The Board of Managers of the Broker Public Portal (BPP) today announced its new officers for the next year. The BPP, which is owned and operated by real estate brokerages and MLSs and in a technology partnership with Homesnap, is delivering consumer connection benefits to more than 875,000 real estate professionals in America today through more than 140 MLS agreements.
With all of the consolidation that is happening in real estate today, one might think that we are well on our way to having a handful of MLSs remaining by the end of 2020. Clearly this is an exaggeration. When WAV Group works with groups who are considering their options related to MLS mergers, we always start with a deep understanding of the motivation. There is really very little economic savings once an MLS eclipses 20,000 subscribers. The savings to larger MLSs are really not that significant after that. A dollar here or there is not really going to move the needle to deliver more for less.
One of the many ambitions under the leadership at the National Association of REALTORS® is to engage in establishing a beachhead for companies to introduce innovative new solutions in real estate. The manifestation of this strategy is the launch of a conference that will invite innovators to connect with industry leaders to foster collaboration. The conference is called iOi. It was recently brought to my attention by Chris Bennett of CoreLogic is his monthly communication. The conference takes place in San Francisco August 29th-30th.
This may be one of the most redefining moments in the history of real estate technology. Technology vendors who wish to make their products available to Upstream brokers and franchises must connect to the Upstream today. Upstream does not charge vendors to use the service. I would like to invite you to learn about Upstream during a webinar that we are hosting on RE Technology on Wednesday, August 1st. Because of the capacity limitations on our GoToWebinar service, we may only allow the first 1000 to register. P
According to an announcement made today, real estate agents in the Silicon Valley California based MLSListings now have the ability to change price and edit public and private remarks though the MLS-Touch mobile application. Another key new field that they are planning in the future is listing status update. The data modified in MLS-Touch flows into both CoreLogic’s Matrix product as well as Black Knight’s Paragon product and all the MLSListings data feeds. The release indicates that these editable fields are the first of many that will continue to be added over time.
One of the most interesting things about being an expert witness is recognizing how companies can avoid costly litigation. Zillow actually tested the courts in the case of VHT v. Zillow. The facts of the case were reported by Inman News. In summary, VHT filed for copyright on their images. The copyright was granted. VHT then provided a notification of their filing and requested removal. Zillow refused. VHT sued. The court awarded damages. I think the case is on appeal. This issue is not with Zillow or any other portal, it is about protecting the rights of copyright holders and giving privacy to families that buy homes.
The role of a member of an MLS Board of Director is multifaceted, but divided in part to areas around voting control, and in part around strategic guidance. A trend emerging at the largest MLSs in the nation is to invite outside directors into the board room.
When the real estate industry brokerage leaders and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) leaders gathered to reimagine a better national consumer search experience, Chicagoland MLS Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) jumped right in. They believe in the mission of the Broker Public Portal and have licensed Homesnap since July of 2016. The company has committed not only treasury but also significant volunteer effort.
Real Estate is a fickle industry, cycling back and forth from favoring buyers to favoring sellers. It does not take an economist to develop a strategy for when to advertise for buyers and when not to. Certainly, real estate is in a condition of buyer saturation today. Brokers and agents who are advertising for buyers are mismanaging their advertising spend.
Marilyn Wilson to lead discussion about the power of AI with Homes.com At WAV Group we see SO much technology that it is sometimes hard to get WOWED. Homes.com was successful at getting my attention with the Smart Search they have just launched on their website though. They’re leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence to revolutionize the way consumers search for real estate. You HAVE to join me on Tuesday, June 26th at 11:00 am Pacific to see what all the fuss is about. I have to say it kind of blew me away when I saw what they were up to.
This is a whimsical article. Don’t take it to seriously, but take a moment to think about this question with me. My favorite activity on the weekends is to watch a few Ted Talks. This article was inspired by a 9 minute Ted Talk about politicians and democracy, titled What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people?
WAV Group attended the NAREE conference for the fifth consecutive year. For more than a few of team members like Kevin Hawkins, they have attended nearly every year of their career. Here is the inside word. If you want to be heard, you need to be a newsmaker. The key to getting access to be heard is establishing a relationship with journalists – otherwise, you are a whisper.
