Why MLSs Must Embrace Ethical Standards in the Open MLS Era
Adopting ethical standards isn't just about avoiding problems—it's about creating competitive advantage.
Celebrating the 2025 iOi Innovators of the Year: Honoring Bold Thinking and Real Impact in Real Estate
Huge congratulations to this year’s honorees: Gene Eidelman, Terrence Nickelson, and Katherine Aronsson. These three forward-thinkers are showing us what it looks like when innovation meets intention and execution.
Recruiting in times of Unrest
Times of unrest can make recruitment challenging, but it can also present unique opportunities for savvy brokers who understand how to position their firms as safe harbors for ambitious real estate professionals. Below are the essential strategies for recruiting talent when times are tough.
5 Ways to Leverage your MLS Asset
There’s a growing movement across the country - REALTOR® Associations and MLSs are pursuing formal valuations of their organizations.
Open MLS Subscriptions Surge to 941,000 REALTORS® this month—Is Your MLS Ready for What’s Coming?
The Open MLS movement isn’t slowing down—it’s accelerating. As of this month, MLSs representing over 941,000 REALTORS® now offer Open MLS subscriptions, up from 888,000 just last month. This rapid growth signals a powerful shift in the real estate landscape and possibly a wake-up call top MLSs still operating under restrictive access policies.
Unlocking Profitable Growth: WAV Group Offers Exclusive M&A Opportunity
WAV Group’s M&A Advisory Division is proud to exclusively represent Project Evergreen, a rare acquisition opportunity in the Western U.S. residential real estate market. This top-tier mid-market brokerage has been in operation for over two decades, consistently posting profits across all economic cycles.
NAR Midyear: Political advocacy using AI on your smartphone?
At this year’s NAR Legislative Meetings, well-known REALTOR®, educator, and author Marki Lemons Ryhal offered a new way to use artificial intelligence as a political advocacy engine. She reframed this unconventional use of AI by giving practical examples for brokers, agents, and association staff to engage with AI in scaling their influence. If you’ve been thinking of AI strictly as a marketing or productivity tool, here’s another reason to think outside the standard AI box. Use your content to drive engagement One strategy is deceptively simple: combine a strong call-to-action with your tone and let AI scale it. She [...]
The ultimate hypocrisy: Zillow bans pocket listings — unless they’re its own
It begs the question: Was Zillow wrong then — or are they wrong now? If the MLS is so important - why are they carving out exclusions for consumers or builders?
Path to Creating an Effective, Engaged and Forward-thinking Association Board of Directors
You can’t run a forward-thinking organization if you cannot attract the right people with vision, passion, and a selfless commitment to leadership. linked According to the 2025 WAV Group Association Governance Effectiveness Study, more than one third of Associations say it’s very or extremely difficult to recruit qualified leaders to serve on the Board of Directors. And if you dig into the reasons why, it’s easy to see this isn’t a pipeline problem – it’s a governance design problem.
MetroList Launches Voice-Enabled App to Simplify Listing Entry for Agents
Congrats to Dave Howe and the team at MetroList, Northern California’s largest MLS, for investing in making it easier for agents to work with the MLS. Lundy, the latest addition to the Metrolist suite of technologies, allows agents to create and update listings directly from the property site using just their voice. With the removal of Compensation as a core benefit, smart MLSs are finding other ways to earn their monthly subscriptions and tap into the capabilities of AI to deliver increased value.
Ben Caballero: Real Estate Titan, Tech Innovator and Texas Legend Sets a New World Record for Home Sales
$27,000,000,000. Nine zeros. That atmospheric number is Iceland's annual GNP. It's also the total homes sales volume real estate titan and Texas legend Ben Caballero of HomesUSA.com did as an individual sales agent over the last two decades (2004-2024). As a solo sales agent for every listing verified by the MLS, Ben averages over $1 billion in home sales annually. Last year, Ben did nearly $4 billion in home sales. Again, that's $4,000,000,000. That's greater than the combined annual GDP of Grenada and St. Lucia! Over seven thousand home sales: one year, one man Ben’s record-breaking billions are only eclipsed [...]
Home Services By Referral Only: The Hidden Network of Elite Contractors
Perhaps the most surprising discovery was how few Realtors fully leverage this powerful network they've cultivated. While most real estate professionals maintain connections with quality contractors, many underestimate the tremendous value this network represents to clients.