How Do Top Homes.com and Realtor.com Compare?

Since internet is among the top three most important methods of generating real estate leads and online listing sites rank as one of the most valuable tools, every agent is challenged to leverage these resources for creating, capturing, and closing leads. But, how can agents effectively compare the value propositions of marketing on the most popular real estate sites? An analysis of online marketing solutions from Realtor.com and Homes.com show that their marketing tools stack up pretty solidly when compared side by side, offering a range of options to suit any agent’s CRM strategy, marketing budget, and revenue goals. Both [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00September 8th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on How Do Top Homes.com and Realtor.com Compare?

Growing Agents’ CRM with Solutions from Homes.com

  There’s a significant opportunity gap for agents to grow their CRM through online real estate sites. The statistics are in: While almost half of buyers find their home online, 89% still use a real estate agent or broker to seal the deal. That’s why advertising on a real estate site can do wonders for creating a robust agent CRM for agents… IF the agent understands how online marketing works to secure more traffic, leads, and clients. There are many online marketing options, but Homes.com ranks #1 in terms of lead quality and they offer a range of solutions for building [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00September 7th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Marketing|Comments Off on Growing Agents’ CRM with Solutions from Homes.com

BHGRE Metro Brokers Shares Zap Story

WAV Group was very fortunate to spend time with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers (Metro Brokers) Chief Operating Officer, Craig McClelland to learn about their role out of the highly touted Zap platform. The Zap platform is the strategic technology brokerage solution developed by ZapLabs (formerly ZipRealty) that is being rolled out to all of the REALOGY® Franchise Group brands, ergo 250,000 real estate professionals. WAV Group was surprised by the Metro Brokers announcement that they were launching Zap this early in the roll out. Metro Brokers is a huge Atlanta, GA brokerage firm with 1930 agents and [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00September 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on BHGRE Metro Brokers Shares Zap Story

CRM Tools Solve the Problem of Agent and Client Retention

Real estate brokerages waste valuable growth opportunities by over-focusing on new client adoption and agent recruitment instead of implementing solutions for the retention of both. Industry research shows that repeat clients spend 67% more than first-time clients, so agent and client turnover reduces a brokerage’s potential return-on-investment (ROI) for marketing and training dollars. The key to capturing these high yield sales is enabling agents to efficiently communicate with clients throughout the sales process and beyond. A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution significantly boosts the ability of agents to foster long-term relationships, driving repeat—and more profitable– sales. The potential benefits of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 31st, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Clients|Comments Off on CRM Tools Solve the Problem of Agent and Client Retention

NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

The Northern Nevada Regional MLS could be considered a middle tier MLS, ranking around the top 100 largest MLSs in the nation. There are approximately 728 MLSs today, down from 750 in the past 6 months. As consolidation runs rampant across America’s MLS, NNRMLS has become a shining light of MLS excellence. Shelley Specchio, CEO of NNRMLS credits a combination of strong broker relationships and the influence of the Council of MLS as keystones for keeping NNRMLS well positioned to serve their brokers, especially in areas of Data Management. Data Management for MLS has three themes. The first theme is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 30th, 2016|MLS Insights, Virtual Office Website Series|Comments Off on NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

Gurtej Sodhi Promoted

Two years into being assigned the role of the Chief Strategist in addition to being Crye-Leike’s Chief Information Officer, Gurtej Sodhi has been promoted to the position of Chief Information & Operations Officer for the Crye-Leike Group of Companies. In his new role, Sodhi is chartered with the responsibility of ensuring that all the business units utilize the best systems and processes to operate in the most effective and productive manner. He reports directly to the Chief Executive Officer & Chairman Harold Crye, Technology, systems, and processes are all becoming critical to achieving maximum efficiency, noted Crye. “Gurtej has successfully [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 30th, 2016|Press Releases, Strategic Planning|Comments Off on Gurtej Sodhi Promoted

How Does Howard Hanna Do It?

The title to this article may very well become the title of a book someday. The story of Howard Hanna’s ascension to the pinnacle of real estate brokerage in America is certainly one for the Library of Congress. By and large, their growth has come from two streams – market expansion in existing offices and acquisition. Oddly, not much has come from property value growth. I remember my early days in real estate. I was at a conference somewhere and Alain Pinel was speaking about the growth of his namesake brokerage. When asked about his success, he replied along the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 24th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on How Does Howard Hanna Do It?

MetroList® gives agents powerful new mortgage affordability tool

  Agents using RatePlug technology report faster sales cycle, provide better data to buyers Naperville, IL (Chicagoland) – August 24, 2016 – For the first time, MetroList® agents and homebuyers will be able to view on MetroList – their local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) – total monthly housing payments for every property listed for sale, including current mortgage rates, taxes, assessments, and home owners insurance information. MetroList Services Inc., the largest MLS in Northern California has released RatePlug’s new mortgage technology to its more than 17,000 real estate brokers and agents in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo, San Joaquin, Stanislaus [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 24th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on MetroList® gives agents powerful new mortgage affordability tool

Georgia MLS Launches Black Knight’s Paragon MLS System

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Black Knight Financial Services (NYSE: BKFS) announced that Georgia MLS(GAMLS) has launched the Paragon MLS system after a smooth and successful conversion process. GAMLS extended its long-term partnership with Black Knight by signing a multi-year agreement to use Paragon, Black Knight’s comprehensive, leading-edge MLS system that offers intuitive and straightforward navigation, cross-browser compatibility, multi-tasking capabilities and access from mobile devices. GAMLS is one of the largest multiple listing service (MLS) organization in the Southeast, with over 3,100 offices and more than 31,000 agents and appraisers.  “We are committed to providing smooth implementations and exceptional [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 23rd, 2016|MLS Insights|Comments Off on Georgia MLS Launches Black Knight’s Paragon MLS System

CoreLogic Earns Real Estate’s Top Award as “Most Innovative” Company

When you dominate an industry by market share as CoreLogic does in real estate, there are certain adjectives that become elusive. One of them is “innovative.” That’s because Conventional Wisdom in real estate says that when it comes to tech firms, it’s only the ones with the shiniest and newest objects – run by the new kids on the block – that are deemed innovative. Certainly, it’s not a word typically used to describe a company founded in the early 1990s. Yet about 10 days ago, something remarkable happened in the City of San Francisco, one of the bastions of [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Press Releases|Comments Off on CoreLogic Earns Real Estate’s Top Award as “Most Innovative” Company

Does Your Email Blast Stack Up?

MLSs and Brokerages struggle constantly with how to build communications that break-through to their agents.   Sometimes, it’s hard to know how your marketing efforts stack up against others, so I thought I would share this study to give all of us some perspective. As all online marketers know, open rate and click through rate are two key metrics that need to be closely monitored to ensure that you getting the bang for your marketing buck! According to a recent study called the 2016 Email Marketing Benchmarks Study    th published by IBM, the average click through of emails sent in the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on Does Your Email Blast Stack Up?

Enroll for WAVes of Change Today!

WAVes of Change is a quarterly webinar series that is produced to keep executives and board members current on industry changes and opportunities for operational excellence. Program Overview The WAVes of Change Webinar Series is designed to empower Association, MLS and Broker professionals across North America to make well-informed decisions that help propel their organizations forward. The series is intended to educate your staff, Board of Directors and other invited guests without having to attend multiple events and read scores of journals and research reports. Because WAV Group works with several MLSs, Associations, Brokerages and Technology Companies we bring several [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|WAVes of Change|Comments Off on Enroll for WAVes of Change Today!