Social Media or mass media?

Social media campaigns seems to be getting the bulk of attention in marketing and communication budgets these days, but I would argue that mass media still packs a far more potent punch when you are trying to build a brand or generate top of mind awareness among a mass audience. Skeptical? Let’s look at some numbers. Super bowl advertisers paid as much as $4.5 million for a 30 second spot this year – a new record – to reach 114 million viewers. That’s just over 4 cents a viewer. In 1993, advertisers paid $850,000 to reach 90 million viewers, just [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:49-07:00February 25th, 2015|Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on Social Media or mass media?

Audit Third Party Portals Today

Brokerages publish listings to third party portals as a method of advertising homes for sale. As we mentioned in our paper, the Syndication Rats Nest (Download Report), every portal displays listings differently. Moreover, portals apply different rules on the same listing if it comes from a different data source. Confused? You are not alone. Portals are constantly battling on multiple fronts. They are innovating constantly to return better value to consumers and advertisers. On any given day they segment their consumer traffic to test innovation strategies. Sometimes your listings are folded into the mix in ways that you did not [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00February 25th, 2015|Main category|Comments Off on Audit Third Party Portals Today

Association/MLS Leadership Doesn’t Always Allow for a Consensus

Association and MLS leaders have it tough today.  The best leaders are staying on top of the latest trends, considering how emerging ideas affect their subscribers and proactively making changes to keep their organizations relevant.  Sounds like the kind of leader we all want to be right? So if this is what all leaders strive for, why is it so hard to create sustainable change? I have recently run across a few examples where the Board of Directors believed they knew the path that was best for their constituents yet they were not able to implement the path that made [...]

Down Payment Resource™ Job Opportunity

   JOB OPPORTUNITIESAccount Manager   Down Payment Resource™ is seeking an Account Manager responsible for establishing and growing collaborative relationships with our customers and partners. With the goal of maximizing the growth and value of our existing client base, objectives for this position include strategic customer lifecycle management, customer adoption of Down Payment Resource products and services and customer satisfaction. Job requirements: Ability to work remotely Ability to travel frequently Thorough understanding of the real estate industry Knowledge of the home buying process, mortgage finance and homeownership programs 10 years of experience in real estate and account management Proficiency in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00February 24th, 2015|Main category, Our Services|Comments Off on Down Payment Resource™ Job Opportunity

RETS Servers and Direct Feeds

The National Association of REALTORS MLS Issues and Policy Committee made a bold move to require RESO data dictionary complainant by Jan 1, 2016, and RESO RESTful web API by June 30, 2016. Further complicating the matters is the groundswell of considerations with third party portals making requests for MLS direct feeds. Data sharing between MLS systems, RETS Update, and system conversions taking place across the industry today deepen the data transport considerations. Wrapping it all together with a lit match could easily lead to mass hysteria. WAV Group took a look at what the largest MLSs in the nation [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00February 20th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on RETS Servers and Direct Feeds

National Broker Portal Launches Website

The national broker portal project continues to gain momentum as brokers and MLSs agree to participate in the formation of the company to explore the launch of a national MLS consumer facing website with broker governance. Although only a month into the funding period, the group is well on its way to raising the $250,000. After the holiday, the Council of MLSs hosted two online webinars on the topic. The Realty Alliance and The Leading Real Estate Companies of the World also hosted two webinars. This activity was followed by the delivery of information at the CEO Summit as part of [...]

We lost a One of a Kind Gem this Week

My heart sank this morning when I heard the news that we had lost Bob Hewes.  Bob was one of my absolute favorites in the industry – could be because he kind of reminded me of my dad who I miss desperately too. Bob had that rare dry sense of humor – you always had to pay attention or you would miss his subtle nuances and quips.  He was a born negotiator. He wasn’t happy unless he was getting a big deal for his beloved Association. the Naples Area Board of REALTORS®.   He got the best of me pretty much [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00February 9th, 2015|Main category|Comments Off on We lost a One of a Kind Gem this Week

PR: The most underrated marketing strategy in real estate

In today’s world of real estate marketing, advertising gets all the money, social media gets all the glory, and public relations is often an afterthought. But should it be? Everyone understands advertising: We see it every day, in every medium; we are inundated with its messages, from the time we wake up to the moment we turn off the light for the night. It must work, or why would all these companies be spending gazillions of dollars on it, right? As for social media, it’s omnipresent. And according to the social media gurus, it is a must have because everyone [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00January 21st, 2015|Main category|1 Comment

MLS Syndication Rats Nest

Urban Dictionary is a hoot. It is also a helpful way for the father of a pre-teen to understand the contemporary meaning behind the terms used by kids. In this case, I refer to Urban Dictionary for their crowd-sourced definition of Rats Nest “Commonly used in the technol- ogy sector to refer to a software design or implementation that is hopelessly convoluted and difficult to understand....” Listing Syndication is a Rats Nest and it is about to get worse as firms like Zillow defect from Listhub-Point2. With Zillow pulling out, MLSs will need to offer different services or parallel services [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:50-07:00January 21st, 2015|Main category|2 Comments

MLS or Broker Technology Site License

Last year, WAV Group spent a lot of time measuring the effectiveness of MLS and Broker technology services with our clients. Our process typically includes one or all of the standard practices for measuring product adoption and satisfaction: surveys, focus groups, competitive analysis, adoption rate curves, true cost analysis, etc. The truth is, very few. . . Download full report MLS or Broker Tech Site License

By |2018-05-03T21:23:51-07:00January 21st, 2015|Main category|2 Comments

Are your services REALLY up to par?

Every company believes they offer the best to their customers. It’s the same way I believe my son is the best on his baseball team. When you spend so much time building something, working for something, you have to believe in it. But you need to take care not to let your passion cloud your objectivity. Of course I think my son is amazing, but I know he needs to practice, follow the coach’s suggestions, and we need to track his progress. How does your company know that your services really are meeting or exceeding customer expectations? With the ever-changing [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:51-07:00January 21st, 2015|Main category|Comments Off on Are your services REALLY up to par?

REALTORS® Federal Credit Union Update

At the New Orleans National Association of REALTORS® Convention in Expo, I had the chance to catch up with Chief Executive Wes Wiggins of JTHS REALTORS® in the great State of Florida. Wiggins has a long career of being on the forefront of operating leading MLSs around the nation. He is among the few who understand how excellence is developed in the Association of REALTORS® and in the Multiple Listing Service. After a long discussion of our industry, the conversation turned to the REALTORS® Federal Credit Union, as Wes had spoken with one of their representatives while ordering our beverages. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:51-07:00January 21st, 2015|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|4 Comments