Blog - Page 176 of 249 - WAV Group Consulting

SFAR hires Association Vet Baczkowski from Point2

Congratulations to Walt Baczkowski as he returns to his roots in Association Leadership, taking the helm in San Francisco. Walt is departing his post at Point2 where he was VP of Marketing and wingman to division leader Saul Klein. San Francisco is a great Association and MLS - the crown jewel of the San Francisco Bay Area. San Francisco covers about 49 square miles, pinched between BAREIS to the north and MLSListings to the south. East Bay and Contra Costa are in the East Bay. They share some data, and most agents are members of more than one Association or [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:45-07:00December 18th, 2012|Main category, Press Releases|Comments Off

The Role of Mortgage on Broker Dollar
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The Role of Mortgage on Broker Dollar

Broker Technology Research, Main category, Strategic Planning

The Role of Mortgage on Broker Dollar

Only the largest brokerages in a given region provide loan solutions through joint ventures or wholly owned mortgage companies. This provides these companies with a distinct advantage in many areas of providing a full array of consumer services around home ownership. For these companies, it is a generous source of additional revenue and the consumer loves the convenience. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that independent mortgage banks earned between $2150 and $2450 profit per loan in 2012. The average production profit in basis points ranged between 107 and 120. The average production was between 1700 and 2000 loans per quarter. [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:46-07:00December 17th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Strategic Planning|Comments Off

Constellation Web buys Birdview and Z57

Constellation Web has been on a buying spree, acquiring two of the nation’s longest standing agent and broker web solutions providers – Birdview and Z57. The Z57 transaction closed on December 3rd. The Birdview transaction closed back in May, but we missed that. Constellation has largely been thought of as a mega broker solution – providing services to many of America’s largest brokerage companies like Howard Hanna, Coldwell Banker Burnett, Shorewest, RealtyUSA and Many others. Here is the Z57 press release TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec 3, 2012) -Constellation Software Inc. ("Constellation") (CSU.TO) today announced that its wholly-owned division, Constellation Homebuilder [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:46-07:00December 13th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Press Releases|1 Comment

Technology Tools Used by Great Office Managers

All too frequently companies focus on broker tools or agent tools, losing sight of the tools used by great managers. Brokers who truly understand the value of office managers dedicate resources to deliver manager tools that drive company success and agent productivity. These tools fold into three categories: Market Analysis, Sales Analysis, and Agent Effectiveness. Market Analysis Tools Market Analysis involves using tools like Terradatum Broker Matrix or Trendgraphix. These tools give office managers access to two specific measurements that are key to success: Competitor Sales Volume and Agent Sales Volume relative to market pace. The first is a competitive [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:46-07:00December 10th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Marketing, Sales Advisory, Strategic Planning|Comments Off

Cindy Miller joins NTREIS

WAV Group had the opportunity to work with North Texas Real Estate Information Systems in 2012, facilitating the company's strategic plan. NTREIS is among the largest MLS service providers in the nation, and probably covers more square miles of real estate than anyone (not fact checked). It is a great organization with a popular governance model that establishes each Association of REALTORS® as the MLS Service provider to their members, powered by NTREIS. The Associations are the first line of support, training, and billing to the agents. During our project, we had the opportunity to work closely with Cindy Miller [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:46-07:00December 4th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off

WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey Report – Released!

We are pleased to present the results from the WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey for your review and ongoing technology evaluation. From September 29, 2012 to November 4, 2012 WAV Group fielded the WAV Group 2012 MLS Technology Survey to participating MLSs. 72 MLSs, representing 37 different states or provinces participated in the survey at both staff and user level. 15,130 individual participants filled out the survey completely making it the largest survey of its kind. WAV Group would like to thank all of the MLSs and individual respondents that participated. Download the report here! Participants Receive Additional Report This [...]

By WAV Group|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 28th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Watch Your Widgets

There is great leadership thought around the possibilities that may exist for real estate widgets or apps. Very small teams of developers may be able to invent fantastic software that fills a diverse set of niche needs across the real estate industry. One cannot help but to be amazed at the explosion of applications for the iPhone or the Android or other mobile devices. Bringing that type of creativity to the Million-strong real estate community is very viable. Real Estate has the benefit of the economy of numbers – outpacing any other industry beyond teachers (who do not buy anything). [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 28th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Adding Broker and Agent Branding to Syndication

The gray skull of shame is the single most tarnishing factor of an agent’s online reputation. Yet today, more than 30% of listings on leading third party websites are missing photos or display incorrect contact information about the agent. There is absolutely no reason for this to happen. Today, listing syndication service providers and MLSs can fix this with ease. In truth, no change in real estate data is easy. Unless there is profit motivation, change takes place at a very sluggish pace. In order for agent and broker branding to be added to syndication, standards need to be developed. [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 28th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off

Zillow expands rental offering with Hotpads acquisition

Market leading real estate publisher Zillow expanded their footprint by entering into an agreement to purchase Hot Pads today. The strategy behind the acquisition seems squarely aimed at conquering a larger audience of real estate consumers, namely consumers interested in rental properties. In October, Hotpads had nearly 2.8 Million Unique Visitors. Depending on how you add up traffic to Zillow and their other sites like realestate.yahoo.com, it adds up to less than a 5% increase in traffic. Moreover, Zillow picks up highly skilled staff that understand the real estate portal business, and how to manage data. Although Zillow already has [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 26th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Data Only Brokers
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Data Only Brokers

Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights

Data Only Brokers

There are lots of brokers who subscribe to MLS services. They are called participants, and as participants they are provided data rights beyond agents, and way beyond vendors or third parties. Moreover, participants are the nucleus of reciprocal offers of compensation, an agreement that if one broker represents a willing buyer and the other broker represents a willing seller, they will share compensation. There is a new brokerage model that has entered the MLS sphere, and I am not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing. I will call this type of brokerage a "Data Only Broker" or [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 20th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|9 Comments

CMLS brainstorms new approach for MLS Rules

The CMLS meetings (Council of MLS) were held on Wednesday, November 7th. There were numerous presentations but one in particular seemed to engage the Nation's leading MLS executives in attendance - ReThink MLS. The question before the panel was "What If We Started from Scratch?" As we all know, MLS rules (including Broker Reciprocity) provides structure for how brokers and agents will behave when sharing listings with one another: Two problems have arisen since these rules were first crafted more than a dozen years ago. The MLS rules have become cumbersome in length and somewhat unwieldy to manage and enforce. [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:47-07:00November 12th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|1 Comment

Listhub expands publisher filtering

With listing syndication expanding to 50 or more websites, brokers are challenged to keep up with the features, policies, and display rules of each site. In an effort to help brokers understand the differences between publisher websites, Listhub provides a broker dashboard that spells out the differences and enables brokerages to filter out websites that the broker does not like. Listhub expanded their filtering based upon feedback that they received from their customers including MLSs, Brokers, and Franchise Organizations. The new features are: Refreshes Daily: The publisher posts new or updated listing information at least once a day. No For Sale By [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:48-07:00November 8th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off