Blog - Page 186 of 254 - WAV Group Consulting

Defense of Commissions

American business is founded on the principal that pricing for a product or service is based upon what a willing seller will accept, and what a willing buyer will pay. This happens on an individual basis with each transaction, and price fixing is not allowed. Recently, Casey William Hyland who purchased a home from a Home Services of America brokerage, Semonin REALTORS brought a suit challenging the 6% commission rates on real estate transactions. His claim indicated that the 6% rate was price fixing and is a Sherman Anti Trust Act Violation. When there are multiple transactions of commerce, pricing [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:55-07:00July 27th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

Brokers pulling out of IDX

Game changers happen when businesses test radical strategies. When a company breaks from the pack they learn things that none of their competitors learn. They understand a strategy that nobody else as any experience with. They grow their business wisdom and often find new ways to edge out the competition. By studying the impacts of strategies like withdrawing from listing syndication; launching single listing websites or virtual tours; and, withdrawing from IDX, marketers can learn volumes about how these strategies impact their online strategy. Listing Syndication Strategies that work WAV Group has been studying listing syndication strategies for more than [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:55-07:00July 25th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Virtual Office Website Series|1 Comment

Loyalty Marketing in Real Estate

An innovative concept known as loyalty marketing was heralded by the launch of American Airlines AAdvantage in the early 80’s and has since evolved to become competitive table-stakes as loyalty programs have saturated the business landscape. It is curious that an industry like real estate, powered by 80% repeat and referral business has missed the mark on loyalty marketing. Real Estate is not the only industry getting it wrong. It’s safe to say that the majority of programs consumers experience today have been designed “By Boomers for Boomers,” all while fundamental shifts in consumer purchase behavior demand that new models [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:55-07:00July 23rd, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, Sales Advisory, Strategic Planning|3 Comments

Scott Dixon and Partner buy The Real Estate Book

WAV Group congratulates our friend Scott Dixon and his colleague Stewart Christian for purchasing The Real Estate Book and affiliated publications. Scott and WAV Group partner Victor Lund have been friends for years. Lund has always admired Dixon's vision for the role that highly targeted and well produced print publications play in real estate. "Certainly, The Real Estate Book has done a great job working with their national footprint of publications. We are excited to see the next chapter of the company development under its new ownership," says Lund. The new company name is NewPoint Media Group. Here is the press release [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00July 12th, 2012|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Press Releases|Comments Off

Zillow brings battle to Listhub

Zillow launched a preemptive strike against Listhub yesterday by requesting IDX feeds from the nation's MLS providers. Zillow Executive Bob Bemis sent an email to all MLS CEOs and Executives titled "Why two data feeds when one will do." In the email, Bemis admits that Zillow.com is focused on improving data accuracy and timeliness. The note goes on to explain that Zillow's IDX service, Diverse Solutions, already has the data, why not allow Zillow to use it for Zillow.com so Zillow can circumvent their reliance on Listhub data feeds. A battle ensued when Listhub got word that Zillow was calling them out on [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00July 3rd, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|6 Comments

Dot MLS on Hold?

The Los Angles Times reported today that ICANN, the international non-profit that manages internet top level domains has indicated that they will not be releasing any new TLDs at this time. If you believe the article, this will stall the efforts of the MLS Domains Associationand the Canadian Association of REALTORS who were hopeful that they would be successful at securing the .MLS domain extension for real estate. (MLS Domains and the Canadian Associaton of REALTORS announced that they are working together). But alas, the news sometimes gets it wrong. Which may be the case here according to MLS Domains [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00June 29th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

RE Technology Releases 2012 MLS Technology Guide

MLSs seeking to educate themselves and their members about technology, as well as discover sources of non-dues revenue, can leverage this easy-to-use guide. Arroyo Grande, CA (June 2012) – MLSs and real estate Associations face myriad challenges in today’s changing technology landscape. A new guide from leading real estate technology media site, RE Technology, aims to assist them in overcoming these challenges with descriptions of leading tech companies and products. Interested organizations can download the 2012 MLS Technology Guide for free at RETechnology.com. Information in the guide is presented in a clear, concise format. Product categories covered include agent ratings, [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00June 27th, 2012|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Press Releases, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Stewart® Ranks in the Houston Chronicles’ Chronicle 100 for Top-Leading Companies

HOUSTON, TX (June 25, 2012) – Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE-STC) has been recognized by the Houston Chronicle as one of the best-performing companies in the Houston area. Stewart ranked 83 out of 100 in the Chronicle 100. The Chronicle 100 ranks publicly traded companies in the Houston area using four performance criteria for 2011. The score is based on the average of the rankings for these criteria: total revenue, annual growth in earnings per share, annual revenue growth and one-year total return. “Stewart has served the Houston market for more than a century, and we are truly honored to [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00June 26th, 2012|Broker-Agent Information, Clients, Press Releases|Comments Off

WAV Group MLS Technology Adoption Survey Invitation

WAV Group is conducting a national research project to help MLSs better understand adoption rates of the myriad of technology services now being offered by MLSs. Many MLSs provide products such as tax/public records, showing appointment software, document management, forms and so on. It is important to understand how many of your active members are actually using each of these tools to understand whether the costs are justified. Many MLSs have asked us to help them better understand their success in gaining adoption relative to other MLSs around the country. There are many dynamics to consider when evaluating adoption rates. [...]

By WAV Group|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00June 15th, 2012|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning, Suveys and Research|Comments Off

CoreLogic 2012 User Group Meeting and Summit

WAV Group partner, Victor Lund will be attending the 2012 CoreLogic User Group Meeting and Summit in Chicago next week. The event looks to be information-filled with presentations that provide insight in guidance into the future developments of MLS systems that power about half of America's MLS. Some of the topics include updates on the ongoing development of the core functionality in Fusion MLS, Matrix, and Tempo. These systems are deployed to many of the largest MLSs in the country. CoreLogic will also be releasing information on advances in Mobile, Fusion CMA, Social Media, Fusion Contact Management, Fusion Stats Pro, [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:56-07:00June 13th, 2012|Main category, Strategic Planning, Suveys and Research, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Merri Jo Cowen named President of the MLS Domains Association

The MLS Domains Association (MDA) today announced that its board of directors has named Merri Jo Cowen President of the Association. She takes the place of Bob Bemis, who resigned his positions as president and board member to focus his energies on a new executive position. Cowen is CEO of My Florida Regional MLS, a large regional multiple listing service serving Orlando, Tampa, and the rest of central Florida. According to MDA’s corporate secretary Brian Larson, “Merri Jo has been a member of MDA’s board of directors since the formation of the Association in 2010, and she has been a [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:57-07:00June 12th, 2012|Main category|1 Comment

IRES MLS “Lightens Up”

Lauren Hansen, CEO of IRES MLS in Colorado would agree with Charlie Chaplin when he said, "A day without laughter is a day wasted," for she and her team came up with some great ideas to "lighten up" their MLS website. Imagine this: You are an IRES MLS customer, and you hurriedly type in your username-incorrectly. Instead of receiving the usual boring error message "Username or Password Invalid", you get a different message; it reads: "Going incognito today? We aren't sure who you are!" "When I type in my password too quickly and I get the 'are you going incognito?' [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:57-07:00June 11th, 2012|Clients, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment