Blog - Page 197 of 248 - WAV Group Consulting

FBI Targets REALTORS

I caught an article published in the Kansas City Star this morning that blew my mind. The Federal Bureau of Investigations reports that there are an estimated $10 Billion in fraudulent loan applications each year in America. The problem is so bad that they have launched a sting initiative called Operation Stolen Dreams. This may be no surprise to many MLS executives. If you operate a large or mid-sided MLS, the FBI has already contacted you to gain access to MLS data. This is the front door approach. In some cases, the FBI gets a real estate license and joins [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 12th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Purpose Built Data for Listing Syndication

Over the past three years, I have spent time with listing publishers, real estate brokers, MLS executives, and real estate agents collecting information on the strengths and weaknesses of listing syndication. At the core of these conversations was the topic of data quality, terms of use, the value of the listing, the effectiveness of online marketing, and overlapping syndication disorder. Without dissecting each issue, suffice it to suggest that listing syndication is not meeting the needs of todays stakeholders. The systems in place today need to evolve to meet everyone’s needs. This article will suggest that IDX data was not built for [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 11th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Product Management, Suveys and Research|Comments Off

The Table Is Set for a Housing Boom

The real estate industry may have received a gift this week, a weak stock market will cause investors to increase their exposure in real estate, which is distressed and priced at a discount. Unless you have no savings at all, you likely watched your savings go down 10%-15% in the past few weeks. For every $100,000 that was invested, you are now staring at $85,000. This will come as a tremendous shock to many Americans when they open their 401K statements in September. Given this erratic performance in stocks, suddenly real estate is looking like a great investment. Real Estate, [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 9th, 2011|Main category|1 Comment

Arizona forms largest statewide MLS in the Nation

By a margin of 3 to 1, the Arizona Association of REALTORS voted to acquire the assets of ARMLS today forming the largest statewide MLS in the nation and possibly one of the top 5 largest MLSs in the nation. By our accounting, only MRED in Chicago, MRIS in the Mid-Atlantic would be larger. CRMLS in Los Angles, SoCAL MLS in Los Angles, MFRMLS in Central Florida are all smaller, but possibly in reach. Not that the numbers matter all that much. The difficult next step will be to encourage other Arizona MLSs to join the party. Bob Bemis, current [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 8th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Product Manager Position

WAV Group has been commissioned by LPS Real Estate Group to hire a Product Management position located in Orange County, California for their rDesk platform. The ideal candidate for this position will be an enthusiastic individual that possesses that rare but valuable mixture of intellectual curiosity, business acumen, marketing savvy, technical proficiencies, strong communication skills, and attention to detail. They will be able to drive a team to rally around a vision of a platform that uniquely meets the needs of real estate consumers and real estate practitioners better than its competitors. […]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 5th, 2011|Clients, Main category, Product Management|Comments Off

Building Member Value with IDX and Websites

Across America, WAV Group has recognized that MLSs and Associations have been working with MLS vendors and IDX vendors to develop property search solutions for their members. These solutions are offered in one of three ways: Free, Freemium, and Premium. What follows is a basic description of how these programs are comprised along with a shortlist of MLSs and their partners. Free: In some Associations or MLSs, the IDX solution is offered as a complimentary (free) product for agents and brokers. This is unconfirmed, but we think that Rapattoni may have the most subscribers to the free solution. Rapattoni [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:32-07:00August 4th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Market Leader Launches New Best-in-Class Product to Provide Home Buyers and Sellers With Local Market Data

KIRKLAND, WA — (MARKET WIRE) — 08/03/11 — Market Leader (NASDAQ: LEDR) (http://www.MarketLeader.com), a leader in online marketing and technology solutions for real estate professionals, today launched Market Insider, a comprehensive, powerful and innovative set of tools to brand agents as the neighborhood expert, keep prospects coming back to their website, and drive greater loyalty and sales from customers and referrals. Market Insider engages home buyers and sellers with customized, up-to-date reports of home sales, trends, demographics and side-by-side statistics on their favorite neighborhoods. This detailed, local market data is available for consumers to browse on the agent’s website, and [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 4th, 2011|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, Press Releases|Comments Off

William Raveis Wins Inman Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage Award

Last Thursday afternoon was a surreal moment for William Raveis Real Estate, Mortgage & Insurance. The company was announced as the “Most Innovative Brokerage or Franchise” at Inman News’ 2011 Innovator Awards, held in the beautiful Hilton San Francisco. Inman’s Annual Innovator Awards recognize exceptional national achievements in real estate technology and marketing. To give a simple analogy: winning an Innovator Award is akin to winning an Oscar at the Academy Awards. Every year, the real estate glitterati, from world renowned brokerages to Silicon Valley startups-gone-mainstream, gather in San Francisco and New York to talk about what they see in the [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 3rd, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off

Russ Bergeron honored as Industry Leader

Today’s RE Technology Follow the Leader Series profiles Russ Bergeron. According to RE Technology, Bergeron, CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC (MRED) deserves recognition for his leadership on every level, but we’re going to be a bit more specific for this article. We’ll be focusing on his implementation of MRED’s “public service apps,” creating a new way to bring leading-edge technology and support to his customers. MRED Public Service Apps Mr. Bergeron proves that a great leader never rests on his laurels, no matter how successful his company may be. MRED is one of the largest MLSs in the [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 2nd, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

New Face at WAV Group – Sean Heidinger

WAV Group is pleased to introduce Sean Heidinger as the newest member of the WAV Group team. Sean brings a wealth of entrepreneurial and business experience to WAV Group and has joined the company as Executive Assistant to Mike Audet in our east coast office. […]

By WAV Group|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 2nd, 2011|Main category|Comments Off

RE Technology Announces Giveaway Winners

Arroyo Grande, CA (August 1, 2011) – The more than 700,000 subscribers to RE Technology’s website (www.retechnology.com) have been excited to see the outcome of the July Giveaway. The company, a top media site for the real estate technology industry, today announced the lucky winners. “This Giveaway was fun for us, our subscribers, and the tech companies who participated,” says Victor Lund, CEO of RE Technology, Inc. “The contest began on July 8th, and we’ve seen a great response since then.” For the Giveaway, RE Technology subscribers could choose 3 prizes (giving them 3 chances to win) from top technology [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 2nd, 2011|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off

REALOGY to become Syndication Site

At the Inman Data Summit, many of the hot topics concerning MLS and broker data policies were rehashed. Perhaps the most radical statement of the conference came from Bob Bemis, CEO of the Phoenix area MLS (ARMLS) “Scrap all IDX rules and use the Code of Ethics and State Law to guide data policy.” I believe that he gave credit to Marty Frame of RPR for originating the idea. Aside from that rather far fetched thesis, insight was shared by two of the members of the NAR MLS Policy committee on the possible outcome of the Franchise IDX issue. Rather [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00July 27th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off