RE Technology (www.retechnology.com), the leading media site for the real estate technology industry, has become a daily resource for many MLS professionals, brokers, and agents. Their already-rich array of content is now being augmented with an exciting new column: “Follow the Leader.” […]
In real estate, QSC is the leader in Agent Ratings, but today, Facebook is raising the bar and having an impact on the online reputation of agents and brokers. Facebook is big, really big. In fact, it is the most heavily trafficked website in America. It is bigger than Google! And it has an impact on your broker and agent brand – especially if you do not have a facebook page. Although Google is the leader in search, Facebook is catching up and they have partnered with Microsoft Bing to deliver search results that are informed by your friends. When [...]
In research we conducted a few months ago on behalf of the National Association of REALTORS®, we heard many agents express concern about the many REO homes they had seen that were not protected by lockboxes. They told us that many REO agents were using “Masterlocks” like the ones we used to have on our high school lockers instead. Agents were concerned about the safety of the home, not to mention the lack of professionalism that type of lock projected. According to a press release just released by SUPRA, Fannie Mae has informed its listing brokers and Asset Management Providers [...]
As a former winner of a “40 under 40″ award in Buffalo, New York I know what an honor it is to receive a “30 under 30″ award. It’s a great way for the industry to recognize those that go above and beyond - the up and comers - the future of our business. Today, the National Association of REALTORS® announced its 2011 list of “30 Under 30″ honorees. This group exemplifies the personal drive many Realtors® have to be the best and provide a high level of service to their clients, despite tough market conditions and a constantly evolving [...]
We have entered a new era in real estate called the Era of Listing Syndication Security. Listing Syndication Security is a technology solution that solves many of the legal and technical concerns related to sending listings to third party websites (Zillow, Trulia, et al) in the form of advertising. WAV Group has published numerous papers on the topic over-viewing the key issues of Terms of Use, Accuracy of Online Listings, Indexing, and so forth. Since its inception 4 or 5 years ago, Listing Syndication has been fraught with business problems typical of any circumstance where many people are sending information [...]
Dear Pat and MLS Issues and Policy Members, Please accept this letter on behalf of the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) regarding the recommendations included in the “Report and Recommendations of the IDX Data Use Work Group". The difficult task of reviewing the inclusion of social media in IDX isnt an enviable one; please know that we respect the commitment that each work group member gave to the effort. The membership of CMLS is very diverse and includes Associations and MLS organizations from small to very large REALTOR® owned to regional to broker owned to private. Regardless [...]
I cannot speak for The Realty Alliance, Leading RE or any other brokerage. But I can summarize the sentiments of WAV Groups’ broker clients. This will hopefully shed some light on the question of IDX usefulness, and the issues that are concerning brokers across America representing 200,000 REALTORS. Brokers are upset with recent changes to NAR’s model IDX rules and regulations. Brokers claim that the two recent modifications to IDX, and a third policy revision under consideration; NAR’s MLS Policy Committee failed to contemplate (or appreciate) who owns the data and who is legally responsible for it. The first policy change extended IDX [...]
According to a study released by Canalys today, Apple fueled the 7% growth of the computer market in Q1, 2011. According to Canalys, pad shipments reached 6.4 million units worldwide. Apple accounted for 74% of these shipments, while other vendors struggled to bring competitive products to market. Canalys expects that next quarter will see a significant change in the market, with products appearing from Acer, Asus, LG and RIM. This continued growth suggests that the iPad and other pad devices are here to stay. They seem to be moving past devices that are purely for games and entertainment and into [...]
Yesterday, under the cloak of embargo, Realtor.com released the iPad app to the media. Errol Samuleson, President of MOVE provided us with a walk through of some really great technology, calling it the Etch A Sketch of mobile real estate search. If you are familiar with the popular iPhone, Android, and Windows Mobile applications by Realtor.com, then you know that they have done an admirable job of providing a top of class mobile search product. Like its mobile brethren, the iPad is no different. All in all, it is a great start. Some features I liked are the ability to [...]
ListHub operator Move, Inc., (NASDAQ: MOVE) and Zillow, Inc., today announced a long term content syndication agreement for the ListHub publishing network. ListHub is the largest online syndicator of real estate listings to real estate web sites and provider of performance reports for brokers, franchises, and Multiple Listing Services. ListHub is Zillow’s largest listings syndication partner. This agreement confirms Zillow and Move’s commitment to the publishing and syndication of accurate MLS real estate listings. As a result of the new agreement, ListHub will continue to send approximately two million listings to Zillow directly from 358 MLSs every day representing 40,000 brokers throughout the [...]
There are some technology companies in real estate who love Cloud Computing. Many of the nations’ most significant websites use it to host their applications, include foursquare. But be aware, there are risks - Imagine the frustration of agent and brokers would express if they tried to login to the MLS or other business critical system, and got a similar message to this.
There is a work group that recommends changes to NAR’s MLS Policy Committee on changes to the policy. This work group recently submitted suggested changes that, if adopted, would enable RSS and other electronic means of syndicating listings to third parties. Brokers and MLSs alike are very concerned about the potential infringements on the copyrights of brokers and MLSs, and the potential for law suits from home sellers. Broker participants are legally liable for the listing content as outlined in the listing contract with the seller. The broker takes on the legal responsibility for the listing through the contact. Moreover, the convents [...]
