Smarter Agent to sue Zillow, Trulia and others

Smarter Agent, provider of mobile search services for the real estate industry filed a law suit on March 26, 2010 in Delaware District Court to sue the following companies for infringement of their patent 35:271. Boopsie Inc. Classified Ventures LLC Hotpads Inc. IDX Inc. Move Inc. RealSelect Inc. Primedia Inc. Consumer Source Inc. Trulia Inc. Zillow Inc. ZipRealty Inc. Multifamily Technology Solutions Inc. dba MyNewPlace TRSoft Inc. dba Planetre […]

Who will tie the data together in the MLS world?

If you have worked in the MLS world as long as I have you know how many moving parts there are in terms of technology to run the organization effectively.  With the creation of RETS, the so called “standard", the use of multiple modules to provide services has increased even more.  What has been obvious to me for many years looking at the industry’s technology, however, is that no one has done a good job of pulling all of the important data points together for the MLSs so they can run their organizations more effectively. Today, MLS systems do a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:14-07:00February 24th, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Company, Twitter for Real Estate, Virtual Office Website Series|Comments Off on Who will tie the data together in the MLS world?

RPR – To Join or Not to Join is Not the Only Question!

Since the announcement made by NAR on the formation of RPR and their public rollout at the NAR conference in San Diego, RPR and their proposed business model has been a major topic of conversation in MLSs across the U.S.  Some MLSs seem to think this is an idea long overdue while others have expressed “no interest” while most seem to be somewhere in between with a “wait and see” attitude. c planning session we facilitated for a major MLS the topic of RPR participation was, of course, discussed.  Our approach to the discussion, as with any business issue, is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:15-07:00February 1st, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Product Management, Reports, Sales Advisory, Suveys and Research, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on RPR – To Join or Not to Join is Not the Only Question!

New Subscription Model needed for Broker CMA services

Brokers are facing new challenges in today’s economy.  Traditional firms have often focused on advertising or co-op advertising as a primary benefit to agents who join their firms.  The new broker model is different.  Brokers are turning more and more toward training agents and the offering of technology services that are vital to the success of real estate professionals today.  When brokers look at implementing technology services today, they face pricing challenges from vendors who are slow to understand the broker’s business model.  Companies who offer CMA products charge monthly fees per agent rather than bulk service fees – making [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:16-07:00January 26th, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on New Subscription Model needed for Broker CMA services

Supreme Court Ruling impacts NAR

The Supreme Court made a significant ruling today that says the government may not ban political spending by corporations in candidate elections.  It is a great victory for the National Association of REALTORS' lobby group. They can spend as much as they want now. The case brought to the court was a residual of the McCain-Feingold Law that banned the broadcast, cable, or satellite transmission of 'electioneering communications' paid for by corporate or labor unions from their general funds in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before the general elections.  The Supremes ruled that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:16-07:00January 22nd, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Supreme Court Ruling impacts NAR

RMLS Portland Announces Kurt von Wasmuth as new President/CEO

  Press Release: Kurt von Wasmuth Named President and CEO of RMLS™ Kurt von Wasmuth FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 8, 2010 Kurt von Wasmuth Named President and CEO of RMLS™ RMLS™ Board of Directors promotes companys Senior Vice President PORTLAND, Ore. RMLS™ (Regional Multiple Listing Service), the largest Realtor®-owned multiple listing service in the Northwest, announced the promotion of Kurt von Wasmuth to President and CEO today. Von Wasmuth joined RMLS™ in 1998 as a Help Desk Technician and most recently served as Senior Vice President. He has also held management positions in training, communications and information services within the company. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:17-07:00January 11th, 2010|Broker-Agent Information, Clients, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Company|Comments Off on RMLS Portland Announces Kurt von Wasmuth as new President/CEO

MARKETLINX LAUNCHES MOBILE MLS AUDIO SEARCH-Press Release

MARKETLINX LAUNCHES MOBILE MLS AUDIO SEARCH –VoicePad Technology Lets Agents “Search Any Home from Any Phone™"– SANTA ANA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2010 MarketLinx, Inc., a leading provider of information technology to the residential real estate industry and a member of The First American Corporation (NYSE: FAF) family of companies, announced today that it has partnered with VoicePad® to offer a mobile audio search tool to its MLXchange™, TEMPO™ and InnoVia™ multiple listing service (MLS) customers. Called VoiceLinx, the solution allows MarketLinx MLS users to hear spoken listing information from any mobile phone simply by calling a local phone number and [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:17-07:00January 11th, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on MARKETLINX LAUNCHES MOBILE MLS AUDIO SEARCH-Press Release

CARETS Takes a Break on New Members!

WAV Group learned today that Mike De Leon, the current Chair of CARETS for 2010 announced they will not be accepting any new members for the next six to nine months to get their house in order and to develop the necessary infrastructure to insure new members are brought onto CARETS without issue! Mike explains they want to insure that future growth is done in the right way with appropriate documentation as well as operations and procedure manuals. With over 100,000 current subscribers he points out that they still want to “…work with all potential new members toward a timely [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:18-07:00January 8th, 2010|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Reports|Comments Off on CARETS Takes a Break on New Members!

Real Estate CRM Company seeks venture partner

For the past four years, Technology Concepts, a veteran MLS provider, has been developing a Customer Relationship Management product for the real estate industry.  The company has leveraged their experience serving MLSs, brokers and agents to architect and build one of the industry’s most advanced enterprise level CRM solutions. The product, named Eventus, is operational, installed and has realized outstanding results for the first tier users.  Now that the product is ready for full deployment into the market place, the company is seeking a business partner to fuel marketing and fulfillment.  The company will consider options from company or product [...]

Social Media influence on purchasing

As REALTORS move their marketing and customer contact strategies to social media, it is important not to neglect the trusted and proven offline networking.  This study by Parenting Magazines shows that lots of moms are engaged in social networking, but making many of thier product decisions based upon offline relationships. NEW YORK (AdAge.com) – Technology’s influence is widely assumed to have morphed the over-the-fence backyard chat into mommy blogs and Twitter networks. But when moms are seeking product advice, it’s not all social-media all the time. A study due out next week from the Parenting Group found that while moms [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:20-07:00November 6th, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Social Media influence on purchasing

New CDS Data Share aims to give consumers more listings on Agent and Broker Websites

Real Estate Agents and Brokers have long been subjected to unfair competition from thrid party listing websites that are able to aggregate listing data across multiple MLS markets.  The rules for displaying MLS listings on Agent and Broker websites require the Agent or Broker to be a member of each MLS to acquire the IDX data feed.  Progressive thinking among Brokers and MLSs along the Southeastern Seaboard of America led to the creation of the Carolina Data Share or CDS.  This service paves the way for a member of any of the participating MLS to enjoy data from all of the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:20-07:00November 3rd, 2009|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on New CDS Data Share aims to give consumers more listings on Agent and Broker Websites

Green is the new Luxury

For years, many in real estate have established their marketing around niches.  Chief among them is the development of Luxury Home marketing.  New Research released by PR firm Edlemansuggests that Eco-Frienddly is replacing Luxury as a preference for consumers.  Here is a summary from their research provided by Marketing Charts. More than twice as many global consumers say they would rather drive an eco-friendly car (67%) than a luxury car (33%), and an even larger percentage would prefer to live in an eco-friendly house (70%) vs. merely a big house (30%), according to results from this years goodpurpose study, conducted by PR [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:26:20-07:00November 2nd, 2009|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on Green is the new Luxury