Broker Technology Research Archives

AOL-MOVEing in on property portals

Large consumer search portals like Google, Yahoo, and AOL have had an interesting, if not mystical strategy toward real estate. Today, AOL made an announcement to become a syndication channel for real estate listings. Perhaps AOL is going against the grain, or perhaps they finally found a great partner who made it easy for them to get enough quality listings on their site to make it a viable search solution for property. In today’s announcement, AOL Real Estate search will be powered by Move through the ListHub Syndication Network. No doubt, the strategy for AOL and Move fits. Both companies [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:31-07:00August 17th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Jack Miller of the GoodLife Team in Austin Texas

Jack Miller of the GoodLife Team in Austin, Texas was featured in an article by RE Technology this week for his outstanding industry leadership. All of the members of the GoodLife team have been supportive and outspoken about the best practices for agent and brokers. These REALTORS really give back to our industry and help make it better. Millers’ industry leadership comes from illustrating what great customer services means to real estate brokers today. I think that he also, perhaps unknowingly arrived at a new way to search for property. Put in the amount you can afford and view properties [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:31-07:00August 16th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category|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

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 [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:33-07:00August 3rd, 2011|Broker Technology Research, 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

My Florida MLS (MFRMLS) Signs Exclusive Agreement With CoreLogic Partner InfoNet Program

My Florida Regional MLS Joins CoreLogic® Partner InfoNet —Largest MLS in Florida Signs Exclusive Agreement— SANTA ANA, Calif., July 19, 2011—CoreLogic (NYSE: CLGX), a leading provider of information, analytics and business services, today announced that My Florida Regional MLS (MFRMLS) has signed an exclusive agreement with CoreLogic to participate in Partner InfoNet. Partner InfoNet is a revenue sharing program in which multiple listing services (MLSs) license their listing data to CoreLogic for use in risk management products for mortgage lenders, servicers and the capital markets. “Partner InfoNet gives us a controlled way to license our data and deliver that value [...]

By WAV Group|2018-05-03T21:25:34-07:00July 19th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off

RE Technology Announces New ‘Follow the Leader’ Column, Seeks Nominations

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.” […]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:35-07:00July 7th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

If you’re not promoting rentals, you’re missing the boat!

The world has changed. Many consumers that used to want to live the “American Dream” of homeownership have given up on that dream – at least for now – and have turned to renting, instead of buying. They may have lost their home, or simply don’t believe that buying a home is a good investment anymore. Still others simply cannot afford to buy a home because they have lost their job or they have been forced to take a lower paying job just to keep food on the table. Are we just going to abandon these folks because they aren’t [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:37-07:00June 29th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights, Suveys and Research|Comments Off

Case-Shiller Trashed by, Zillow, and RBI

If you add up the comments across the real estate technology space during the past few days, you will find a resounding thunder of criticism over the quality of the S&P Case-Shiller index, powered by Fiserv data. Companies like, Zillow, and RBI were the most vocal on their blogs. LPS and CoreLogic probably have opinions similar to Zillow and RBI. They have observed the weaknesses of the Case-Shiller index for years. I think that they are just a little less apt to douse Case-Shiller publically. Talk to any of the data specialists at either LPS [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:37-07:00June 29th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment

Online Reputation for Brokers and Agents

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 [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:38-07:00June 27th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Googles Next Step in Real Estate Search

Google Real Estate Last July, search and technology giant, Google announced an agreement to acquire ITA Software for around $700 Million. ITA software is a company that cut its teeth in the travel industry powering websites like Orbitz and Kayak. Google has been struggling with supporting consumers in real estate search for many years. They have had many fits and starts, including Google Base. With Google Base, the company tried to aggregate listing data and sort it out. Google Base was a failure and they shut it down. Now with ITA Software, Google may be [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:38-07:00June 25th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Franchisor IDX issues continue

MLS System providers have been working hard on rapidly delivering a solution to support the NEW NAR policy for Franchisor IDX guidelines that is in place between June 13th and the NAR convention in November. Franchise Organizations lost the privilege extended to them at the last NAR meeting that permitted them to display broker listing data that would link to a franchise broker website. This is called Indexing. Non-Franchise brokers do not feel that the Franchisor – who is a third party and not an MLS member, should have these privileges. IDX data had previously [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:38-07:00June 22nd, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off