About MLS Client Portals

This afternoon I was able to enjoy a delightful conversation between two very bright, very experienced real estate CEOs – Greg Robertson of W&R Studios – makers of CloudCMA and CloudStreams, and Michael Wurzer, CEO FBS Data Systems, makers of FlexMLS (America’s second largest MLS vendor). The discussion centered on speed, design, delivery, among other things. It all went down on Twitter. If you love real estate technology - @gregrobertson and @mwurzer are must follows. Bigger Considerations? Stakeholders in the MLS client portal services are a combination of broker interests, agent interests, and by extension a consumer interest. I wonder [...]

Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

Too often, brokers and managers get caught up in recruiting goals that they skip some basic best practices – Background Checks, Customer Satisfaction Checks, etc. Perhaps agents should be checking out the backgrounds of their broker too. Before the New Year, Todd Kohlhepp, a real estate broker was linked to 7 murders and a kidnapping. Todd was the broker in charge of TKA Real Estate. Inman news reported that the guy had spent 14 years in jail for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl. Of course – his agent ratings on popular listing syndication websites gave glowing reviews. (The agent has been [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:58-07:00January 4th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

Hacker Connect Agenda Released

WAV Group is excited to sponsor Hacker Connect. If you want to get the most out of Inman and you are in the technology side of the real estate industry. You want to attend this one day event on Monday before the full conference. Note: You can attend this for one day, or send your technical staff for one day without doing the entire conference. Connect is one of my favorite conferences in the industry for scheduling meetings with clients and leaders in our industry. It’s a conversation that is stimulated by counterpoint. Inman Connect breads thesis and antithesis in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00December 29th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|0 Comments

What Is Ahead for Consolidation, RESO, Upstream and Broker Portal

2016 has been a great year for real estate. On many levels we see the entire industry rethinking. Giving credit where credit is due – this is an initiative that was powered by the National Association of REALTORS® - but morphed into many other things. Consolidation 2016 saw the most rapid consolidation of MLSs and Associations in history. WAV Group worked on many of them. The common drive is the notion that there are “too many MLSs and Associations.” But what we learned from deeper investigation through services reviews and satisfaction reviews is that there were “too many ineffective MLSs [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 20th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights|0 Comments

WAV Group DMCA Safe-Harbor Alert

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act provides some protection to website owners from tiresome litigation when an image or other copyrighted content is found to be on their website.  Before December 31st 2017, you should electronically register your designated agent. Even if you filed before using the old paper method, you must refile electronically by Dec. 31, 2017 or your DMCA safe-harbor will no longer be in effect. By now, I think that every website owner has gotten some form of letter from Getty Images or other copyright trolls – and this will continue. In fact, now that the Copyright office [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

Matterport Has Gone Mainstream

Matterport delivers the most immersive virtual tour experience in the marketplace for consumers to view property. Immersive is a term used frequently in business to describe something that is deeply engaging. But, the real definition is more than that. Immersive describes a digital technology or images that actively engage one’s senses and may create an altered mental state. Indeed, if you have sampled the Matterport experience, it does just that. The realism of the experience is mind altering, but it comes at a price. The cost of the tours varies by market, combining expensive and patented camera technology with sophisticated [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00December 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Press Releases|0 Comments

Time For Brokers To Clean Up Online Profiles

Real Estate Agent and Brokerage Profiles Online are a mess. Specifically, agent and broker profiles on the broker website, Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com are naturally in disarray at this time of year. With transaction volume low during December, it is a very good time to clean everything up. Most brokerages audited by WAV Group consulting average 10% inaccuracy, which reduces lead generation and undermines a firm’s online reputation. Start With Data Collection It is a relatively easy task to collect the data necessary to update profiles. Start with your offices. “Offices have identities,” says Marilyn Wilson, partner with WAV Group. “When [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00December 1st, 2016|Broker Technology Research|0 Comments

2017: The “Magnificent 7” Tech Trends to Watch

When Gordon Moore, Founder of Intel, in 1965, observed that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since its invention, “Moore’s Law” has become the predictor of what’s happening in technology. Granted, in 1975, the “law” was changed to say every two years and since then, modified often to say every 18 months, but the point remains the same – technology in the lab progresses wickedly fast. Today’s Moore’s Law is the moniker to describe changes in more than technology, including social and economic change, changes that technology has helped to speed up. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00November 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

Homes Portal Jumps Into Responding To Consumers

The top online real estate search destination Homes.com recently announced a new lead conversion tool that solves one of the industry’s most puzzling weaknesses—timely consumer responsiveness. More than half of real estate consumers consider response time before selecting their agent. Yet, research by WAV Group indicates that 48 percent of buyers never receive a response and those that do wait an average of 15 ½ hours. The Instant Response Technology (IRT) by Homes.com, comprised of a fresh Lead Concierge service and a location-based application TalkNow, aims to boost REALTORS’ ability to successfully capture those leads by enabling faster direct communication with [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00November 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|0 Comments

The Battle of Consumer Profiles

Long the bible of consumer data in residential real estate, NAR’s venerable Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers now has competition. With the 2016 Profile, which was released on Halloween and is based on a massive survey of both buyers who have participated in recent residential transactions, NAR celebrated 35 years of annual publication.  When the Profile was launched in 1981, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for his first term, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” opened in theaters and the median value of a home was $55,300.[1] in recent years, the Profile has been the source of information that defines residential real [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00November 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Suveys and Research|0 Comments

To Zap Or Not To Zap

That is the question for many brokers today who are part of the Realogy® Franchise Group. This group includes brokers who may be a member of any number of franchises spanning Century 21®, Better Homes and Gardens®, Sotheby’s®, Coldwell Banker®, ERA®, and some others. As WAV Group detailed in this case study of BH&G Metro Brokers in Atlanta – the Zaplabs platform is excellent – combining an effective mix of agent website, CRM, Lead Management and other vital agent business tools. But the question to Zap or not to Zap is really not a question about technology at all. It [...]

Kunversion & Inside Real Estate Combine to become the Leader in Broker & Team Software Solutions

SALT LAKE CITY, UT (PRWEB) NOVEMBER 10, 2016: Inside Real Estate and Kunversion announced today that they completed a transaction to combine their businesses. They will operate under the Inside Real Estate name with Kunversion becoming the brand for their marketing and sales software platform. The combined business becomes a leader in marketing and sales software for residential real estate agent teams and brokers. Kunversion brings its leading software platform and marketing solutions delivered to agent teams and brokers while Inside Real Estate adds unique capabilities for larger brokers including seamless integration with transaction systems, full marketing and sales lifecycle [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:02-07:00November 11th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|0 Comments