3 Lessons Learned From My 20-Year Addiction with Holiday Lights

  A business colleague and friend sent me a text the other day with a link to a television news story on CLAP – Christmas Lights Addiction Problem. It was a tongue-in-cheek text, but Paul knows that for the last 20 years, I have gradually increased my annual light display to become one of the most visited Holiday spots on Bainbridge Island, a short ferry ride from downtown Seattle. In fact, when he texted me with a link about this group, I texted him back that I was heading home to climb up on the roof to hang more lights. [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00December 20th, 2016|Main category|0 Comments

5 Behaviors That Develop Culture In Your Brokerage

Real estate brokers often talk about their culture. The odd part about the conversation is that the culture a brokerage has is often developed by happenstance, without intention or effort. Often, when WAV Group measures the attributes of a brokerage culture, we learn that it is people based. Simply stated, they like their manager or the broker without much understanding as to why. Ergo, culture is typically a popularity score. However, there are certain behaviors that will directly develop culture in your business if you make them an intentional behavior of your leadership. How ya doin’? The most common greeting [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:00-07:00December 13th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|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

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

2016 NAR Annual Moments and Musings

Like many Americans, I was glued to the television on election night, and seeing the Javits Center instantly reminded me of my first NAR Annual Convention. It was in 1986 when the brand new Javits Center opened in Manhattan. I was a young PR Turk fresh into my first full year at Great Western Bank (then Great Western Savings). I went there to plot our long-term trade show strategy. It was also my first NAREE – National Association of Real Estate Editors – meeting, a dinner at a classic NYC steakhouse. That’s especially hard to forget because it’s where the [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:02-07:00November 15th, 2016|Broker-Agent Information, Main category|0 Comments

NAR Annual: Looking for 2017 trends, tech and tactics

This week, Orlando is more than home to Disney World and tens of thousands of happy tourists across the globe: it also will house nearly 20,000 enthusiastic REALTORS®, other industry organizations (RESO Booth #609), MLSs executives and staff, lenders, title firms, closing agents, technology providers of every shape and size, and of course, the Scarf King. Navigating through the maze of more than 400 exhibitors is challenging, but kudos for the NAR for making it highly accessible. The Trade Expo kicks off on Friday afternoon with its Grand Opening at 3:00 pm, running to 6:00 pm. The official hours: Expo Hours [...]

Redux: Minding Your Trade Show Manners

Last year, I wrote about the 5 rules for trade show etiquette. Several clients and non-clients have told me they share this with their teams just before they attend a trade show.  However, the last couple of trade shows I attended were still brimming with exhibitor faux pas. As we enter the heart of trade show fall mania, with two of our industry’s biggest ones on the horizon – MBA Annual next week in Boston and NAR in a couple of weeks in Orlando – hopefully, even more people will realize that trade show manners matter. The RESO Conference in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:03-07:00October 19th, 2016|Main category|0 Comments

Join us for “New Data Services for Brokers to Improve Consumer Experience”

Today, all MLSs in America are prepared to provide a standard set of data from across the nation. It’s the kind of data that portals have been aggregating for years, which is now being made available to real estate brokers. With great effort Redfin championed this strategy to become one of the most successful broker websites in America. We will be hosting a webinar surrounding these topics on Tuesday October 11th at 10:00am PDT. Register here today! Our panelists on this exciting webinar include:                                 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00October 5th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments

3 Takeaways From The Florida Realtors Convention

In Orlando, Florida, the energy was electric, the attendance was impressive (several thousand) and the headliner was Jay Leno. Florida Realtors marked their 100th anniversary with a bash that will be long remembered, a hallmark salute to the accomplishments of one of the largest and most enduring state trade associations in America. For me, it was a return trip to a convention I knew well, having been an architect of a major sponsorship by my one time employer, Great Western Bank, many decades ago. The quick trip I took from Seattle to Orlando was well worth the investment, and it brought a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 14th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

Is Data Sharing Still a Viable Option?

The world we operate in is getting smaller and more connected every day. Now that the real estate market is solid again, brokerages are reaching out and expanding into new markets.  Consumers are getting more sophisticated and expect their agents to be able to provide them access to all listings in their region. Homebuyers don’t care that there may be more than one MLS in the region where they live. They just want ALL of the listings available in their area from their agent. WAV Group thought it would be interesting to take a look at the state of data [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 14th, 2016|Clients, Main category|0 Comments

The Refugee Olympics

Please welcome Camilla Harvey to the team at WAV Group. She has been with the firm for about 9 months. She is now a permanent resident of the United States seeking citizenship. Prior to joining WAV Group, Camilla spent time in West Africa understanding the plight of people living in Ghana. She brings a perspective to WAV Group that enriches our office culture. Camilla and I were looking at the Olympic medal count during a break and we recognized a new nation called “The Refugee Olympic Team.” Camilla followed her intrigue and researched this odd group bringing forth this article [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Main category|0 Comments

Shady Discount Broker

As a consumer, I seek to keep myself aware of services offered by brokerage firms across the county. It’s a bit of a passion of mine. A story run byNBC caught my eye: “New Real Estate Technology from Homecast Empowers Home Sellers to Sell Without An Agent.” As I browsed through it, my stomach began to churn a bit. First off, they seem to talk about being a technology company, but most the article talks about how they advertise listings on third party listing websites – specifically Realtor.com, Zillow, and Trulia, but also on the MLS. They offer to represent [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments