Main category Archives

Mobile Passes Print in Consumer Engagement

WAV Group joined the parade of consults declaring the death of print media in late 2006. Inman News confirmed its death during their conference in San Francisco in 2007 (one of my favorite events of all time). Believe it or not, print actually made a bit of a comeback in 2010. Nevertheless, the Internet is the place that consumers increasingly spend their media time. The new news is that people are actually spending more time on their mobile phones today than they are spending interacting with print media. According to eMarketer, time spent on mobile devices is now an average [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:20-07:00December 12th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing|2 Comments

Stewart Information Services Corporation Appoints New Executive Team

Stewart Information Services Corp. (NYSE: STC) announced today a new executive team. Recently appointed CEO Matt Morris created the new executive team to capitalize on Stewart’s strengths and further align the organization for smart growth and continued market leadership in the real estate services industry. The structure increases focus, speeds decision making and provides for greater alignment between operational areas and key customer segments. “I am extremely excited to announce our new executive team and to be surrounded by some of the greatest leaders within our industry,” said Matt Morris, CEO. “This group of experienced industry veterans will join me [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:20-07:00December 9th, 2011|Main category, Press Releases|Comments Off

MLSs Need to Move From Historic to Predictive Data
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MLSs Need to Move From Historic to Predictive Data

Main category

MLSs Need to Move From Historic to Predictive Data

The data we use in the real estate industry to understand market trends and to help buyers and sellers in their real estate transactions is largely historic. Another way to look at that, is, it is dated, old news. We have real estate markets today that are changing very quickly. Changes may be driven by high numbers of distressed property sales, REOs, short sales, and foreclosures etc. or normal market activity but the results are the same. Much of the real market activity in the form of offers is currently invisible. This means there may be a huge amount of [...]

By THE WAV GROUP|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00December 8th, 2011|Main category|Comments Off

3 Bedrooms and 2 baths just doesn’t cut it anymore

Build your business by giving consumers what they REALLY want to search for! Have you ever had the pleasure of relocating from one city to another? You have the stress of the move compounded by the fact that you are losing all of your trusted resources and most importantly your “local knowledge”. Let’s say you’re moving because you’ve been promoted to run a new division out of state. You have a young child so you’re looking for good schools within your area and a family-friendly neighborhood. How about if you are a young professional moving for a great job opportunity? [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00December 7th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights, Reports, Suveys and Research|Comments Off

RE Technology Launches MLS and Association Newsletters

The real estate technology leader now offers a free newsletter solution for their partners. ARROYO GRANDE, Calif. – December 6th, 2011 With more than 1.5 million visits per month, RE Technology (www.RETechnology.com) has proven that comprehensive information and training on real estate technology is a must-have for today’s top real estate agents and brokers. To support MLSs and Associations in delivering daily real estate technology information to subscribers, RE Technology has launched custom MLS and Association newsletters – free to all RE Technology partners. Already have a newsletter, but looking for more articles? We can help with that too! Any [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00December 6th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off

Dot MLS May Face a New Opponent

Dot MLS Domains The United States Senate may be a new challenger to the successful bid by a group of MLSs (MLS Domains Association) to gain approval for a Top Level Internet Domain. A top level internet domain is .com, .net, .org, .XXX, or the curent application for the new .MLS. .MLS promises salvation for many of the ills that torment consumers and real estate brokers online. Notably – it suggests a rule set for displaying listings to consumers in order to qualify to purchase a .MLS domain. By subscribing to the rules of .MLS, publishers provide consumers with a level [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00December 4th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights|Comments Off

The Bigger LPS Paragon 5 Story

LPS, developers of the Paragon MLS system, announced that they have secured an agreement to replace a competitors’ MLS system with Paragon 5. This only happens about 12 times each year. The news is less about just getting a win, but tells a larger story about the future of MLS and how one MLS vendor is positioning for long term success. WAV Group performs upwards of 40 MLS customer satisfaction surveys each year to help MLSs understand what agents and brokers expect from their MLS. The number one complaint is Apple compatibility and Mobile compatibility. LPS knew this many years [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00December 1st, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

FSBO Sites Grow as Broker and Franchises Languish

One of the pleasures of working at the WAV Group is the barrage of business questions that we are tasked to answer on a regular basis. Often, the questions challenge conventional understandings about the effectiveness of strategies in real estate. A key strategy discussion among executives at large broker firms and at large franchise organizations surrounds listing syndication to FSBO websites. Syndication strategies that each firm chooses varies relative to local market competition and consumer behavior. I highlighted that last sentence because it is the most important statement in this blog post. Many brokers and franchises are looking at what appears [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:21-07:00November 30th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category, Marketing, Strategic Planning|1 Comment

Increasing the relevance of MLS organizations – How about expanding the scope of data offered?

MLSs are under siege right now. Since they control the most consistent and profitable cash flow source in the industry, they are very attractive targets. They need to continue to innovate to increase their value and relevance since many are chipping away at their positions right now. It’s clear from the work we’ve done with MLSs. Data quality and comprehensiveness is the core value proposition common to all MLSs. No other organization has figured out a way to deliver the breadth and depth of quality real estate information that MLSs offer today. Even well financed venture-backed start-ups have not figured [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2021-06-22T13:22:18-07:00November 29th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|4 Comments

WAV Group 2011 MLS Technology Survey Results

From September 23, 2011 to October 21, 2011 WAV Group fielded the WAV Group 2011 MLS Technology Survey to participating MLSs. 66 MLSs, representing 33 different states and provinces participated in the survey at both staff and user level. 10,779 individual participants filled out the survey completely making it the largest survey of its kind. National survey information serves as a great foundation to show you how your system stacks up with other MLS systems and what users are saying about each of these systems. Thirteen vendor MLS systems had enough responses to be represented in the survey at both [...]

By THE WAV GROUP|2018-05-03T21:25:22-07:00November 28th, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Clients, Main category, MLS Insights, Suveys and Research|1 Comment

Great Vendors Embrace Rules

There has been a lot of conversational concern about companies that enter into new verticals of data management and service offerings. Four such instances were announced this year. REALTORS® Property Resource contracts with LPS for data services and LPS subcontracts to Real Estate Digital. Zillow purchased an IDX vendor, Diverse Solutions. MOVE purchased Threewide, the providers of the popular Listhub syndication service. CoreLogic launched a new appraisal tool leveraging MLS data. In every case, the vendor has been virtuous and adhered to contracts and data use rules. In each of these cases, many feared that data could be misused or [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:25:22-07:00November 22nd, 2011|Broker Technology Research, Main category, Marketing, MLS Insights, Product Management, Strategic Planning, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

Putting the teeth back into the REALTOR® Brand
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Putting the teeth back into the REALTOR® Brand

Main category, MLS Insights

Putting the teeth back into the REALTOR® Brand

Real estate agents in our industry spend millions of dollars as a group annually to become a REALTOR® and to stay a member of the REALTOR® family. As someone who cut their teeth working with some of the most highly trusted brands in the world like Fisher-Price, Sesame Street and others, I have a few observations of the real estate industry’s branding efforts. First, when I ask most REALTORS® what makes them different than non-REALTORS® they say “the code of ethics”. While I appreciate the fact that those that live to the letter of the code of ethics may treat [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:25:22-07:00November 21st, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|3 Comments