MLS Insights Archives

Professional “Standards” – Are we kidding ourselves?

We have had the pleasure of facilitating several strategic plans in the past few months with many of the nation’s leading Associations. We have seen an important theme emerge in many of these discussions – Professional Standards. While most organizations feel as though they are doing a good job of maintaining current expectations for professional standards, some weaknesses have been revealed. When asked, most organizations will readily admit that there are agents and brokers that are NOT upholding the Code of Ethics and standards of conduct to the level that most members are. Even though boards regularly admit that there [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:12-07:00May 7th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|Comments Off

Protect Broker Data with Anti-Scraping

If you are a broker or an MLS, you must treat your data as an asset. By and large, our industry does a great job of protecting the front door of data access, but the back door of data scraping is wide open. It begs the question, if you care about data protection, why are you only scrutinizing the legitimate data users without hunting for the nefarious and illegitimate data thieves? Thieves that want to steal data send robots out onto the internet to do their pickpocketing, and they do it quite well. Reviewing Distil Networks’ reports with Matt Cohen [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:14-07:00April 9th, 2014|MLS Insights|Comments Off

Early Success Can Be Tricky – Take Care!

We work with all types of companies and organizations and have the opportunity to see many different approaches to successfully delivering products and services. Successful companies have many similarities and when you look into them closely you see certain constants. These companies almost always have strong leadership, values and a clear vision that is understood by everyone that works there. When you look back at their evolution you see a company that stayed on track to their core mission. You’ll see a company that understood the basics and paid attention to detail, their customers, what the market was asking for [...]

By THE WAV GROUP|2018-05-03T21:24:14-07:00April 9th, 2014|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|Comments Off

MLS Data Standards

MLSListings is the MLS service provider in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, which includes; Silicon Valley, San Jose, Monterey County, Santa Cruz County, South San Francisco, and parts of the East Bay. It is a large region in the heart of the most daunting techno-consumers, techno-brokers, and techno-agents in America. Satisfying the needs of this audience is intense, but MLSListings has been doing it successfully for many years. They are a company that is constantly evolving to meet the ever-expanding demands of real estate information in their marketplace. MLSListings CEO, James Harrison published an excellent paper last week called [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:15-07:00March 17th, 2014|Clients, Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

A Potential New Role for the MLS

The home buying process and obtaining a mortgage are inextricably linked. The Mortgage industry has been pushed to the forefront by the recent mortgage crisis, marked by unprecedented rates of loan delinquencies, defaults, and foreclosures. Recent studies on this topic cite various causes, including risky product offerings, economic conditions, a housing price bubble, adverse selection, and questionable marketing practices Today, MLS organizations are positioned to play a much broader role through their network of subscribers to leverage technology to make the process of buying and selling a home much more efficient and effective. Some of the most innovative MLS organizations [...]

By Marilyn Wilson|2018-05-03T21:24:15-07:00March 13th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Reports, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off

How Data Killed The REALTOR

If you look at the demise of Encyclopedia Britannica, you see a clear roadmap of how history will repeat itself to cause the demise of the REALTOR®. Up until 1994, the Britannica sales associates sold about 120,000 hard copies. Salespeople consumed the most amounts of profits from the transaction. The salespeople at Encyclopedia Britannica protected their data. The three or four thousand pages of the books were protected by copyright. Then came the Internet, and more importantly, Wikipedia. The Britannica sales person was disrupted by a price point of free. The cost of data was disrupted by user-generated content. Adapt [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:16-07:00March 13th, 2014|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|7 Comments

The Speed Of Need
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The Speed Of Need

Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning

The Speed Of Need

We know that companies are created when they meet the needs of their customers. But, what we fail to understand is the nature and complexity of Need. Need is a singular thing that is driven by a vast array of attributes. The most common attributes are Price, Functionality, Customer Service, and Relationship. But there is a new attribute of need which I call the Speed of Need. Price is a fundamental attribute of need. Customers must be able to afford a product or service if it is ever going to fulfill the need. Functionality is another fundamental of need. Even [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:16-07:00March 10th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Strategic Planning|Comments Off

New Listing Alerts Favor Portals

Sometimes you really need to dig into the nitty-gritty details of something to understand how home shoppers behave and why they make choices when using online property information websites. For this particular case study, I am looking for a multi-unit residential complex in North Hollywood, CA. The Dynamics I am working with a REALTOR® - actually a team of REALTORS®. They “found me” through a sign call when I was driving neighborhoods. My needs – An investment property that is walkable to dance studios since parking is horrid. Parking. Cash-flow neutral with 25% down. Safe neighborhood. North Hollywood is part of [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:16-07:00March 10th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Technology Evaluation|1 Comment

ePropertyExtra from CoreLogic

CoreLogic sent out an email recently about eProperty Extra that was forwarded to WAV Group by numerous MLS with tons of questions. Rather than answer each of them individually, here is an overview that may be helpful in understanding the program so that you may facilitate a consideration by your board of directors. What is it? eProperty Extra is a rewards and loyalty program. 30,000 brands make their products available at a discount. Moreover, users get points when they buy through the program that can be exchanged for other benefits and merchandise. Agents will save money on many of the [...]

By Victor Lund|2016-06-30T05:16:31-07:00February 24th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off

Hybrid Regionalization – Right For Your MLS?

We all know there are too many MLSs in the US and over the years the real market areas have expanded forcing agents to belong to multiple MLSs in many areas. This means more costs, data inefficiencies and often the need to learn and operate multiple MLS systems. It isn’t good for brokers, agents or consumers so why hasn’t their been more consolidation of MLSs more quickly? The answer, of course, is protectionism. Even though consolidation would be in everyone’s best interest there is still a local desire to maintain control and identity at the MLS level. Brokers also worry [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:17-07:00February 10th, 2014|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services, Technology Evaluation|4 Comments

Brokers Should Update Their Contracts Now!
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Brokers Should Update Their Contracts Now!

Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights

Brokers Should Update Their Contracts Now!

Brokers and agents can protect their online reputation with a small change in their contracts with consumers and terms of use on their websites. If you have not taken a look at the HomeActions newsletter recently, you should. They write consumer articles that brokers or agents can send as newsletters or blog posts to their customers. It is one of my favorites. In today's issue, they talk about the potential liability that a consumer may face if they publish a negative review about a service provider. In essence, companies are requiring customers to agree not to publish any negative remarks [...]

By Victor Lund|2018-05-03T21:24:18-07:00January 23rd, 2014|Broker-Agent Information, Main category, MLS Insights|1 Comment