Respond to the Threats That may Kill Off Your Business

NAR has launched a new program called the D.A.N.G.E.R. report. The goal of the interactive program is to help every brokerage, MLS and Association think through some fundamental threats and changes that may be coming to our industry.  The program is well put together and brings up some significant issues that may change the game of real estate forever. WAV Group has a suggested path for Brokers, Associations and MLSs to follow to get the most out of this important NAR program. Have your leaders read the entire Danger Survey for all segments of real estate - First and foremost, make [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:38-07:00July 23rd, 2015|Main category, Our Services|1 Comment

FREE Webinar Tomorrow: Building & Managing Relationships that Fuel Business

Does finding information in your database become more of a chore with each passing day? If so, you’re not alone! Between new business, existing business, past business and referrals, your database can quickly grow out of hand and become unmanageable. Even though every client is unique, when you narrow it down, you have three key relationship types to manage at any given time: New Leads/Prospects, Current Clients and Past Clients/Referrals. How you manage these relationships is the key! On Wednesday July 15th at 10 am pacific/1pm eastern, WAV Group founding partner Victor Lund will talk with three top producing agents about [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:39-07:00July 14th, 2015|Main category, Our Services|0 Comments

Austin Board of REALTORS® Seeks New MLS Director

The Austin Board of REALTORS® is seeking an MLS Director to lead its 11,000 member Multiple Listing Service, ACTRIS. The company is looking for a progressive Leader and Manager adept at creating positive change for MLS systems and services to help increase the value and relevance of their MLS operation. The ideal candidate is someone who thinks creatively about ways to make the MLS more relevant and profitable. The Director of MLS will have a proven ability to drive an organization to be more customer-centric while finding creative and affordable ways to take the MLS to the next level; positioning [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:40-07:00June 23rd, 2015|Main category, Our Services|0 Comments

Change and Balance

WAV Group holds a quarterly webinar called the WAVes of Change. It allows companies and senior executives to get a one-hour overview of change that is happening in our industry. We wear a lot of hats in our capacity as industry researchers, investors, capital markets advisors, consultants, RE Technology publishers, and though our newest endeavor - WAV Group Communications. WAVes of Change webinars aim to pack all of this into a big ball and throw it your way so you can hit it out of the park in your business. Another way to look at change is innovation. Some call [...]

Broker Public Portal Elects Executive Committee

The Broker Public Portal announces that the Board of Managers has selected the first Executive Committee. Chairman: Merle Whitehead, CEO Realty USA Vice Chairman: John Mosey, CEO NorthstarMLS Secretary: Craig McClelland, Director Metro Brokers Treasurer: Paul Wells, CEO RE/MAX Barrington At Large: Cameron Paine, CEO Connecticut MLS At Large: Chris Heller, CEO Keller Williams Realty "It's an honor to contribute to this vital initiative," says Chairman Whitehead. "The resolve to introduce a new type of property search portal for consumers has never been stronger. Now that we have our new Board of Managers and Executive Committee in place, the talented [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 4th, 2015|Our Services, Press Releases|0 Comments

Are you Obsolete as a Leader?

According to NAR’s newly released D.A.N.G.E.R report, one of the threats facing Associations today is the average tenure of its leaders. The report goes on to say that Association leaders run the risk or burn-out and lack of action because they have been at the job too long. While I clearly understand why this one made the list I would also like to make some suggestions about how to deal with the reality of where we are today. If you’re one of those Association Executives or MLS CEO’s that have been in your position for a very long time, here’s [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:43-07:00June 1st, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|0 Comments

What ever happened to Trade Show Etiquette?

It could be just me. I may have attended too many trade shows. Yet somehow I believe Emily Post would have been appalled if she walked the exhibits at NAR Midyear. To add a little context, I have attended, exhibited, sponsored and run trade shows. In fact, I’m afraid to count the number of miles I have walked on trade show floors, having attended many NAR-FAR-CAR annuals, NAR Midyears, HomeBuilders/IBS, PCBCs, COMDEX, CES, IBC and others. I have also been the lead for many firms exhibiting at these same shows, and have found myself staffing exhibits, including too many hours [...]

Project Upstream Revealed

For a few years now, industry leaders have been working together to address data problems, producing almost two years ago a solution concept called “Upstream.” Not long after that, the WAV Group was asked to consult on the technical side of the development of the project. Our non-disclosure agreement has prevented us from saying much about it. However, now we are very pleased to be allowed finally to share some information about the concept. In an announcement this week, UpstreamRE, LLC, the standalone company that will direct the effort, announced that it is deep into serious negotiations with the National [...]

Major Changes In Real Estate

Behold, changes are taking place in real estate. We are seeing significant efforts like Project Upstream, RPR AMP, Broker Public Portal, Fair Display Guidelines, and RESO mandates that are shaping the future of our industry. It makes you wonder what is driving this explosive cocktail of industry wide initiatives. At the heart of many of these developments are brokers. When they survey the world around them, they rue the existence of poor data management and profit taking by others. Poor Data Management I believe that it was MRIS CEO, David Charron who coined the term Overlapping Market Disorder. He was [...]

What should we look for at NAR Midyear?

Real estate’s annual May pilgrimage begins in a couple of weeks. Its formal name is “REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo,” but I’ve never met anyone outside of NAR that doesn’t call it NAR Midyear. Even the url for the location on realtor.org labels it “midyear” (http://www.realtor.org/midyear.nsf). For several days – this year May 11-16 – local associations as well as state and regional associations leadership descend on Washington D.C. It’s a time largely filled with policy meetings, committee confabs and a full-court press for face-to-face meetings with legislative reps. Tucked in the middle of all this is a trade [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:46-07:00April 23rd, 2015|Our Services|1 Comment

Coming Soon Listings Revisited

Last summer, the issue of Coming Soon listings hit a peek of interest among the nation’s MLSs. As our industry is naturally prone to do, the issue was well vetted for more than a year thanks in part to the efforts of Mountain View, CA based MLS Listings CEO James Harrison and his Chairman Robert Bailey. It was discussed at every MLS conference and forum and MLSs created a new status to handle Coming Soon listings. Leading MLSs understood the need for this field and brokers learned about the inherent concerns of this listing type. Today, most of the leading [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:46-07:00April 23rd, 2015|Main category, MLS Insights, Our Services|0 Comments

Enabling an Ecosystem of Innovation for Real Estate

The MLS technology model has been relatively flat-footed for some time now. Many MLSs offer one MLS system, one Public Records system and other services like showing appointment software, document management, and they call it a day. In Part IV of his blog series last Thursday, Bob Bemis outlined a vision of a brand new way for MLS platforms to operate. A new program called AMP™ or Advanced Multi-List Platform™ that would leverage RPR is a very interesting and even scary concept to some. In its simplest definition, AMP would be the “back end” of an MLS. It would provide [...]