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6 09, 2016

BHGRE Metro Brokers Shares Zap Story

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00September 6th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Technology Evaluation|Comments Off on BHGRE Metro Brokers Shares Zap Story

WAV Group was very fortunate to spend time with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers (Metro Brokers) Chief Operating Officer, Craig McClelland to learn about their role out of the highly touted Zap platform. The Zap platform is the strategic technology brokerage solution developed by ZapLabs (formerly ZipRealty) that is being rolled out to all of the REALOGY® Franchise Group brands, ergo 250,000 real estate professionals. WAV Group was surprised by the Metro Brokers announcement that they were launching Zap this early in the roll out. Metro Brokers is a huge Atlanta, GA brokerage firm with 1930 agents and [...]

30 08, 2016

NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

By |2018-05-03T21:23:06-07:00August 30th, 2016|MLS Insights, Virtual Office Website Series|Comments Off on NNRMLS Shares Best Practice for Data Management

The Northern Nevada Regional MLS could be considered a middle tier MLS, ranking around the top 100 largest MLSs in the nation. There are approximately 728 MLSs today, down from 750 in the past 6 months. As consolidation runs rampant across America’s MLS, NNRMLS has become a shining light of MLS excellence. Shelley Specchio, CEO of NNRMLS credits a combination of strong broker relationships and the influence of the Council of MLS as keystones for keeping NNRMLS well positioned to serve their brokers, especially in areas of Data Management. Data Management for MLS has three themes. The first theme is [...]

17 08, 2016

CoreLogic Earns Real Estate’s Top Award as “Most Innovative” Company

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Press Releases|Comments Off on CoreLogic Earns Real Estate’s Top Award as “Most Innovative” Company

When you dominate an industry by market share as CoreLogic does in real estate, there are certain adjectives that become elusive. One of them is “innovative.” That’s because Conventional Wisdom in real estate says that when it comes to tech firms, it’s only the ones with the shiniest and newest objects – run by the new kids on the block – that are deemed innovative. Certainly, it’s not a word typically used to describe a company founded in the early 1990s. Yet about 10 days ago, something remarkable happened in the City of San Francisco, one of the bastions of [...]

16 08, 2016

Shady Discount Broker

By |2018-05-03T21:23:07-07:00August 16th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on 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 [...]

21 07, 2016

Mastering Market Literacy

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 21st, 2016|Marketing|Comments Off on Mastering Market Literacy

Perhaps the most valuable lesson that real estate consumers learned from the housing crash was that home values can fall as well as rise.  More than seven million families lost their homes to foreclosures and short sales; a brutal wake-up calls that though homeownership is safer than most investments it still involves risk.  Today’s buyers are very aware that a single wrong decision or factors beyond their control can cost them dearly. That is one reason 90 percent of today’s buyers think it is very important to have an agent with knowledge of the real estate market.[1] Successful listing presentations [...]

20 07, 2016

The Davos of Real Estate Journalism

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 20th, 2016|Main category|Comments Off on The Davos of Real Estate Journalism

Have you ever wanted to have the opportunity to really get to know the journalists who cover real estate for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Inman, Bankrate, CBSMoneywatch, HousingWire, REALTrends, or the key real estate editor at your top metro newspaper? Would you like to get a sense of how they view real estate markets, mortgage finance, real estate technology and the other topics?  How do they get their information?  What do they think are the paramount issues facing real estate consumers and the real estate industry? Above all, how can you contribute to their coverage as an [...]

20 07, 2016

20 Years and Counting: Still Waiting For Digital Real Estate Transactions

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 20th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|Comments Off on 20 Years and Counting: Still Waiting For Digital Real Estate Transactions

In the 1990s, it was called disintermediation. In the 2010s, we are calling it disruption. Back then, we talked about a “new paradigm” that would alter the real estate business forever. Now we talk about “new business models” doing the same. The names may have changed, but the bottom line is this: I am still waiting for digital real estate transactions to be a common practice, not the exception to the rule.   What has really changed? Next month in early August, like many of my colleagues, I am heading to Inman News Real Estate Connect in San Francisco. It’s [...]

20 07, 2016

The Confident House Hunter: A Better, Different Way to Buy

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 20th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|Comments Off on The Confident House Hunter: A Better, Different Way to Buy

It was a sunny day on beautiful Bainbridge Island two years ago when I met with Dylan Chalk. It was at the New Rose Café, a nearly secret lunch spot hidden among the plants and outdoor sculptures at the historically significant Bainbridge Gardens. Dylan had an idea for a new book about home buying and he was seeking my professional counsel, as well as my writing, editing – and eventually – promotional skills. As a member of the National Association of Real Estate Editors (naree.org) for more than a couple of decades, I have received enough books about buying a [...]

14 06, 2016

This is YOUR Year!

By |2018-05-03T21:23:13-07:00June 14th, 2016|Main category, MLS Insights|Comments Off on This is YOUR Year!

Doesn’t it seem like life just keeps getting faster and faster?  It forces us to put our head down and just DO all the time.  We’re not always thinking about where our organization is focused or why they are even focused on it.    We’re so busy surviving the day to day that sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees! So how do you get yourself back to a place where you’re focused on continual improvement in your business?   Who has time to do strategic planning anyway, right?  While every business suffers from these thoughts on occasion, it IS [...]

14 06, 2016

How MLSs Stand To Benefit From Upstream

By |2018-05-03T21:23:13-07:00June 14th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, MLS Insights|Comments Off on How MLSs Stand To Benefit From Upstream

The pessimist MLSs among you will look upon the title of this article with raised hairs. The lens that we have adopted here is for a single focus. Namely, to search for specific context within the databases of Upstream that may be of value to MLSs. Remember, Upstream does more than manage listings, but it does  start with the MLS destination in mind. The MLS does not need to change their business rules, or modify their data schema. They need only disclose to their brokers what their rules and schema are and accept a broker load as is common among nearly [...]

14 06, 2016

Broker with 357 Listings Gets No Leads From Trulia Last Week

By |2018-05-03T21:23:13-07:00June 14th, 2016|Main category, Marketing|Comments Off on Broker with 357 Listings Gets No Leads From Trulia Last Week

WAV Group provides brokers with consulting on online marketing. One of our services includes benchmarking the effectiveness of listing syndication strategies. We have been tracking the performance of a real estate broker’s listings dating back to 2006 by publishing channel. As these reports show, Trulia effectiveness has decreased to a remarkable volume of no leads per week on 367 listings. The same report in 2013 showed between 12 and 25 leads per month. It begs the question “If a third party consumer website is not delivering value, should a broker continue to syndicate?” One thing is for sure, we can [...]

24 05, 2016

WHAT’S THE POST NAR MIDYEAR BUZZ? Join Industry Leaders this Thursday, May 26th and Find Out!

By |2018-05-03T21:23:14-07:00May 24th, 2016|WAVes of Change|Comments Off on WHAT’S THE POST NAR MIDYEAR BUZZ? Join Industry Leaders this Thursday, May 26th and Find Out!

WAVES OF CHANGE QUARTERLY INDUSTRY UPDATE is just around the corner! Reserve your organization’s seat at the table by signing up for the series TODAY! WAV Group Hosts NAR Recap / Industry Update Webinar on Thursday, May 26th Your subscription provides an opportunity for your members to participate in an online recap of NAR Midyear policy issues, announcements and news as well as important industry updates and best practices. Thought-provoking topics to share with your leadership, brokers and staff. HOT TOPICS • CMLS – DMCA November Ruling Update: Clarification Listing Content • How to get Free Web API Certification by [...]