Computer vision is revolutionizing MLSs: The appraisal industry is next

I spent a large part of my career in the mortgage business - long before computer vision was a thing. I was a VP at one of the largest nationwide retail lenders (Great Western), a Fannie Mae Director both in public affairs and later as head of the Seattle Partnership office, and finally, a mortgage loan officer for over eight years with the largest lenders (Countrywide, Wells Fargo and Chase) in the country at the time. These combined experiences give me a unique vantage point of looking at this industry from a 35,000 foot level and the surface as a [...]

Better Market Reports

Graphs, Actives, Pendings, Recently sold, yadda, yadda. I have been reviewing the market reports across a variety of brokerages recently. They all seem to be missing the same little touch of information – an AVM. What Is A Market Report? The definition of a market report is hard to pin down. They are automated reports that tend to change based upon the state of the consumer. If the consumer is actively looking to buy or sell, the market report is like a listing alert. If the consumer is not in the market, the market report is like a stock portfolio [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:33-07:00October 13th, 2015|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments

Broker AVMs

One of the core services of brokerages and their agents is pricing property. In the olden days, it was less scientific than it is right now. On an individual property, agents deliver CMAs or BPOs. Today, using MLS data, brokers are now automating their services. Sometimes this service is called Automated Valuation Modeling, or AVMs. There is a healthy and robust marketplace for AVMs in the financial services industry. Banks want to know the debt-to-equity ratio on homes they hold mortgages on. They also want to use AVMs as a method to validate home appraisals. The government uses AVMs to [...]

PWR Launches 10K Reports

The Minneapolis Association of REALTORS developed a company called 10K a few years ago. The mission of the company is to offer REALTORS outstanding market analytic reports. They have been canvasing the country offering the product through MLSs and REALTOR Associations. Pacific West Association of REALTORS (PWR) is a large and recent new customer for 10K. WAV Group had a Q&A session with Lalaine Castillo, PWR VP Marketing and Communications to understand the strategy behind their vendor selection. Question:What differentiated 10K from other stats vendors? Answer:10k understands the business of REALTOR associations and our members,  having deployed similar solutions for [...]

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

CoreLogic v. LPS and RPR Lawsuit

Lawsuit On the heals of settling the Civix lawsuit, MLSs are aware that litigation can have significant impacts on the services they offer to their members using third party service providers. The Civix settlement was arranged by NAR legal council and cost MLSs about $9.06 per subscriber. There are other ongoing patent infringement lawsuits for mobile that could also have significant impacts on MLS service providers, but a recent Inman article brought my attention to a suit that CoreLogic has pending against LPS, and by association, RPR™. CoreLogic® has patents on their Automated Valuations tools and claim that [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:25:40-07:00June 8th, 2011|Main category, MLS Insights|0 Comments