Can Luxury Real Estate Learn From Luxury Clothing?

Customer experience is the cornerstone of luxury purchases. Buying luxury yachts, jewelry, clothing, cars, restaurants……you name it – its always different. Now lets look at the other side of the coin. Have you noticed that retail in your downtown area is dying? Have you noticed that malls are struggling? Macy’s, Target, Walmart, Gap, Nike and so many other retailers are struggling. The silent voices are the small, non-chain merchants, commonly known as the mom and pop retailers. When is the last time you went into an independent toy store? The consumer has gone online, and Amazon is the category killer. [...]

By |2018-08-11T03:11:33-07:00June 6th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Can Luxury Real Estate Learn From Luxury Clothing?
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NAREE Real Estate Journalism Conference to Draw Journalists and Industry Experts to Denver in June

DENVER–The National Association of Real Estate Editors has opened registration for its 51st Annual Real Estate Journalism Conference in Denver, June 14-17, 2017. NAREE’s conference, which begins Wednesday morning June 14 at the Brown Palace Hotel, will attract scores of journalists from major newspapers and prestigious publications from around the nation and Europe. The conference features newsworthy speakers covering commercial and residential real estate topics, green building, architecture, hotels, mortgage lending, mixed-use development, single-family investing and vacation properties. Insightful speakers will include Douglas Yearley, chief executive officer of Toll Brothers; Marilyn Wilson of the WAV Group; Rohit Anand of KTGY [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:53-07:00April 6th, 2017|Main category, Press Releases|Comments Off on NAREE Real Estate Journalism Conference to Draw Journalists and Industry Experts to Denver in June
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Merle Whitehead – Follow The Leader Series

Our Follow The Leader Series is an effort to write about the best ideas and best practices of great leaders in our industry who are raising the bar.  In this episode, I am grateful to share the inspirational story of Merle Whitehead, a gentleman who grew America’s 9th largest real estate firm, Realty USA. The intention is to share some background on centers of excellence in real estate that others can be inspired by. Early Career Start Merle Whitehead calls the Buffalo, NY area of Western New York his home. He started his career selling clothing on commission and came [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Merle Whitehead – Follow The Leader Series
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Broker Public Portal Inks Deal to Become Homesnap

●     Homesnap will be a national MLS consumer search portal ●     Portal will adhere to Fair Display Guidelines   ROCKVILLE, MD, January 19, 2017 -- Broker Public Portal, LLC and Homesnap, Inc. have executed final agreements to create the National Broker Portal, LLC, a joint venture that is equally owned by the two companies. The parties agreed that the best path to success would be served by forming a mutual partnership with Homesnap providing technology, brand and operational expertise to the new company, rather than composing a vendor agreement. The National Association of REALTORS modified their model MLS policy [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 19th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, MLS Insights, Press Releases|Comments Off on Broker Public Portal Inks Deal to Become Homesnap
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NYC Party Next Week – Hamilton

Every year a bunch of us industry road warriors get together while we are in NYC to have an late night off campus party. This year, we will be meeting up at Tonic West. And as usual, John Heithaus has pulled together some of the best NYC musicians who will be playing a few sets of good old rock and roll along with some features from the hit musical Hamilton. Because it is a private underground event, only a few people have tickets. If you want to come reach out to your friends at one of the following companies: Realtor.com, [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:57-07:00January 11th, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on NYC Party Next Week – Hamilton
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Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks

Too often, brokers and managers get caught up in recruiting goals that they skip some basic best practices – Background Checks, Customer Satisfaction Checks, etc. Perhaps agents should be checking out the backgrounds of their broker too. Before the New Year, Todd Kohlhepp, a real estate broker was linked to 7 murders and a kidnapping. Todd was the broker in charge of TKA Real Estate. Inman news reported that the guy had spent 14 years in jail for kidnapping a 14-year-old girl. Of course – his agent ratings on popular listing syndication websites gave glowing reviews. (The agent has been [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:58-07:00January 4th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Main category|Comments Off on Should Brokers Do REALTOR Background Checks
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Companies Are Not Designed to Merge

WAV Group has participated and observed the mass amounts of merger activity that has hit a high pitch in 2016. It is happening at all levels of our industry – agents merging into teams, brokers merging into mega brokers, Association of REALTORS® mergers, and MLS mergers. Based upon our work schedule for Q1 of 2017, this trend does not seem to have any ebb in sight. WAV Group will facilitate more M&A activity in Q1 than any other quarter in our firm’s history. Company founders and Boards of Directors are often not open-minded about mergers. The first reaction to a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:59-07:00January 3rd, 2017|Main category|Comments Off on Companies Are Not Designed to Merge
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Time For Brokers To Clean Up Online Profiles

Real Estate Agent and Brokerage Profiles Online are a mess. Specifically, agent and broker profiles on the broker website, Zillow, Realtor.com, and Homes.com are naturally in disarray at this time of year. With transaction volume low during December, it is a very good time to clean everything up. Most brokerages audited by WAV Group consulting average 10% inaccuracy, which reduces lead generation and undermines a firm’s online reputation. Start With Data Collection It is a relatively easy task to collect the data necessary to update profiles. Start with your offices. “Offices have identities,” says Marilyn Wilson, partner with WAV Group. “When [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00December 1st, 2016|Broker Technology Research|Comments Off on Time For Brokers To Clean Up Online Profiles
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Drones: A Game-Changer for Real Estate Marketing

For most real estate agents, marketing with aerial photography or video has been considered an extravagance reserved only for high-dollar properties and luxury homes. However, a new federal policy now permits Realtors to market properties at all price-points in ways that were cost-prohibitive in the past. The “Small Unmanned Aircraft Rule,” expands the possibility for commercial drone usage for the real estate industry—without the previous restrictions and complicated application process. With this new accessibility, aerial photography and video are shaping up to be the next evolution of transformative real estate marketing solutions. While video has already proven its value for [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:04-07:00September 27th, 2016|Marketing|1 Comment
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Social Networks vs. Local Expertise: A New Challenge for Brokerages

The opinions and experiences of friends and acquaintances have always shaped the way people think about buying, owning and selling homes.  New research suggests that the social networks that influence attitudes towards real estate decision-making today are more likely to be national, not local, and the consequences could be serious.  Thus, consumers are making critical decisions about buying, selling, owning or renting in part based not on conditions in the markets where they live but on the experiences of friends who may live across the continent. The new way people think about real estate presents real challenges to real estate [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:08-07:00August 16th, 2016|Broker Technology Research|Comments Off on Social Networks vs. Local Expertise: A New Challenge for Brokerages
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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 [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:11-07:00July 21st, 2016|Marketing|Comments Off on Mastering Market Literacy
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Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends: 3 Takeaways for Real Estate

One of my favorite research rituals is the annual release by Mary Meeker of her Internet Trends Report, the latest of which was issued on June 1. Meeker was catapulted into the financing world spotlight as the lead manager at Morgan Stanley for Netscape’s IPO in 1995. Later that year, she and Chris DePuy at Morgan published The Internet Trends, and it quickly became the definitive digest of the current state of the Internet, as well as discerning big-picture trends. Meeker would go on to serve as a research analyst for another notable Morgan Stanley IPO in 2004: Google. Today, [...]

By |2020-07-10T12:05:21-07:00June 14th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Reports|Comments Off on Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends: 3 Takeaways for Real Estate
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