Redfin Case Study Shows that Web Traffic does Not Drive Sales

If you ask any REALTOR® about the relationship between online website traffic and sales volume, they will tell you that there is a direct relationship. The conviction among Realtors® is that companies that have the most amount of consumer website traffic sell the most amount of homes. This belief has stirred the root of Realtor® emotions, causing them to vilify the Zillow Group. A new entry of concern is Redfin®, a company that has long battled with Zip Realty® for online website domination. Redfin’s IPO has been a great success that is causing competing brokers to contemplate their future in [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:42-07:00August 8th, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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Zillow Protects Broker Data

WAV Group supports brokers and MLSs in constructing data licensing agreements with users of data records that belong to the broker. When a company like Zillow ingests broker data, likeZILLOW340x230 all recipients, they must adhere to the data license agreement which typically requires that you cannot allow the data to be used by a third party. The blog McMansionHell.com is learning the hard way that using data from Zillow without proper authority is a copyright violation that Zillow will pursue. Not only will Zillow pursue the violation, but they may be contractually bound to pursue the violation. The media around the case is [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:44-07:00June 28th, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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Zillow is a Broker – So What?

“Berkshire Hathaway Home Services, NRT, Redfin – all brokers. Do brokers drop out of IDX because they are selling homes in their market? Brokers share their listings with these large firms everyday. If Zillow joins the list, what’s the diff?” This is the conversation starter that an investment banker had with me today. I appreciate having conversations with people in the capital markets. Bankers see the world differently. They believe that markets shape themselves and that great companies lead markets. Perhaps Zillow Group has its heart in its current service offerings today. The company protests against becoming a brokerage, but [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:45-07:00June 21st, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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Did Zillow® Open the Door to Their Own Demise?

One of the greatest philosophers of all time was Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831). For brevity, let’s call him Hegel and be thankful to the University of Berlin where he lectured. I will suspend with the deep philosophy I learned in college and summarize Hegel as the author of a triad of historical development referred to thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. In our observation, the MLS is the thesis, Zillow® is the antithesis, and what happens next will be the synthesis. Moreover, I will argue that Zillow may have opened the door to their demise with the Instant Offers™ test. Thesis [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:45-07:00June 14th, 2017|Main category|0 Comments
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5 Ways to Eliminate “Headless Agents” on Your Listings

When was the last time you got a friend request on Facebook from someone who hadn’t bothered to upload a profile photo and was still using the grayed-out floating head instead? I’m hoping it was a while ago, but maybe you can remember how you felt when a faceless person reached out to touch you.  When I get one of those I simply delete the request and move on. If someone doesn’t care about enough about their friends and colleagues to even upload a picture I’m not really interested in connecting with them. Do you see how consumers may feel [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:46-07:00June 13th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|0 Comments
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Paragon Partners With Zillow For MLS Features

According to a news release today, Black Knight Financial Services, developers of the Paragon MLS system and has partnered with Zillow for data management tools. Zillow purchased Bridge Interactive last year, a company that is well known for RETS servers (Contact) and listing input modules (Compose) for MLSs. As part of the alignment between the two companies, the release states that Zillow will be providing the technology to aggregate data from all of the hundreds of markets into Zillow’s data repository which Black Knight calls Property Information Central (PIC). This new system will act as the solution that will provide [...]

By |2018-08-12T08:02:37-07:00June 7th, 2017|MLS Insights, Press Releases|0 Comments
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Snapchat for Real Estate – Probably Not – But Ideas Abound

If you have a teenager, you know all about Snapchat. Since the earliest days of social media, WAV Group has experimented with a host of social media platforms to discover opportunities for our clients. In lock step, I have been snapping away. Haven’t tried Snapchat for real estate marketing? Don’t bother. Unless you are trying to keep up with your child or other Snapchat enthusiast, there is no place on Snanpchat for the real estate business. However, there are some marketing thoughts that may spark some creative strategic thinking. Scarcity and Urgency Snaps expire after 24 hours. This is an [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:51-07:00April 27th, 2017|Marketing, Product Management|0 Comments
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Understanding Push Reporting

Many technology companies fail to understand the value of push reporting. WAV Group works with many technology firms to appreciate push vs. pull, but so many fail to grasp the importance. Every broker should pay attention to this example to evaluate how the software licensed in his or her company should leverage push reporting to improve the value. For example, I would love to see data and analytic companies like Terradatum, TrendGraphix, and ShowingTime incorporate this type of push reporting to show market trends, office productivity, and productivity by agent (solds, pending, active). In another example, I would love to [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 22nd, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|0 Comments
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Zillow Improves Broker Programs

Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Zillow Group, which includes the websites of Zillow and Trulia have landed on a broker strategy for marketing that works. Featured listings are dead, and have been replaced with a product to advertise in ways that drive the largest margin opportunity for a brokerage firm – leads to eTeams and Relocation. I call this “shared display,” where the brokerage and agent are clearly displayed and may be contacted – easily understood as “your listing, same leads.” This functionality works equally well [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:22:55-07:00February 15th, 2017|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information, Main category|0 Comments
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The Battle of Consumer Profiles

Long the bible of consumer data in residential real estate, NAR’s venerable Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers now has competition. With the 2016 Profile, which was released on Halloween and is based on a massive survey of both buyers who have participated in recent residential transactions, NAR celebrated 35 years of annual publication.  When the Profile was launched in 1981, Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for his first term, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” opened in theaters and the median value of a home was $55,300.[1] in recent years, the Profile has been the source of information that defines residential real [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:01-07:00November 17th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Suveys and Research|0 Comments
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Down on the Farm with Data

The most famous mash-up of valuation data and marketing applications was Zillow’s “Zestimate,” the centerpiece of Zillow’s national launch in 2006.  Zillow’s PR folks at the time positioned their new tool aggressively.  I was VP of Public Affairs at NAR at the time, and I will never forget the phone calls we received from national reporters suggesting that maybe now consumers would no longer need Realtors to sell their homes because they could find out their home values online. Though the early Zestimates needed further refinement, there’s no doubt that the launch was a tremendous PR success.  Automated valuation models [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:03-07:00October 19th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Broker-Agent Information|0 Comments
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3 Takeaways From The Florida Realtors Convention

In Orlando, Florida, the energy was electric, the attendance was impressive (several thousand) and the headliner was Jay Leno. Florida Realtors marked their 100th anniversary with a bash that will be long remembered, a hallmark salute to the accomplishments of one of the largest and most enduring state trade associations in America. For me, it was a return trip to a convention I knew well, having been an architect of a major sponsorship by my one time employer, Great Western Bank, many decades ago. The quick trip I took from Seattle to Orlando was well worth the investment, and it brought a [...]

By |2018-05-03T21:23:05-07:00September 14th, 2016|Broker Technology Research, Main category|0 Comments
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