Well, I’ve arrived. My bag got kidnapped, but that’s another story.
Important thing is I’ve got a little contest. I have one Vendor Alley Baseball Cap left.
I’ll give it away to the first person you see’s me in New York and tells me the name of the guy who kidnapped my bag.
And remember all my Inman Connect peeps…
NEVER, and I mean NEVER go big on the first night!!
Inman News had an article on CARETS today. Turns out the service is too popular. They had to stop taking on new MLS providers, so they can catch up. This is a bummer but most likely the right thing to do to ensure their infrastructure is solid.
The amusing part of the article was calREDD’s response (via Mike Silvas the chairman of calREDD):
“We are disappointed, and frankly, concerned about their inability to perform at this point,” Silvas said. …”
One word Mr. Silvas: FRESNO!
This got me thinking. How many C.A.R. members is calREDD serving vs. how many C.A.R members is CARETS serving. So I took a look at calREDD website. Then I visited CARETS website. Here’s what I came up with:
Several large MLS providers are not on this list from calREDD LOIs; MLS Listings (Silicon Valley), MetroList Services (Central Valley), SoCalMLS, MRMLS, BAREIS to name a few. That’s a hell of a lot of agents: Over 100,000, easy.
Here are the MLS/Assocations CARETS provides service:
California Desert Association of REALTORS®
Citrus Valley Association of REALTORS®
East Valley Association of REALTORS®
Inglewood Board of REALTORS®
Inland Gateway Association of REALTORS®
Inland Valleys Association of REALTORS®
Montebello District Board of REALTORS®
Orange County Association of REALTORS®
Palos Verdes Peninsula Association of REALTORS®
Simi Valley-Moorpark Association of REALTORS®
South Bay Association of REALTORS®
Southland Regional Association of REALTORS®
Southwest Riverside County Association of REALTORS®
Tri-Counties Association of REALTORS®
Ventura County Coastal Association of REALTORS®
That’s well over 100,000 agents, my estimates are around 110,000 agents.
Plus when CARETS starts adding again they have LOIs with these MLS/Boards:
Sandicor, Inc. Regional MLS
North San Diego County Association of REALTORS®
Pacific Southwest Association of REALTORS®
Palm Springs Regional Association of REALTORS®
San Diego Association of REALTORS®
Now here’s calREDD’s list:
Merced County Association of REALTORS® (Live as of August, 2009)
Madera Association of REALTORS® (Live as of August, 2009)
Lake County Association of REALTORS® (January 11, 2010)
Chico Association of REALTORS® (January 25, 2010)
Oroville Association of REALTORS® (January 25, 2010)
Paradise Association of REALTORS® (January 25, 2010)
Amador Association of REALTORS® (March, 2010)
Yosemite Gateway Association of REALTORS® (March, 2010)
Mariposa County Board of REALTORS® (April, 2010)
Tehama County Association of REALTORS® (April, 2010)
Plumas Association of REALTORS® (April, 2010)
I’ve added up total membership for these MLS providers. 2,702
CARETS: 110,000 agents
calREDD 2,702 agents
If my memory serves C.A.R. allocated 3 Million dollars for calREDD.
2,702 agents, 3 Million dollars.
Does calREDD really think they have any chance of implementing a state wide MLS system when so many MLS Providers and Association have already made their choice?
C.A.R. members should do the math.
Vendor Alley readers already are familar with the drama. Great to see one of the good guys make the cut. Congrats Kurt!!
Kurt von Wasmuth Named President and CEO of RMLS™
RMLS™ Board of Directors promotes company’s Senior Vice President
PORTLAND, Ore. – RMLS™ (Regional Multiple Listing Service), the largest Realtor®-owned multiple listing service in the Northwest, announced the promotion of Kurt von Wasmuth to President and CEO today.
Von Wasmuth joined RMLS™ in 1998 as a Help Desk Technician and most recently served as Senior Vice President. He has also held management positions in training, communications and information services within the company. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington.
“With more than a decade of leadership in the industry and a strong focus on subscriber priorities, our Board of Directors is confident in Kurt’s ability to lead RMLS™ in this challenging market,” said Gary Whiting, a principal broker with John L. Scott and the 2010 Chairman of the RMLS™ Board.
Kurt von Wasmuth
“I’m excited to step into this role and look forward to helping RMLS™ grow its services and solutions for real estate professionals in the Northwest,” said von Wasmuth.
Former-president and CEO Beth Murphy retired in December after 11 years in the position and 15 years with RMLS™. After initial plans to move into a consulting role with RMLS™, she has instead elected to embrace full retirement.
About RMLS™
RMLS™ produces and provides multiple listing and related services to facilitate cooperation between its more than 12,000 REALTOR® subscribers. It is the primary source for real estate information and the premier Multiple Listing Service in the Pacific Northwest. For more information, visit www.rmlsbenefits.com.
Industry veteran Ira Luntz has joined LPS Real Estate group. After a successful stint at Listingbook (albeit a bizarre ending) it didn’t take long for Ira to find a new gig.
What’s interesting is that there seems to be a bit of secrecy on the project Ira is woking on. It will be interesting to see what LPS has up their sleeve next….
Congrats Ira!!
W&R Studios launches new innovative web application, Cloud CMA, from the top of the Empire State Building!
Innovative report system blends data from MLS and top websites.
BOCA RATON, FL January 7th, 2010 — Web software company, W&R Studios, announced today that it is launching its latest web application, Cloud CMA from the top of the Empire State Building in New York City.
This symbolic launch coincides with the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference being held in New York City starting January 13th, 2010. Co-founders Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson will be participating in the conference on several panels.
“We couldn’t think of a better place to launch a product named ‘Cloud CMA’ than among the clouds themselves, atop the Empire State Building in New York City” stated Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios.
Cloud CMA is an online report generating system. Real estate professionals have access to several report sets including, a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), buyer tour, and single property reports. Reports blend information from their local MLS system and top websites including Zillow, Education.com, Front Seat (WalkScore), Google, Panoramio, and others, giving their clients the full spectrum of real estate data available.
Sending an e-mail from their smart phone can also be used to create reports. Cloud CMA subscribers can e-mail the address or MLS number to a specific e-mail address, (e.g. property@CloudCMA.com) and in just minutes Cloud CMA will e-mail their client a fully personalized report on that property.
“We spent a lot of time on the design of the user interface and the reports themselves,” stated Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios. “Creating beautiful and comprehensive real estate reports has never been more simple; it just works,” continued Mr. Robertson.
Cloud CMA will initially launch in Southern California using the California Real Estate Technology Services (CARETS) database system. CARETS provide an all-inclusive database of properties for sale covering 6 counties in Southern California.
This gives the ability for over 100,000 subscribers, combining several Southern California MLS providers including, SoCalMLS, MRMLS, CRISnet, i-Tech, and TheMLS®/CLAW to integrate Cloud CMA into their marketing efforts.
“We are excited to have W&R Studios developing against the CARETS database,” said Art Carter, CEO of MRMLS. “By providing access to one single database vendors can bring products to our members quicker and more efficiently, and require less support,” continued Mr. Carter.
Cloud CMA will be sold on a monthly subscription basis. For more information about Cloud CMA, or to sign up for a free trial, please visit http://CloudCMA.com. Details of the Empire State Building launch can be found at W&R Studios’ company blog.
About W&R Studios
Founded in 2008, W&R Studios (http://wr-studios.com) is a privately held web software company. W&R Studios focuses on creating the next generation of web applications for real estate. By providing a “less is more” approach to software design, elegant user interfaces, and using the latest in agile programming, W&R Studios’ software applications are at the same time powerful, yet accessible to everyone. W&R Studios’ products include Dwellicious, a social book-marking site for real estate, Dwellicious Pro, and Cloud CMA. Co-founders Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson each have over 15 years experience developing and marketing software solutions.
For more information please contact:
Greg Robertson
greg at wr-studios dot com
(714) 924-4219
Rumor has it that NAR’s RPR blog is going live tomorrow morning.
We shall see…
*** This post is best read while listening to Jay Z’s track “Empire State of Mind” off his new album “The Blueprint III ***
Oh man I’m getting pumped up for next week! Brad Inman and his team have certainly put together another great conference. I’ve heard attendance is up from last year. So I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. Dan and I have a lot going on at the conference that I wanted to share with you.
First up:
Cloud CMA launch!
Yup, we plan to officially launch our latest web app, Cloud CMA at the show. We will have a SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT about this later this week so STAY TUNED!
We will have a demo pod on Wednesday only in “Start-Up Alley” so if you want to come and see a live demo of Cloud CMA please stop by!
Wednesday, January 13
Dan Woolley will be moderating a Workshop called ConnectTech from 9AM to 11:30AM
Topics include:
Tips and Tricks For Working with the iPhone SDK
How to code IDX Solutions that Don’t Suck
CTO Roundtable: What’s the Next Round of Online Real Estate Innovation?
Thursday, January 14
10:20AM – 10:40AM
I (Greg Robertson) will be on stage for “Start-up Shoot-Out” Part I:The Entrepreneurs”
There will be six us of us pitching our new products and the audience and a panel of judges will decide who take home a prize valued at $25,000!
11:10AM – 11:30AM
Start-Up Shoot-Out Part II: The Investors
High-profile venture investors weigh-in on the start-ups. What do they like? What don’t they like? Will they invest? (Not sure if we get back on stage for this or not yet?)
Investors include: Simon Baker, Vanessa Fox, Brad Inman, and Michael Yang
3PM to 4:PM
I’m doing “CONNECT LAB 2”:
Vendors Only: Selling Technology Solutions in Real Estate
“You’ve got an application. A service. Something you think is killer. But you have no idea how to market and sell it. Learn how to price your product, message it, and get in front of the people who will buy it in this session led by one of the most battle-tested marketing and bus dev executives in the business.”
I’ll be giving a short presentation on what I’m calling “The Twin Peaks of real estate app sales”
I’m kind of bummed a bit because Michael Wurzer is moderating one of the “INNOVATION TRACKS” around the same time:
TRACK 3 – The MLS
2PM to 5PM
MIke has a killer line up of topics and panelists.
RPR Reverb: Should MLSs Love it or Fear it?
Breaking Data Taboos for Fun and Profit
For Those Who Think Big: Charter an Alternate Strategy for Your MLS
Not if, But How To: Work Towards Best Practices for MLS Data Sharing
Ought to be a good show. See you there!
Inman News put out a couple of lists over the holidays and I wanted to recognize some of those in the Vendor community and others that made the cut!
The first list was “Real Estate’s 50 Most Influential Online: 2009”
According to the report…
“They are luminaries in the online world of real estate whose insight and commentary inspires other, provokes debate and incites change.”
Drew Meyers from Zillow, Reggie previously of Cyberhomes, now of RPR, Lani from Agent Genius, Rob Hahn, and Derek Overbey of Roost.
Another name that made the list, is yours truly!
Here’s an excerpt of what they said;
“Robertson’s Vendor Alley blog is sometimes humorous, sometimes down-and-dirty insider’s look at the real estate industry through the eyes of a vendor.”
Nice! And my apologies to the others who happen to find themselves on the same list as me!
Then the biggie. Inman’s “100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders: 2009”
“The people on this list embody leadership, innovation, ingenuity, power and persistence.”
Here are some of favorites and commentary….
Steve Berkowitz and Errol Samuelson made the cut. Not sure why Mr. Berkowitz is listed, if persistence is a key factor then Errol should be the only one from MOVE on the list!
Pete and Sami from Trulia (Do you think the Google rumors are true?)
I’ve got the same feeling about Dale Ross and Marty Frame as I do Berkowitz and Samuelson. Marty obviously should be listed, but Dale?
Nice to see Jay Gaskill from LPS Real Estate Group get some recognition, this guy is solid and LPS will be at the center of a lot of things in 2010.
Nice also to see Saul Klein, I love Saul and he is one of the industry’s good guys.
Jack Ross from Dominion Enterprises. This is a pretty lame choice. Peter Ill should be listed instead (I can feel him cringe as I write this!) , he runs the Home Media Division which includes eNeighborhoods, Homes.com, Advanced Access and Number1Expert.
James Saccacio from RealtyTrac was also mentioned. RealtyTrac has been a absolute powerhouse in the industry. It will be interesting to see what’s next for Jim in 2010.
Andy Rapattoni also made the cut along with Mike Wurzer from FBS. Wurzer was not listed on the top 50 most influential online list, a glaring oversight in my opinion. Perhaps this will be a call to action for Mike to start writing a bit more often (pretty please Mike!)
Also good to see Brian Larson be recognized.
Listed in the Notable section of the report:
Brian Boero, Marc Davison and recent addition Joel Burslem of 1000Watt Consulting. I love, love, love, these guys. They have the perfect match of smarts and creative.
Gregg Larson also was listed under notables. I not sure many people give the credit Gregg and his team deserves for what they have contributed to the industry . I would have also liked to see Matt Cohen listed as well.
Premium members of Inman News (like me!) get these reports for free. All others must pay!
