At the most recent Clareity MLS Executive Workshop it was revealed by Matt Cohen that Zillow is sending a single data file over to Google for “indexing purposes”. I guess having a single file makes it easier for Google to index all of Zillow’s listing inventory.
But hold on, Zillow’s listing inventory is made up, in a large part, of syndicated listings from ListHub. And as Luke Glass of ListHub pointed in a comment to my post,
“ListHub does not permit resyndication and we take this matter very seriously.”
“Luke, you asked me to follow up with Zillow, and I did – I was assured a data file was being provided and specifics were discussed.”
Why does Zillow and Google get a free pass? What got me thinking about this was an email forwarded to me that is being sent by Trulia. If you haven’t seen it, click below.
Click To Enlarge
So basically Trulia has a free app for agents. Which helps them respond quicker to leads and other benefits. In the past I thought this was a clear case of repurposing data. Now I’m not so sure. ListHub is saying it doesn’t comply with it’s rules and is requiring Trulia to obtain permission from every MLS and broker in the country who syndicates its listings through ListHub. Which isn’t a small task I’m sure. And does anyone think that these brokers (besides Edina, et al.) and MLS providers are going to say no to this letter? Fat chance.
So I ask the question again. Why does Zillow and Google get a free pass but Trulia needs to jump through a bunch of hoops? And what makes it more absurd, Trulia’s free app directly benefits agents.
Makes me wonder. Is Realtor.com/MOVE (ListHub’s parent company) getting any special treatment from Google for allowing Zillow to send them a single data file to index?
Nobody can doubt MOVE made a brilliant strategic “move” by acquiring ListHub. Plus Luke and his team have a lot of smart people, so I’m hoping I’m missing something here. But as I wrote in a previous post they need to be consistent. Otherwise ListHub risks the perception of playing favorites, or worse being a bully.
Lately I’ve noticed an uptick in hiring. Which is great! The Vendor Alley Job Board is a great resource to find the right person. One of my favorite things to hear at an industry event is someone telling me they heard about their new job on Vendor Alley.
It’s targeted, effective and inexpensive. And anyone who posts to the Job Board will also get a shout out on Vendor Alley.
“The buzz on MREDpalooza has been incredible, and with good reason,” said Greg Robertson, Co-founder of W &R Studios. “You’ve got a great location, hosted by the one of the largest MLS providers in the country. I can’t wait to see the show Russ and his team will put together.”
My prediction is that the attendance at MREDpalooza will be HUGE. The single best day I’ve ever had, in regard to software sign ups, was an event put on by Russ. My expectations could not be higher. Please don’t sign up for this event. I don’t want any competition.
A scholarship in Pat’s name at the Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management at Denver University has been set up and will be administered by the university and a long-time friend and colleague of Pat’s, Dr. Mark Levine. This fund will be used to support deserving students at the Burns School that are pursuing real estate management careers on the undergraduate or graduate level.
Dan and I (W&R Studios) are going to kick this thing off by donating $2,000 if any other company/individuals with match our contribution. Who’s in?
Checks should be made out to Burns School University of Denver (with a note or memo that says Patricia J. Bybee Memorial Scholarship Fund and can be mailed to:
Dr. Mark Lee Levine
Professor
Burns School/Daniels College
University of Denver
2101 South University Blvd
Denver, Colorado 80208 USA
Phone 303-871-2142
Fax 303-871-2971
mlevine [at] du [dot] edu
http://portfolio.du.edu/mlevine
thx Gregg/Russ
UPDATE From Gregg Larson
“WB Freeman, one of Clareity’s original founders deserves credit for creating Pat’s scholarship fund and working with Dr. Levine at DU. Thanks WB for driving this through so swiftly!”
UPDATE 2 3/21/13
From Russ’s Daily Feed:
“In lieu of a more public event, Pat’s family has decided to hold a small, private memorial service for family and close friends only.
Remembrances or notes may be sent to Vern, Pat’s husband. Vern’s home address is:
Vern Bybee
5353 South Cody Street
Littleton, CO 80123
Vern has also asked that (in lieu of flowers) donations be made to the DU scholarship fund, detailed below.
Gregg Larson, Ira Luntz, and WB Freeman of Clareity Consulting have created a scholarship fund in Pat ‘s name at the University of Denver. This fund will be used to support deserving students at the Burns School who are pursuing real estate management careers at the undergraduate or graduate level. Checks should be made out to the Burns School/University of Denver (with a note or memo that says Patricia J. Bybee) and can be mailed to:
Dr. Mark Levine, Director
Franklin L. Burns School of Real Estate & Construction Management
2101 South University Blvd.
Suite 380
Denver, CO 80208
Additional information for Mark:
303-871-2142
Fax 303-871-2971
mlevine@du.edu
“In addition, we all know that every house is for sale. As a consumer, what better place is there to research homes that are not on the market? It doesn’t matter if the data is perfect. As a consumer, it’s the *best* I can find. Go ahead and tell me the data sucks. I don’t care. My bet is, neither do many of your customers.”
Spot on analysis from Todd. Looks like he doesn’t care to “find it first“. Also, I wonder why he used Zillow in his analysis instead of Trulia?
She was a tough cookie. She was also well respected, chair of RESO, outspoken, industry vet of over 27 years. And she was fun. On more than one occasion Pat, I and a few others heard the “last call” yelp at a hotel lobby bar. Sometimes only leaving when the security men started showing up.
In the late 90’s I had been contacted by Metrolist about our product, Lightning. They were looking for an alternative access solution for their MLS system. I flew out, and met Pat in her office. I remember thinking how well she dressed. She also gave off an almost regal vibe. The meeting was all business. She did’t suffer fools lightly. I gave her a demo, she asked a bunch of questions, I asked her a bunch of questions. Soon I came to the realization that Lightning wasn’t going to help them. As she was explaining a use case I just flatly said to her. “Pat, I totally understand what you are looking for but I don’t think Lightning is going to be able to help.”. She looked at me, almost stunned. She asked me another set of questions, and I repeated my answer.
With the meeting ended I gathered up my stuff to leave. Then she said to me, “Thanks for coming out and thanks for not bullshiting me.”
Ever since, anytime I’ve seen her, she always gave me a hug.
Earlier this week, Monday, I got an email from Pat. She wanted make sure I knew she was still looking for another gig and if I heard of anything to drop her a line. She also ended with this.
Thanks Greg. I love Vendor Alley…..one thing I really miss is hearing industry dialog.”
Hope you are well, I know you are laughing.
Best Regards,
Pat
I’m not laughing today, I doubt any of us are. Rest In Peace Pat.
“Offering competitive and meaningful core services plus introducing a store offers MLS organizations a bridge to the future of the MLS delivery of service,’ said Gregg Larson, Clareity’s president and CEO, in a blog post.
‘This goes way beyond offering a standalone app store. This is about creating a super personalized and convenient way for products to be ‘one-click’ ordered and provisioned to MLS subscribers while creating a seamless experience for members to access all of their products and services.”
“First, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a network of more than 500 real estate companies that spans the globe, has made Nudge an official Solutions Group Partner. Under this arrangement, all brokerage companies and agents within the network will receive an exclusive price and other benefits.
Second, Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), one of the nation’s largest MLS organizations, has purchased a large volume of Nudge licenses for its members. Through our partnership with MRIS, agents and brokers will also receive special training on using Nudge within a broader marketing strategy.”
If you are interested in how Nudge can help you MLS just email me and I’ll set you up a free demo account to try it out.
I’ve had many inquires from other vendors asking my opinion on “MLS App Stores”. All of these inquires were either related to FBS’s Spark Platform (“Spark”) or Clareity’s ClareityStore. With that in mind I thought I would put together a post to give a little comparison and insight to both solutions. I do encourage you to get the information for yourself. Both solutions have put up very informative websites:
At this time Clareity has yet to launch a ClareityStore implementation. But many MLS providers on their list are some of the largest in the country. So, I am basing my information found on the above website and conversations with Clareity staff.
In contrast Spark has close to 70 MLS providers (mostly smaller, but some larger) up and running. You should also know that I shared this post with both companies ahead of time to make sure I had my facts right. But I’m sure I missed something so I will be providing updates/corrections as I get feedback.
Some longtime vendors have argued that they already know how to sell to larger MLS providers. In that case the Spark platform might be a good solution to expanded their market. I think new vendors will appreciate all options. Which is why I think there is room for both solutions. Now let’s get into it.
To me the single biggest difference between both solutions is the Spark API. Clareity does not at this time have any solution of integrated MLS data in to your software application. Like many others, Clareity hopes RESO will come to the rescue, at some point, with a data standard for all of real estate. Other vendors don’t care because they already have a method for integrating MLS data in to their app. As said previously, new vendors will appreciate not spending anytime worrying about data integration and instead focusing on creating great software applications. With Cloud CMA we have a hybrid solution that I will talk about later in this post.
Below is a simple comparison chart that highlight the key aspects of both solutions.
Click To Enlarge
*Spark’s revenue share is only 10% if you are using other methods of getting MLS data, not their Spark API.
Other Important factors:
Exclusivity
Neither solution requires you to be exclusive. Meaning if I sign up for Spark or the ClareityStore I can also sell my product through other channels. This is important, if you already have an outside sales force who is successful at office meetings, live presentations, or trade shows they are not required to use this store.
Data integration
While both solutions require you implement a SSO method (Oauth or SAML) in the case of Spark you are not required to use their API for data integration.This was a big misunderstanding based on a lot of my phone calls with other vendors.
ClareityStore has a Turbo Seller Plan, which also offers 10% revenue share but requires 100% revenue share for the first 3 months of subscription.
Use case example: Cloud CMA
In the case of Cloud CMA we continue to use our own RETS integration with our existing MLS customers, even if they have opted for the Spark Platform. With new MLS providers on the Spark Platform, , that our not our customers, we have taken advantage of the Spark API. This hybrid solution has worked well because it lets up tap in to the “long tail” of MLS providers we typically would not have integrated with due to their size/location/time.
Alternative uses for MLS App Stores.
In the future MLS App Stores may also help in decreasing the “friction” of customers signing up for your service. Here are some classic scenarios.
Outside Sales.
What I mean by this is that in any outside or inside sales effort there is always that moment of truth, where they ask the fateful question. “VISA, Mastercard, or American Express?” In an live presentation environment rather than having them fill out a long order form with name, address, phone number, email address, etc wouldn’t it be a lot simpler to direct them to a web page and they just click a single button and “Boom” you’re done? I see a lot of agent bringing their iPads or notebooks to presentations nowadays. Could this increase your closing percentage from 50% to 60%? I think it might if implemented correctly.
Inside Sales.
One of the big factors of selling over the phone is trust. Sometimes agents are very wary of who is calling them, much less giving them credit card information over the phone. Imagine a situation where the rep is directed them to their MLS system (which they trust) and having them putting in a special promo code and clicking a single button to sign up for the service. Boom! Both the trust issue and friction of reading a 16 digit credit card number over the phone has been alleviated.
In Summary
To me real estate software sales is still a belly to belly enterprise. MLS App Stores should serve as a perfect complement to your existing sales efforts. But, you should not solely rely on them. Adoption of these models will take some time. We are still very early in the game. Would I like to pay less than 30%? Of course I would. Everyone’s business model is a bit different so make sure you find the right one for you.
