Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Merri Jo Cowen awarded the Peter Shuttleworth MLS Executive Award of Excellence

Merri Jo Cowen Named Peter Shuttleworth MLS Executive Award Of Excellence Recipient

The Peter Shuttleworth MLS Executive Award of Excellence is an annual award that recognizes leaders who, through a rigorous nomination and review process, are determined to have observed the highest qualities of leadership within their organizations and demonstrated a dedication to excellence by making substantial contributions to the MLS industry.

I’m still catching up with news after a long trade show season. I was lucky enough to be at the MLS Executive Session to the surprise on Merri Jo’s face. Read the entire post from CMLS, she has accomplished so much and I have a feeling she is just getting started. Well deserved. Congrats Merri Jo!

Thanks Mom!

#HappyVeteransDay2018

GLVAR to stop syndicating listings to Zillow and other portals

Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS notification email:

“The Greater Las Vegas Association of REALTORS® (GLVAR) and its MLS knows that protection of MLS data is a priority for its members. While it has always been the individual brokerage’s decision as to syndicate its listing data and to which third party portals, GLVAR and the MLS played a role in facilitating syndication with a series of agreements with several third-party portals. After careful consideration and discussion, GLVAR and its MLS have decided to end that facilitation to all such portals. These agreements will end at the conclusion of each contractual term, with Zillow ending in January 2019 and ListHub in June 2019.

The idea behind this decision was that individual brokers here in Southern Nevada will now be able to decide where they send their individual listing data, and to what websites. Each individual brokerage will be free to negotiate agreements with the various third-party portals on their own or choose not to syndicate at all.”

There is also a video talking about how they came to the decision. I think the brokers should be careful what they wish for. I wonder if “syndication” is becoming a thing again……uggh!

SIBOR adds voice enabled search

Staten Island REALTORS® Select Voiceter Pro 
As Voice-Powered Home Listing Search Provider

“By saying “Alexa, Open Staten Island Real Estate” or “Hey Google, talk to Staten Island Real Estate,” consumers can have a conversation with their favorite personal assistant, who will guide them through their search of home listings.

Free to use, consumers can specify their desired location, price range, number of bedrooms and other information to find homes that meet their needs. Alexa and Google will verbally report the top three matches and consumers will receive an email with complete listing details for all results with links to the listings at siborrealtors.com.”

I’ve seen a few demos from Voiceter and they are impressive. I think the use cases for real estate are interesting. Search is a tough use case in my opinion. My thought would be for market updates/listing alerts. As in…”Hey Alexa, tell me about homes for sale in my neighborhood.” Then I could passively listen to listing details, almost like when I ask “Alexa, how is the weather today.”

Still, I wonder how far they have gone to incorporate the colloquialisms of Staten Island natives.

“Hey Alexa, find me a house that’s dope!”

“Hey Google, find me a new condo that’s banging”

Listing Bits Episode 38: Showing Management & Real Estate Market Stats with Mike Lane of ShowingTime

ShowingTime  was built to help people buy homes more efficiently by making the process of scheduling a showing much easier. Since it was founded 18 years ago, the company has grown to include a family of technology products that serve MLSs, brokers and agents in the areas of showing management and market statistics.

 

Mike Lane is the Co-Founder and President of ShowingTime, the most widely used showing management service provider in the market. ShowingTime serves 1M agents and 200 MLSs, scheduling up to 5M showings per month. Mike has been with the company since its inception in 2000, and he continues to head its sales and marketing divisions and serve as the primary contact for MLS clients and large brokers. A former Naval Officer and seasoned athlete, Mike has competed in a number of triathlons, including three IRONMAN races, and he holds an MBA and Master’s in Engineering Management from Northwestern.

 

Today, Mike explains how ShowingTime facilitates the scheduling of showings by way of its online calendar and call center. He describes the company’s evolution, discussing how they got into market stats as a complement to their core business. Mike covers the ShowingTime Index, explaining how agents might leverage the information and what showing activity reveals about market demand. Listen in for insight on ShowingTime’s business model and learn what the company is doing to reach brokers and agents, remove the hurdles to ordering online, and navigate the complexities of bundling—and unbundling—its products and services.

 

What’s Discussed:

 

How ShowingTime facilitates online scheduling of showings

How the ShowingTime call center unburdens brokers/agents

How Mike got into the real estate software business

ShowingTime’s acquisition of 10K Research and RBI MRIS

How agents might leverage the ShowingTime Index

How showing activity reveals demand in the market

Mike’s insight on the predicted turn in the market

ShowingTime’s focus on supporting mobile adoption

ShowingTime’s ability to facilitate reverse prospecting

How ShowingTime serves MLSs, brokers and agents

How to reach brokers and agents via online marketing

Vendor efforts to remove the hurdles to ordering online

The complexities of bundling products/services for REALTORS

 

Resources:

 

RESO Conference

Cloud Agent Suite

10K Research

RealEstate Business Intelligence

Greg’s Blog on MarketView

ShowingTime’s Showing Index

Zillow Research

 

Connect with Mike Lane:

 

ShowingTime

Mike on LinkedIn

Listing Bits Episode 37: Commit to Service & Innovate by Asking WHY with Tim Dain of MARIS MLS

Tim Dain has a reputation for being the ‘mad scientist’ of the MLS world. He is not afraid to challenge established systems and ask WHY things are done a certain way. Tim facilitates innovation by assigning a creative writing piece, commissioning a study or building a spreadsheet—and then implementing the best ideas with a commitment to being of service.

Tim is the President and CEO of MARIS MLS, a multiple listing service out of St. Louis that serves 13 REALTOR associations, 58 counties and more than 13K members. A seasoned MLS executive with a unique resume, Tim spent two years running the Austin Board of REALTORS and four years as Executive Director of SIR/MLS prior to joining MARIS. Tim has a background in information technology, and he has served the real estate industry in multiple roles since 2006.

Today, Tim explains why he is not afraid to disrupt established systems and shares the improvise-adapt-overcome leadership mantra he learned in the Marines. He offers insight around the redesign of the MARIS MLS website in collaboration with 1000watt, describing the skills development video library featured on the site. Tim addresses his work to rebuild the infrastructure at MARIS, offering insight on his essentialist approach to technology tools and his commitment to service over shiny objects. Listen in for Tim’s take on the current plight of the broker and learn about his dedication to facilitating an honest dialogue around industry challenges—and publishing the unscripted answers.

What’s Discussed:

 

Tim’s reputation as the mad scientist of the MLS world

MARIS’s marketplace approach to the board structure

Why Tim is not afraid to disrupt established systems

Tim’s improvise-adapt-overcome leadership mantra

The redesign of MARIS’s web presence with 1000watt

-Related content to continue learning process

-Video library tied to skills development

Tim’s work to rebuild the infrastructure at MARIS MLS

Negotiating price vs. subsidizing tech for small brokerages

The essentialist approach to MLS technology tools

Tim’s commitment to make basics available at a low cost

Why service should be the Holy Grail of the MLS

AMP’s origins in a thought exercise re: small MLSs

Tim’s view of the consumer as the ‘lion over the hill’

How the MARIS Asks series facilitates an honest dialogue

 

Resources:

RESO Conference

1000watt

Cloud Agent Suite

Bright MLS

Clareity DASH

Salesforce

Tim’s Infrastructure Spreadsheet

The Buckminster Fuller Institute

Bill Chee’s ‘Lions Over the Hill’

MARIS Asks

 

Connect with Tim Dain:

MARIS MLS

Tim on LinkedIn

See you in Boston!

I’m heading to Boston today and looking forward to seeing everyone.

I’m also going to be moderating a panel at the MLS Association Executive Session on Friday at the Hynes Center, Room 210 on the Second Level.

The session runs from 1PM to 3PM. I think they have the panel starting around 2:20PM.

The title of the panel is “Innovation and Options – The Grid, MLS Aligned, Bridge API, Spark Platform and Trestle“. I will be joined by…

Marc Hill from Realtracs talking about the The Grid.
Chris Lambrou from MetroMLS talking about MLS Aligned.
Jay Lee from Bridge Interactive (Zillow Group) talking about the Bridge API.
Matt Fowler from FBS talking about the Spark Platform.
Ethan Bailey from CoreLogic talking about Trestle.

I’m really looking forward to this and hoping it will be a good opportunity for everyone to get a better understanding of what each of these solutions can do for the MLS providers and their members.

Also we’ve recently updated our booth design so make sure to come by and take a look, we are giving away lots of free stuff.

Booth #333

See you soon!

Listing Bits Episode 36: AI Image Recognition for Real Estate with Dominik Pogorzelski of Restb.ai

 

Let’s say you have your heart set on a kitchen with hardwood flooring, natural light and an island. Imagine having the ability to search images on the MLS for those specific features. With advancements in artificial intelligence, it is possible to have software read the images, identify the room type and even recognize the objects in it! There are an infinite number of use cases for the real estate industry and Restb.ai is quickly becoming a leader in the space.

Dominik Pogorzelski is the Vice President of Product and Operations for Restb.ai, a machine learning computer vision company specializing in visual recognition for real estate. The company’s plug-and-play solutions employ AI to automatically tag and classify property photos with industry-specific information. Dominik earned his MBA from IESE Business School in Barcelona.

Today, Dominik discusses the societal shift to consume information in a digital way, explaining Restb.ai’s ability to filter images by room, features and amenities. He offers insight around the potential use cases for AI in real estate and the technology’s ability to unlock the data available in images and create value in a number of ways. Dominik describes how the pain points in the online ecosystem differ between Europe and the US, and he addresses the decision to apply Restb.ai’s technology to historical data or active listings. Listen in for insight on how an MLS might establish a partnership with Restb.ai and learn why AI is the next big thing in real estate technology.

What’s Discussed:

Restb.ai’s niche as an AI company playing in the real estate space

Dominik’s path to Barcelona and his role as VP at Restb.ai

Restb.ai’s client base in Europe, Canada and the United States

How Restb.ai’s AI filters images by room, features and amenities

The societal shift to consume digital information in a visual way

The potential applications of AI tech for real estate professionals

AI’s ability to unlock the data available in images and create value

How Restb.ai could automate the compliance review process

The moral obligation AI companies have to the industries they serve

The horizontal players in the space vs. the specialists like Restb.ai

How the online ecosystem in Europe differs from that of the US

-No central source in Europe like US MLS

-Duplicate listings, competitor watermarks

The technical aspects of establishing a partnership with Restb.ai

The decision to apply Restb.ai to active listings vs. historical data

 

Resources:

 

RESO Conference

MLSOK

TLCengine

 

Connect with Dominik Pogorzelski:

Restb.ai

Email: dominik@restb.ai

 

 

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