MoxiWorks Launches New Real Estate Referrals System, Intros

Intros takes leads generated on brokerage websites, purchased from a lead provider, generated by MoxiWorks partners, or from existing databases that need to be revisited. All leads are qualified and nurtured by real humans until they’re ready for a friendly introduction to an agent. After the personal introductions are made between the agent and future client, Intros routes the referrals directly into the agent’s MoxiEngage CRM account for follow-up.

York Baur, CEO of MoxiWorks said, “It’s no secret that, as T3 Sixty estimates, lead conversion rate sits sub one percent in our industry. However, when leads are processed carefully, and relationships are cultivated through nurturing them, conversion rates rise and brokerages can expect much happier agents, a better consumer experience, and more closed transactions.”

A few things jump out at me.

1. This “success fee” “referral” model is now officially a trend. Opcity (now part of Realtor.com) and Zillow Flex are other programs that come to mind.
2. If this is truly a referral program I’m assuming MoxiWorks has licenses to sell real estate in the states it plans on collecting these fees.
3. MoxiWorks owners include several real estate companies and now a Private Equity firm. I guess anyone who signs up for Intros is comfortable with other real estate companies handling their leads?
4. It’s kind of sad these products/solutions exist because brokerages can’t train agents to professionally manage leads. Zillow has publicly stated agent’s non responsiveness “hurt their brand”.
5. Where does it end? If you do a CMA on MoxiWork’s platform are they going to start asking for a commission?

Jessie Beaudoin from CallAction: Why Apple’s iOS 13 Release on Sept 19 Will Kill Your Lead Follow-Up

“Apple’s “Silence Unknown Callers” setting will help block some the 48 billion phone spam and robocalls per year. 
Here is what will happen when users have Silence Unknown Callers turned ON.
Phone calls from unknown callers will not ring the phone. 
Calls are automatically sent directly to the iPhones voicemail. 
The core of sales is conversations, most of which are over the phone. A decrease in phone conversations will cause your sales volume to fall.”

Lots of chatter in both the agent and vendor community about the impact of new FCC Rulings, wireless carriers, and new hardware/software settings in mobile devices that identify and even block unwanted callers.

From an agent perspective. What if you are using a predictive analytics software and try to call a home that has been flagged as likely to sell? Chances are your call will be blocked, or be sent directly to voice mail (aka: the place nobody checks for weeks). Yikes!

Or say an agent just got a lead from Zillow and they try to respond quickly. Same scenario as above. You can see why some of these lead generating businesses are changing to more of a referral model.

Rob Hahn recently wrote about this and had an interview with Chris Drayer of Revaluate.

Then from a vendor perspective I know many vendors who rely on call centers to call agents directly to sell their products and services. Some of the portals have huge call centers. Those methods could see a big hit to production.

The answer? Inbound and content marketing are the best solutions. But the main thing will be focusing on creating great products that people will talk about.

So maybe in the end, this will not be such a bad thing after all.

Michael Wurzer is 100% confident of one thing: The MLS creates value in the real estate market that doesn’t exist in any other way. No one else has created enough trust to generate that same level of cooperation among competitors. And rather than being a scourge to brokers, Michael argues that the MLS powers the market. That unique value prop is the reason why he believes current trends will prove the value of the MLS—not kill it.

Michael is the CEO of FBS, the leading innovator of MLS technology. He has 22 years at the helm of this highly-respected real estate software brand which was named one of Forbes2019 Small Giant companies. On this episode of Listing Bits, Michael addresses the trend toward off-market listings, sharing his take on why it’s not a threat to the MLS. He weighs in on the potential creation of a ‘vendors association’ that would afford prescreened developers access to real estate data.

Michael also discusses the likelihood of consolidation in the MLS vendor space, tech adoption in the employee versus independent contractor models, and the importance of data in light of high agent churn. Listen in for insight around the value of integration among real estate tech vendors and learn Michael’s take on the role of the MLS in creating choice for its members.

What’s Discussed: 

How standards are key in making software easier to build

The trend toward off-market listings and its impact on the MLS

The idea that pocket listings are a kind of DIY-Upstream

The resilience of the MLS community and its unique value prop

The creation of a ‘vendor’s association’ to prescreen developers

Why ShowingTime’s acquisitions of CSS is a holy shit moment

The likelihood of consolidation in the MLS vendor space

Tech adoption in employee vs. independent contractor models

The importance of data in light of high agent churn

Why SaaS marketing techniques don’t work in real estate

The value of integration among vendors and with the MLS

The role the MLS plays in creating choice for its members

Resources:

Pocket Listings on Industry Relations EP037

Inman Panel on the MLS & iBuyers

Michael’s ‘Death of MLS?’ Blog Post

Andy Woolley at Homes.com

Swanepoel Trends Report

ShowingTime’s Acquisition of CSS

Lone Wolf Technologies

Software is Eating Real Estate on Industry Relations EP029

Cloud CMA Developers Page

BombBomb

Curaytor

Connect with Michael:

FBS

Flexmls

Michael on LinkedIn

All Eyes on iBuyers: What Does the Future Look Like?

“Addressing the audience of more than 300 brokerage executives and industry leaders, Bob Hale—President & CEO of the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR)—kicked things off by looking at the cold hard facts.
A recent consumer survey that dealt with iBuyer programs conducted by the Association found that:
– 33 percent of respondents are aware of the term, even though it’s only been on the market for less than seven years.
– 41 percent of current sellers would consider working with an iBuyer.
– 92 percent of consumers work with and want to work with a REALTOR®. Even if they did an iBuyer program, they want a REALTOR® to represent them.
“What we need to pay attention to though is the fact that 80 percent of respondents are interested in seeing how much an iBuyer would offer,” said Hale, who is committed to informing and educating HAR members as to how different iBuyer programs operate.”

The FUD around these iBuyers and their offers are similar to what we’ve seen with Zillow’s Zestimate. Bottom line is today no REALTOR should walk in to a listing presentation not knowing the Zestimate. Going forward I would think it wise the REALTOR also know what the top iBuyers’ are offering as well, and understand the fees associated.

Does anyone know if this survey is available publicly?

MLS Grid achieves Platinum RESO Certification

“This designation is yet another way to tangibly show how MLS Grid is helping propel real estate technology, transitioning away from RETS, which was introduced in the 1990s to the more modern Web API” said MLS Grid CEO Joseph Szurgyi. “MLS Grid is RESO in action, and by furthering these standards, we’re making the RESO compliance and data licensing processes easier for MLSs, brokers, and their technology vendors.”

Love this. A solution that makes it easier to build new products and get them out to the market faster.

MARIS MLS To Serve Divergent Member Needs

“MARIS believes that the key to building a member-centric culture starts by developing a deeper relationship with members, and a stronger understanding of their needs.

“We care about improving our member experience. To really do that, we spent time strengthening our member engagement, observing demographics and behavioral themes. What we discovered is that we are no longer in a place where we can serve our members with a one-size-fits-all approach,” said Quinn Nichols, Director of Marketing for MARIS.”

Congrats to Remine and MARIS.

IBM sues Zillow over multiple charges of patent infringement

“Rather than build their business on their own technologies, Zillow has appropriated the inventions of the [patents named in the lawsuit],” the complaint reads. “The website, www.zillow.com, and the associated mobile applications under Zillow’s control use the technology claimed by the [patents named in the lawsuit], to provide customers access to real estate listings and provide advertisements and other services for real estate agents.”

Feels a little different than the normal “patent troll” shake down. Lawsuits are always part of the game but Zillow has enough to deal with right now.

Stellar MLS joins MLS Roundtable-Leaders collaborate exploring options for MLS industry

“During these complex time, finding ways to better serving the needs of our real estate brokers is now more important than ever,” says Cowen and we welcome the opportunity to brainstorm with other large and well managed MLS organizations as we all explore options best suited for our brokers and agents.”
 
Members of the Roundtable who collectively serve over 400,000+ real estate brokers and agents nationwide, have accelerated adoption of RESO standards, some are pioneering expanded data-share agreements, while other have restructured their MLS organizations to reflect more neutral branding than the former geographical identities. “

Hoping to hear more insights from the group.