It’s just about the time of year when you start reading “top 10″ lists of 2011. I thought I would start a new tradition here at Vendor Alley and rattle off my choices for top companies and people in the real estate industry for 2011.

I call them “The Vendys”.

1. The “Bob Hale” Award
The reason I call this the “Bob Hale” award is that it seems Bob is listed every year as one of the top influencer/innovators in the industry. So think of it as “besides Bob”, who really made a difference this year in the real estate industry. : )

And the winner is….Merri Jo Cowen

I’ve been a part of CMLS for many, many years and while other board presidents have set the stage for CMLS to take a larger role in the MLS community Merri Jo has been the catalyst to make those goals happen. It’s been a pleasure to have a front row seat to how CMLS has changed over the years and Merri Jo has been a huge part of that success.

2. Best new real estate technology/product. -Nest
What happens with the inventor of the iPod focuses his attention on real estate? Magic.

Runner up- I have to say that I really love Realtor.com’s iPad app.

3. Top MLS Provider. – MRED, LLC
All you need to do is take a look at the pressroom of MRED, LLC to see the transformation happening at MRED.

4. Top MLS Vendor – TIED: LPS and CoreLogic.
My basis for this was the CIVIX lawsuit. While I believe NAR painted themselves in to a corner with the settlement it was these two MLS vendors who stepped up and wrote the really big checks.

5. Top Real Estate Portal – Zillow
Their spectacular IPO and recent acquisition of Diverse Solutions only shows they are here to stay and poised to dominate.

6. Best new real estate vendor. – Goomzee
I’ve had many discussions with their CEO, Mike Sparr, and he is one of the new players that “gets it”.

7. Top company to watch – RED -Real Estate Digital
After a bold management buy-out, these guys are just getting started.

8. Most improved company – Inman News
The conferences are better, their site is better, Agent Reboot, InmanNext, the list goes on and on. Tim, Alice, Chris, and Katie and the rest of the team has done a spectacular job and can’t wait to see what’s next.

9. Best industry blog – 1000watt Blog
If I can’t pick VendorAlley.com then 1000watt Consulting gets my vote. Brian, Marc and Joel, offer equal doses of spot on analysis and inspiration all wrapped up in a beautifully atheistic and great writing.

10 Best company blog – RPR
While I have been known to poke some fun at these guys you can’t argue what a great job they do with their blog. One small quibble, I can’t view videos on my iPad.

11. Top MLS Provider CEO – Art Carter
Art Carter turned the fiasco that was California Association of REALTORS failed state-wide MLS effort (calREDD) into in the the largest MLS in country. I don’t think he’s done yet.

12. Best Industry Conference. – CMLS
Like with all my picks I’m a little biased but CMLS’ annual conference keeps getting bigger and better.

13. Best Real Estate Franchise – Keller Williams.
Sure their consumer facing website sucks but in the world of real estate franchisors its all about agent count and these guys are winning.

Well that’s it. Am I a “kiss ass”, “spot on”, “not even close”? What say you?

Along with a lot of other vendors I got the email last week.

“Effective immediately we ask that you no longer use the SoCalMLS logo, name , disclaimer etc. I have attached the disclaimer that should be used from this point forward.”

My first thought, oddly enough, was about the SoCalMLS logo. From a design perspective I always liked the SoCalMLS logo. It has a badge type feel to it because its vertical not horizontal. Simple sans serif font, use of negative space, and good ole red, white and blue. I have other favorites, like this and this, but the SoCalMLS logo represented my hometown sports team.

You're Not My Father!!

As I traveled SoCalMLS was always the benchmark I gauged every other MLS Provider against. And it was a hard one to match. SoCalMLS was the first to put MLS listings on the internet (a feat that earned Russ the Inman Innovator Award). SoCalMLS was always out in front trying new technologies including on of the first web-based MLS systems. But mostly SoCalMLS was just fun to watch. You never knew what Russ and his team had up their sleeve next and when they did something they usually went big. Which reminds me of another story…

January 2004, 2004

How do you covert 26,000 MLS members to a new MLS system? Russ was asked this question and here what he said.

“We asked ourselves. What’s the most efficient and effective way to get the job done, and the answer was: Train everyone at once.” – Russ Bergeron.

What did that mean? It meant renting out the local sports arena, then known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (now the Honda Center, where the NHL’s Anaheim Ducks play) and having two sessions (one morning, one afternoon) and train “everyone at once”. Like some awesome rock concert I can say, I WAS THERE. Looking back I wish they made t-shirts so I could point to physical proof on my MLS street cred.

That’s how SoCalMLS rolled, that’s why they were fun to watch.

Art Carter and CRMLS is putting together an awesome team. Adrese Roundtree and his SoCalMLS team now join Patty Connor (formerly of RMLS, FL.) along with the rest of CRMLS’s staff. Their future is bright.

But no email is going to wipe the memory of what SoCalMLS represented, what it accomplished, or how it helped move the MLS industry forward. For CRMLS, that is a tough act to follow.

Yesterday Dale Ross, CEO of RPR, wrote a blog post named “The Future?“. The fact he used a question mark isn’t surprising.

Mr. Ross is a bit perplexed on why many MLS providers have not chosen RPR or continue to use their competitors for what he calls “short-term gains.” He references a widely distributed blog post written by Kim Prior of OnBoard Informatics, called “MLSs Taking Control of Destiny – a Plea, an Observation, a Call to Arms“. (Sound the trumpets!) Her post is a bit naive but does lay out challenges many industries face including the MLS.

When RPR launched Mr. Ross stated their plan was to have RPR break-even in 3 years. It’s been a bumpy road since then as many MLS providers challenged their value proposition. In his post Mr. Ross repeated RPR’s value proposition as this:

“What RPR seeks to offer NAR members is REALTOR® control of property data, analytics and valuations.  At the core of the RPR system, the licensed data provided to the MLSs by brokers is aggregated with the additional licensed parcel-centric data.  RPR then seeks to return valuable tools to REALTORS® designed to bring national and local information as well as agent and broker support systems directly where they are needed the most, at market level to benefit the consumers, but provided by REALTORS® to reinforce REALTOR® value. ”

The linchpin to this strategy is how “valuable” the tools RPR is providing. In a recent blog post Brian Larson asks many MLS providers to consider this before resigning with RPR. Reports have suggested that usage of RPR’s toolset are very, very low even by 3rd party software standards. Recently RPR has refocused efforts to improve this.

I’ve been creating and selling software solutions for REALTORS since 1992 and feel your pain. Based on that here a some suggestions for RPR to consider.

1. Stop complaining. NAR has committed 20 million dollars to you and ponied up another 12 million to buy assets to get you started. Add to that you also have a rock star team that includes Marty, Mona, Reggie, Ohan, Kristen and others. Nobody gives a shit about your problems, implement.

2. Don’t be greedy. I still think that sharing future revenues from MLS data with MLS providers is the right thing to do. Look at it this way, I bet you CoreLogic paid 100 times more towards the CIVIX settlement than RPR and still was able to share revenue back to the MLS via its data deals. In that situation who’s the better “industry partner”?

3. Make a product agents love. This is the hard part. But, I guarantee you if the RPR toolset was something agents actually loved all these barriers with MLS providers would disappear overnight. But so far, other than NAR cronies, I’ve never really hear that agents really LOVE RPR’s tools.

4. It’s NOT the data stupid. Data, data, data is all I ever hear from RPR. It should be User Experience, User Experience, User Experience! I’ve had a few off the record conversations with trainers at MLS providers tasked to train on RPR. The feedback has been the same, it’s “too complicated”, it does “too much”. So how about introducing a stripped down version that offers less flexibility but gives the agents something quick and easy. Your data means dick if nobody can figure out how to get at it or how to use it.

5. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. It would be interesting to see what Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, and other industry 3rd party software developers could do with RPR data. Hell, Zillow is swimming in money since their IPO. How about striking a deal with them for an API to RPR data? Get them, and others, addicted to RPR data.

You’re welcome. : )

Good to see CMLS continue to take more of an active role in these issues:

Here’s an excerpt…

“Please accept this letter on behalf of the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) regarding the recommendations included in the ‘Report and Recommendations of the IDX Data Use Work Group’. The difficult task of reviewing the inclusion of social media in IDX isn’t an enviable one; please know that we respect the commitment that each work group member gave to the effort.”

Move, Inc. and Zillow, Inc. Sign New Listing Syndication Agreement for ListHub

I was just reading John Heithaus, Chief Marketing Officer, of MRIS blog post titled; Reality Check Ahead: Data Mining and the Implication for Real Estate Professionals. He does a great job of outlining the implications of syndication has upon the real estate business.

Unfortunately it seems nobody cares.

To me, and others, it’s clear that the risks of syndication far out weigh the rewards. Yet brokers continue to sign agreements they never read with fine print they never see. Granted there are some best practices to follow, such as making sure the syndicator’s site has much less information than yours, and to make sure you understand what rights to the data you are giving away.

But, with sites like Facebook and Google people have become accustom to surrendering their personal/business data for “free” products and services.

The frustration is that many MLS professionals understand the dangers of listing syndication but are powerless to dissuade their board members to stop, look and listen. Bob Hale at the recent Inman Connect conference did an excelent job of listing off the battles that MLS/Real Estate Industry has lost in recent years, citing “agent ratings” as the latest defeat. And if Bob Hale can’t get anything done? Can anyone???