A few things have been written about MOVE’s latest announcement on the creation of the “Real Estate Network” (REN). MOVE’s says REN will “extend the syndication of property listings to highly trafficked websites operate by real estate franchisors and brokerage networks.”

I have to say I think this is a brilliant strategy on MOVE’s part. Here’s why:

1. Zillow and Trulia have already proven quantity (and quality for that matter) of listing data isn’t necessary to operate a highly trafficked real estate portal.

2. This further hedges MOVE’s position. MOVE currently depends upon its agreement with the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) for listings and does not run a national IDX network.

The big question is “who cares?” So I’m going to focus on a few tipping points that would cause a Franchisor or brokerage network to implement a REN feed on their respective websites.

1. SEO benefits
I think this is the weakest case. Most Franchisors running sophisticated IDX networks from vendors like Homes Media Solutions (formerly eNeighborhoods) and RED (formerly LPS Real Estate Group) have already figured out how to maximize SEO benefits using a platform designed to be a launching site for a “network of broker idx sites”.

2. Cost
This is a big factor. As I’ve stated Zillow and Trulia have already proven quantity of listings doesn’t matter. Aggregating MLS data from multiple sources managing all those different display rules and paying those MLS fees have a huge cost associated with it. What if RE/MAX is paying their IDX vendor $70,000 per month and MOVE is offering REN for $7,000 per month. Is it possible that a company like RE/MAX might opt to save the money? Maybe.

3. The MLS Two Step
This is also a potential decision point. Lets say that a particular MLS provider, for the purposes of this example the Houston Associaiton of REALTORS (HAR) has made is very difficult to display listings from their MLS. The Franchisor always has to jump thru a few extra more hoops when dealing with HAR. Will some Franchisors be willing to forego not having all Houston listings as long was they don’t have to talk to Sam Scott anymore? Maybe : )

4. Filling the gaps
The REN might be a great way for new and exisiting Franchisors to supplement coverage in areas where they don’t have a Franchisee yet. According to the rules they would still need a license in the state, but thats relatively easy. This makes Realty Executives participation as a charter member of REN a little clearer.

5. Exposure.
Search traffic to real estate portals is still heavily brand related. Long tail searches are a relative minor piece to the equation. It was announced recently that Century 21 is running a Super Bowl ad on February 5th. Depending on when REN would be implemented how ironic would it be when Realty Executives announced to their agents that all their listings would be advertised during the Super Bowl. Pass the chips!

In a way MOVE, with the announcement of REN, has changed the conversation away from IDX (something they are very weak in) to Syndication (something they are very strong in).

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Special Edition

Smart MOVE.

I sent this post out to Vendor Alley Private Newsletters subscribers last week but thought it was worth a re-post today.

I’ve been reading a few interesting perspectives on listing syndication.

Here’s the first one:

‘Think Before You Syndicate’

Jon Colie, President of Champion Realty – Guest posting on MRIS‘ blog, REsource

If you think about it, a national aggregator selling agents leads off of a website becomes less about the quality of the listing database and far more about the quantity. More listings mean more “eye candy” thus more opportunities to sell agent placement.

Champion Realty is a HomeServices Company, natch!

And the second comes from a comment made on a Vendor Alley post about Brookfield acquiring Prudential:

Brad Blumberg, Smarter Agent

Am I the only one who finds it amazing that the entire real estate relo and franchisor business of Prudential just sold for $110 million, and Zillow Market Cap on that day was over $600 million. Has the value of the real estate purchase shifted to the aggregators at the expense of the value of real estate brokerage businesses. Think Edina realty, when they pulled listings from Trulia, was thinking about creating local value in their brand instead of adding value to the aggregators?

Smart!

Talk about a piece of the rock!

Brookfield has already acquired GMAC Real Estate and Real Living (which now both operate under. This huge news in the world of Real Estate Franchisors. Brookfield has now seemingly overnight become one of the major franchisor in the United States (think Realogy or RE/MAX).

“Through its various brands, Brookfield’s residential real estate franchisees are now present in all 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces, Mexico and Portugal, with a network of approximately 80,000 real estate agents, 2,800 real estate brokerage locations and more than $150 billion in annual residential real estate transactions.”

See Full Press Release here.

I heard through the grapevine last week that RE/MAX International (LLC?) has signed a deal with eNeighborhoods Homes Media Solutions, for it’s new marketing system Home Connect. Details are a bit early but it appears RE/MAX agents will have access to some of Homes Connect features and will be able to upgrade to other features. Sounds similar to the Market Leader and Keller Williams for eEdge. But as I said details are still forthcoming.

There are a couple things I like about this:

1. It’s great to see eNeighborhoods Homes Media Solutions get their enterprises sales mojo back. With products like Mercado sun setting, and the siphoning off their IDX business, it was huge to see a deal of this size come out of the pipeline.

2. It’s good for RE/MAX. Outside looking in it appears the franchise is going through a transition period (isn’t everybody in this market?) and it’s good to see them making investments toward the future.

I have a lot of questions still. How does Homes.com fit in? What about LeadStreet? What components are included? How much does it cost to upgrade? But I’ll save that for a later post.

Congrats to Andy and his boys for a nice win!

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?

I’m in Minneapolis this week and had a chance to hook up with Matt Cohen. There is a lot of discussion going on regarding the IDX PAG recommendations. You can read Matt’s comments on this subject on his blog here.

I haven’t done any interviews of this type before (so pardon my flubs) but Matt was kind enough to share his thoughts with me about these upcoming policy changes. Enjoy.

Nice win for Real Living. Important for two reasons.

1. Momentum. After bringing aboard Dilbeck (1,000 agents) less than 2 months ago this deal with Windermere Exclusive Properties (400 agents) shows they might be on a roll.

2. Talent. Many of you may remember Steve Rodgers, the current president and owner of Windermere Exclusive Properties, from Prudential. He’s all about growth, and picking Real Living as a partner bodes well for them.

I’ve got to hand it to the folks at KW. I was super impressed at the recent 2011 Keller Williams Family Reunion in Anaheim, CA.

To start off with in order to participate in the event you must first compete a Approved Vendor Application. Here’s a list of some of the requirements:

You have to be in business for at least 3 years.
5 letters of recommendation from KW agents using your product.
3 business letters of references
1 letter of reference from you bank.

I would love to see more of this type of vetting in the industry. Although the requirement for being in business for 3 years could be shortened. This might limit their agents to new technology.

Tom

The inclusive vibe KW set the tone for was a welcome surprise from someone who has attended and paid for a lot of trade shows. To me Keller Williams has set the bar on how to run a trade show and the respect their vendors. Bravo.

I’m happy to announce the creation of a new “jobs board” for the real estate industry! Since I get a fair amount of readers from all facets of the real estate industry I didn’t limit the jobs listed to just vendors.

The URL is http://Jobs.VendorAlley.com

My wish is for this to become a central hub for anyone involved in the real estate industry; whether a vendor, MLS, association, title company, franchisor, or real estate brokerage to find a job.

I’ve kept it pretty inexpensive. Only $29.95 to post a job for 30 days via PayPal. So far I’m starting with 4 categories:

Sales
Tech
MLS/Association staff
MLS/Association CEO

I consider this a version 1 release. I’ll be spiffing it up later. I would also love your feedback on making it better. Just e-mail me at vendor.alley at gmail dot com

Thanks!

Greg

The news has broke this morning. It represents the largest real estate franchise acquisition of the year.
Here’s an excerpt from the Vancouver Sun.

“Real Living Inc. built a major real estate brokerage in Ohio in a fairly short period of time by focusing on women clients as the primary decision maker in a home buying transaction. Toronto’s Brookfield Asset Management wants to duplicate that success across and the U.S. market and is buying Real Living’s brand to do it.

Brookfield said in a statement it is rebranding its GMAC Real Estate division, which its acquired from the trouble financing arm of General Motors last year, as Real Living to create a new franchise with more than US$20-billion in annual home sales.

Brookfield Residential Property Services says it will add Real Living’s 2,000 brokers and sales associates to its existing real estate network of 30,000 real estate professionals.

While Real Living says it will not change its core real estate business in and around Columbus, Ohio, it has essentially sold Brookfield the right to use its brand and technology across the rest of the U.S. as well as Canada.

In Canada, Brookfield controls real estate giant Royal LePage, but the company made no mention of alter that brand to make it more like Real Living.

In September 2008, Brookfield announced it was buying GMAC’s home-services unit and picking up about 1,500 offices in North America and nearly 30,000 employees.”

I’ll have some further commentary when I confirm a few things…

Stefan has some interesting thoughts on this as well. Read them here.