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RESO Remote Recap

RESO Remote: Encore Recap

The Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) held its second digital conference last week, RESO Remote Encore: The Standards Collection. With a +20% percent jump in attendance over the previous conference (which had +30% growth over its prior conference), RESO Remote Encore was a smash hit.

The week was as much a celebration as a conference, as the culmination of some major industry initiatives were highlighted. RESO released its entirely rebuilt, automated certification stack. The newly published Working With Real Estate Data course was revealed. 

Great way to get a recap on the RESO Remote sessions and what’s happening in the RESO community. I loved the theme of this year’s conference and how Sam and crew keep the thread flowing through the whole event. I’m still in awe of how they got Snopp Dogg to intro the conference.

“Bow wow wow, yippee yo, yippee yay”!

RESO REMOTE

I’m loving RESO’s album cover campaign. Great to see all this creativity. Don’t forget to register!

UtahRealEstate.com gaining traction in data distribution using RESO standards

UtahRealEstate.com is Leading the MLS Industry in Data Distribution Technology

“In late 2019, URE’s API was finalized by its technical team and the entire MLS database became fully distributable to any vendor or broker that meets URE’s licensing agreement terms. In July of 2020, URE notified all of its vendors (from small local website companies to the largest national vendors) that January of 2021 would be the sunset of all data distribution methods, except for the new API. After that notification, more than 30% of URE’s vendors have converted to the new API, and feeds of every type and kind are flowing through the new technology. Using easy to follow documentation and standardized technology configuration, any licensed vendor can now enter the Utah real estate market and receive a feed of MLS data that is easy to work with, allowing for accelerated innovation in real estate services and tools.”

Sunsetting old data distribution methods is an aggressive move but necessary if they want to see any traction. I’ll quote what I said in the release.

“The path toward adopting new standards is never easy, but we’re happy to partner with UtahRealEstate.com to move the needle forward.”

Great leadership from Brad and his team at UtahRealEstate.com.

RESO Spring Summit going digital

2020 Digital Spring Technology Summit

“Your safety is our top priority. New Orleans is under a state of emergency and Louisiana has banned large meetings through mid-April. We can’t ensure that our 2020 Spring Summit will be allowed to take place, or that it would be safe for our members to travel to it.

Instead of an in-person event, we will deliver the RESO Spring Summit as a digital event. While the RESO team and I are disappointed that we won’t see you in person, we will take this opportunity to reach a broader audience with the industry-leading work that you do.”

Sam DeBoard, CEO RESO

What a bummer, I was really looking forward to this one. But its the right move. I’m sure this won’t be the first or last event that is going “digital” this year.

All I want for Christmas is for NAR to fund RESO a million dollars next year

Now more than ever I feel that RESO has a lot of momentum of helping the industry crack the problem of standards. Many people have led to this stage. I credit Jeremy Crawford for really transforming RESO from a small group of dedicated members to a large industry powerhouse made of people from all roles of organized real estate to help push standards further.

I’ll also give credit to Art Carter and Rebecca Jensen. Both prodded (shamed?) a lot of us to be more involved.   Art was also key in the hiring of Sam DeBord. Sam brings a business acumen to the RESO leadership that I believe is a crucial step in helping make standards a reality.

At the time of his hiring, I wrote  the industry needs to “step up and give Sam and RESO our full support.”

That time is now. I’ve heard that NAR budget for RESO is less than $300K a year. That is shocking. When I think of the millions of dollars spent on RPR, AMP, and Upstream it boggles my mind. Less than $300K?

The arguments for standards in real estate data don’t need to be re-stated here, but to keep this momentum going, RESO needs proper funding. Membership dues and events can only do so much.

In the most recent episode of my podcast, Industry Relations, I recapped the biggest new events of the decade. One of them was the accession of Bob Goldberg to the role of CEO for the National Association of REALTORS. Bob has stated and has delivered on the promise of being more inclusive, wanting to be a partner to new technology companies, and therefore keep NAR members in the mix. I can’t help but think the role of standards fits perfectly into this message.

So on Christmas Eve and the second day of Hanukkah, all I want is for NAR to bring RESO funding to a level where they can do the work needed to bring standards to life.

Vote for Katie!

Voting for the 2020 RESO Board of Directors starts Monday, November 18th. I have to say it’s an outstanding group to choose from. It’s great to see so many people step up and want to help our industry move forward.

Included in this stellar roster of candidates is Katie Smithson. Of course, I’m very biased but I sincerely hope you consider voting for Katie as a 2020 director of RESO. Since the day Katie joined W+R Studios she has always been civic-minded. It’s one of her best traits. She has seen first hand, by working with MLS providers, MLS vendors, and developers, the need and benefit of standards. Katie is more than qualified to help RESO with its goals.

EXp is the first RESO certified brokerage

EXp Realty becomes first RESO-certified brokerage

““More and more companies are realizing that RESO standards are not just for MLSs,” RESO CEO Sam DeBord said, in a statement. “EXp Realty is showing great leadership as a brokerage pushing interoperability and technology innovation for the entire industry.”
DeBord also used the occasion of the newly announced certification to push other brokerages toward the same goal.”

Well done Glenn and the entire eXp team. I agree with Sam, this is an extraordinary show of leadership.

I attended the first couple days of the recent RESO Fall Conference in St. Louis and have more thoughts on RESO, but I’m saving for a longer post next week.

Hello RESO Web API

Cloud Agent Suite Says Goodbye to RETS, Hello to RESO Web API

“When Greg Robertson talks, people listen. If you’ve heard the co-founder of W+R Studios speak at a real estate conference, you know he can be blunt. His frank and pragmatic nature has made him a successful, respected, and much-loved industry leader.
Robertson’s company’s latest bold announcement is lighting the path for others to follow. In June, W+R Studios, creator of Cloud Agent Suite, announced that it would no longer accept RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) feeds for new MLS integrations. Cloud CMA and all other products in the Cloud Agent Suite are now only accepting new feeds via the industry’s modernized data sharing standard: the RESO Web API.”

Somewhat older news, but what a great first sentence. ????

Sam DeBord is RESO’s new CEO

Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) Names Sam DeBord as CEO

Sam DeBord

“DeBord is well-known in the real estate industry and serves as a leader for MLS, REALTOR®, technology, and brokerage organizations. His passion for technology and industry collaboration is expected to energize RESO efforts to more rapidly drive adoption and utilization of standards, providing efficiency throughout the real estate industry. 
“RESO has become vital to shaping the future of our real estate industry,” said DeBord. “I’m thrilled with the opportunity to accelerate the value that we deliver to professionals and consumers through technology innovation. We know that standards adoption is critical to this progress. Our members represent the best technology minds in real estate, and it’s an honor to work with them to move the industry forward.”

RESO

This is a great day for Organized Real Estate. I have to give Art Carter (RESO Chair) and the RESO board of directors a lot of kudos for really stepping up and pursuing a great candidate like Sam.

And mucho mucho respect to Sam DeBord for making this big step in his career. Sam has always contributed his time and energy to moving the industry forward and this is just another example of his commitment and leadership. We all need to step up and and give Sam and RESO our full support.

Marilyn Wilson asks a great question

Marilyn Wilson on the WAV Group Blog…

Why are MLSs making it SO hard to innovate?

“We have made it REALLY hard for the smart 16 year old in her garage to build the next big thing for a brokerage. Frankly, even well-established tech companies have major challenges working with more than 600 organizations. Refer to my commonapp article for more on that topic.

Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of a tech start-up. They have built something interesting. They find a broker that wants to try it out. The broker says go to the MLS and apply for a data license. They are not aware of the differences between an IDX, VOW or Back Office Feed. Most don’t even know what an IDX, VOW or Back Office feed IS! They don’t know that IDX feeds can include actives, actives, pendings and solds or just actives and solds. They have no clue what a non-disclosure state is, what that means and how it affects their product in those states. They don’t know what a “RESO” is or the benefits of using a feed that is RESO Data Dictionary compliant. They may know how to leverage API’s, but don’t know the difference between a RESO Web API and one offered by another group.

The start-up diligently follows the advice of the broker. They set out on a path to get a data feed.

Here’s what happens…or more accurately what DOESN’T happen, on most MLS websites. We make it REALLY difficult for someone new to the industry to figure out how to get that data feed the broker has asked the start-up to go after.”

This whole post is so damn good. Go read it now.

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