Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Fear and why iBuyers Offers and Zestimates belong in your CMAs

Jay Thompson, writing on Inman News, Why iBuyers and Zestimates belong in your CMAs 

“Greg Robertson, W+R Studios co-founder, was attacked, called clueless, and challenged as to whether he had any industry experience (yes, almost three decades worth.) IBuyers, also highlighted in the headline, got one mention. Nothing else in the survey report was discussed. A few commenters waded into the fray showing understanding of why they at least look at Zestimates and sometimes mention them in listing presentations. The vast majority of commenters sounded off on the evils of Zillow and the Zestimate.”

I will say I am “clueless” about many, many things. My wife will tell you as much.

Sorry this post is a little long, but I think it touches on a lot of issues (not to mention a shameless plug for my company ????).

Jay, as you may know, is a former broker (The Phoenix Real Estate Guy) and worked at Zillow in Industry Relations for some time. His article is in response to an article published on Inman News about W+R Studios’ announcement of the results of their inaugural survey, 2020 Best Practices of CMAs and Listing Presentations.

Here’s more from Jay…

“No one, including Zillow, W+R Studios or me, is saying the Zestimate should be used as a comparable in your CMA. Of course it shouldn’t be, that’s not its intent or purpose. But to ignore it is to ignore something your clients are looking at and wondering about. Address it upfront, leave out your personal feelings about Zillow, and put any objections to rest early in the process. The listing presentation is the ideal time to address it with sellers, and the CMA is the perfect place to have it on record. “

Emphasis mine

Cloud CMA pioneered ways of including Zestimates to compare against actual sold prices from the MLS data as part of a Cloud CMA report. This has since been copied by other vendors. I was surprised by the amount of push-back we got when we introduced it. Many MLS organizations (after pushback from their members) made us turn the report page off by default, or in some cases, turned off altogether. But every time I sat down, one on one, with a broker or MLS executive and showed them how the report page worked, they understood, “wow this is great, agents are going to love it.”

This happens all the time. Many agents and brokers just hear/read “Zestimate” or “iBuyer” and begin to see red.

As we can see in the survey results and the comments on the article there is still a lot of fear out there. And as Mr. Hurbert once wrote, “fear, is the mind-killer”.

Flash forward to a little less than a year ago when W+R Studios introduced a way of including iBuyer Offers (with Opendoor) in Cloud CMA. We were met with the same type of fear and got a lot of push back and false claims.

“You’re going to put agents out of business!”
“Shame on you Cloud CMA!”

And those were the polite ones. I took these comments hard. We put many of our partner MLS organizations in a tough spot. They began to get calls from their members that “Cloud CMA was sending our CMAs to Opendoor!” (not true). The misinformation got so bad we had to create a document refuting some of the most outrages claims.

But we held firm because we knew, to paraphrase Jay, the listing presentation is an ideal time to address iBuyer Offers, and the CMA is a perfect place to have it on record.

Dan and I are always looking for new ways to innovate, and we are willing to take risks and keep our customers ahead of the curve. Even if these ideas seem crazy or counter-intuitive at the time.

The main thing that got us through the periods I wrote about above was, in the end, our customers (MLS organizations, brokers, and agents) trusted us.

In a recent “Friday Flash” blog post, titled “What are you saying” Brian Boero, CEO of 100watt wrote:

“Honestly, I am glad we have arrived at a point where there are no more red lines to transgress. I used to get revved up about this stuff too. Now, Zillow buys, owns and sells homes, Realtor.com charges referral fees, and yet good agents, teams and brokers continue to do their thing. “

Unlike Brian, I don’t think we are there yet. We still need to get over our fear of these new (old?) models, which as Rob Hahn and I discuss in recent Industry Relations podcast point out, keep turning more and more towards agent inclusion. We need to focus our energy on more positive things. We have a lot more to worry about than Zestimates and iBuyers.

I just hope the industry can take the advice of what a wise old hippie once said…

“You gotta let that shit go, man. Let it go.”

W+R Studios’ 2020 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Listing Presentations

Got a few nice write-ups on a recent survey W+R Studios put out.

From Andrea Brambila of Inman News – Most agents aren’t including Zestimates, iBuyer info in CMAs

“W+R Studios, whose flagship product is comparative market analysis software Cloud CMA, fielded the survey “2020 Survey of Best Practices for CMAs and Listing Presentations” online from May 18 to May 31. The company sent the survey to its 298,520 Cloud CMA agent and broker subscribers, of which 3,325 completed the survey. Survey respondents hail from 46 states nationwide.

“Any agent creating a comparative market analysis wonders whether they are ‘doing it right’ or is curious about what other agents include or don’t include in their CMA. This survey gives agents an inside peek at the best practices of what goes into creating a winning CMA,” said Frances Wiseman, director of marketing for W+R Studios, in a statement.”

I was also surprised that most agents were not including Zestimates in their CMAs. Less so about iBuyer offers, since the number of iBuyer markets is still limited.

From Victor Lund of the WAV Group – Survey Results: Best Practices for CMA

“A powerful data component that is affirmed by the report is that agents interrogate all listing statuses in their CMA. Active listings are important to understand what is available to buyers today, but pricing is particularly influenced by pending, sold, expired, and withdrawn listings. The CMA may be one of the reasons why homes are selling so much faster (lower days on market) than ever before. It is hard for a listing to hide when the listing price is too high. Surprisingly, the report indicates that the properties included in a CMA range from 5 to 11. Agents focus on the Days on Market Comparison more than 61% of the time, making it one of the most vital calculations in the CMA report.”

Yup, Days on Market (DOM) is a huge deal for agents. Which I know is a battle at most MLS organizations.

Check out the full results here. If you are at an MLS organization this would be a perfect thing to share, since a lot of agents wonder whether they are doing a CMA “right”.

I would love to hear any suggestions to make the report better for next year. Are there any questions you want to ask? Let me know.

The Art of the CMA

So I wrote a book.  I’m self-publishing it. I’m getting some final feedback on the copy/content and finishing up the images, but in the next few weeks, we will be sending it to the printer.  So, I’m looking for some feedback.

But first, let me tell you a story.  I began writing the book almost two years ago.  One of my favorite artists is John Coltrane.  My son’s name is Cole, which was a compromise I made with my wife. Which should give you an idea of how much of a geek I am.

John Coltrane used to live in Long Island, NY.   MLS of Long Island (MLSLI) holds a tech fair every year in October and his house isn’t far from the hotel I stay in.  So each year I’ve driven by it.  There’s a plaque outside the house that memorializes it. It’s not Graceland or Paisley Park. It’s was just the humble home of a great artist.

For inspiration, I wrote the first words of my book outside that house.  Since then I’ve struggled, started, and stopped multiple times.  Then, last year I was attending a trade show on content marketing in Cleveland and ran into an old colleague/friend of mine, Charles Warnock.  I hired Charles years ago to run marketing at eNeighborhoods and now had a consulting business called Content Marketing Factory. We have been keeping in touch but had a chance to catch up with a couple of drinks at the conference.  Charles mentioned he was co-authoring a book on enterprise innovation and digital transformation. Immediately I told him I was working on a book too, and was having trouble completing it and staying focused.  He was excited by the idea of the book.  So I struck a deal with Charles and he has been invaluable in helping me get the book completed.

So I’ve been working with the graphic designers on my team to create the cover of the book. I’ve decided on a layout and now I’ve narrowed it down to 3 different versions of that layout. So I’m looking for feedback on these three final designs. That’s where you come in.

The name of my book is “The Art of the CMA”. I’ll write more about the concept and content of the book in a later blog post.

Design #1

COVER DESIGN CANDIDATE # 1

This the basic layout.  I’m using Neutra (pronounced noy-tra) as the main font.  It’s named for a famous Architect, Richard Neutra. Neutra is used in a lot of signage. It’s the same font I used for our building signage at W+R Studios building and the original W&R Studios buttery soft t-shirts.  I like the fact that the font is tied to dwellings.  The public library in Huntington Beach was designed by him, right before he died and his son took over the project.

The green I use is the same green as Cloud CMA.  But I only mention Cloud CMA once in the book.

The sub-headline “Winning Listings by Mastering Real Estate’s Best Marketing Tool” isn’t final, but I haven’t come up with anything better.

And of course, the illustration is of a house, with a dollar sign symbolizing the value.

Design #2

COVER DESIGN CANDIDATE #2

In this version, we have added multiple colors to the line color of the illustration.  Like an artist’s palette.  The feedback I’ve heard so far is that it looks too close to a company logo during “Pride” month. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…

Design #3

COVER DESIGN CANDIDATE #3

Here the artist’s palette vibe and color are more prominent and we changed the color of some of the copy.

So there you have it.  I’ve created a quick poll that you can fill out below. Or write something in the comments or just send me an email. I’m beyond excited about this project and happy to have all of you share in its creation.


Join me tomorrow for “Coffee Chat” with RE Technology

RETechnology

Greg Robertson will be joining us tomorrow during RE Technology’s Daily Coffee Chat to show you the New Cloud CMA Live. This feature is 6 months in the making and their timing could not be any better. Their main goal was to give you a new way to present.

We have talked a lot about Virtual Open Houses and virtual showings, but this takes it to another level with its integration of Zoom, Skype and Google Hangouts. The best thing about this new feature is it is free to all existing Cloud CMA Subscribers.

Register here to get a front row seat:
https://lnkd.in/g68id3c

The fun starts at 9AM PT tomorrow.

“The best product in years”

West+Main Homes

Replay: Cloud CMA Live Demo and Discussion with West + Main Homes

“I must implore brokers and agents to truly discover where this tool fits in your stack and master the workflow for discussing a group of listings as compared to another one. Cloud CMA and it’s Live upgrade are customizable with PDF upload modules and a simple WYSIWYG editors for additional content. Don’t try to shove every other part of your process into this product – and simply marvel at the beauty in having a tool that fits one piece perfectly.

With a true product category leader on the table, MLS, Associations, Brokers, and Agents must figure out how to get the product in the hands of every single user in the country.

The folks at W+R Studios threw down an instant classic, much like the Led Zeppelin debut.”

I’m feeling a whole lotta love from a great blog post from Greg Fischer, industry vet and tech luminary, of real estate brokerage, West+Main Homes.

Greg interviewed Damien Huze, Chief Design Officer, and Sky Winston design engineer at W+R Studios about the design decisions of Cloud CMA Live. After the discussion Damien gave a full demo.

Webinar: How to Effectively Implement a Front End of Choice solution at your MLS organization

I hope everyone is staying safe out there! I haven’t heard of any of you getting sick, so that’s a good thing.

I wanted to let you know about something I’ve got planned for next week.

Katie Smithson and I are hosting a webinar next Tuesday on How to Effectively Implement a Front End of Choice solution at your MLS organization.

When Dan Woolley and I started our first company (IRIS, LLC) in the early nineties our first product was a front end of choice type software solution, it was called Lightning – Easy MLS Access. It was an alternative to the other terminal access software solutions being provided by MLS Vendors.

So when the concept of Front End of Choice came back into vogue I knew our company, W+R Studios would be a natural to take advantage.

But things are different now. MLS organizations have had varying success launching and increasing adoption with these new solutions. Giving your members more choices can bring a lot of benefits but also more than a few challenges.

So next Tuesday Katie and I are going to be talking about ways to successfully implement a Front End of Choice solution in your market. We will have actionable things you can do at your MLS organization today, with just a small bit of effort.

If you are interested, please click on the link below to register.

Click here to register = > How to Effectively Implement a Front End of Choice Webinar

P.S. This video I did three years ago, pairs nicely and gives some perspective with what we are going to discuss on the webinar.

2020 HW Tech100 Real Estate winners

Lots of great companies were featured on Housing Wire’s Tech100 Real Estate list, including:

Black Knight, Bright MLS, CRS Data, Homes.com, Homesnap, MARIS MLS, Opendoor, Propy, realtor.com, Redfin, Referral Exchange, Redfin, Remine, ShowingTime, TrustFunds, VESTAPLUS, WiseAgent, W+R Studios, Zillow and many more.

“This year’s Tech100 winners blew past innovation, moving beyond innovation to transformation,” HousingWire Associate Magazine Editor Kelsey Ramírez said. “In both the real estate and mortgage sectors, fintech companies continue to create new ways to approach the housing process, improving efficiencies, cutting costs and creating a new experience for all parties involved.”

Congrats to all the winners.

Agent Webinar: How to Effectively Deliver a Winning Listing Presentation

I don’t typically do this but I wanted to share that I’m hosting a webinar next week with Sharran Srivatsaa. I’ve known Sharran for a while now and he really is a great teacher.

Sharran is going to talk about helping agents do better listing presentations. I’ve seen him do this presentation live and its gold. He has real-world experience, he grew Teles Properties by 10x in 5 years and led its acquisition to national real estate powerhouse Douglas Elliman. He’s legit.

So I would love it you could share the link below, I know a lot of agents will benefit.

How to Effectively Deliver a Winning Listing Presentation

thanks!

Looking for a new gig?

Senior Developer – W+R Studios

“W+R Studios is seeking a Senior Developer with advanced Ruby on Rails skills to play a key role in a growing, agile product development team. This person will work with our team of programmers, designers, project managers, and senior management on existing and new web and mobile apps for the real estate industry. The primary responsibility of this position is to develop new products, features, and fixes for our subscribers. We have offices in Huntington Beach, CA and Boulder, CO and are open to adding more remote positions in select areas.”

Check out the Vendor Alley Job Board to find the industry’s best and brightest and find out more how you can become a part of the team at W+R Studios.

Cloud CMA now integrates with Buyside data

Cloud CMA launches new data integration with Buyside

“Agents who create listing presentations with Cloud CMA are about to get a new edge in their efforts to win clients thanks to a new integration with data firm Buyside.
The integration, which was announced Tuesday, will let agents directly incorporate Buyside’s real-time market data into their presentations. Pennsylvania-based Buyside compiles data from online portals, open house software and various other sources to identify how many people are looking for a particular type of property at any given moment.”

Jim Dalrymple II at Inman News

We’ve always made it a point to be inclusive of data and tools that help brokers and agents look awesome in front of their clients. Showing the homeowner real-time data of the number of buyers looking for homes like theirs is a no-brainer. This new integration does exactly that with just the click of a button.

2020 is going to be a great year for Cloud CMA customers. I’m so grateful and proud of our team at W+R Studios and I can’t wait to share with you what they have been cooking up!

Sponsored By Paragon Connect