This is too funny….
Name withheld to protect the innocent.
Director of MLS Compliance
Richmond Association of REALTORS®, Inc.
“Working with the Vice President of Professional Development and Compliance with Central Virginia Regional Multiple Listing System (MLS) maintain, develop and enforce MLS rules and policy. This position is responsible for the daily oversight of CVR MLS operations and serves as lead for external and internal inquiries on MLS policy/compliance issues and as a technical resource for Matrix and other MLS related services.”
To find out about this job and others please visit the Vendor Alley Job Board!
Placester, a real estate tech provider, raises another $50 million
“Drawing on data partnerships with hundreds of multiple listing services (MLSs), Placester provides websites, lead management and marketing tools to agents. It also powers the property-search tools of many news websites. The latest raise brings the company’s total funding to $100 million.
The round “will support our aggressive product roadmap and address the full breadth of challenges and opportunities that define the future of digital for real estate professionals,” CEO Matt Barba said in a statement.”
$100M, that’s a lot of cheddar!
Here’s the thing, and I believe I written this before, what I like about Placester is it’s inclusive strategy. While Zillow only really wants to focus on “super agents” and “teams”, Placester says, come as you are. Real estate is an aspirational business and I think Placester realizes that fact.
Congrats to Matt and team.
These guys are doing some very cool stuff in regards to home valuations. Check out this video of HouseCanary CEO, Jeremy Sicklick, giving a presentation at Google Next.
Here’s the press release.
HOUSECANARY ANNOUNCES COLLABORATION WITH GOOGLE CLOUD PLATFORM
HouseCanary’s predictive data analytics engine processes thousands of data elements spanning 40 years of historical data and one billion residential real estate transactions. HouseCanary indexes, standardizes, and analyzes the data to forecast home-price valuations and market trends for 3 million residential blocks, 18,000 zip codes, and 381 U.S. metropolitan areas. Using the latest machine learning and data modeling techniques, HouseCanary’s team of data scientists and engineers have developed the industry-leading approach to modernize the residential real estate market.
A couple things to announce. Inman News will be the exclusive distributor of my podcast, Listing Bits. I’m super excited about this and my thanks to Brad for helping it find a wider audience.
Here’s my latest, an interview with Kevin Greene about how he started in the industry and about CoreLogic’s new initiative, “Trestle”.
Listing Bits: CoreLogic’s Kevin Greene talks Trestle upgrade
You will still be able to listen to Listing Bits on your favorite podcast app, but it most likely will be posted on Inman News first.
We’re feeling a little déjà vu at Industry Relations as controversy brews between Zillow and brokers in NYC. Everything old is new again with the launch of the premier agent feature on leading real estate marketplace StreetEasy. For the last ten years, agents across the country have dealt with syndication – and it seems New York real estate’s time has come.
Today’s guest, Greg Fischer, serves as principal broker at Fred Real Estate Group in Bend, Oregon, and author of the blog Next in Housing. His unique background also includes work in the tech industry with real estate software companies Move, Inc. in San Francisco and Doorsteps in New York City. This makes him uniquely qualified to discuss the bruhaha as NYC brokers decide whether to pay the Zillow tax or boycott it.
**Audio alert. Robertson’s audio track has an echo effect that we couldn’t get rid of in post. But Fischer and Rob audio (which handle the majority of the discussion) sounds great.***
What’s Discussed:
How NYC brokers reacted to the premier agent feature on StreetEasy
How StreetEasy GM Susan Daimler justified the change
-Home shoppers deserve the option to connect with agent who represents only them
The explicit language used by the StreetEasy product to suggest a buyer agent
Why NYC should seek the counsel of brokerages around the country who have dealt with syndication
How Manhattan real estate does business differently
-Listing agents are used to owning all buyer leads
REBNY’s request for an investigation into the legality of advertising an exclusive listing
The potential to create an MLS in NYC
-Change in compensation model
-Dominance of top ten listing brokers
-Legal ramifications of only sharing data feed with REBNY
The differences among IDX, VOW and StreetEasy’s premier agent
The danger of dual agency
Fischer’s take on leads generated via third-party websites
-Inquiries rarely lead to sales
The evolution of Zillow’s playbook on generating revenue
Why brokerages need to get savvy on how ad tech works
The value of agents as local experts
Compass CEO Robert Reffkin’s concession to Zillow
Resources:
Greg Fischer’s Premier Agent Blog Post
The Real Deal’s Premier Agent Article
The Real Deal’s Premier Agent Video
Connect with Greg Fischer:
The Central Oregon Association of REALTORS®
MLS Technology Director
“The Central Oregon Association of REALTORS® located in the mountain community of Bend, Oregon is actively seeking an MLS Technology Director to assist in supporting the association and MLS in their technology and MLS support needs for approximately 2,000 members.”
To find more about this job and other visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.
Two Largest MLSs in Connecticut Approve Merger
” The merger announcement follows the successful, unanimous votes of Directors and Brokers in both multiple listing services (MLSs) as well as the Board of Directors of Connecticut REALTORS®. “I could not be more proud of the Realtor® spirit of this merger whereby the combined leadership of the CTMLS and GFC CMLS Board of Directors made a conscious decision to stay focused on the best outcome for our Realtor® members and the clients they serve,” said newly named SmartMLS President Michael Barbaro, he continued “as a result we were able to make it to today’s announcement in record time of four months.”
This brings membership to over 18,000. Both are on Matrix. And it looks like Cameron and Kathy will serve as Co-CEOs of the new MLS. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before.
In the meantime if you are looking to merge a few MLS providers and need to come up with a name that screams intelligence then time is running out!
BrightMLS and now SmartMLS are now taken. But Vendor Alley is here to help. Take your pick!
GeniusMLS
WiseMLS
BrillantMLS
SharpMLS
WhizMLS (personal favorite)
BrainyMLS
Rob and Greg are back, and this time they are debating an unusual strategy real estate coaches and trainers might employ to establish credibility – using the techniques of the pickup artist community.
In researching the dating habits and family formation of millennials (for work – no, really!), Rob happened upon a company called Real Social Dynamics, the world’s largest dating coaching company. Among their promotional materials are YouTube videos called ‘infields’ in which their coaches demonstrate the company’s techniques for attracting women in real situations at parties and nightclubs.
This got Rob to thinking, “Why don’t we do that in real estate?” On this episode of the podcast, Rob and Greg explore the feasibility of real estate trainers generating similar footage to market their services.
What’s Discussed:
How infield footage lends credibility to the trainer
The legality and ethics of filming interactions with clients
How Hear It Direct sought to give professionals an understanding of the consumer point of view
Why data (# of transactions) may not be enough to establish a coach’s authority
-Numbers demonstrate personal credibility (sufficient for the consumer)
-Infields would establish credibility for the tactics you are selling
The significance of training as a key value proposition for every association
The aspects of an agent’s work that could benefit from infields
-Listing presentations
-In-person lead generation
-Buyer negotiations
-Sphere of influence calls
-Customer relationship management
Resources:
Real Social Dynamics YouTube Channel
Connect with Rob and Greg:
Speaking of new gigs, looks like Wendy Forsythe has joined Swanepoel T3 Group. They have just announced a new brokerage consulting division, dubbed T3 Broker, that Wendy will lead.
Swanepoel T3 Group Adds New Brokerage Consulting Division
Wendy Forsythe, real estate veteran of 20 years and a Gen Xer, joins the Swanepoel T3 Group as the president of T3 Broker. A division of T3 Sixty, T3 Broker will provide management consulting services to U.S. and Canadian real estate brokerages regarding expansion strategies, business planning, market analysis, compensation evaluation and leadership development.
With extensive management experience in the real estate industry, Forsythe was formerly Head of Global Operations at Carrington Real Estate Services, a company with 36 offices and over $2.3 billion in annual sales. Previously she served as Senior Vice President of Network Services for Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, a Realogy brand, and Vice President of Sales for Royal LePage, Canada’s largest real estate company.
This is on the heels of Kevin McQueen joining Swanepoel’s MLS Consulting division. Congrats to Wendy and the entire T3 team.