October 10, 2018 - Vendor Alley

OJO Labs acquires WolfNet Technologies

“Specific financial terms were not made public but the deal involved a mix of equity and stock.

The founders of both companies, who had previously been working together on a partnership wherein OJO was using multiple listing service (MLS) data from Wolfnet, said that the deal made sense because of the synergies to be found between them, merging a new consumer-facing property search tool in the form of OJO with a trusted agent-and-broker focused software and data company in the form of WolfNet.”

Seems like every week a deal gets announced and this is a pretty big one! I con only think of one other vendor that currently aggregates the amount of MLS data WolfNet does. I don’t know much about OJO Labs but they are VC backed.

Joel is definitely an O.G. in the industry and a big congrats to him and his team.

How do MLS executives make decisions around which technology solutions work best for their REALTOR-members? What motivates leadership to establish a system of choice? Are there benefits to offering agents options when it comes to MLS solutions? And what are the challenges associated with giving members more alternatives?

DaVina Lara is the CEO of the Oakland/Berkeley Association of REALTORSand bridgeMLS. Her career in real estate began working for Russ Bergeron at SoCalMLS in 1993. Since then, she has served as an association executive with both the Hemet San Jacinto and Palm Springs Regional Association of REALTORS. DaVina took on the role of OBAR CEO in August of 2015 and added the MLS leadership responsibilities in April of 2016. She is committed to providing members with access to reliable data through innovative technology, offering subscribers access to 10-plus MLSs across California.

Today, DaVina shares her extensive industry resume, discussing her early years as the office manager for SoCalMLS through her current role as MLS and association executive. She explains the thinking behind her decision to implement a system of choice and what impressed her about the dynaConnections’ connectMLS system. Listen in for DaVina’s insight around the pros and cons of offering members additional technology options and learn more about the trend to separate listing input from MLS systems.

What’s Discussed:

DaVina’s early years as the office manager for OCMLS

DaVina’s extensive resume in the real estate industry

Why DaVina is establishing a system of choice

DaVina’s goals as the CEO of bridgeMLS