Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Inman Anticipation…

Like many of you I’m heading up to San Francisco next week for the Data Summit and Real Estate Connect conference, both hosted by Inman News. So here’s a prelude to some of the things I’m looking forward to and thinking about:

I will be attending Inman’s Data Summit. The event will be hosted by Gahlord DeWald and Rob Hahn. I always enjoy getting together with Gahlord, he is a smart guy and I always learn something so it will be interesting to hear he perspective on the data issues plaguing the MLS/Real Estate Industry. Rob Hahn, aka “The Bard of the Long Form Post”, will be hosting too. Rob is always good at making me re-think my current assumptions or at least giving an interesting perspective.

Dan Woolley will be moderating the “Connect Tech” session once again this year and I’m sure he won’t disappoint. Traditionally a geek fest Dan always seems to bring together great minds for interesting conversation about XML and whatnot. The Connect Tech sessions are scheduled for Wednesday, July 27 and start at 8:30AM and end at 12:00PM.

This year Mike Wurzer takes a break from moderating The MLS Innovation Track (Brian Boero will ably take on the task) on Thursday July 28th, starting at 2:00PM. I’ll be on a panel entitled “Managing Your Distribution Channel and Vendor Relationships Profitably and Responsibly”. On the panel with me will be Curt Beardsley of Move, Inc. So please join me as I try not to look stupid sitting next to Curt.

I’m also a big fan of Brad Inman‘s Welcome Address. This year he will be speaking of “The Post-PC World”. But a lot of the hosting duties appear to be taken over by Chris Smith, Inman’s newly hired “Chief Evangelist”. I’ve seen Chris speak at an Agent Reboot Conference and just sat in on a webinar he hosted yesterday. Chris is the real deal, and a very talented speaker who really knows his stuff. The question remains can he go deeper to the the larger issues involving the real estate industry and not just do a presentation on “The Top 10…..”, I think he can, but as an “evangelist” does he even have to?

I’m also look forward to hearing from Joe Bebbia of Airbnb, which for some reason really fascinates me. It will be good to get Ron Conway’s perspective on things and I think David Pogue will be a good draw as well.

But the “Belle of the Ball” might just be Zillow. After a being valued at just about a Billion dollars these guys have to be pumped, and what a perfect conference to strut their stuff. But don’t think the other guys will be sitting still, word on the street is that there will be at least 1 big announcement next week ( I know, I’m a big tease).

Plus doesn’t it seem like there is a lot more parties this year? Almost every night there are one or two parties to go to. I sure hope my liver is ready.

Parties aside to me the next big issue, which we are already having to face, is the advent of these patent lawsuits. As an independent software developer I can tell you that its a big issue that I’m afraid is only going to get worse. It’s not just a real estate issue, this post by Craig Hockenberry spells it out best.

I arrive Sunday evening. I hope to catch up with everyone. And remember Vendor Alley’s first rule of conferences….Never, And I Mean Never, Go Big On The First Night!

See you there!!

Yardi acquires RealTown/InternetCrusade

Interesting move by Yardi. It does get them deeper in the residential real estate game. RealTown is still very popular and IC had run NAR’s Technology Certification in the past. Congrats to Saul, John and the rest of the RealTown team!

[Update: Made a correction to timing of IC’s involvement with NAR]
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts: Yardi Systems Inc. REEPCO Inc.
Joel Nelson Ashley Ruble-English
800-866-1144 x1255 866-377-0627 x615
Joel.Nelson at yardi dot com Ashley at RealTown dot com

Yardi Systems Acquires Real Estate Electronic Publishing Company Inc.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Feb. 1, 2011 – Yardi Systems today announced the acquisition of Real Estate Electronic Publishing Company Inc. (REEPCO).

Headquartered in San Diego, REEPCO owns and operates InternetCrusade® (IC), a national technology training organization for real estate professionals, and RealTown® (www.realtown.com), the industry’s oldest online real estate community. In 2001, IC created the National Association of Realtors’ exclusive Technology Certification Program, which has provided online technology education to more than 65,000 NAR members. IC and RealTown also manage numerous online communities and offer such productivity tools as e-mail and domain services to real estate professionals.

REEPCO’s entire management team and employee population will remain with the company and operate from its San Diego offices.

“With access to REEPCO’s sales channels, publishing and content syndication resources and educational training infrastructure, this acquisition will make many of our new products available to a large number of real estate professionals,” said Anant Yardi, president of Yardi.

About Yardi
Yardi Systems has been committed to the design, development and support of real estate investment management and property management software for nearly 30 years. With its Yardi Multifamily Suite™, Yardi Commercial Suite™ and Yardi Investment Suite™, the Yardi Voyager™ system is the most comprehensive single real estate management platform on the market today. Yardi serves clients around the world from offices in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. More information about Yardi products and services is available at www.yardi.com.

About REEPCO
REEPCO, established in 1995, is best known under the industry trusted InternetCrusade® (IC) brand. IC owns and operates the oldest online real estate community, RealTown (www.RealTown.com), and is recognized for its national broker and agent training infrastructure, having delivered more than 3,600 live technology training programs in the U.S. and Canada. IC created and operated the National Association of Realtors’ exclusive Technology Certification Program (e-PRO®) between 2001 and 2010. The company also created NAR’s Web 2.0 & Social Media Course in 2009.

Market Leader acquires kwkly.

Fresh off last weeks announcement that Keller Williams had chosen Market Leader for their eEdge platform the boys in Kirkland Washington are at it again and have announced the acquisition of kwkly.

Gotta wonder if this starts another round acquisitions as companies start to plan for a market recovery.

Congrats to both Market Leader and kwkly!

See full press release below:

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SOURCE: Market Leader, Inc.

Jan 20, 2011 09:00 ET
Market Leader® Acquires Mobile Software-as-a-Service Company kwkly
Innovative Lead Generation Tool Used By Leading Brokerage Companies Nationwide
KIRKLAND, WA–(Marketwire – January 20, 2011) – Market Leader (NASDAQ: LEDR) (http://www.MarketLeader.com), an innovator in online marketing and technology solutions for real estate professionals, has acquired kwkly, a mobile software-as-a-service lead generation platform. The innovative kwkly service has grown rapidly over the past two years and is now being used by some of the real estate industry’s largest and most prominent brokerage companies to successfully engage today’s tech-savvy home buyers and sellers.
kwkly provides home buyers with real-time access to detailed property information straight from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to their mobile phone. At the same time, kwkly connects real estate professionals with buyers immediately, giving them both the property information along with agent contact information for follow-up.
“kwkly is the most exciting tech tool I’ve seen for the industry, because of the speed, simplicity and value it brings both agents and the consumer,” said John Thompson, Executive Vice President of Intero Real Estate.
Market Leader’s acquisition of kwkly expands the offerings that the company can make available through its comprehensive business and marketing platform for real estate professionals. Kwkly has grown rapidly and brings customers associated with some of the real estate industry’s largest and most successful real estate franchise brands, including RE/MAX, Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., Baird & Warner, Century 21, Prudential, Intero Real Estate and more.
“kwkly is an innovative service that has become an important lead generation tool for some of the nation’s most prestigious brokerage companies,” said Ian Morris, CEO of Market Leader, Inc. “We look forward to introducing this leading edge mobility solution to an even broader audience while helping our customers to achieve even greater success.”
For more information about kwkly, please visit www.kwkly.com. For more information on Market Leader and its products, visit www.MarketLeader.com.
About Market Leader
Market Leader (NASDAQ: LEDR) provides real estate professionals with innovative marketing and technology solutions that enable them to grow and manage their business. Founded in 1999 by a second-generation real estate agent, Market Leader provides real estate agents, agent teams, and brokerage companies with subscription-based real estate marketing software and advertising products that enable them to generate a steady stream of prospects, as well as the tools and training they need to convert these prospects into clients.
With a long history of innovation, Market Leader pioneered online lead generation for real estate professionals a decade ago and today is the leading marketing partner to the real estate industry. The company also provides consumers with free access to the information and tools they need throughout the home buying and selling process, such as determining house values by address, and providing access to real estate listings, through its national consumer real estate sites. These websites enable Market Leader to provide its customers with access to millions of future home buyers and sellers while providing these consumers with free access to the information they seek throughout the home buying and selling process.
For more information on Market Leader visit www.MarketLeader.com.
LEDR: CORPORATE
Investor Contact:
Mark Lamb
Director of Investor Relations
Market Leader, Inc.
425-952-5801
markl at marketleader dot com

Press Contact:
Matt Heinz
Heinz Marketing for Market Leader, Inc.
877-291-0006
matt at heinzmarketing dot com

MRED to provide Cloud CMA to all 40,000 members.

Needless to say we are super excited about working with Russ and MRED again.  And a special thanks to Lynn Strantz for help making this happen.

See the full press release below:

SOURCE: Midwest Real Estate Data

644590_Final_logo_MRED.jpg

Nov 02, 2010 12:01 ET

Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) Enters Into Licensing Agreement for Cloud CMA

Highlighted Links

Midwest Real Estate Data

LISLE, IL–(Marketwire – November 2, 2010) –  Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) announced today it has entered into a licensing agreement to provide MRED’s 40,000 customers with W&R Studios’ Cloud CMA product in early 2011.

Cloud CMA is an innovative as well as eye-catching product for preparing comparative market analyses, buyer’s tours and other property reports. With Cloud CMA users can easily create amazing presentations from a desktop/laptop or mobile smartphone, with exclusive blended data from top websites including Google, Zillow, education.com, Walk Score, Yelp and more.

When Cloud CMA is integrated with MRED’s connectMLS™ MLS system, users will be able to search for listings and comparables and seamlessly launch the Cloud CMA package to produce stunning reports that will help them win more listings and write more offers.

“One of MRED’s goals is to locate tools with which to arm real estate professionals so that they are the driving force for every real estate transaction,” said Russ Bergeron, CEO of MRED. “Cloud CMA will enable our customers to create personalized reports that blend data from our MLS and top websites to give their clients the full spectrum of real estate information.”

“The key aspect of Cloud CMA our Board found most attractive is that it provides our agents with a cutting edge tool that incorporates all of the real estate information available for today’s agent,” stated Dean Rouso, President of MRED.

Kelly Reichert, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Ft. Collins, Colorado, and an avid Cloud CMA user, said, “I’m so excited with the Cloud CMA program. This program saves me so much time in preparing a market analysis. I am so grateful I have this tool!”

“Cloud CMA’s reports aren’t just a pretty face — they have a purpose, too,” said Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios. “The layout, page order, content and design are all about taking your client to the next step, whether it’s making an offer, or signing that listing agreement. If you can use e-mail you can use Cloud CMA.”

About MRED

Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor that provides the largest multiple listing service (by listing volume) to over 40,000 customers, with property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana.

About W&R Studios

Founded in 2008, W&R Studios is a privately held web software company located in Huntington Beach, California. W&R Studios focuses on creating the next generation of web-based software solutions for the real estate industry. By providing a “less is more” approach to software design, elegant user interfaces, and using the latest in agile programming, W&R Studios’ software applications are at the same time powerful, yet accessible to everyone.

For further information contact:
Jeff Lasky
MRED Director of Communications and Training
630-799-1470
Email Contact

Russ Bergeron
MRED Chief Executive Officer
630-955-2765

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