Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Listing Syndication 3.0

I got a chance to take a look at the new ListHub interface a few days ago. The product/service is what I would term a 3.0 release. “3.0” is software parlance for a “mature” product/service.

One thing struck out at me though, “MLS Preferred Publishers”.

For some reason, and it may just be me, but the ability for MLS providers to call out (by non inclusion) publishers they don’t condone seems problematic. It reminds me of the early days of IDX when new business models (internet only brokerages) were popping up and MLS providers (via broker members) would come up with rules and regs to keep them out. We all know what happen next. Three little letters: DOJ. As I’ve said, I could be wrong here, and I understand the spirt of this feature but it will be interesting to see how many MLS provider actively participate and denote publishers “preferred”.

Other than that concern I think this is a solid release that shows that the people at MOVE and ListHub have been listening to feedback from all participants, and that’s a good thing.

For a great overview of the new features see the video below:

Kristi Graning is leaving RE/MAX

Kristi Graning
When I first heard the news I was shocked.

After a stunning 21 year career Kristi Graning has announced she is leaving RE/MAX. I’ve written a lot about Kristi on this blog. She is what I call a “triple-threat” in the industry. Having worked with her back when RE/MAX launched their “network of broker IDX websites” (which put RE/MAX as the solid number 1 franchisor on the web) I witnessed first hand the commitment she gave RE/MAX and the huge accomplishments she made during her tenure there.

This move gives me some pause on the state of RE/MAX currently. This departure was clearly Kristi’s decision and makes me wonder what she knows that the rest of us don’t know.

She had posted on Facebook that she has been talking to several companies but decided to spend the summer with her boys.

I wish her nothing but success and know that we will be hearing from her soon enough on her next chapter.

RE/MAX selects Homes.com

This is a wonderful story. It’s a story only a few people in the industry can fully appreciate. I’m glad I’m one of them.

Both RE/MAX and Dominion Enterprises have gone through a lot in the past few years and its great to see when the good guys win.

It all began when Dave Liniger made the statement that the industry was being besieged by companies that were “bring nothing but a fork to the potluck”. Then in 2005 RE/MAX announced a bold new strategy where RE/MAX International would create a “network of broker idx sites” under remax.com and give all the leads free to RE/MAX associates. They selected eNeighborhoods as their vendor and with Kristi Graning leading the effort on the RE/MAX side they went on a roll that solidified RE/MAX as the top innovator in the online real estate market for the next several years.

I was leading the sales and marketing division at eNeighborhoods when we signed the deal with RE/MAX but the real credit goes to Andy Woolley for recognizing the opportunity and leading the effort to make it come to life.

A lot has happen since. eNeighborhoods had been bought by Dominion Enterprises, and then Dominion Enterprises tried to sell itself unsuccessfully. And of course the real estate crisis took over the country. Both companies retrenched. In the case of Dominion Enterprises they consolidated most of the companies they acquired and formed Homes Media Solutions. And who can blame them? Homes.com is a true player in the online real estate space. It made sense for them to finally do the hard work on integrating all the companies under one platform.

RE/MAX has also dealt with internal struggles as well. Independent brokers have asserted their independence from the mothership with mixed results. But with this partnership it appears that RE/MAX corporate has regained some of their footing. And ask any vendor in the industry what franchisor would be number one on their list to partner with? The answer is RE/MAX. Why? Despite the fascination with “agent count” anyone that really knows this industry knows that RE/MAX has consistently the most productive agents in the business. Period.

So congratulations all around. RE/MAX is hosting their annual convention in Las Vegas right now and I’m sure Andy, Kristi, Marnie, Staci and the rest of the crew are celebrating over some good food and great wine (chosen expertly by Andy ‘natch!).

Cheers!

Full Press Release Below:
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Homes.com and RE/MAX® Launch New Online Strategic Partnership

Homes.com selected to power remax.com and create new mobile apps suite

(Norfolk, VA, March 6, 2012) —Homes.com and RE/MAX®, LLC, announced today the launch of a major new online marketing partnership. RE/MAX has selected Homes.com to power the new remax.com website and the newly released suite of RE/MAX mobile applications for Apple and Android mobile devices. The two organizations will also be launching collaborative efforts to market Homes.com local advertising products and the new Homes Connect marketing platform to RE/MAX Sales Associates throughout North America.

“We’re thrilled that RE/MAX has selected Homes.com to power the most important elements of their online marketing efforts. Remax.com is clearly a leading property search destination and is the cornerstone of the RE/MAX online strategy,” says Brock MacLean, executive vice president of Homes.com. “By combining our proven search technology with the powerful reach of our Homes.com website and mobile applications, we’ve developed a complementary approach to ensure traffic and leads from both websites are delivered efficiently and directly to RE/MAX Sales Associates.”

Key aspects of the Homes.com and RE/MAX partnership include:

Homes.com will build and host the new remax.com, leveraging the same innovative technology that powers Homes.com and Homes Connect.
The new RE/MAX mobile application suite for Apple and Android devices was developed by and is hosted on the Homes.com platform. Versions for other devices will be available soon.
RE/MAX listings will also be showcased on Homes.com, driving new traffic to remax.com and leads downstream to RE/MAX offices and Sales Associates.
A RE/MAX co-branded version of Homes Connect is being marketed by the two companies to RE/MAX Broker-Owners and Sales Associates throughout North America.
“The selection of Homes.com as our preferred online marketing partner is the result of a two year evaluation, and considerations of a variety of approaches and potential partners,” said Marnie Blanco, RE/MAX Vice President of eBusiness. “In the process, it became clear that the best approach was to leverage the powerful technology of a national listing portal that could lead consumers to remax.com. Homes.com provides RE/MAX all the components and the clearest path to making this complementary approach a reality.”

“With all the negative attention lately surrounding syndication, it’s important the Homes.com brand and mission avoid getting caught up in that fray,” added MacLean. “We offer brokers and franchisors a unique approach, combining our innovative technology services with our vast consumer reach. When a technology strategy is in line with a marketing strategy, as it is with this new RE/MAX partnership, the two complement each other beautifully.”

About Homes.com

Homes.com, part of the Homes Media Solutions division of DominionEnterprises, is a leading provider of real estate marketing and media services, including brand advertising, property listing exposure and syndication, search engine marketing and instant response lead generation. Homes Connect by Homes.com offers the real estate industry’s first-ever all-inclusive marketing platform for agents and brokers featuring single-login convenience. Homes.com is visited by over 10 million consumers each month to search nearly 4 million properties for sale or rent, to locate real estate agents in their area and to find useful home buying tips. For more information, visit www.Homes.com.

About Dominion Enterprises

Dominion Enterprises is a leading marketing services and publishing company serving the automotive, recreational and commercial vehicle, real estate, apartment rental, employment, parenting, travel, and daily deals industries. The company’s businesses provide a comprehensive suite of technology-based marketing solutions including Internet advertising, lead generation, CRM, website design and hosting, and data management services. The company has more than 60 market-leading websites reaching more than 20.9 million unique visitors monthly, and more than 280 magazines with a weekly circulation of 2.4 million. Headquartered in Norfolk, Va., the company has 3,300 employees in more than 186 offices in the United States, Canada, England and Italy. For more information, visit www.DominionEnterprises.com.

About the RE/MAX Network

RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, real estate industry visionaries who still lead the Denver-based global franchisor today. RE/MAX is recognized as one of the leading real estate franchise companies with the most productive sales force in the industry and a global reach of more than 80 countries. With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $120 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and other charities. Nobody in the world sells more real estate than RE/MAX. For more information about RE/MAX, please visit www.remax.com or www.joinremax.com.

When REN?

A few things have been written about MOVE’s latest announcement on the creation of the “Real Estate Network” (REN). MOVE’s says REN will “extend the syndication of property listings to highly trafficked websites operate by real estate franchisors and brokerage networks.”

I have to say I think this is a brilliant strategy on MOVE’s part. Here’s why:

1. Zillow and Trulia have already proven quantity (and quality for that matter) of listing data isn’t necessary to operate a highly trafficked real estate portal.

2. This further hedges MOVE’s position. MOVE currently depends upon its agreement with the National Association of REALTORS (NAR) for listings and does not run a national IDX network.

The big question is “who cares?” So I’m going to focus on a few tipping points that would cause a Franchisor or brokerage network to implement a REN feed on their respective websites.

1. SEO benefits
I think this is the weakest case. Most Franchisors running sophisticated IDX networks from vendors like Homes Media Solutions (formerly eNeighborhoods) and RED (formerly LPS Real Estate Group) have already figured out how to maximize SEO benefits using a platform designed to be a launching site for a “network of broker idx sites”.

2. Cost
This is a big factor. As I’ve stated Zillow and Trulia have already proven quantity of listings doesn’t matter. Aggregating MLS data from multiple sources managing all those different display rules and paying those MLS fees have a huge cost associated with it. What if RE/MAX is paying their IDX vendor $70,000 per month and MOVE is offering REN for $7,000 per month. Is it possible that a company like RE/MAX might opt to save the money? Maybe.

3. The MLS Two Step
This is also a potential decision point. Lets say that a particular MLS provider, for the purposes of this example the Houston Associaiton of REALTORS (HAR) has made is very difficult to display listings from their MLS. The Franchisor always has to jump thru a few extra more hoops when dealing with HAR. Will some Franchisors be willing to forego not having all Houston listings as long was they don’t have to talk to Sam Scott anymore? Maybe : )

4. Filling the gaps
The REN might be a great way for new and exisiting Franchisors to supplement coverage in areas where they don’t have a Franchisee yet. According to the rules they would still need a license in the state, but thats relatively easy. This makes Realty Executives participation as a charter member of REN a little clearer.

5. Exposure.
Search traffic to real estate portals is still heavily brand related. Long tail searches are a relative minor piece to the equation. It was announced recently that Century 21 is running a Super Bowl ad on February 5th. Depending on when REN would be implemented how ironic would it be when Realty Executives announced to their agents that all their listings would be advertised during the Super Bowl. Pass the chips!

In a way MOVE, with the announcement of REN, has changed the conversation away from IDX (something they are very weak in) to Syndication (something they are very strong in).

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Special Edition

Smart MOVE.

HomeServices to stop syndicating listings?

The shit just hit the fan…

Twitter was all a…twitter, I guess when Craig Kamman posted that Edina Realty (owned by HomeServices of America) was going to pull their listings from Trulia and other “3rd party aggregators” and possibly Realtor.com. The post is worth a read:

Edina Realty discontinues 3rd Party Sites like Trulia and Realtor.com

This was followed by a blog post by Jay Thompson who had his own take on the news, where he imagines a conversation between an seller and his agent:

“So Mr. Agent, you’ll put our home listing on the internet, won’t you?

Well, it will be on our brokerage site, but we’ve elected not to put your listing on some of the most highly visited real estate sites in the country.

Uhm, why is that?

Well, we want to be sure our agents get the leads your home listing generates. And those meanies at the third party site want to charge for them!

Uhm, isn’t the point to sell our home, not generate leads for you and other agents?”

Obviously Jay doesn’t think it’s a good idea:

Edina Realty pulling listings from Trulia and Realtor.com?

Then Rob Hahn went “Oliver Stone” or got “stoned” at one of California’s many marijuana dispensaries while he was out here for the 2011 NAR Convention in Anaheim. And I quote:

“There is, I believe, a real chance that in the next three to six months, we will see the splintering of the foundation of the industry: the MLS and the Associations. The world that comes next, a world without the Multiple Listing Service, will be one filled with unintended consequences.”

After reading Rob’s post I don’t know whether to hug my kids or ask him to pass the bong, because that is some good shit he’s smoking.

All kidding aside, I may be just whistling through the graveyard so his post is worth the read:

Extinction Event Horizon: Real Estate

This story is developing…

CMLS Brings It!


There are two upcoming events that if you haven’t already heard about you should definitely check out:

October 31st, 2011
CMLS Brings It – The Impact of the Proposed IDX Rule Changes
Online Meeting regarding the NAR PAG Report on IDX from all angles and share your thoughts with your peers. Hosted by CMLS and featuring Bob Bemis, ARMLS; Matt Cohen, Clareity Consulting; Jim Harrison, MLS Listings; John Rees, Esq.; Greg Manship, Intermountain MLS; Cathy Holefelder, Heartland MLS and other invited guests, this WebEx will lay out the possible rule changes and the impact on MLSs.

November 9th, 2011
CMLS Brings It to the Table- Branding the MLS
CMLS is bringing another timely topic to the Table at NAR’s Annual Conference- Join us as we explore the Challenges and Opportunities for the MLS industry as regards Branding the MLS Data to reflect Value and Accuracy in the marketplace.

Interview with Matt Cohen on new IDX policy changes.

I’m in Minneapolis this week and had a chance to hook up with Matt Cohen. There is a lot of discussion going on regarding the IDX PAG recommendations. You can read Matt’s comments on this subject on his blog here.

I haven’t done any interviews of this type before (so pardon my flubs) but Matt was kind enough to share his thoughts with me about these upcoming policy changes. Enjoy.

Diverse Solutions Launches New Mobile IDX Search

I haven’t had a chance to check out many of these new mobile IDX solutions but I really like what Diverse Solutions has put together. Goomzee may a bit more feature rich, but the UI on Diverse’s solution is very well done, feels very native. You can check it on your mobile device here: http://app.dsmobileidx.com/demo/12/4 or view a few screen shots.

Full Press Release Below:

__________________________________________________________

Diverse Solutions Launches New Mobile IDX Search
New Property Search Takes Advantage Of Latest In Mobile Innovations

IRVINE, CA. (July 8, 2011) – Diverse Solutions announced today the launch of their new IDX product for mobile devices, dsSearchAgent Mobile. This new offering brings the property search functionality of their desktop IDX products to a mobile interface. Designed with lead capture in mind, dsSearchAgent Mobile promises to be a powerful tool for agents and brokers looking to expand their IDX search to the growing number of mobile device users.

Now that mobile devices have become a standard part of today’s real estate transaction, the release of dsSearchAgent Mobile is a welcome sign for the real estate industry. Using dsSearchAgent Mobile, buyers can use their mobile device to search for homes in any area, schedule showings, and even register to save properties.

Taking full advantage of the latest mobile technologies, dsSearchAgent Mobile integrates many unique search features previously unseen in mobile IDX search products. Innovative applications of the touch screen interface include sliding input controls, full map searching, and interactive property markers. In addition, GPS and location services now standard in mobile devices are utilized in features that allow visitors see listings, open houses, price averages, and more within a specified radius of their current location.
Unique in the mobile IDX space, there is no app or other download required to use dsSearchAgent Mobile. Currently supporting iPhones, iPads, and devices running Android OS or Blackberry 6 OS, dsSearchAgent Mobile was built as a mobile-optimized site that runs in a phone’s built-in web browser.

dsSearchAgent Mobile integrates with existing websites or blogs through an added snippet of HTML code. After this initial setup, any visitors using a mobile device are automatically prompted to redirect to the mobile IDX search. Easy integration combined with customized branding makes dsSearchAgent Mobile an easy and effective way for agents and brokers to extend their web presence to mobile users while retaining their image.

Known in the industry for pushing real estate technology into new directions, Diverse Solutions aims to capture the overall experience of a desktop IDX platform inside of a mobile device with the release of dsSearchAgent Mobile. As part of the announcement, Justin LaJoie, CEO of Diverse Solutions, said, “with touch-screen mobile devices, technology has finally come to a place where we can provide a mobile search experience at a standard our clients have come to expect from us”. This announcement comes just a few months after the release of dsSearchAgent 3.1, the latest in a string of major updates to their flagship IDX product, dsSearchAgent Pro.
For more information on the Diverse Solutions IDX products, including dsSearchAgent Mobile IDX, visit www.DiverseSolutions.com.

About Diverse Solutions
Headquartered in Southern California, Diverse Solutions is a leading provider of IDX technology for clients nation wide. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to enhance the productivity and marketing efforts of real estate professionals through cutting-edge technology, excellent service, and superior quality.

Sponsored By MLS Reset