Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Tim Dain announced as new MLS Director of Austin Board of Realtors

Tim-BusinessAustin Board of REALTORS® announces Tim Dain as new MLS Director

“Dain is also active in the MLS industry generally, currently serving a member of the executive advisory team for Move, Inc., Dotloop and the interim executive committee for the Broker Public Portal. He has also served on the board of directors for the Council of MLS and as the chairperson for Corelogic Advisory Group. As part of that involvement, Dain was instrumental in Move Inc.’s decision to build FIND™ Mobile, a national mobile MLS application provided for free to any MLS.

Congrats to Tim and Austin Board of Realtors! My only question is if he really needs to move to Austin? ; )

Brian Donnellan now COO of MRIS

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Brian Donnellan, MRIS

“Brian Donnellan has been promoted to chief operating officer for MRIS, the Mid-Atlantic multiple listing service that facilitates nearly $125 million a day in real estate transactions.”

Congrats Brian!

Kipp Cooper nabs CEO position at Kansas City

HAAR Email

Todd Costigan joins Down Payment Resource

Todd-headshot-small2TODD COSTIGAN JOINS DOWN PAYMENT RESOURCE
Costigan to manage customer relationships for the growing company

“Todd Costigan joins Down Payment Resource as Vice President of Customer Relations. Costigan is responsible for account management of the company’s real estate customers, including Multiple Listing Services (MLS) and Realtor Associations.”

Congrats to Todd and DPR.

Jeremy Crawford to lead RESO

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Real Estate Standards Organization Announces Executive Director

“Mark Lesswing, RESO Board Chair stated: “Speaking on behalf of the RESO Board of Directors, we are thrilled that Mr. Crawford has agreed to join RESO as our new Executive Director. Jeremy has both the required skills and knowledge for the position as has been an active leader in the standards communities for many years. The next era of RESO is upon us.”

I gotta say this was a surprise. It’s gonna be great to see someone of Jeremy’s caliber taking over. Congrats to Jeremy, RESO, and the industry owes a big thank you to Bob Gottesman for paving the way and building RESO’s strong momentum.

Brad Bjelke named CEO of UtahRealEstate.com

Brad is a good choice for this gig. UtahRealEstate.com is a software company. Brad’s time working at Rapattoni should serve him well as he makes the transition.

Congratulations to Brad and UtahRealEstate.com!

UtahRealEstate.com names Brad Bjelke as President and CEO
Utah’s largest MLS taps well known industry veteran as its new leader
Full Press Release Below:

SANDY, UT (April 7, 2015) – UtahRealEstate.com – the largest Multiple Listing Service in Utah that serves over 11,000 subscribers – has named Brad Bjelke as its new president and chief executive officer.

With over 10 years in the industry, Bjelke comes to UtahRealEstate.com from California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (CRMLS), the largest MLS in the nation with over 75,000 subscribers where he served as vice president and general counsel.

Bjelke is nationally recognized as an expert in matters relating to MLS rules, public policy, MLS and Association regionalization, compliance, data licensing, and governance. He has been an integral part of regionalization efforts for MLSs, and he has been involved in helping shape many of the MLS policies at both the local and national levels.

With a reputation as one of the top MLSs in the country, UtahRealEstate.com’s CEO search brought in close to 100 well qualified candidates.

“We saw some of the top talent in the industry apply to be our next CEO. We needed to be certain that person not only had the proper experience, but would also have the best interest of our subscribers in mind. We took the time to carefully examine each resume, conduct exhaustive interviews, and narrow the candidates down to a few finalists. It became clear that Brad’s expertise and vast experience would take UtahRealEstate.com to an even higher level than where we are now. We are thrilled to have someone as qualified as Brad lead our team,” said Ryan Kirkham, chair of the UtahRealEstate.com board of directors.

All of UtahRealEstate.com’s multiple listing software is developed by an in house team. This includes software for its separate property rental listing service, PropertyPond.com. Kirkham noted that, “the ideal candidate would not only understand the real estate industry, but the software development industry as well.” Prior to CRMLS, Bjelke served as an executive for one of the largest MLS software companies in the United States, where he gained extensive experience with software development, quality assurance testing, and project management.

“I’m excited to be a part of UtahRealEstate.com as we continue to implement cutting edge technologies and services. I look forward to working closely with UtahRealEstate.com’s shareholder associations and brokers to ensure that their needs are met, while also working hard to increase the visibility of both UtahRealEstate.com and PropertyPond.com,” Bjelke said.

Bjelke will be taking over from Joseph Szurgyi, who has served as interim CEO of UtahRealEstate.com since the departure of Rebecca Jensen at the beginning of the year. “The UtahRealEstate.com board of directors would like to extend our appreciation to Joseph for his outstanding leadership during this transition and for his diligent service to us as the Director of Operations at UtahRealEstate.com.”

About UtahRealEstate.com

Founded in 1994, UtahRealEstate.com is the leading provider of real estate technology in Utah. UtahRealEstate.com is the top-ranked real estate website in Utah and serves over 11,000 REALTORS®, more than 1,500 Brokers, and over 12 million consumers every year.

UtahRealEstate.com’s mission is to connect real estate professionals and add value to its members through information. UtahRealEstate.com is operated on behalf of Utah’s Professional REALTORS®, providing the most complete and current property information for the Utah market. Over 92% of REALTORS® in Utah subscribe to its services in order to help their clients list their properties for sale or to help their clients find their new home.

Looking for a new gig?

CUSTOMER CARE SPECIALIST NEEDED
Trendgraphix, Inc.

“• Supporting and maintaining relationship with existing customers to achieve highest level of customer satisfaction for retention and add-on sales
• Conducting web-based product training webinars and videos
• Preparing sales related email marketing campaigns
• Performing product sales and post-sale client follow-up
• Timely and accurately inputting data in various company software systems
• Promptly and timely responding to and pre-qualifying internet leads and other incoming inquiries
• Assisting in creating proposals, completing contracts within specified guidelines
• Preparing and procuring necessary transaction related agreements, setting up documents (client contact & billing records) in SalesForce software”

To find out more visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.

Looking for a new gig?

2 new jobs posted in the Vendor Alley Job Board.

Director of Industry Marketing
MOVE, Inc.

“This individual will be a part of and support Move’s Industry Relations team and will partner closely with the creative team, events team, and when needed, trade marketing leads for specific business units. He or she will drive cross-channel efforts in support of trade marketing initiatives that drive business goals.”

Find out more here.

Account Director/Project Manager
August Partners

“We’re looking for a seasoned account director/project manager and client advocate who loves the creative process as much as order and structure. We need someone who can keep the team in line with clients, and vice versa. You need to be opinionated and diplomatic, so that when there’s an issue you can resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Find out more here.

And to see all listing on the Vendor Alley Job Board click here.

Chip McAvoy Joins Black Knight’s MLS Division

I tweeted about this awhile back.

But now its official!

Chip McAvoy Joins Black Knight’s MLS Division as Vice President of Emerging Products and Technology

“During his career, McAvoy has held positions in both development and management for real estate software firms, where he has been instrumental in delivering solutions for agents, brokers and other real estate professionals. He has product experience with MLS Platforms, agent and broker websites, customer relationship management (CRM) applications, data sharing, document and transaction management, and more.”

Nice get for Black Knight. You have to wonder whether Ben Graboske has his eyes on anyone else?

I had also heard that John Koch, who did a lot of CoreLogic’s RETS and data work has left the company. Not to a competitor, but to open a Brewery in Montana. Sounds like it was a tough decision. ; )

Congrats to Chip on his new gig!

Mark Allen joins realtor.com

thumb.phpGlad to hear Mark Allen has found a new gig! He along with Don Flynn were recently hired to join realtor.com’s industry relations team. Below is an excerpt from Russ Cofano’s Open letter to state and local real estate associations.

Move Announces New Executive Roles to Strengthen Association Relationships (Vis RISMedia)

“Don and Mark will work collaboratively across both the association and MLS industries with our MLS industry relations team, which includes vice presidents Rhett Damon, Shelley Fowler and Bob Greenspan and directors Susan Young and Kathleen Wayson. The entire team plans to attend the 2015 Joint AE Institute in March in Vancouver and we can’t wait to see you at that great event.”

“Industry Relations” seems to be the job title du jour. Realtor.com’s take is especially interesting. Lots of cooks in the kitchen. This focus on state and local associations and working “collaboratively” with MLS industry relations seems kind of odd. Not even sure what it means or how it will work – “Hey MLS CEO, the AE thinks you should be doing your job this way.”

Realtor.com is a listings portal right? They need listings. That means focusing on MLS providers and brokers. It’s not too complicated, or maybe I’m not smart enough to understand all this “strategery”.

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