Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

The Controversial Pivot to API with RESO CEO Jeremy Crawford

One of the great things about RESO is how the community comes together for the benefit of the industry. RESO recently honored some of the volunteers. You can read the full press press release here.

While at the recent RESO Spring Conference I got to sit down with Jeremy and discuss some of thing they are working on. He’s really done a great job. Hope you enjoy.


 
‘…You’re building a new infrastructure. You’re building a brand new interstate, and one of the hardest things is the off ramp and the on ramp.’

RETS has been a solid technology standard for fifteen years, and many vendors are resistant to make the change to API. But as the needs of mobile shift the industry, a new ‘interstate’ is necessary. Today’s guest is prepared to discuss the details of this controversial pivot.

Jeremy Crawford is the CEO of RESO, the organization responsible for the creation, promotion and adoption of standards in the real estate industry. RESO seeks to fuel innovation and help streamline the real estate transaction. Crawford has been involved with RESO since 2010, serving on its Board of Directors and co-leading the Education and Outreach Workgroup. He has a unique combination of talent and experience, with an extensive background in information technology and corporate management. After graduating from East Tennessee State University with a degree in computer science, he landed an IT position with Safeco Insurance. From there, he worked in network management for BB&T Corporation and MarketLinx (a division of CoreLogic). His resume also includes leadership roles as CIO of SANDICOR, CIO and COO of MLSListings, and COO of Aculist.

Crawford explains the need for a pivot away from RETS to API, the benefits of saved search portability, and the progress of the transition to date. Listen in to understand the steps being taken to improve the permissioning process and who might play a role in further advances.

What’s Discussed: 

The controversial pivot to API
– Resistance from traditional vendors
– Interstate analogy (on and off ramps)
– Shifting needs require API
– Parallel uses of both RETS and API likely
The progress of the move to API
– Distribution piece complete
– Updates component under development
The vendors who are taking advantage of API capabilities
The benefits of switching to API for established vendors
– API built to access data on the fly
– Can still replicate data, but have option not to
– Saved search portability
Progress with regard to the challenges of permissioning
– Standardized data licensing agreements
– NAR turnaround time policy for IDX access
– Access to developmental data feeds to facilitate product development
Who is responsible for permissioning process
– RESO R&D Workgroup drafting best practices
– Brokers must help shepherd process along

Resources:

AgentSquared

Agent Inbox

Connect with Jeremy Crawford:

RESO
Twitter

Art Carter talks data consolidation


 
“If the MLS industry had a face, that face would have a facial tick – because it’s always threatened by something or someone.”

With such constant scrutiny, you’ve got to have a pretty thick skin in the MLS business. And if your goal is to consolidate, let’s say the listings for the entire state of California, you’d better be even tougher. Today’s guest on Listing Bits faces such across-the-board resistance daily as he works to convince real estate professionals that giving up a little local control is worth it in the long run.

Art Carter is the CEO of California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (CRMLS), providing products and services to over 82,000 subscribers. CRMLS works to connect real estate professionals throughout the state of California via access to the most data at the lowest cost possible.

Carter spent nine years working for the Pacific West Association of Realtors as they pushed the envelope on innovation and brought the association world to a new level before moving to CRMLS in 2005. For the past 11 years, he has been dedicated to making a difference in the daily lives of Real Estate Professionals. He is best known for leading the data share revolution in Southern California.

Carter has been named one of Inman News’ 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders twice, and he is a member of the Dr. Almon R. “Bud” Smith, RCE, AE Leadership Society in recognition of dedicated service and commitment to advancing the association management profession. Listen in as he shares the progress CRMLS has made toward listings consolidation in California.

What’s Discussed: 

The disparity between consumers and agents/brokers when it comes to data access
How agents and brokers respond to the prospect of listings consolidation
The unraveling of CALRED
The history of CARETS
The advantages of data shares over an aggregated database
Why CRMLS seeks to consolidate listings for the entire state of California
The politics preventing consolidation
Where the resistance to consolidation comes from
The progress CRMLS is making toward consolidation
– From 21,013 members in 2005 to 82,037 today
– Working to grow another 10% this year
The benefit of implementing a ‘system of choice’
– Eliminates the need to convert
– Allows agents to access data with the tool they prefer
Solutions for the permissioning issue
– Unified contracts
– Online process
Why the MLS industry itself should resolve the permissioning issue
The primary purpose of the MTP Project
Carter’s advice for MLSs seeking to consolidate
– Build relationships
– Consider every ‘no’ a ‘not yet’

Connect with Art Carter:

CRMLS Website

“635” – A conversation with Joel MacIntosh of WolfNet

LIVE from RESO Spring Conference 2017!

Pioneering Innovation in Real Estate Tech with WolfNet CEO Joel MacIntosh
 
Talk about being at the forefront of new technologies… Today’s guest was working to develop ecommerce in the mid-1990s, streaming video in 1998, and consolidating MLS data in 2000.

Joel MacIntosh is the CEO of WolfNet Technologies, a real estate tech pioneer offering highly configurable IDX and VOW property search applications, MLS data standardization services, and property search API services. WolfNet accesses data from 600-plus MLSs in North America, offering the most accurate and up-to-date MLS data in the business, and the company serves national franchises, brokers, agents and MLSs.

After graduating from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management with a BS in Entrepreneurship and Business Management, MacIntosh founded WolfNet in 1996 as a work-for-hire web development company. WolfNet moved into the real estate space in 2000 when a broker approached the firm with an interest in Broker Reciprocity, and they have been developing groundbreaking products and services for the industry ever since.

MacIntosh was recently named one of the 200 Most Powerful People in Real Estate for a reason, and today he shares how WolfNet stays on the cutting-edge of real estate software innovation. Listen and learn about their flagship products and services as well as projects in the works around photo image categorization and AI.

What’s Discussed: 

WolfNet’s journey from work-for-hire web development to real estate tech
WolfNet’s flagship products
Why MacIntosh favors the consulting aspect of his work in the data space
How WolfNet pioneered data sharing among MLS systems
– Up and running in Minnesota since 2001
– Big growth from 2008-2012
– Just added 635th MLS
Why most bigger players prefer direct database access over RETS
The benefits for WolfNet of building their own API
The two main WolfNet customer profiles
– Established companies who want the data
– Newer ‘bootstrap’ firms who want a transactional API
The ‘magic number’ of MLS markets at which point a company benefits from aggregating the data itself
How the numbers validate the concept of consolidation
– Fewer than 10 MLSs have more than 100,000 active listings
– 118 MLSs have 25,000-plus active listings
– It takes 234 MLSs to get to 90% of the listing inventory
– 500 MLSs comprise roughly 8.6% of the inventory and just 3,000 listings
WolfNet’s client base
How the data services component of WolfNet was conceived and productized
The built-in permissioning WolfNet offers
How WolfNet’s additional features connect data points to add significant value
– Photo processing to generate thumbnails
– Address data processing
– Acquiring public records data
What is involved in WolfNet’s image categorization and tagging project
– Identifies the category of room pictured in a photo (i.e.: kitchen, mudroom)
– Distinguishes specific attributes (e.g.: white kitchen with stainless steel appliances)
– Utilizes technology trained via neural network and human tools
– 100,000,000 photos processed
– MacIntosh anticipates release at the end of next quarter
WolfNet’s new data loader product
Vendors introducing AI in the real estate software space that impress MacIntosh

Connect with Joel MacIntosh:

WolfNet Website

Leveraging Big Data in Real Estate with Jonathan Spinetto and Luci Fortier of Remine

Remine announced another deal today with REColorado today. Thought it would be appropriate to post my Listing Bits interview with Jon and Lucie back at the RESO Spring Conference. Enjoy.

Leveraging Big Data in Real Estate with Jonathan Spinetto and Luci Fortier of Remine
 
LIVE from RESO Spring Conference 2017!

In a world where your every move is tracked via geocode through your Starbucks orders and Instagram posts, there is an abundance of data. And those who know how to interpret that information can learn an awful lot about a person and her behavior, using it to either market or serve … or both. The world of real estate is no different, and there is much buzz in the industry regarding an innovative new data solutions product for agents.

Remine is a Big Data company that delivers predictive analytics to real estate professionals exclusively through their MLS. They analyze property records, transactional history and consumer data to determine someone’s propensity of buy, sell or refinance a home. Their user interface utilizes heat maps and other visualizations to help real estate professionals contextualize data, identify new leads and win more business. The team is comprised of successful agents who understand the needs of real estate professionals.

Jonathan Spinetto is the COO of Remine, and he has been a licensed agent since 2002. Using his own custom technology systems, Spinetto has completed over 3,000 single family residential transactions. As both a practitioner and a technologist who offers unique insight into industry trends, he delivers keynotes internationally around Big Data in real estate.

Lucie Fortier is the newly appointed VP of Product. She brings an understanding of the MLS space and a great deal of implementation experience to the Remine team. Fortier spent the last five years as Senior Director of Operations at CoreLogic, where she was accountable for the support and execution of a suite of Real Estate web-based applications delivered to 600,000-plus agents in the US and Canada.

Spinetto and Fortier articulate the specifics of the Remine product and how it ties together property attributes with data about people in order to provide meaningful insight for agents. Listen and learn how Remine is different from other companies that offer predictive analytics and why they chose to partner with MLSs.

What’s Discussed: 

How Remine employs data to help agents find prospects
Why Remine doesn’t fit into a particular product category
The types of data Remine has aggregated and linked to MLS data
– Contact info
– Property data
– Mortgage data
– Airbnb data
– Predictive analytics
– Individual stats about residents
– Parcels
Why Fortier joined the Remine team
The beauty of providing meaningful insight that agents can use
The difference between Remine and other companies that offer predictive analytics
– MLS-centric (available to all members)
How Remine democratizes the data to help agents be proactive
How Remine fills a gap in the real estate tech space
Why Remine chose to partner with MLSs rather than sell directly to agents
The importance of face-to-face demos
The necessity of stewardship when it comes to data sharing
– Privacy concerns
– Shift in societal norms
The responsibilities of a company like Remine to share appropriate personal information
– Controlling product delivery via coordination with MLS systems helps stop bad actors
The Remine implementation schedule
What Fortier brings to the table as VP of Product
– Understanding of MLS space and how agents use applications
– Experience in implementation
How Remine adjusts predictive analytics to localize to a given area
How Remine is funded

Connect with Jonathan Spinetto and Lucie Fortier:

Remine

Industry Relations Episode 8: Upstream, Millennial Branding and Other Hot Topics in Real Estate Tech

If you ask Wiktionary, to swim upstream means ‘to opt for a difficult course of action when a simpler alternative is available.’ And if you ask Rob and Greg, real estate’s Upstream venture is a prime example of doing things the hard way.

Today Rob and Greg discuss the MLS response to the brokerage community’s push for data sharing and the probability of Upstream’s success. They also cover other hot topics in real estate technology news, including Zillow’s new Millennial consumer brand announcement, the extraordinary capital raised by Placester, and Realogy’s recent changes in management.

Listen in as Greg explains how to think about the ‘real estate ecosystem,’ and Rob outlines the inevitable development of a new brokerage model.

What’s Discussed:

Zillow’s recent announcement regarding its launch of new consumer brand

Why Zillow is likely adding RealEstate.com as a search portal

The real estate industry’s ‘Millennial worship’

-Half of new home buyers under 36

The stereotypes associated with Millennials vs. the reality

What a site designed for Millennials might look like

The staggering capital being poured into the industry

-Placester raised $50M in March, bringing its total to $100M

Placester’s recognition of the aspirational nature of real estate

-Willingness to take any agent

Why Zillow focuses on ‘super agents’ and teams

Placester’s role in the ‘real estate ecosystem’

Realogy’s recent changes in management

How technology undermines the idea of a ‘real estate ecosystem’

The necessity for transformation of the current brokerage model

The mammoth undertaking that is Upstream

The feasibility of Upstream clearing all the hurdles it faces

How MLSs have responded to the brokerage community’s call for consolidation

Rob’s suggestion to add representatives from the broker community to the CMLS Board

Resources:

“Zillow Group to Launch New Consumer Brand” on RISMedia

“Placester Continues Growth with $50 Million Capital Raise” in HousingWire Magazine


Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

Kevin Greene talks Trestle

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.

Industry Relations Episode 7: Greg Fischer Takes Us Back to the Future with NYC Brokers vs. Zillow

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

Vendor Alley Job Board

Connect with Greg Fischer:

Blog

Twitter

Industry Relations EP006: What Real Estate Coaches Can Learn from the Pickup Artist Community

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:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

 

 

New Industry Relations podcast episode: Does the Agent’s Fiduciary Duty Extend to Listing on Zillow?

 

The Industry Relations podcast is available on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher.  If you are new to podcasting and an iPhone user my favorite podcast app is Overcast.

Rob and Greg are back with yet another spirited debate. This time they explore whether fiduciary duty extends to listing on Zillow. With Zillow’s current dominance, Rob argues that to provide maximum exposure for your seller client, listing on the platform is a must.

Rob and Greg get into the perception of Zillow as a threat as well as the issue of buyer agency. Listen and decide whether the responsibility to act in the client’s best interest means that a realtor is obligated to list on Zillow.

What’s Discussed:

The current dominance of Zillow

-Quarterly record Revenue of $227.6 million increased 34% year-over-year

-Full year 2016 record Revenue of $846.6 million, up 31% year-over-year

Rob’s argument that fiduciary duty requires listing on Zillow

-Must provide seller client with maximum exposure

-Only exception is when the client has other interests that take precedence (i.e.: privacy concerns)

-Brief your client and have them sign off if you do choose not to use the platform

The potential for lawsuits if agents don’t use Zillow

How the internet has changed the value proposition of the MLS from an advertising standpoint

Why the perception of Zillow as a threat is flawed

-Zillow is a vendor that relies on agents for its existence

-Their continued success depends on the model staying the same

The core complaints against Zillow

-Buyer agency

-Zestimates

-Access to information lessens realtor’s value

Resources:

Inman Report on Zillow

Rob’s Zillow Blog Post

Connect with Rob and Greg:

Rob’s Website

Greg’s Website

The Rob and Greg Show

I’ve been really having a good time with my new podcast, Listing Bits. In Episode 5 I teased that Rob Hahn (The Notorious R.O.B.) and I were launching another podcast, called “Industry Relations“. I’m happy to announce that it’s now available on iTunes, Google Play and Stitcher with 4 episodes.

Here’s the rundown.

In Episode 1 Rob and I discuss the state of organized real estate.
In Episode 2 we talk about the state of MLS industry.
Episode 3 we invited special guests, David Charron, Andrea Bushnell along with Sunny Lake and discuss her “NAR Girl Boss” initiative.
In episode 4 (which is just being posted) we discuss what’s going on in Canada, specifically British Columbia, and how it might effect real estate here in the U.S.

We are currently looking for sponsors. So if you want to reach some the industry finest, please drop me a line at vendor.alley@gmail.com

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