Did you know that Darian Woolley, daughter of my friend and co-founder Dan Woolley, just won 1st place 🏆 in Design at UCI‘s Spring Quarter Project teams!
I can’t tell you how much this brought a smile to my face. Go Darian!!
Darian is majoring in HCI Informatics at University of California Irvine (UCI). The team contest was to design an app in the Health category.
“To address the theme of Health, we designed Skintel to help users curate skin care routines and search for new products while being mindful of ingredient synergy: the way skincare ingredients work with or against each other 🧴🔍 âś…. “
“Director of NSAR’s MLS® System, Bonnie Wigg says, “With the most common barriers people with mobility issues face being in the built environment, NSAR worked with several key partners to look at how we could make a difference in searching for an adaptable home. Everyone’s definition of an accessible home is different, so adding more information to listings will enable people to determine if a home is adaptable for them.”
Have you been keeping up with the latest updates in MLS policies? Rob and Greg break down the key details of Bright MLS’s clear cooperation policy and NWMLS’s decision not to remove compensation data from their system. But it doesn’t stop there. They also dive into the potential legal consequences for fair housing violations and federal antitrust claims.
They also touch on the Department of Justice’s involvement, implications for the industry, and potential risks for Northwest MLS and other players in the market.
“It seems like Zillow and Redfin started a relationship with Microsoft to leverage innovative OpenAI technology to deliver some interesting consumer benefits to people searching for homes on Zillow and Redfin. It is hard to ascertain how this relationship started with Bing Chat and evolved into Bing.com/realestate providing a full listing display breaking so many MLS rules, that links out to advertisers, and points to Zillow and Redfin as the sources of the data rather than the brokerage or MLS. It’s not Zillow or Redfin’s data to give!”
Victor Lund, WAV Group
Great write up from Victor regarding the Bing controversy, go read the whole thing. Sam DeBord was the first to start posting about this and Marian at Inman News did a story as well. Good reporting.
Okay so let’s first let’s get something straight right from the top, Bing.com/realestate is a mother fucking real estate portal, not a search results page.
I can like properties
I can save a property
I can setup a saved search
I can see multiple photos (sans watermark) – WTF?
I can “claim ownership”
I can see an “estimated value”
I can even get a mortgage!
And it appears that Zillow, Redfin and Realtor.com may be complicit in powering Bing. From Victor’s post,
“Here is how easily Zillow and Redfin can stop bing from accessing and republishing content – code courtesy of OpenAI “<meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>.” Inventory is turning in 30-90 days in most markets, rendering search on Bing irrelevant in a short period of time. If current listings are not displayed to active home buyers in today’s tight market, consumers will abandon them. Of course, this would be a poison pill for Zillow and Redfin who rely on search engines for a significant amount of their consumer traffic.”
Victor Lund, WAV Group
Shout out to Homes.com for not being a part of this scheme, as Victor also points out.
But MLS organizations need to step up, more from Victor.
“MLS must protect the assets contributed by each broker, or firms will simply contribute their content to OpenAI for free, and access the listing content of other brokerage firms using OpenAI. CMA vendors like Inside Real Estate, Delta Media and dozens of others can stop paying $5 Million a year in Data License fees and access the data from OpenAI. An OpenAi driven CMA would work like Cloud CMAs revolutionary 1 Minute CMA, only it would be almost instant. Moreover, consumers could simply run their own CMA without a professional.”
Victor Lund, WAV Group
“AI” is the new “lion over the hill”. If MLS orgs want to protect their data licensing revenue you need to nip this in the bud now.
“MoxiWorks, the leading real estate technology platform for agents, today announced the appointment of Eric Elfman, an experienced executive with a track record of accelerating product and go-to-market strategy, as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Current CEO York Baur will remain on the Board of Directors helping to guide vision and strategy. “
MoxiWorks
End of an era. What I appreciated about York is that he could be a fierce competitor but we would still be able to shoot the shit together about this crazy business we were both in. Cheers my friend and welcome Eric to the Hotel California.
This partnership ensures that Trackxi’s cutting-edge deal and task tracking platform will be available to all members of these prestigious associations. Real estate professionals can now efficiently manage their deals from start to finish, streamlining workflows and enhancing transparency to clients and partners. Agents and teams can now cut down up to 90% of their time on routine tasks and communications while significantly enhancing their professionalism at the same time.
“We are committed to providing our members with innovative products and resources to help them thrive in today’s real estate market,” said DaVina Lara, CEO at bridgeMLS. “We believe that Trackxi’s platform will be a valuable asset to our members, allowing them to manage their deals more effectively and deliver exceptional service to their clients.”
Trackxi
Wonderful tool that is so necessary right now. Not only does it help agents be more productive and mindful but also helps them demonstrate their value to their clients. Congrats to Vijay and the rest of the Trackxi team.
“In 2023, nearly 40% of CRMLS’s Closed listings included concessions, i.e., monetary payments that a seller agrees to contribute towards the buyer’s expenses and other costs a buyer is responsible for in the transaction. Historically, concessions were only included in Closed listings. The new CiP fields will provide concession information at the listing level and be directly available in the MLS, so seller agents can fill them out when adding a listing. CiP fields will benefit all parties as those on the selling side can more easily market listings while those on the buying side receive a clearer idea of financial options.”
CRMLS
CRMLS has taken the leadership position on these “CiP” fields. Very smart of them to launch prior to the deadline. This will give them some real world experience on implementation and make necessary adjustments if need be.
“NAR’s removal of compensation transparency from the MLS pushes consumers and brokers to make secret deals off MLS, inviting deceptive practices, discrimination and unfair housing. Depriving buyers of information about the transaction risks harming buyers, especially those buyers who are already disadvantaged, including first-time home buyers and members of protected classes. Prohibiting offers of compensation in the MLS also unnecessarily restrains the seller’s choice and absolute right to offer compensation to a brokerage firm representing the buyer. “
“This partnership underscores our commitment to innovation and excellence in simplifying earnest money deposits for real estate professionals and buyers. We’re crafting a new benchmark for simple, efficient transactions, with an unwavering focus on convenience.”Â
– Russell Smith, President & COO, Earnnest
Great to see. Two of my favorite apps! Congrats Vijay and Russell!
“The Member Care Specialist plays a crucial role in providing excellent customer service to all association members. This position carries out various administrative support functions. The ideal candidate for the Member Care Specialist position is a dynamic individual committed to delivering exceptional customer service to association members. This role requires strong administrative skills and the ability to work autonomously while maintaining high standards of performance. The candidate should excel in communication, possess a keen attention to detail, and demonstrate proficiency in various software applications.”
