Director, Finance – Tucson Association of REALTORS
“Includes, but not limited to:
* Providing first-line service to a high volume of member requests, with the highest level of professional interaction.
* Strong computer skills required, including all Microsoft and Outlook product Suite, and proven experience and success with entry and maintenance of a digital record keeping system.”
The find out about this job or post a job, please visit the Vendor Alley Job Board.
On this week’s episode of Industry Relations, Rob and Greg take a look at some ongoing lawsuits within the real estate realm. They take aim at some lawsuits that shouldn’t have been dismissed and speak on some that definitely should be thrown out. They get into the intentions of the companies involved and how the Fair Housing Act can be overlooked unintentionally, but still have consequences for minority groups, elderly people, and disabled people. Listen to us on your favorite podcast player, Watch us on You Tube or listen below.
ICE to Buy Black Knight for $13.1 Billion
The deal values Black Knight at $85 a share. Black Knight shares were up 8% to $68.49 prior to a trading halt.
The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023.
Everybody is for sale.
It’s been a hell of 3 weeks. Inman Connect NYC, RESO Spring Conference, and this week a double whamo, NAR Midyear (after a two-year hiatus), and the T3 Summit in San Antonio. It’s a shame they are landing in the same week. I blame NAR for that, just like I blame them for booking their iOi Summit on the same days as CMLS 2022. Lamesauce.
Many companies I’ve spoken to are splitting teams. At Lone Wolf we have John Warner and Jessica Richardson hosting meetings at NAR Midyear for our MLS Team. If you want to meet, don’t be shy and reach out to them.
I’m heading to the T3 Summit in San Antonio, so I hope to see some of you there as well. Travel safe everyone!
MoxiWorks continues expansion into MLS space, welcomes industry veteran Troy Rech as VP of MLS Sales
“I’m thrilled to be joining such a well-known and well-established company,” said Troy Rech, VP of MLS Sales, MoxiWorks. ”This is a great opportunity to expand MoxiWorks’ award-winning technology in the MLS space as we work cooperatively to better serve brokers and agents across North America.”
Can’t say enough good things about Troy. Great to see him back in the mix again. Such a pro and what a great hire for MoxiWorks.
Waco Association of REALTORS® selects Lone Wolf solutions for a complete transaction experience
“Waco Association of REALTORS® is pleased to announce that it will provide MLS-Connect and Cloud Agent Suite from Lone Wolf Technologies (“Lone Wolf”) as benefits to their 1,032 members at no additional cost. These new benefits are in addition to those already provided by Texas REALTORS® as state benefits -Transactions (zipForm Edition), zipForm Mobile, and zipLogix Digital Ink.
Waco Association of REALTORS® members now have access to a complete transaction experience with the entire Transactions (zipForm Edition) suite at their fingertips. MLS-Connect directly connects with Transactions so real estate professionals can import or push MLS listing data directly into Transactions to fill out forms quicker and easier. Now their members can start a transaction, get documents signed, track progress, and access state forms-whether they are in the office or on the go-all while providing a unified experience for their clients.”
Just the thought of Chip and Joanna Gaines using Cloud CMA makes me smile.
Federal commission suit now a class action; NAR, Realogy vow to appeal
“In a major blow to the National Association of Realtors and major real estate franchisors, hundreds of thousands of homesellers can ask to be reimbursed for more than $1 billion in commissions they paid to buyer agents in the past eight years as a result of a federal court ruling on Friday.”
That’s with a “B”
Appeals court deals blow to NAR, allows pocket listing suit to continue
“The appeals court agreed with the DOJ and The PLS, finding that the definition of “consumer” can also include businesses who use products to create another product or service and therefore The PLS was not required to allege harm to buyers and sellers; alleging that the policy hurt agents who consume listing services was sufficient.”
Alrighty then…
‘Writing is on the wall’: Court tosses NAR counterclaim against REX
“NAR’s claims are an attempt to delay the inevitable,” Toth said in an emailed statement.
Consumers are paying too much and have too little choice when they buy or sell a home,” he added in the statement. “And they know it’s because of the outdated rules that industry sets to protect itself. With the pocket listing loss, the class certification loss, and the dismissal of NAR’s counterclaim, the writing is on the wall — the days of real estate brokerage collusion are ending soon.”
Tell us what you really think…
Still, a little buzzed from a great week in Tucson meeting with everyone at the RESO Spring conference but the lobby bar was full of conversations about what all this news really means and how concerned organized real estate should be. I don’t think the sky is falling…yet…but I would keep that umbrella handy.
We’re baaaack!
I spend a lot of time at conferences explaining why MLSs, brokers, and franchisors should let the ‘professionals’ build their technology. And yet, there are real reasons why these stakeholders might want to design their own.
So, when is it appropriate for an MLS to create its own tech stack rather than relying on a vendor? And what does the development process look like?
Faith Geronimo and Colleen Yasuhara are the CEO and COO, respectively, of Hawaii Information Service (HIS), the MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai. On this episode of Listing Bits, Faith and Colleen explore HIS’s history of building its own technology and explain their decision to spend the last four years creating a new MLS system.
Faith and Colleen discuss the transition from their initial system, REsearch, to the new HIMLS, describing HIS’s partnership with software developer MEV and their experience working with a team of Ukrainian developers. Listen in to understand why the Russia-Ukraine conflict hasn’t disrupted the development process and learn how HIS leveraged research and user testing to inform the design of HIMLS.
What’s Discussed:
HIS’s role as MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai
HIS’s history of building its own technology
How Faith & Colleen’s decision to build a new system on their own was influenced by their ability to integrate public records and MLS data
Faith’s take on why Hawaii needs 3 MLS providers
What Faith & Colleen learned in their research on MLS systems and how it informed the design of HIMLS
How the pandemic influenced the development process and allowed for rigorous user acceptance testing
The timeline for the transition from REsearch to HIMLS from 2018 to present
HIS’s partnership with MEV and how they built the portal and web API together before tackling the MLS
Faith & Colleen’s experience working with developers in the Ukraine and why they flew the team to Hawaii early in the process
How Ukrainian developers continue to work on HIMLS despite the Russian invasion and how they’re handling the conflict
Connect with Faith & Colleen:
Hawaii Information Service on YouTube
Resources:
Our Sponsor:
A few things to unpack on this announcement. Here’s a description of Venture MLS from its website…
“Venture MLS has launched a $10MM fund built to back seed and early-stage companies within the property technology space. Founded in 2021 by prominent veterans of organized real estate, Venture MLS seeks companies that can leverage the unmatched experience, expertise, and connections it holds in this well-defined, underserved industry.”
$10MM dollars isn’t chump change, but smaller in regard to many other funds. Not sure, for comparison, the size of NAR’s Second Century Ventures. But I have to say I love everything about the messaging. Again from their website.
“Venture MLS will invest in a portfolio of innovative property technology companies working to deliver high-quality software systems for real estate professionals. The majority of investments in this space so far have targeted vertical integration under a single brand, including brokerages, media advertising, and resellers. Venture MLS focuses instead on brand-agnostic products for all U.S. real estate professionals.”
The story to me here is that MLS organizations are basically saying, well we can’t stop companies from being acquired, so we might as well get paid. Pretty pragmatic, but there are some nuances.
I do think Sarah is a perfect choice to lead the Business Development role here.
She has been with CRMLS for over six years, beginning in the Training and Product Development Department, and soon becoming the Director of Education & Product Development. She has been in real estate since 2001.
I talked to Sarah and she told me that Venture MLS is part of an effort by CRMLS to get ahead of industry changes by investing in technology companies working on MLS-tech that aligns with CRMLS values.
So, instead of hoping that there’s never another merger, acquisition, or other disruptions that uproot the systems CRMLS and its 110K+ users rely on, the nation’s largest MLS is switching to a proactive strategy: invest in new tech now and protect itself against disadvantageous changes.
I asked her if CRMLS would have the ability to “kill” any deals that didn’t “align” with “CRMLS values”. She stated that CRMLS would make its best effort ahead of investing so it only works with companies that were on a path for IPOs and/or aligned with CRMLS values. I guess the devil will be in the details.
Huge congrats to Sarah on her new role. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for this new development.
