Guide to Buying a Broker Website

I am not sure why the word "wolf" plays such an important role in broker websites, but both Lone Wolf and WolfNet are two of the leading providers on a national scale. Many times, people confuse the two. However, in terms of their products, they are very different.

First, let's talk about the similarities.

Both companies have been around a long time—more than two decades. This makes them highly credible in terms of their ability to serve their customers for a long time. This is really important when a brokerage is considering a partnership with a technology company. You do not want to trust one of your most vital marketing tools to a start-up firm that may be here today, looking fancy, but gone tomorrow.

Both of these firms understand the business. Moreover, they have long relationships with MLSs that are vital to the capability and reliability of managing the data from the MLS and onto your website. Both firms manage over 90% of the listings in America today, so it is quite likely that they are ready to build and launch your website right away. You can also be assured that your solution will be compliant with MLS rules and regulations for IDX and VOW display.

Each of these firms develops an excellent property search solution that is fast and elegant for the consumer. They also have lots of flexibility to support your broker branding with logos, colors, fonts, and other attributes that are important in maintaining your brand identity.

Each firm does an excellent job of lead conversion and supports the ability for the brokerage to direct those leads according to YOUR business rules. If you are part of a franchise that offers lead management, you have no worries. They integrate with all of the major lead management solutions and most CRM solutions.

So, what sets them apart?

WolfNet is what we technologists call a "category killer." They focus all of their company's efforts on websites and property search. For that reason, they power a number of franchise-wide solutions supporting over 70,000 websites today. If you are just looking for a website and co-branded agent websites, they have those packaged up nicely.

Lone Wolf is the opposite. They do the job of executing website solutions, but the beauty of their offering is integration with a suite of solutions that represent a "brokerage in a box." They have everything from accounting to WOLFvision, their interactive digital displays. They also include everything in between—from CRM to CMA to document management and beyond. They are very well suited for a brokerage who wants everything from one vendor.

You can find out more details on these two companies in our upcoming 2016 Technology Guide. Reserve your copy today!

You can also learn about other brokerage website providers here.