Milestones Awarded for Delivering Mutual Benefits to Loan Officers and Realtors
Generally, technology solutions for real estate and mortgage professionals are separate, siloed solutions that are not connected in the service of the real estate consumer. When a homebuyer is working with an agent to find a home, and a loan officer to find financing, the only collaboration between the two might be email. The real estate and mortgage industries share a common challenge: 82% of past clients do not use their loan officer or Realtor in a future transaction. The primary reason is that the relationship breaks up after the closing as determined by surveys and interviews from the National Association of REALTORS®, as well as counterparts in mortgage. Milestones has become the most popular solution for real estate firms and mortgage firms alike. The invention of the consumer homeownership portal delivers value to the homeowner in managing and maintaining their home with the support of their trusted advisors in both real estate and mortgage. The homeowner hub is provided by service providers in real estate, mortgage, or title industries to past clients, prospects, friends and family. Consumers can invite and manage the service providers of their choice. The good news is that it works. The likelihood of a consumer using their service provider in a future transaction increases if the customer is a homeowner hub user. This is true for both real estate and mortgage. Milestones is a natural solution for enterprise firms that provide a range of affiliated services across real estate, mortgage, insurance, title, home warranty, and more. All of the affiliated services are seamlessly integrated with Milestones, allowing each business unit to contribute to supporting the homeownership journey. For their efforts in mortgage, leading mortgage publication HousingWire named Milestones to the 2024 Tech100 mortgage program. Details below. Milestones Named in HousingWire's 2024 Tech100 Mortgage Program AUSTIN, Tex. – Feb 1, 2024 – Milestones, a leading provider of innovative solutions for homeowner engagement in the real estate and mortgage industries, is proud to announce its recognition in the HousingWire Tech100 Mortgage program for 2024. This prestigious accolade highlights Milestones' commitment to revolutionizing the mortgage landscape through cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions. HousingWire's Tech100 Mortgage program, now in its 12th year, is an annual list that recognizes the most innovative and impactful technology companies in the mortgage and real estate industries. The list can be leveraged to identify partners and solutions to the challenges that mortgage lenders and real estate professionals face every day. "It is an honor to be acknowledged amongst an elite group of companies recognized for their excellence and influence in the mortgage technology sector," said Dustin Gray, CEO at Milestones. "Milestones is delivering on innovation to enhance customer retention and repeat business through its consumer-centric products that emphasize the lender's value between transactions." Milestones has distinguished itself through its commitment to developing forward-thinking solutions that streamline and enhance the mortgage process. The company's innovative technologies have empowered lenders, borrowers, and other stakeholders by providing efficient, secure, and user-friendly experiences. With a white-label approach, Milestones' home management portals assist real estate brokerages, mortgage lenders, title companies, home warranty providers, and insurance companies in being actively involved and guiding their customer's journeys, fostering continuous engagement for repeat business and referrals, as well as driving ancillary products and services to boost revenue. Gray added, "This acknowledgment reflects our dedication to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the proptech industry in the mortgage sector, and we are grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing evolution of the housing finance landscape." Learn more about Milestones and talk to Sales here. About HousingWire HousingWire is an information services company that provides unique data and research, respected business journalism and must-attend events for housing leaders to use to advance their understanding and business outcomes. Our vision is a world in which housing leaders have a complete view of the housing market, and a broad community of peers with whom they can connect. We are committed to delivering the data, analytics, media, and events that advance this vision. Because housing is too important for narrow perspectives and missed connections. Informed housing leaders are better housing leaders. A connected housing industry is a better housing industry. And the full picture always reveals new opportunities. Explore more at www.housingwire.com. About Milestones Milestones provides personalized home management portals, referred to as "hubs," that incorporate a variety of tools and resources to assist homeowners throughout the entire homeownership journey, and that are uniquely branded to professionals in the real estate and mortgage landscape. Whether it's buying, selling, moving, or owning a home, homeowners have access to a wide array of home service providers, insights into home value, and much more. Our solution simplifies the complexities of homeownership, while empowering housing professionals to stay engaged, educate, and add value for their clients to foster long-term relationships. Learn more at Milestones.ai. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

5 Ways Real Estate Brokers Can Make Better Use of Technology
If you were recently at Inman Connect Las Vegas 2023 (or wished you had been!), you know the topics on everybody's minds these days are AI, disruption, uncertainty, and technology -- especially how fast everything seems to be changing. In so many of the conversations we had with real estate professionals from around the country, AI in particular and technology in general were brought up as equal parts amazing and scary. Brokers and agents are amazed by the incredible things ChatGPT can do for real estate, while also being worried about whether their jobs are at risk. The reality is uncontestable: real estate technology is here to stay, and it will only be getting better and more advanced as time goes on. When real estate brokers use technology to their advantage, it will have a transformative effect on their businesses. Here are five ways real estate brokers can make better use of technology and get the most out of their tech stacks, with a handy list at the end to get their tech journeys started on the right foot. The right real estate technology will help humanize lead generation and marketing Real estate is a famously relationship-oriented industry. One common fear real estate brokers and agents have is that technology will remove them from the equation, making their work more robotic and taking the human out of the equation. The result: mechanical workflows that lack the human touch that has always been so important. The way we see it, this couldn't be further from the truth. A quality that many of the best agents share is the ability to systematize and streamline their work. The latest technological innovations do this on steroids and in ways that we couldn't even imagine just five years ago. What do we mean by "the right technology?" The right real estate tech will use human in the loop, which combines advances in machine intelligence with human intelligence (and expertise) to check, validate, and optimize the machine's work. This means that the right tech will never exclude real estate agents, it will empower them. This means fewer tedious tasks and stronger, more human customer relationships. Brokers would do well to assess where the latest advancements would add the most value at their real estate brokerages and try some new solutions. Even just the process of auditing their tech stacks can have a big impact on finding areas of improvement. Real estate technology is an essential tool for improving the agent experience and boosting retention As we mentioned above, the right tech doesn't impede real estate agents, it empowers them. Tech-focused brokerages are the way of the future and will have a much easier time recruiting and retaining top talent, which has always been both a challenge and a reward of running a successful real estate brokerage. The right technology helps agents be more efficient, less stressed, and more productive. They can market more efficiently, support their clients better, and ultimately earn higher commission income. With all of these benefits powered by technology, agents are continuously looking for the brokerage that can provide the best suite of tools. It's no wonder then that tech-forward brokerages like SERHANT. have grown so quickly and boast such enviable retention rates. Brokerage technology is an asset real estate brokers can leverage to streamline processes and improve margins Every broker knows margins are thin and getting thinner. But there have never been so many ways to run more smoothly, cut unnecessary costs, and work smarter. Even just the process of exploring what those options are can provide a huge benefit. Imagine what else you can do when you find the right solutions to optimize your workflows! Today, there are brokerage technology solutions for running every aspect of your business, from operations, HR, and accounting to marketing, lead generation, and transaction management from lead to close, completely in the cloud. Time-consuming and error-prone repetitive data entry is all but a thing of the past, thanks to powerful and versatile integrations between systems and the MLS. Some brokerages have even opted for nearly end-to-end brokerage management platforms that draw from a single database, virtually eliminating the need to work in multiple apps at once. The result: uniquely configured tech stacks that give you a competitive edge, helping you outperform your competition and put more of that commission income into your and your agents' pockets. The right tech investments today will help you reach higher profitability tomorrow There are lots of different ways brokers can add revenue — technology is just one of them. But technology can easily start feeling like just an expense, especially when you're stuck using solutions that aren't right for your brokerage. The uncontested reality is that we're hurtling toward a future filled with more technology, not less. Another factor is that the real estate industry has been notoriously slow to embrace new technology. The consensus at Inman Connect Las Vegas was clear: technology won't replace us, but the real estate professionals who master it will own the future. So, how do you know what tech investments are right for you today? Here's a quick list of tips to get you started: If you haven't yet, it's time to start transitioning to the cloud. Not sure what the cloud is or how it could benefit your brokerage? Read our article Why Your Brokerage Needs to Move into the Cloud. Beyond the cloud, there are always ways to get your tools to work better together and identify gaps where your tech isn't helping you as much as it could. Sometimes, all it takes is an outside eye. See how a free tech stack audit could get you started. Change is hard for anyone. To ensure your changes are a success, read Effectively Implementing New Technology: 6 Key Stakeholder Groups You Must Engage. Still unclear about your next step? Get in touch! We'd be glad to talk about your business and how real estate technology can help. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

eXp Realty Adds Nine New Vendors to Its Internal Marketplace, eXp Solutions
eXp Realty announced the addition of nine new industry-leading vendors, tools and services to its eXp Solutions suite of offerings that its agents can use as an extension of their team throughout the real estate and homebuying lifecycle. "As the industry's most agent-centric brokerage, we are focused on helping our agents succeed and grow their businesses with the addition of vendors, tools and services that can save them valuable time and money," said Leo Pareja, Chief Strategy Officer, eXp Realty. "Our team has vetted these products and services and are confident these providers care about our agents' businesses as much as we do and will enable them to provide a world-class client experience." Professional Solutions RateMyAgent aggregates an agent's existing reviews, makes it easy to collect new ones and turns them into valuable content that feeds directly to their social media, Google profile and website. Transactly and SkyTC streamline the transaction process from pre-listing to post-closing. Through a mix of automation, integrations and tech-enabled services, they help agents save time and scale their business. Marketing and Listing Solutions Curbio helps complete pre-listing home updates and repairs with a streamlined solution that eliminates the stress of getting homes market-ready. From fast fix-ups to full renovations, Curbio takes the lead, with zero due until the home sells. Blended Sense is a first-of-its-kind media technology platform that will provide all eXp agents with access to high-quality production and asset management. Passive Prospecting™️ is the YouTube for real estate industry leader, offering training, coaching and video editing services for real estate professionals. Flow Living is an automated social media marketing tool that automatically creates ads from listings and targets the right audience across multiple platforms, sending leads directly to a digital device. Currently available outside the U.S. and Canada in 22 global markets. Flowcode provides eXp agents with a platform to drive leads and measure the effectiveness of their offline media, marketing and consumer-facing efforts throughFlowcode QR codes, customizable Flowpage mobile microsites and analytics dashboards. Unique Flowcodes can also be placed on marketing assets. Real Grader measures, manages and maximizes an agent's digital presence, raising their grade on eight sites and building a strong unified digital brand.

RESAAS Partners with HomeServices of America, a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate
RESAAS Services Inc. announced a new Enterprise Partnership with HomeServices of America Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate. HomeServices of America is the largest residential brokerage firm in the United States, with over 90,000 real estate professionals operating in over 900 offices across 33 states. Christopher Sears, VP Strategic Partnerships of HomeServices of America, said, "RESAAS is already delivering value to individual Berkshire Hathaway affiliated real estate agents on a national scale. We are excited to amplify this by appointing RESAAS as an Official Partner of HomeServices of America, making their award-winning services available to all of our affiliates." Tom Rossiter, CEO of RESAAS, said, "RESAAS has vast amounts of unique real estate data that reveals industry trends in real time. Our recent data shows HomeServices affiliates have been growing at a pace far beyond the wider real estate industry. RESAAS is proud to be welcomed in to the HomeServices of America organization. This partnership will deliver tremendous value and unrivalled business intelligence to their affiliates." HomeServices of America owns and operates 53 independent real estate brands nationwide, including Long & Foster, Edina Realty, Houlihan Lawrence, Intero and over 1,500 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices offices. Under the terms of the one-year agreement signed on March 22, RESAAS will generate recurring revenue from the sales of both RESAAS Premium and RESAAS Ultimate, the two paid-for monthly subscriptions offered by RESAAS. Real estate agents subscribed to RESAAS Ultimate benefit from real-time referral alerts and priority placement in agent searches, enhancing their opportunity to secure new business and increase transactions.

RE/MAX Marketplace Adds 11 Vendors
RE/MAX announced the addition of eleven companies to the RE/MAX Approved Supplier program. The new additions, spanning anti-crime resources, advanced real estate technology and sophisticated marketing services, equip affiliates with top resources that are simple to implement. The curated vendors enable real estate agents to focus on what they do best – helping clients buy and sell homes. All services and materials are available for purchase – often at RE/MAX negotiated rates – directly through the RE/MAX Marketplace, the online portal exclusively available to RE/MAX agents in the U.S. and Canada. New members of the RE/MAX Approved Supplier program in the U.S. include: DO AudioTours™: DO AudioTours is an innovative audio tool to amplify real estate listing photos. This tool provides additional information for consumers and enables agents to differentiate themselves through the power of their voice. With a simple click-to-record button, agents can add a 30-second audio clip to each MLS photo. An affordable alternative to video, this tool delivers an audio description plus closed captioning, multi-language support that bring a property to life. DO AudioTours uses a patented interface to connect directly with a property's listing – leveraging an agent's knowledge and personal insights as a competitive advantage. Formations: Formations is a comprehensive financial management platform designed to enhance the financial well-being of the self-employed in the U.S. By using Formations, REALTORS® save on taxes annually, gain real-time visibility into their business finances, and have access to a dedicated team of tax and accounting experts to make better financial decisions. Formations' mission is to help REALTORS® maximize their financial potential by streamlining business entity creation, expense management, payroll, tax filing, and optimizing retirement contributions. Home Warranty of America: Home Warranty of America (HWA) is a national warranty company that has been helping homeowners protect their most valuable asset for 27 years. Not all home warranties are the same – HWA stands apart from the competition by providing 13 months of initial coverage, up to $5,000 in HVAC coverage, no cap on Freon, no age restrictions on appliances and systems, dependable service from a national network of qualified service technicians, easy-access claim service via phone or web, and seller's coverage on active listings for up to 180 days. Listing Alert: Listing Alert is a communication platform that enables agents to enter their pre-market property, instantly notifying their peers within their brokerage on what's coming to market. RESAAS: RESAAS is used by one in four U.S. REALTORS® today who are looking to increase their global referral business. The platform provides agent-to-agent referrals, the most qualified type of lead. RESAAS is the only platform offering this type of lead at a global scale and across all brokerages. RESAAS has already delivered incredible value to the RE/MAX Global team and this expansion in the U.S. as an Approved Supplier means more RE/MAX affiliates can benefit from sending, receiving, and managing their referral business in real-time. Sold.com: While any agent can join and be eligible to receive referrals, SOLD.com's matching algorithm utilizes both the MLS data and SOLD.com performance data to generate recommendations on which agent to match with which consumer. SOLD.com created the "Guaranteed Display Program" as a way to promote featured agents. Tongo: Tongo's first product in the market provides real estate agents access to their income – in a new and different way. With Tongo, agents can immediately access their commission once a transaction is pending. Exclusive benefits for RE/MAX agents include guaranteed lowest pricing, a partner concierge and an expedited user experience. Virtudesk: Virtudesk is one of the leading virtual assistant service providers for business owners and entrepreneurs within the U.S. Whether they are seeking assistance with customer service support, marketing, prospecting leads, or administrative tasks, Virtudesk offers competitive rates with a streamlined process and the best-trained virtual assistants in the industry. Virtudesk specializes in recruiting, training, and managing virtual assistants, as well as monitoring them with proprietary cutting-edge time tracking and screenshot-capturing software to ensure transparency to their clients. New members of the RE/MAX Approved Supplier program in Canada include: The AML Shop: The AML Shop helps brokerages in Canada protect their businesses from criminals through anti-financial crime consulting services that are intended to comply with federal anti-money laundering regulations. Since The AML Shop's inception in 2016, the firm has served hundreds of clients across Canada and abroad. Its team of more than 40 anti-money laundering experts is rapidly becoming Canada's leading business solution for AML compliance. Axis Insurance Managers: Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Axis Insurance serves local, national and international clients with risk management and insurance services. Axis professionals analyze business and personal risk to provide advice and solutions to mitigate, reduce or transfer those risks. TELUS: TELUS is one of the top three largest Canadian national telecommunication companies, providing a wide range of telecommunications products and services including internet access, voice, entertainment, healthcare, video. TELUS will provide RE/MAX Affiliates based in Canada with a preferred offer, such as rate discounts, hardware discounts, and/or a bill credit. Many of the companies in the RE/MAX Approved Supplier program offer exclusive discounts to RE/MAX agents. With everything from yard signs to legal services, clothing to technology, these vetted companies provide powerful tools to help RE/MAX affiliates run a successful business.

Why Free Software Is Best for Real Estate
You know the adage, "If you're not paying for it, you are not the customer, you are the product being sold!" Possibly, the genius author of this quote is a guy named Andrew Lewis on Twitter who posted it on September 13, 2010. Fact checking this was a bit of a rabbit's hole. Andrew is a Canadian with 387 followers. Regardless, I am happy to give him credit until the real genius teaches Google the truth. The point is the real estate industry has wrangled with this issue for a long time. The barter from software companies is a trade of data about properties, real estate agents, real estate brokers, their client information and all the behavioral data they can collect for software. The real problem with this barter is that it is not very transparent. Generally, the barter that exchanges data for software is outlined in the "Terms of Use" or "Privacy Policy" of a software provider, with the provision that they reserve the right to change those terms or policies at any time. We have written many articles about Terms of Use, stemming from our review of the dangers of listing syndication. Generally, the default language on many property advertising websites is that the content (listing and contact information) that you provide will be displayed as "free advertising," but they retain the right to use the contributed information forever; also they repurpose it however they like, but you maintain all of the liability over the contributed content. If you are shortsighted, you do not really care about the data—you just want to market and sell the property. If you have experience and vision, you understand that the data contributed by the broker or agent leads to the creation of multi-billion dollar media companies and data companies. Look at the largest companies in real estate: CoStar, Zillow Group, NewsCorp, CoreLogic, Black Knight – all data and media companies. So... why is free good? So far, it does not sound like the trade of data for advertising or software is a very good barter. The truth is, it was not always a good barter. However, thanks to the efforts of hardworking consultants and real estate data licensing lawyers, the leaky bucket of Terms of Use and Privacy Policy mistakes has been mostly plugged. If you want, check out this whitepaper from Silicon Valley based MLSListings to read the best practices around Privacy Policy. California, along with most of Europe, has adopted laws that give the consumer the right to be forgotten. That is good news, but data licensing is a bit trickier. The laws around enforcing data licenses have a lot to do with the sovereignty of the data and copyright, which is not always clear unless you do the heavy lifting of creating copyrights and data sovereignty. The opaque nature of this issue makes the barter for free software interesting. The real problem solved by free software in real estate is product adoption and overlapping distribution Product adoption is a massive problem in real estate software site licenses at every point of distribution. Unless an agent is required to use software to get paid, it's unlikely that you will have high adoption. Moreover, because agents are independent contractors, there is very little that you can "require" an agent to do. Some systems, like the MLS service, enjoy the unique position of requiring that all agents use the MLS software (Clear Cooperation Policy). But even so, during the melt down of 2008, some MLSs reported that 25% to 50% of their subscribers had not logged in for more than a year. Normal participation rates for software are in the 10-20% range, meaning that only 15% of agents who have access to software through their REALTOR association (national, state, local), franchise, MLS, network, brokerage or team will use the software. So, a $1 per seat site license to a 10,000 seat customer brings in $10k per month at a true cost per active user of $5-$10 per user, per month. The primary cause of low adoption rates is overlapping distribution of competitive products. The same product is often offered to the agent through their association, franchise, MLS, network, broker, or other source. All these companies that serve the agent build their "value" through the tools they provide to help agents. To realize that value, they need to be differentiated – so each of those distributprs overlap on offering many types of the same software – like websites, CRM, CMA, marketing suite, etc. A RE/MAX agent in Los Angeles has access to websites from the local, state, national REALTOR associations, multiple options from the MLS, multiple options from the franchise, and an option from their broker. If they are a member of a team, they might have that option, too. Freemium is perfect for real estate The value that associations, franchises, MLSs, networks, brokers, and teams are trying to build with the offer of software solutions is sincere and effective. First of all, each of those distribution points must make the software available to everyone. eXp cannot recruit agents and tell them that they only get access to Inside Real Estate's kvCORE if they meet certain criteria. They must offer it to all eXp agents. For decades of working in the industry, the champion of Freemium software was Russ Bergeron when he was the Chief Executive Officer of SoCAL MLS. They structured tight data licensing terms that only allowed the data to be used for the purpose of serving the agent. Dozens of software providers flocked to SoCAL MLS to gain access to their 60,000-agent marketplace. SoCAL MLS developed the most comprehensive suite of software services for agents for free, and shared revenue when agents upgraded to the premium version of the software. It was a real win-win. The Houston Association of REALTORS® made the maverick decision to offer core and premium services with great success. Many brokers have done the same by offering a basic set of software, with an upgrade path to premium products. When to switch from free to paid? It is difficult to know when you switch from a free product to paying the upgrade fee for all agents. The calculus considers more than just adoption; the character of the vendor, customer service, and cost are additional key elements to consider. If you are large and well-funded like Compass, rather than license a CRM like Contactually, you acquire the company – but this option is limited to a few companies. Perhaps the best path is not offering a single product, but offering variety. Variety vs. site license One of the key issues with a site license is that you are stuck in a contract with a company that delivers operational software which keeps your business running. For the most part, software is stable today and you do not suffer long outages. Many companies ran redundant systems in the old days when software outages were common. The bigger concern today is the disruption to the business if the software company gets sold. The industry freaked out when Zillow acquired dotloop, when Compass acquired Contactually, or when RE/MAX acquired booj, and so on. When you have all your eggs in one basket, and the company holding that basket gets sold to a person that you have uncertainties about, it is a huge distraction. MLSs have been proactive in offering system of choice. This is a dual benefit of giving agents a variety of options without undertaking the associated risks of being dependent on a single vendor. System of choice adds complexity to support and training, but the increased costs are marginal. Generally, agents use one of the choices and not multiple choices. You only pay for the number of actual users each month, so you do not pay for users that do not log in. In some cases, this has reduced costs for MLSs who have "ghost" agents who never log in but pay annual MLS fees – and there are lots of those in every market. Next steps As you can see, this is a complex issue that requires a lot of research and strategy to get right. WAV Group starts the process with an agent-first perspective. When you know the products used by every agent regardless of source – association, MLS, franchise, broker, self-paid, etc. – then you can visualize the roadmap for free vs. premium. We like to use the terms "vitamins" and "pain killers." Pain killers are services that the agent must have; vitamins are nice to have. Honestly, with the few exceptions of a few dozen of our clients, I doubt that anyone is collecting this information. Some brokers even extend the research to their key competitors to make sure that their "value" proposition is right for recruiting. Marilyn Wilson, David Gumpper, and Victor Lund are all specialists at helping you get your technology offerings right. Reach out if you would like to discuss a project. When the market is sagging, it's a great time to reevaluate your strategy. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Wonderful to Witness Plunk Success
WAV Group's involvement in the venture capital community allows us to meet a great amount of smart and dedicated entrepreneurs who reimagine real estate. Two of those people are Brian Lent and David Bluhm, co-founders of Plunk, and the wonderful team that they have assembled. In 2021, Plunk was among eight companies selected for the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® REACH program, designed to facilitate critical conversations with forward-thinking real estate companies, along with some venture capital. When I met them, they shared their vision of developing a more accurate and dynamic analytics platform for real estate valuations. My first reaction is that they are crazy to go after the cornerstone of billion-dollar enterprises like CoreLogic, Black Knight Financial, and in some existential way – the consumer favorite – Zillow. Crazy is as crazy does, I guess — onward they charged. Today, we can officially recognize that Plunk has accomplished so much. They reached their first, most important milestone. Plunk's analytics are now available on over 104 million U.S. homes, representing all U.S. markets. It took five years of hard work and a lot of capital. You can now see Plunk's Home Value, Home Ticker, and Market Insights live across the housing industry, including online sites, agent products, brokerages, MLS providers and CRM solutions. Now that they have seeded the usefulness of the Plunk products in instrumenting residential real estate values in key vertical markets, they will need to expand adoption. This should be an interesting year for Plunk, facing the headwind of many companies in the real estate industry who are trading innovation for cost savings. Gaining market share will be challenging, but talented people always seem to find a path. If you are unfamiliar with Plunk's home value, ticker and market insights products, they are worth a look. I think that many broker website platforms and CMA tools would benefit from making Plunk available. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Inside Real Estate Partners with eXp Realty to Launch CORE Home
Inside Real Estate announced the continued rollout of the industry's first lifetime homeownership solution, CORE Home, to over 80k agents nationwide this fall. The new technology is available exclusively to customers of their flagship platform, kvCORE. One of the first national brokerages to launch CORE Home, eXp Realty, unveiled this latest technology, uniquely labeled 360 Home, to their U.S.-based agents at their annual EXPCON conference last week in Las Vegas. "We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Inside Real Estate, rolling out 360 Home, the industry's first lifetime homeownership technology, branded and tailored completely to our brokerage and agents," said Glenn Sanford, founder of eXp Realty® and CEO of eXp World Holdings, Inc. "This innovative solution solidifies the long-term relationship between our agents and their customers, by putting them at the center of every stage of the homeownership lifecycle in the easiest way possible." CORE Home anchors customers in a single place, enabling agents to deliver a seamlessly connected experience throughout the entire homeownership lifecycle; living in a home and understanding its value, searching for their next home, and moving into a new home. "CORE Home is the local and personalized solution brokerages, teams and agents have been trying to provide to their clients for years," said Joe Skousen, CEO of Inside Real Estate. "It brings together all of the client experiences, from searching to transaction tracking, from moving to living – all in a single place. Importantly, while portals and large industry players deploy huge amounts of capital to step between the agent and their client, we are empowering the brokerage and agent brand and enhancing the agent-client relationship." The new technology is focused on helping agents and teams create stronger relationships with their customers, increasing repeat and referral business, and increasing brokerage profitability by more tightly integrating affiliated services directly to the consumer. eXp's unique implementation of CORE Home, called 360 Home, will empower their 70k agents and teams with the industry's first ever lifetime homeownership solution that goes along with the robust set of productivity tools already available with the kvCORE Platform. The automation built within kvCORE will pull consumers directly into CORE Home, via property alerts, market reports and other proactive engagement that drives consumer interaction automatically, on behalf of the agent. kvCORE on average produces a 5-10x lift in consumer engagements over industry norms, and with the added layer of CORE Home, early results show consumers are up to 30x more likely to initiate a conversation with their agent. From intuitive property searches, to favoriting homes, the moving experience and beyond, these early results reinforce high consumer demand for a seamless and personalized homeownership app experience that comes from a trusted source. "We're thrilled to expand our long standing partnership with eXp Realty® as they rollout this game-changing technology to their 70k agents across the country. Our goal has always been to partner with our clients to fuel strategic and profitable growth in their businesses, and we're excited to support eXp Realty® as they continue to impressively and consistently evolve and scale their brand," said Skousen. Inside Real Estate will enable a version of CORE Home to all kvCORE Platform customers in 2023, with customization options for Inside Real Estate's enterprise customers. Learn more at insiderealestate.com/corehome.

Learn How to Boost Your Tech Stack ROI with a Free Audit
Let's be honest: when was the last time you really looked at your brokerage's technology stack? Was it just before or after your last big tech investment? Was it recent? What did you learn? Did any follow-up actions you took give you tangible results? The truth of the matter is that most brokers rarely take the time to do a holistic review of the technology powering their business. The conventional wisdom is, "If it isn't broken, don't fix it," or that if there were ways to get more out of your tech, they'd be so obvious you'd already know about them. But in reality, your technology stack needs to be regularly reviewed to ensure your tools and solutions are helping you not just meet your current goals, but also allowing you to seize future opportunities. This will also allow your business to be more resilient during changing or difficult times. What is a tech stack audit? A tech stack audit is an opportunity to review all the technology-based tools you use at your brokerage. This means taking a look at the front office platforms, apps, programs, and tools that help you provide a seamless internal and external customer experience, as well as the back office platforms that support the day-to-day operations at your brokerage. What are the benefits of a tech stack audit? During an audit, an inventory is conducted of everything your brokerage uses. This allows you to: For a limited time, the tech experts at Constellation1 are offering complimentary 30-minute audits to new and existing customers. New customers can learn about our offerings and how we can help take your business to the next level, while existing customers can touch base with their account representatives, have their questions answered, and learn about new launches and integrations they might not have heard about. What will happen during my tech stack audit with Constellation1? After you schedule your free 30-minute audit, our team will give you a call to review and assess the current tools that make up your tech stack. During our call, we will help identify any potential areas of improvement and suggestions to help you reach your year-end goals and help you hit the ground running in 2023. Schedule your FREE tech stack audit today If you're an existing customer, please contact your account representative, who will be happy to assist you. If you're a new customer and would like the real estate tech experts at Constellation1 to offer their opinion on your tech stack (we'll be honest, we promise!), click here to request a callback. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

ROI Got You Rattled? It's Time to Invest in Your Real Estate Technology Stack
As Vice President of Revenue at Constellation1, ROI is always at the top of my mind. Whether I'm ensuring we're driving ROI for our customers or for my own team, I know the importance of getting the most out of your investments. As we continue to hear about fluctuations in the market and rising interest rates in the media, now is a great time to really understand the opportunity for ROI in your tech stack. Read on to learn more about why real estate tech is an investment that can pay off big for your brokerage. Getting the Biggest Returns on Your Tech Investments As business owners, broker/owners will naturally want to know whether their real estate technology investments are paying off. They can do this by calculating their ROI, or the net profit from an investment divided by its cost. So, if you spent $1,000 on new software that earned you $2,000, your ROI would be 100%. But this metric can be limiting because traditional ROI doesn't account for other industry-specific factors that can have a big impact on your brokerage. These include: Adoption Rate Only 27% of agents strongly agreed their brokerage provided all the technology required to be successful, according to the NAR 2021 Technology Survey. This means broker/owners have a major opportunity to meet agents' technology needs more effectively because happy agents mean better sales. The most valuable technologies included e-signature, property search, social media marketing, and customer relationship management tools, among those surveyed. Many factors affect adoption rate, including the perceived and actual usefulness of the technology, ease of use, perceived or actual benefit, and the behavior of other agents. Market Share The U.S.'s ten largest brokerages accounted for about 20% of nationwide market share by sales volume in 2020, according to T3 Sixty's Real Estate Almanac 2022. Market share helps you understand your performance against your competition and measure your growth over time. If new tech allows you to gain market share faster, you know it's working, even if revenue doesn't increase as quickly. Customer Satisfaction The potential cost of dissatisfied customers in real estate is astronomical because satisfied customers mean new leads. If clients aren't singing your praises, there's a problem. In 2022, home buyers and sellers expect brokerages to use technology like e-signatures for signing documents on the go, robust social media marketing campaigns, and tailored customer service with a personalized touch. The solutions in your tech stack need to meet these expectations. If your customer service ratings increase after adding new tech, it will have a positive effect on your bottom line. There's More to ROI Than Just Revenue Technology is revolutionizing real estate, and industry actors worldwide agree new technology adoption is a strategic priority. By measuring your return in terms of agent adoption, market share, and customer satisfaction, you can assess the impact of your tech stack beyond just dollars and cents. These metrics help make sure you're getting the most out of your investment. Changing Up Your Tech Can Help You Win Big Need proof that the right technology really can make all the difference? By working with Constellation1, Vylla Home was able to grow its agent base by nearly 25%, and significantly increase its revenue. For more information about how upgrading your tech stack can help increase long-term ROI, click here. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Coldwell Banker Launches 3 New Tools to Empower Home Sellers
Despite the current seller's market, nearly half of American homeowners (46%) are unsure of the current value of their home. This is according to the latest Coldwell Banker survey, which launches today alongside a refreshed ColdwellBanker.com and the newest "Dream" ad campaign. Part of the brand's 2022 Seller Strategy, this campaign will give potential home sellers the tools and help they need to navigate today's market -- and to dream big. The Dream ad campaign airs March 15 during March Madness and features an unveiling of ColdwellBanker.com and three new Coldwell Banker products: CB Estimate℠, Move Meter℠ and the Seller's Assurance Program. Paired with the brand's 100,000 world-class agents, these products help ensure that Coldwell Banker Real Estate is delivering something for every step of the seller journey, from inspiration to action. Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC, a Realogy company, commissioned the survey conducted online by The Harris Poll among 2,000+ US adults to understand the ways Americans assess their real estate dreams and what support they value during the selling process. Findings include: Opportunities for home sellers are ripe as the COVID-19 pandemic has made younger generations more likely to think about pursuing their dreams, and for some this includes home ownership. Over a quarter of Americans (29%) who experienced the pandemic – especially GenZers and Millennials – are more likely to think about pursuing their dreams. Pursuit of happiness: 39% of Gen Zers (age 18-25) and 41% of Millennials (age 26-41) say they are much or somewhat more likely to think about pursuing their dreams (e.g., making a housing move, pursuing a passion project, making a career change, expanding family) after experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic. Location, Location, Lifestyle: When it comes to home, more than 4 in 5 Americans (87%) say it is important to them that the location of their home (rural, suburban or urban) aligns with their lifestyle. Dreaming about everywhere: Not all Americans agree on what the ideal dream home looks like. Top dream home locations include: In a location with warm weather (33%) In the suburbs with ample space (28%) Remote and off the beaten path with a large plot of land (25%) Americans need help selling and finding their dream home. According to this survey, nearly half (46%) of American homeowners say they are unsure of the current value of their home. That number increases to 52% among Gen Z homeowners and 54% among Millennial homeowners. With the new CB Estimate℠ tool, Coldwell Banker is making it easier to find out what a home is worth with a free and instant online estimate. Sellers can browse at their own pace, without having to fill out a form or provide data. What's more, sellers still have the upper hand as two thirds (67%) of Americans have not yet found their dream home. That proportion is even higher among Gen Z (72%) and Millennials (75%). Many Americans use home price estimate calculator tools as a first step for selling a home. More than a third of Americans (35%) would go to a real estate website with a home price estimate calculator tool as their first step to sell their home if they were looking to sell, and younger Americans are more likely to take this as a first step versus using a real estate agent. The new CB Estimate℠ and Move Meter℠ tools will help kickstart the process of a home evaluation. From there, Coldwell Banker affiliated agents are ready to take a sale to the next level – by getting the most for a customer's current home and bringing them one step closer to finding that dream home. In fact, Coldwell Banker affiliated agents have achieved a 20.7% higher U.S. sales price than the National Association of Realtors® average. Online shopping: If they were looking to sell a home, more Gen Z (ages 18-25) and Millennials (ages 26-41) would go to a real estate website with a home price estimate calculator tool as their first step to sell their home (44% and 43%) versus contacting a real estate agent directly (30% and 35%). But when it comes to selling a home, agents are still key. Proving just how valuable a human approach is to the selling process, 60% of Americans would trust a licensed real estate agent to accurately estimate the value of a home more than an online valuation tool. That's why Coldwell Banker's Estimate tool is designed to be paired with one of our star agents, who can verify a home's true value. License to sell: Nearly half (45%) of Americans say if they were going to sell a home, contacting a licensed real estate agent directly would be their first step. The "Great Resignation" continues to impact home. Compared to a fall Coldwell Banker survey, people are increasingly willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary if it meant moving to a more affordable location. Thanks to the "Great Resignation," the movement of people leaving the workforce during the pandemic, Americans feel empowered to make these moves. In fact, housing affordability and cost of living are factors that are important to an overwhelming majority of Americans when considering a move to a new location. Employed Americans are increasingly willing to take a pay cut or accept a new job with a lower salary in order to move to a more affordable location: The percentage of those willing rose from 41% in October 2021 to 46% in February 2022. A significant increase (21% change) was seen among employed males aged 18-34 (53% to 64%). Getting out of town: Of American homeowners who plan to sell their home in the future, 44% plan to move to a different city or state. That proportion increases to 58% among Gen Z and 54% among Millennial homeowners who plan to sell. Americans aren't moving on a whim, though. They value data that help them gain a fuller understanding of a new real estate market. Researching the right way: When considering a move to a new location, Americans say the following factors are at least somewhat important to them: Quality of Life (lifestyle and/or environmental elements): 94% Housing affordability: 93% Cost of living affordability: 93% Job market strength: 70% With these desires in mind, Coldwell Banker Real Estate created the Move Meter℠ – a proprietary tool built to help people dream differently by comparing various data points to evaluate a move from one place to another, including: housing affordability, quality of life, job market strength and living affordability. When one is ready to sell, the Seller's Assurance Program, developed to make home selling easier and more rewarding than ever, articulates the seller benefits available through working with a Coldwell Banker affiliated agent to sell or list a home. The Seller's Assurance Program is intended to spotlight the tailored offerings each Coldwell Banker affiliated agent provides their clients. "With today's lack of inventory, how do we inspire homeowners to consider listing their home for sale? That's where the Coldwell Banker 2022 Seller Strategy comes in, and along with it the Dream campaign, survey and refreshed ColdwellBanker.com," said David Marine, CMO of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. "We've given our website a new and refreshed look that is complete with intuitive tools designed to make finding the estimated value of your current home seamless. With more Americans willing to take a pay cut to move to a more affordable location, we saw a need for tools that let them dream differently." Visit coldwellbanker.com to see the new look and feel of the Coldwell Banker website and explore the CB Estimate℠, Move Meter℠ and Seller's Assurance Program to see the current worth of your home, find an agent and prepare for your next move to your dream home.

How to Create a Customized Tech Approach that Supports Your Agents
Shawna Alt grew up in the real estate business, having watched her mother run her own company. Even though she didn't initially have the desire, she found herself following in her mother's successful footsteps. After graduating from the College of Charleston with a degree in psychology, Alt returned to Madison, Wisconsin, to determine what her next steps would be. She met with one of her mom's friends and colleagues, Jim Imhoff, who was CEO of First Realty at the time, and he suggested that she give real estate a try. Today, Alt serves as president of First Weber, Inc., a company where she's been part of the leadership team going on 17 years. About three years ago, Alt sat down with the team to do what she describes as a "typical planning session." One of the things discussed? Whether or not the buyer, the seller or the agent was their actual client. "When we took a step back and looked at what we all did every day, it was very clear to us that the agent was our client," Alt says. "From that point on, we focused on what we were doing every day to help our agents build their business." That led to three primary questions: "What do we do?" "How do we do it?" and "Why do we do it?" "Every type of policy we have—and every tool we utilize—comes back to fulfilling those questions," Alt says. "We focus a lot on being a resource for our agents, getting feedback and identifying what it is that's specific and unique to each agent. We then customize the tools we offer based upon the needs they have." While some agents are focused on achieving a specific volume or closed unit goal, others are more concerned with achieving the elusive work/life balance. Then there are those who are more mobile oriented as opposed to those who prefer to continue working with paper files. "We reach out to them on a regular basis so that we can provide them with the tools that best meet their needs," says Alt, which ultimately laid the foundation for their utilization of Main Street, a suite of front office tools under Constellation1—the platform that drives everything. "This is where we work with Constellation1," explains Alt. "It does everything—all of our contact management, our marketing, all of our document and transaction management. We're able to customize everything from print pieces to electronic marketing pieces as well as the way in which the transaction management piece functions with the agent and interacts with the First Weber app." The firm also has its own print shop, where graphic designers create the marketing and direct mail pieces utilized by the firm. All of this comes from the content database that Constellation1 offers, and is one of the primary reasons behind the firm's success. "One of the biggest benefits that Constellation1 brings to the table is their willingness to customize their products to meet our needs," Alt says. "Their approach to meeting our needs melds perfectly with our approach to meet the needs of our agents." As of August 2021, there were approximately 1,100 agents at First Weber. "What makes a good agent is someone who has a growth mindset and is dedicated to helping others," concludes Alt. "We bring the necessary training and tools to support the business of our agents. They bring the motivation and desire to serve their clients." To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

How to Get Your Team to Embrace New Tech
According to research by RISMedia, the most popular technology stack for real estate agencies and brokerages includes these elements: Lead generation and referral services (29.6%) Task and time management tools (31.1%) Aerial photography (25.8%) These correspond with three big concerns real estate pros have: Developing new business, maintaining efficiency in the office, and ensuring properties have terrific listings. Add a dedicated real estate CRM to the mix, and you are ready to really shine. Technology enhances your capabilities, helping you do more of what you do well and reducing time you spend on routine tasks. Combined with the versatility real estate pros bring to the table and the industry's natural diversity, it empowers you to excel no matter what the market throws at you. But there's one problem: To reap the benefits, everyone has to be on the same page. Why Even Great Technology Rarely Changes Your Business Overnight Solo agents working alone in the home office often have more success implementing and using new technology than their colleagues in large teams. The individual needs to conquer the learning curve, but once that's done, it's easy to get nearly 100% of the potential value from technology. On the other hand, large teams can face an uneven roll-out when it comes to technology. Even a highly efficient company that's driven by best practices can fall behind if everyone has a different idea about what their software does, when to use it — and, most importantly, when to work around it. The more people avoid a platform or use their own solutions, the more confusing it all gets. Software doesn't just make things faster. It gives everyone a common frame of reference, including the same workflow and the terminology to get the job done right. This is especially crucial when multiple professionals need to work together to bring a transaction to a successful conclusion. The key to making a smooth transition is to understand how technology relates to change management. Recognize Your Team's Early Adopters and Passive Resistors In 1962, sociologist Everett Rogers published Diffusion of Innovations, one of the most widely cited works in the social sciences. The book was built around the idea of the Rogers Diffusion Curve, which stated that, within any organization, five different orientations to change would be represented: Innovators (2.5%) Early Adopters (13.5%) Early Majority (34%) Late Majority (34%) Laggards (16%) Innovators and early adopters are those most likely to embrace new technology. They do so not for its own sake, but because they clearly see and understand the value proposition it offers, whether that's speed, efficiency, accuracy, or whatever else it might be. On the far end of the scale is the "passive resistor." This is not simply a "laggard" who will come around to new things in time. Instead, passive resistors demonstrate a commitment to things the way they are, often because existing approaches have proven successful for them in the past. When decision-makers in an organization introduce a plan to use particular software and do things in a certain way, passive resistors are those who demonstrate lukewarm compliance. They might go right on using their preferred methods, which makes your business less efficient and less secure. Getting Off to a Strong Start with New Technology "Because I said so" rarely works on children, and it's just as useless with many adults. So it's important to communicate about technology plans and lead change in a measured, respectful, transparent way. Only once such steps have been taken should active monitoring for compliance be used to close the gap. Here's how to get started: Recruit Your Early Adopters as Evangelists - During the selection and implementation process, some people will have more contact with the new technology than others. They will also be the first to see concrete changes and real results. Let the most enthusiastic colleagues take point communicating the value at stake to their less eager colleagues. Have a Communication Strategy in Place - Depending on the size of the team, different communication methods may be appropriate in the run-up to a big technology change. Try to use multiple methods, and be sure to create opportunities to ask questions, whether in the form of a town hall meeting, one-on-one, or another appropriate venue. Use the Power of Internal Mentoring - Software vendors can provide detailed training on every aspect of their solutions, but they are usually on-site only a short time. Identify your "power users" — often the same as your early adopters! — and find out who is willing to spend some time helping others in the organization sharpen their skills. New technology may take some getting used to, but it can mean the difference between an average year and blockbuster results. Learn more about optimizing your use of real estate technology. RE Technology readers can try DeltaNET 6 free for 30 days. To view the original article, visit the Delta Media Group blog.

Growing Your Brokerage with Technology
The following is an excerpt from RE Technology's Success Guide to Broker Technology: Have you seen the headlines? Every brokerage and franchise brand is talking about how they are leveraging technology in real estate to better serve the agent and the consumer. When you ask an agent about the technology they use, they rave about it. Then when you ask the agent to log in to show you how they use the product and how it grows their business, they forget their password and can't log in (tongue in cheek). Without a doubt, from Wall Street to your local main street, everyone is talking about how technology is the key to agent recruiting and retention. Without a doubt, this is true. Providing excellent technology that solves problems agents face in their business does increase sales volume. And agents will not leave the firm if it means giving up technology that works. As a brokerage, you need to develop certain superpowers when it comes to technology. You need to be known for something. For example, @Properties in Chicago has an internal communications app called @agent. It generates pre-market exposure for sellers' homes and alerts brokers to listings that match buyers' preferences. Similarly, Pacific Union in California built a digital listing presentation for the iPad. For the most part, there was nothing super special about either of these applications. Any broker could have done the same thing. The success really came from their enthusiasm and their ability to communicate how technology gives their agents a competitive advantage in the market. Whatever technology products you roll out this year (and you need to roll out at least one new thing each year), roll them out with excitement and bake that excitement into your recruiting and retention strategy! To grow your brokerage today, you must be able to claim a superpower with something. To find your thing each year, be sure to watch your competition and invest your time in getting technology demonstrations. You need to create a buzz. Be sure to involve your top producing agents and teams in the evaluation. Let them be the first to get the product and provide feedback. Spend time with that "techie" agent in the office and understand why other agents in the office defer to that person when it comes to technology leadership. Your job with real estate technology is to win the hearts and minds of your agents by delivering tools that they will use and rave about. And, most importantly, be sure that agents outside your firm want the product enough to consider joining you. Download Success Guide: Broker Technology to learn more about broker technology trends, how to evaluate broker technology, and more.

RE Technology Launches 2021 Broker Technology Success Guide
RE Technology has just released its latest Success Guide. In this new edition, we will be sharing insights on broker technology products. Broker technology products are developed to strengthen the service offering to consumers by enabling real estate agents to perform more effectively. Brokerages who are making strides in market penetration and agent growth all have one thing in common today – great technology. It is interesting to note that many of the largest brokerages in the nation have not been able to master their grand vision of technology. A new strategy has emerged that allows brokers to choose best-of-breed products. It is almost like buying the best car on the market, driving it for a few years, and perhaps switching to a new model. Agile brokers are not pinning their hopes to the grand vision of owning technology any more than they would need to own the company that makes computers. Buy software that fits your business and partner with a vendor that delivers great service. If the technology does not fit or you need to pivot, you can always switch vendors or integrate some new features to keep your technology plan in first place. Download Success Guide: Broker Technology to learn more about broker technology trends, how to evaluate broker technology, and more.

Effectively Implementing New Technology: Measuring Real ROI
If you're a broker/owner who struggles with implementing new technology, you're not alone. For many broker/owners, there are few things more challenging than rolling out new brokerage tech tools. There are a multitude of reasons why you might decide to update your tech stack. Once you've determined what your needs are and what steps you can take to meet them, you'll likely start thinking about how a change will affect your bottom line: how much will it cost, what will your return on investment be? However, there's more to these questions than first meets the eye.

How the Right iBuyer Solution Can Accelerate Your Brokerage's Rebound
Leading real estate experts and economists forecast a robust housing rebound. Whether we have a "V-shaped" or "W-shaped" recovery, real estate is poised to help lead us back from the bottom. iBuyers, among the first to hit the pause button in the industry, are back. More importantly, as global real estate tech strategist Mike Delprete points out, "the iBuyer business model is uniquely positioned to thrive in a world of social distancing, where people are putting a premium on the ability to conduct business while limiting direct human contact." iBuyers are also bringing certainty to the consumer experience. How many sellers will want to reduce their risks and stress by taking an all-cash iBuyer offer in today's market? After all, iBuyers eliminate the need for an open house or home tour, and sellers also don't have to worry about in-house repair folks traipsing through their homes. As Delprete notes, iBuyers are creating a more significant opportunity: their business model generates a multibillion-dollar opportunity from the massive number of seller leads they generate. Brokers have a remarkable opportunity to lock into these iBuyer opportunities by working with zavvie's improved all-in-one iBuyer platform. With zavvie, brokerages don't need to become an iBuyer to offer unmatched iBuyer expertise. Even with the rebound, the real estate pie in 2020 is likely to be smaller. If brokerages are going to maximize their share of real estate's comeback, they can't ignore iBuyers. Major brokerages throughout the nation realize this and are turning to zavvie to secure their seat at the iBuyer table and get a bigger slice of a somewhat smaller pie. Growth and Momentum Continue Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, zavvie's reach has continued to grow. We have more than doubled the number of agents with access to the zavvie iBuyer solution for brokerages. We expanded our iBuyer services by working with two industry giants: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. We also established a massive presence in the Pacific Northwest with John L. Scott Real Estate, and in Minnesota and Wisconsin with RE/MAX Results, one of the nation's top-ranked firms in agent productivity. Most recently, we've begun working with other seller-solution innovators, including bridge solution providers EasyKnock and Homeward. Timely Improvements The last several months have allowed us to accelerate zavvie product development. Every element of our platform has been improved. We've streamlined and simplified our most popular and potent iBuyer tool—the zavvie Offer Optimizer—providing agents with the right tools to guide sellers through all of their options. Enhancements have also been made to the zavvie Property Profiler and Confirmed Offer Reports. For real estate agents and their clients, the improved zavvie iBuyer solution allows them to become the iBuying expert for their clients. Agents don't have to duck and hide from iBuyer conversations, and they certainly don't have to bash them. For agents, more seller leads generate more business. And with zavvie, agents remain the trusted local experts and advisors that sellers and buyers want for every real estate transaction. Lane Hornung is CEO and founder of Colorado-based 8z Real Estate, one of the nation's most successful brokerages, and is CEO/co-founder of zavvie, one of the only complete iBuyer solutions for real estate brokerages. To visit the original article, visit RISMedia.

The Latest Trends in Team Software
The following is an excerpt from RE Technology's Success Guide to Team Software: Website Some team platforms develop excellent websites with a high focus on lead generation, content creation, and search engine optimization. Teams doing a lot of online digital advertising will need to look for websites that offer the ability to create lead generation pages--also called squeeze pages. Others recognize that a team website is like a business card. If you are not in love with the activities around online lead generation, having a fancy website is probably not that important to you. Mobile Apps Mobile apps have been an exciting growth area for team platforms over the years. The driving trend among these mobile apps has been less about developing branded mobile search apps that are in the Apple App and Google Play stores, and more about delivering functionality that allows teams to access customer records on the fly, or to take a group approach to responding quickly to customer requests. If your team is mostly mobile, rather than office based, this may be a very important feature for you. Contact Record Monitoring One of the biggest areas of new development in software for teams has to do with reference data and client monitoring. Using artificial intelligence, the software can track activities across all of your client records. Using this data the software can, for example, tell you when there is a customer that you have not interacted with in the last year or suggest that you reach out to a customer who has been spending an insane amount of time looking at listings on your site. The goal of contact monitoring is to make sure that you stay connected to everyone in your database, and to focus on those customers who show the most activity in the process of executing a transaction. Some solutions even monitor Facebook and LinkedIn for the most recent posts made by your clients so you can check up on them from within your contact records. Contacts, Calendar, Email Integration Most business professionals lack time for administrative upkeep such as scheduling meetings or updating contact records in multiple places. An important feature in team software platforms is mobile phone integration. It allows an iPhone or Android device to connect to your CRM. If you get a new customer call on your phone, and you save that contact, your phone will then sync the contact record to the CRM in your team solution, so you do not need to re-enter it. Likewise, if a team member schedules a task or meeting for you, they can access your calendar for your availability and set that appointment so it displays on your phone's calendar. If you are speaking to a tech supplier for your team, ask them about Google Sync or Outlook Sync. Reporting and Forecasting One of the challenges to operating a team is to measure team productivity. These metrics fall into the realm of reporting and forecasting. Depending on the role of the team member, good reporting and forecasting can provide the team leader with data that shows how team members are using the system, the value of business they have in the pipeline, etc. Remember, when you are running a team, you need to think about it like you are running a business or running a brokerage. Productivity per team member is a key matrix that you need to track. Dynamic Automation The idea behind software has always been automation. In the past, automation in team software was pretty linear. Linear automation is when you schedule things to happen at a specific time in a specific order. On day one, do this. On day two, do that. On day five, do this other task; on their birthday, do this, etc. Dynamic automation uses the intelligence of software to observe consumer actions and adjust the behavior accordingly. In tech speak, they use the term "if this, then that." For example, let's imagine that a past client comes to your website to read an article about home improvement, then starts looking at houses. Dynamic automation would bring this to your attention and save the search for that client without them needing to do anything. The software could then send them a follow-up email the next day with the listings that they reviewed and ask if they have questions or would like to see any other homes. These auxiliary communications use machine learning or artificial intelligence to anticipate the needs of clients dynamically and automatically. Download Success Guide: Teams to learn more about Team software trends, how to evaluate Team software, and more.

The Problem of Offer Management and the Path to Fixing the Chaos
At WAV Group, we love it when a company has a great tech story. In this genre, there is no plot more inspiring than innovative Realtors developing software that solves the frustration they encounter every day. Agents have a keen eye for spotting opportunities to enhance consumer experience. In most cases, they also have a clear go-to-market strategy for their product: they beta test the app in their own business, and if it saves them time and clients love it, they share with other agents to get their feedback. Word of mouth is powerful marketing. Soon, they have testimonies and use cases to share.

Lone Wolf Launches New Technology Marketplace
Lone Wolf Technologies, owned by America's fourth largest software company, Vista Equity Partners, has released a technology marketplace that will be made available through (Instanet) TransactionDesk and (zipLogix) zipForm Plus transaction management solutions today. This bold initiative has been a strategy that has been approached by a variety of companies over the past five years, including Flexmls Spark, RE Technology's Success Store (owned by us), Clareity Marketplace, Realogy's Zap Store, and probably a number of others. The goal of these stores or marketplaces is to provide a suite of integrated services that all fit together into a seamless technology suite for agents and brokers, and also for homebuyers and sellers.

Your Smart Home Primer
Have you heard the term "Internet of Things" and wondered what it meant? In a smart home, many devices can now be connected to the internet so they can be controlled through automation and apps on mobile devices. The range of options in this category seems to be expanding faster and faster with market volume expected to reach $47 million and home penetration to reach 52.4% by 2024, according to statista. Here are some of the reasons smart home technology has become so attractive:

RE/MAX Launches the booj Platform, a Custom-Built Technology Solution for RE/MAX Agents
Less than two years after acquiring the award-winning web development and software firm booj, RE/MAX, LLC today announced the launch of the booj Platform, an integrated suite of digital products that will empower high-producing agents, teams and brokers to proactively establish, manage and grow client relationships. Developed by booj engineers in collaboration with thousands of RE/MAX affiliates, the booj Platform is focused on delivering a better customer experience by streamlining the work of agents, from lead generation to post-close nurturing and beyond. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is at the core of the booj Platform, deeply integrating additional features, including:

Amazon Echo Show 5 Coming Soon
Amazon announced the Echo Show 5, coming on June 26. It's an affordable version of its bigger brother, Echo Show. The Alexa family proceeds to grow in helping us to manage and entertain our day digitally. The question: Is it time to revisit NAR MLS IDX policy?

Who Is the End User of Real Estate Tech?
Are the tools you're offering to clients beneficial to you or to them? Are the frictions in the home buying and selling process a result of technology developed with the wrong end-user in mind? It's All About the Experience Why do people pay for fine dining? What about first class seats? A luxury car? It's about the experience. It is easy to see how Michelin star restaurants, airlines, and Italian car manufacturers understand that the ultimate customer is the diner, traveler and driver, respectively, of their business. Can we say the same for the most common real estate tools?

Why zavvie’s Offer Optimizer Is an iBuyer Game Changer
When Zillow launched Zestimates, no one realized at the time how radical the impact of what they did then would become later. There are a lot of Sunday quarterbacks who would like to re-write history and say they knew it would result in helping to catapult the firm to a $7 billion valuation. But no one predicted back then that Zestimates would fuel a phenomenon dubbed "real estate porn" that helped it drive more than 100 million unique visitors to Zillow's website each month.

Technology Needs to Be Easy-to-Use
Agents are busy all the time. When I started as an agent, I tried to do it all from being the photographer, the social media manager, the stager. You name it, I took it on. So when I launched a new real estate brand in a highly competitive market like Orange County (Calif.), I wanted to only invest in technology for our agents that freed up their time and made their lives easier. To make their lives easier, I sought out tools that are easy to use.

Green Home vs. Smart Home (and the Top 9 Features)
Smart homes and green homes are growing in demand in many parts of the country. Yet, when people think of a smart home, some may think it is the same as a green home. Yes, they work beautifully together, but they are actually different. This article will highlight each and show you the key features that buyers are looking for now.

MoveEasy Masters Brokerage Integration
The number one business challenge brokerages struggle with when it comes to technology is "getting our systems to work together." That's what the more than half – 54 percent of real estate leaders said when asked about their major tech challenges. The study was conducted by Imprev, which last year polled nearly 240 real estate leaders who represent brokerages responsible for more than half of all U.S. residential real estate transactions. Integration isn't just crucial to brokerages – it's vital. A brokerage will never implement any new technology today if it can't work together well with their existing tech-stack. At MoveEasy, we offer brokerages a moving and post-move concierge platform combined with a human concierge service fully integrated with the brokerage's technology to streamline the last mile of the transaction and to help agents stay connected to customers for life in a seamless manner. Tech integration: But there's the rub! The challenge brokerages often face integrating technologies is that it comes with a cost. Even when a technology firm doesn't charge an integration fee – and some actually do – there are planning, development and training costs that the brokerage will bear. Brokerages also are often hamstrung by having legacy technology. These older software systems are so embedded into their daily routines, it makes it difficult or seemingly impossible (or cost prohibitive) for a brokerage to update its systems. That means a lot of new technologies just won't play well with this outdated software. Integration won't be possible with many tech firms without a lot of pain and torture. Moreover, brokerages face another major dilemma: their agents are inundated with technology. Many times, their agents are actually suffering from technology fatigue. That's because every time a brokerage adopts a new technology, agents have to learn the new technology – sign up for new training, then remember new logins and most importantly, change what they have been doing. Many studies reveal that even at the best brokerages, a high adoption rate is still well under 50 percent. No wonder brokerages struggle with getting their agents to adopt the technology they provide. A 360-degree integration solution MoveEasy has an answer that helps solve these broker challenges. We call it our 360-degree integration solution. Our integration is holistic – from agent account creation to client usage. As a result, it just doesn't make MoveEasy adoption better but helps increase the adoption of a brokerages other connected technology products, like their CRM. Our 360-degree integration makes everything connected seamless for the brokerage, agents and their clients. MoveEasy has become the "Masters of Brokerage Integration" because our roots are in technology and unlike our peers, we just don't focus on a single integration. We look at how we can help a brokerage automate as much as possible by doing multiple integrations. Let me give you an example of how we do this and the value this brings to agents and their buyer and seller clients. How Realty ONE Group benefits Realty ONE Group is the fastest growing real estate brand in the nation and ranked #5 nationwide by REAL Trends. With more than 11,000 professionals and over 150 offices, they deploy industry leading technology including MoxiWorks (CRM and agent websites), Skyslope (transaction management), and ONE Login (Dashboard Single Sign-On or SSO). Realty ONE Group exploits the full power of MoveEasy's 360-degree integration, including: With our MoxiWorks cloud integration, MoveEasy automatically pulled their entire agent roster, creating individual agent accounts (fully personalized with their headshots, contact details and brokerage branding) for the entire brokerage in less than two seconds per agent. As a result, Realty ONE Group's admins don't have to email roster information back and forth, or keep updating this information when agents leave, or new agents join. MoveEasy's Transaction Management integration with Skyslope ensures that the moment a transaction goes to pending, agents are automatically notified, and pending their permission, clients are automatically invited. MoveEasy's integration with Skyslope means agents don't have to worry about remembering to log into another system or entering clients' details every time. Automation does it for them: they are simply notified. When a client clicks on an agent invitation to use MoveEasy, the client's details also are pre-populated: clients don't have to enter any information their agent already knew. Once clients log in, they will never have to enter their details even once to confirm a service. MoveEasy calls this "one-click service." That means clients won't have to enter their zip codes to find movers, or property details to order home services. Even when clients contact our human concierge, all of their information is at hand. They can simply text, call or email and our system will automatically recognize them. Realty ONE Group receives a wide range of other benefits from our 360-degree integration. As clients use the service on MoveEasy, Realty One receives activity updates inside MoxiWorks Engage so its agents know what their clients are doing, allowing them to touch base with their clients just at the right time. Our integration can allow agents to automatically embed their MoveEasy platform into their individual agent websites. With our MoxiWebsites integration, agents can activate MoveEasy on their site in one click. There's absolutely no need for any training, or instructions, etc. Agents benefit because if a prospect signs up with MoveEasy from their website, a lead automatically gets created into the MoxiEngage CRM. The agents don't have to worry about entering it manually. Finally, if Realty ONE Group agents want to log into their MoveEasy admin dashboard to check analytics or update their profile, it's again just one click. MoveEasy is fully integrated with both ONE Login and MoxiWorks SSO connection. That means agents don't need to remember another login or password. Mastering integration matters It's safe to say that no one cares about integration in the moving and post-move services field more than MoveEasy. Talk to our brokerage customers for validation, but our approach has been to create each integration we do based on the brokerage's needs. That has allowed us to master the ability to integrate with some of the most popular real estate systems available. Already, MoveEasy has integrated with electronic signature giant DocuSign and some of the industry's leading transaction management solutions, including dotloop, Skyslope, and Brokermint. We've also integrated with CRM leaders MoxiWorks and LionDesk, as well as back-office solutions Profit Power and AccountTECH. Other integrations include SSO platforms such as Konverse and OneLogin. Most importantly, MoveEasy will work with each brokerage to integrate with any of their current CRM, back-office system, transaction management software, agent websites, or SSO –including proprietary software – so their agents can get the benefits of MoveEasy without typing an extra key. At MoveEasy, we're working hard, so it becomes easy for brokerages tech systems to talk to our systems. As the masters of brokerage integration, we want this experience to be as seamless as possible. Venkatesh "Ven" Ganapathy, Founder & CEO of MoveEasy, moving made simple by people+tech, at moveeasy.com.    

A Real Estate Brokerage with a Technology Vision
The Keller Williams pivot is beginning to make sense to me. At a time when many franchise companies are focused on systems integration, KW is trying to become a systems developer of bespoke software. Forever and today, Keller Williams has been tirelessly focused on the agent – recruiting, training, coaching, supporting. Gary Keller is almost like the Tony Robbins of real estate. He knows that if you can help an agent to find the right headspace, their authentic headspace where the agent knows what to do and loves doing it, it's a win. Recruiting agents and building them up. Keller wants them to be successful and rich. KW's role is just to keep the heart pounding.

Offering Tech for Your Agents? Here's How to Boost Adoption
When you're running a brokerage, there are a few things that go hand-in-hand with introducing new technology. All you want is for your agents to pick it up easily—but what do you really get? Well, that might be more along the lines of protest, disinterest, and a bad case of the grumblies. Agent adoption can be a big issue, especially if your agents already have a different tool they like using on their own. So if you're looking to bring a new tool into the mix, here are some tips to make the transition as easy and successful as possible!

How to Switch Your Focus from Software to Success
In the world of real estate, we all hear the seemingly constant buzz about the ever-evolving technology that is shaking up our industry. The traditional ways in which real estate has been conducted are slipping away, and brokerages and agents alike are being left scrambling to define what they do, and exactly how they ought to do it. The movement to incorporate technology into real estate practices is tempting and, in many aspects, necessary to keep up and maintain a competitive edge. The pressure to stay current with the movement can be daunting; in fact, 48 percent of all real estate firms consider keeping up with the tech advancements to be one of the most significant challenges they are facing today. The question that arises here is: what technology does one actually need in order to achieve success?

Top 3 Smart Home Tech Features Millennials Crave
There's no doubt about it — today is the age of the Internet of Things. Tons of devices across a huge range of industries are now connected to the internet — from clothing to medical devices to vehicles — and so much more. Items that have an internet connection make life easier for the people who use them, and they also can track, record, and analyze data, which can help improve technology in years to come. One of the most popular places that people enjoy smart devices is in their home. Today, tons of companies are making smart home tech features, which make living in a house convenient and easy — and do things like help homeowners save money, minimize energy usage, and have less of an impact on the environment. For companies that build homes and want to target millennials, it's important to incorporate smart devices into a home. Millennials are tech-friendly and like convenience and personalization, so smart tech may just be the thing that convinces them to buy (and lack of it might the thing that turns them away). Here are three examples of very popular smart home tech features, which may bring in millennial buyers.

Keller Williams Betting $1 Billion on Voice
Keller Williams had another great Family Reunion. Their annual convention in Anaheim drew more than 17,000 people. Perhaps the most remarkable information conveyed is that they have hit a lot of their ambitious targets for growth, and are now re-targeting to leverage data and technology as their next conquest. According to Teresa Metcalf, their big bet is on the underlying framework and platform – and the AI component is on top of that. Today, the franchise has 948 market centers. You could sense that they really wanted to hit the 1000 number by Family Reunion, but smart growth is more important than hitting a number (they are adding about two per month). They reported that 98 percent of their market centers are profitable. KW now operates in 29 countries. Their sales volume eclipsed $300 billion in America, with over 1 million units (the total market is about 6 million homes, 12 million sides). For the longest time, they measured growth on the number of agents. Now they seem to measure growth more on traditional values of profit and production. They have huddled masses of agents and provided rigorous training on how to sell more real estate. It has worked. At the heart of Keller Williams technology investments is business automation for agents. They are leveraging business intelligence tools to provide support and assistance to agents around activities that boost productivity. Agents do not need to look up homes; they will be able to ask the assistant to "Find properties around 123 Main Street that have sold in the last 12 months," "Build me a quick CMA," "Build listing agreements for 123 Main Street and set the price at $2.5 million," "Set an open house for 123 Main Street for Saturday at noon," "Show me today's expired listings," "Mail a just-listed postcard to 1000 houses around this house that are similar in size," "Show me today's leads for follow-up," and the list goes on. Note: this is not specific functionality that they have launched, but a sample of things that a virtual assistant can be programmed to do. "The goal is to enable agents to focus on relationships, not doing mundane tasks across multiple systems," says Metcalf. There are plenty of critics who look at things like Alexa, Siri, Google Voice and other virtual assistants with disdain. Although they have been around for a long time, they have a lot of misunderstandings. But the really interesting thing is that they are getting much, much better at an insanely rapid pace. I heard the CEO of Ojo talking about their chat bots. What they do is allow the bot to try to answer the question or perform the activity. When it fails, they have humans backing up the machines to do the job. Situations that cause a lot of failures are prioritized for programming and user training to perfect the most commonly encountered failures. Over time, these systems get better and better. Many of the activities that agents perform are routine. For the most part, our industry has done a good job of integrating tools like Single Sign-On to allow agents to access programs with a click. Keller Williams is taking a different tactic – just tell me what you want done, and we will have the machines do it. Machines cannot do everything, but they can do a lot of routine activities that agents spoil selling time to accomplish. Today, Keller Williams has a basic foundation that they are putting into the hands of their sales associates. It's a humble beginning with an audacious end goal in mind. It's worthy to note that they took their referral program out of the Lab in October, had it developed by January and launched at Family Reuntion – that's pretty agile. Keller Williams knows that systems integrations of software solutions will be a keynote to pulling off this effort. I would suppose that Keller Williams will publish some type of integration tool that will allow technology vendors to integrate with their virtual assistant bots. For example, with a quick CMA, the activity will be started by the agent. The bot will collect the vital information. The information will be sent to a partner like Cloud CMA who will return the quick CMA to the bot. The bot will relay the CMA to the agent. The turn time on this activity would be under one minute and the agent can do it by speaking to their phone in their car. By the way – this is functionality that already exists today. You can send an email to Cloud CMA right now and get this type of service. What KW is doing differently is not only supporting activities like CMA, but many, many more activities or skills that support agents. Metcalf reported that KW has over 110,000 agents using KellerCloud to access Kelle (AI/voice) and referrals in 30 days of the release. We are excited to watch and learn from Keller William's development in these efforts. If successful, it will be amazing. It will probably take longer than expected, because the industry does not have thousands of developers working on it. But rest assured, when Keller Williams offers partners the opportunity to introduce products to 1000 offices and 175,000 agents doing $300 billion in trades, smart vendors will heed the call. This was evidenced by their partnership/data alliance with companies like NextDoor. Market scale has a strange way of inspiring partner companies to accommodate the unique needs of large real estate firms. We see this happening with Leading RE, NRT, HomeServices of America, RE/MAX and even large indy brokers like Pacific Union and Howard Hanna. Many doors open when you have scale. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

A Quick Review of Smart Home Technology
Today, the smart home has become (almost) plug-and-play. That's a revolutionary development that real estate agents and brokers need to understand. Before Amazon's Echo and Google's Home, a smart home was almost always hard-wired. Features were built into the home during new construction. A single standard never emerged. It was arguably a fad that had all but faded into a very small market niche. All of that has changed. Both the Amazon and Google devices, which are powered by the Internet and controlled by voice commands, have given birth to some bona fide affordable smart home systems. It is now possible for essentially all of America's homes to become "smart." Let's take a quick look of the two dominant devices at the center of this home tech revolution.

The Holy Grail: Agent Adoption
If you've ever worked in the real estate industry, then you know that agents have an aversion to using new technology (which is funny because they're the ones calling out for new technology in the first place!). Every year brokerages, boards, associations, and franchises across North America throw hundreds of thousands of dollars into their tech in a fruitless effort to make their agents happy. Meanwhile, the tools collect dust because agents do things their way. Regardless, agent adoption is a battle worth fighting. The potential ROI for your business is huge. But how do you actually get your team on board with the technology you've chosen? The key to successful adoption is to thoughtfully plan and execute your rollout. This quick guide will take you through the steps of a successful rollout in four stages: Inform, Train, Launch, and Reinforce.

Top 5 Tech Tools for Savvy Brokers
The new iPhone X is building quite a buzz in real estate circles, in particular because of its Augmented Reality Kit. Some reviews have been so bold to call it "the future of the smartphone." It's not surprising because future technology always draws strong interest from brokers and agents. We saw this at the technology sessions at our recent Florida Realtors® Convention, which were packed. There was a plethora of new tech and future tech talked about at the convention. Let's take a look at some of the hottest tech tools today for savvy brokers. They're designed to help them better organize their lives, increase productivity, and improve their work/life balance:

3 Do's and Don'ts in Choosing a Technology Partner for Your Brokerage
It's not easy choosing the right technology partner for your brokerage. Your brokerage's website, communication, accounting and ability to generate leads all depend on your technology. So how do you choose a technology partner? Here are three do's and don'ts for choosing who to partner as your technology provider: Do's 1. Demo! One of the best ways to see for yourself what a technology partner can offer you is by booking a demo. Demos give you a chance to ask questions and test specific capabilities of a technology to see if that technology is right for you.

The Best in Real Estate Technology: 2017 Edition
The technology that drives the real estate industry is constantly evolving, and the first half of 2017 has certainly been no exception. We all like leveraging tech that makes our jobs a little bit easier, and this year's real estate technology trends have also been great new for homebuyers so far. The virtual reality craze is already making its presence felt in the real estate world, and real estate agents and brokers are finding creative, engaging new ways to deliver content to their clients. Let's take a closer look at the trends that have defined this year in real estate technology, along with a look ahead at what to expect from the rest of 2017. This Year in Tech: Real Estate Technology Trends to Watch in 2017 Virtual Reality – We're still in the early days of the virtual reality boom, but savvy real estate professionals are already finding creative ways to employ the technology. The big promise with VR is the way that it allows homebuyers to take a first-hand tour of a home, even if they currently live halfway across the country. We've still got some time before every consumer has a VR headset in their homes, but this is an important trend to watch if you want to stay on the cutting edge. Affordable Video – While a traditional video isn't quite as immersive as a VR experience, video content is absolutely one of the best ways to connect with your real estate audience. Affordable mobile devices make it easy for any home buyer to consume video content. If you haven't jumped on the video content bandwagon just yet, now is a great time to join the crowd.

The Top Tech that Changed Real Estate in 2016
Real estate industry insiders are finally cozying up to real estate trends and technology following a mind numbingly long, pothole laden journey. Now embracing technological advancements that break the mold rather than remaining stuck in it, the industry has seen a blinding array of game changers this year. What tech driven real estate trends knocked real estate professionals onto a different course in 2016? Smart homes The home itself is changing: 82 percent of buyers are interested in increasingly affordable, convenient smart tech, from locks to thermostats and lights. Drones In June, the FAA finally made it easier for agents to legally fly drones without certifiable "air time," putting a whole new arsenal of weaponry in the hands of agents, sellers, and buyers. Video Video has gone viral, literally, offering a new way for buyers to get a feel for a property – sans-travel. Are you cashing in on this proven and effective real estate trend?

Technology, Agent Adoption, and ROI
I have been involved in real estate technology for a long time. For several years now, I have been meaning to write about the overwhelming number of options that exist for both brokerages and agents alike. There are hundreds of vendors who not only have competing products, but overlapping products that duplicate one or more functions of something you might already have. Throw in the fact that agents need a simple platform to use since their adoption of technology is pretty low, and you can see brokerages pulling out their hair in frustration. What's the point of spending money on technology platforms when they are not getting adoption and expected ROI on what they already have? It with this in mind that I have written this series of two blogs on this topic. The purpose is to analyze the many different platform types that are out there, which ones actually lead to sales, and which ones might be left off your shopping list next year. One of my large clients told me recently that he could not justify adding any additional technology expense on new platforms until he could really understand the adoption and ROI on what he already has. I think that logic makes a lot of sense and why I present you the following information. First, let's take a look at the multiple categories (in no particular order): MLS (often multiple) - An MLS is essential to doing business, but extending out of your market adds real value. Corporate Intranet - Most brokerages have some sort of company intranet and this is probably an important item to have in your technology program. Corporate Website - Again, this is hard to do without, but you could add new developments and new homes to your mix to extend your income. Agent Website - Hard to imagine your agents not having their own websites, but some turnkey solutions can get new agents up and running with their own website on day one.

Schmooze vs. Substance: What Are YOU Using to Make Technology Decisions?
Let's face it. We operate in a very social industry. We're all a bunch of salespeople. We love to go to parties, catch that final drink at the bar after dinner and attend swanky events sponsored by technology companies. In general, we just love to schmooze! It's part of our real estate DNA. I definitely count myself on the list of schmoozers. We host at least three parties a year and countless dinners and events beyond that. They are a great way to get to know people and start new relationships. All of this networking is great, but we all need to be cognizant of something. When it's time to make an important decision about what transaction management solution will work best for a brokerage or what MLS system to purchase, we have to try to separate the schmooze from the substance. Just because a company has bought you a drink or a dinner doesn't mean they offer the best technology solution for your company. When we facilitate RFPs for MLSs and brokerages, we sometimes hear a lack of interest in a very viable candidate. What is the reason? We don't "know" them. That's code for we haven't partied with them at Mid-Year or Inman or any other conference. We haven't been wined and dined by them. While, of course, trust relationships enter into any decision when choosing a new technology partner, I sometimes feel like our industry is biased more toward the schmooze than the substance. If you are making decisions for your members or your agents, it is incumbent upon you to separate your personal connection so that you can truly try to examine the company and the quality of its technology offerings.

11 Real Estate Tech Tools that Will Simplify Your Life
The world of real estate tech is booming, and for a good reason. Imagine how much easier your life would be if you could do the following: During a listing presentation, you pull up a 360-degree tour of each property to show your clients As soon as someone expresses interest in your listing, you get a notification on your phone to connect with them After a day out in the field, you come back to see your social media updated with fresh content for your followers Once your buyer decides to purchase, you send over a document, have it signed and back to you within the hour Now imagine if your entire team of real estate agents could do that. You'd be running some kind of all-star brokerage. Imagine how much easier (and faster) you'd be able to rake up profits, cultivate leads and build your business. That's what real estate tech can do for you, and that's why you need to take advantage of the newest tools. In fact, according to a recent report, 45% of agents want their broker to increase the amount of technology they have. So brokers, take note of these tools. They're the ones you'll want to arm your team with. (And agents, these are the tools you'll want to forward to your brokers!) 1. Property Shark I have to say, I'm super impressed with what Property Shark offers. This tech tool gives real estate agents instant (and in-depth) info on any property. That's stuff like ownership records, past pricing, permits, etc. Imagine being able to show a report like this to a client? Even just having this library of property information at your fingertips is going to empower your team. If you believe knowledge is power, you need this in your arsenal.

6 Tips to Increase Agent Adoption of Your Brokerage Technology
Adopting a new technology can be a challenge for anyone. If you're used to doing tasks a certain way, it's difficult to change that. But, as we all know, the only thing constant is in this world is CHANGE!  Small things can go a long way when it comes to improving agent adoption! Here are six easy ways to help your agents adopt your brokerage's technology: 1. Begin with the Hiring Hire agents who can manage to learn and master simple tools. Let them know the importance of using these tools to maintain transparency between agents and your brokerage. It is important they come prepared. 2. Start Early When training new hires, make technology part of the training. If people start using it right off the bat, they're more likely to continue. Provide resources they can go back to and refer. Invest time and effort in your agents for a successful partnership.

Digital Dawn: Amazon Is Creating the Smart House for the Rest of Us
Late Christmas morning, after the presents were opened, the wrapping discarded and breakfast consumed, my wife sent a text to her real best friend Paige that read, "I have a new best friend!" Paige promptly responded with "Huh?" "Her name is Alexa, as in the new Amazon Echo," my wife texted back. How lucky am I, as a guy, to have a wife who put at the top of her gift list a technology item? But more important was her reaction. She genuinely fell in love with Alexa within minutes after turning it on. It was wickedly cool and ridiculously smart responding to our verbal commands without any voice training. Dragon dictation be damned! That signature moment was ingrained in my brain as I walked among 125,000 others at the National Association of Home Builder's International Builders Show earlier this year, gawking at the half-million square feet occupied by 1,400 exhibitors. What I came to realize in the short time I spent in Vegas was that the smart home we've all been reading about and talking about literally for decades, the one enjoyed by gazillionaires and hobbyists, is about to be delivered, for real this time – and for the rest of us – by no less than Amazon.

4 Pieces of Wearable Tech for Real Estate
Welcome to the future! Remember when Walter Cronkite predicted that "in the 21st century, it may be that no home will be complete without a computerized communications console"? And now, of course, we all carry smartphones in our pockets and tablets everywhere we go. Well, it's time to go even one step farther. Today we're showing the latest in wearable tech for real estate. Because why should you have to dig in your purse or pocket for what you need? Nobody has time for that. It's time to embrace computers as part of your daily wardrobe. 1. Watches Watches are the easiest way to embrace this trend. They aren't overly expensive, they sync up with your other devices, and you might even already be used to wearing one. Better still, almost all smartwatches have the ability to call 911 and geotrack your location, providing an extra level of safety for agents in the field. These are our top 3 picks: Pebble: A simple, inexpensive smartwatch that works with both iOS and Android devices and apps. Plus, it has a battery that lasts for days! Android Wear: Android's stylish watch can receive text messages, tell you the weather, Google anything and so much more. iWatch: This is the perfect companion to the iPhone, iPad, MacBook Air set-up so many Apple enthusiasts already have going.

Real Estate Tech Up Close: Our Top Broker Product Reviews from 2015
We publish plenty of tips, tricks, and general advice on how to leverage real estate technology, but what about learning more about individual technology product in more detail? Enter our product reviews column. Each review offers an in-depth look at an individual product, complete with screenshots and an overview of all major features. In 2015, we published a handful of broker product reviews, and we've rounded them up here for your convenience. Take a moment to learn more about a new technology that could help your brokerage (and stay tuned for our round-up of product reviews for agents!). Quantum Leads We first reviewed this upstart Virtual Office Website (VOW) provider back in 2013. When we went back and revisited the VOW platform this year, we were pleasantly surprised to find the promising solution had matured into a more user-friendly and intuitive program. Read this product review for a tour of Quantum Leads' new look and new features. Form Simplicity's New Broker Review Feature Realtor-owned transaction management platform overhauled their broker review feature late in 2015. This cleaner review process gives brokers visibility into a transaction's entire history, including related emails and text messages. Read our review to learn more about the new feature and how it better assists brokers in staying compliant.

NAR REach™ Slings 8 New Products at REALTORS®
The NAR REach™ program is interesting. It establishes a gateway where companies who wish to express their products and services to the REALTOR® family pay fees and often equity to the National Association of REALTORS®. The program plays host to annual "classes" of companies that are interested in entering the real estate vertical. Each class debuts at NAR Midyear and "graduates" at NAR Annual. Here are the soon-to-be graduates of the NAR REach class of 2015: 1. Asset Avenue - A loan finder product that is primarily aimed at helping Realtors introduce loan products to the investor community. As I went through the presentation, the first place I got stuck was the statement, "Competitive rates as low as 7.99%." The product shops property loans to institutional investors rather than traditional mortgage banks. I think that the product would be superior if it included traditional and investor backed funding sources. 2. August SmartLock – My initial instincts are that a company offering a lockbox solution will need to combat a lot of headwind against some excellent lockbox providers like Sentrilock and Supra. Those companies offer great products already deployed in every market across the USA. However, when I watched the presentation, I learned that the August SmartLock is part of a smart home solution. When you are near the lock, it works with Bluetooth to open the door. When you are away from the home, you can manage entry and access via an app on your phone. Installation on a deadbolt takes about 10 minutes. Each unit costs $250. As a backup for the inevitable "technology failure" problem, as a backup, your existing keys still work. I am a gadget guy, so I may consider this for personal use, but not as a replacement for our current lockbox system.

Should REALTORS® Upgrade to Windows 10?
Have you been wondering if you should upgrade to Windows 10? I've spent the last 30 days or so using Windows 10. Microsoft has touted the benefits of upgrading and published many articles about the enhancements and usability of their latest generation operating system. I'll be the first person to tell you that when Windows 8 was released, the change was significant. It was so different from Windows 7 that even some tech savvy folks took some time to get their head around how it functioned. The interface was totally different—and don't get me started on the metro view and charms bar. Well, with Windows 10, I would say they got it right. Below is a summary of my experience with Windows 10 over the last month. Although different than Windows 7, the interface is clean and easy to understand. The start button has returned (albeit, it was available in Windows 8.1). In addition to the expected applications on the menu, there are also some dynamic applications and feeds to the right. Items can easily be pinned to the menu. I'm using a Microsoft Surface Pro 3 notebook/tablet. Jumping between tablet mode and desktop mode is very simple. I can quickly enable the onscreen keyboard and the system is intuitive enough to know that I've switched between the two options. The search capabilities have greatly improved. You're given a search option on the task bar that allows you to search your local machine and the web simultaneously. At first I didn't think this would be a functionality I would want, much less use. However, in the last month, I have definitely grown to like it.

Onboard Informatics and AddressReport Offer Turnkey Property Reports for Businesses
Consumers of all types are used to getting a lot of information before making a purchase. Before heading to a restaurant for the first time, many people check out Yelp, Trip Advisor, or will simply Google the restaurant to get a sense of the atmosphere, menu, and prices. Before heading to the movies, many people go to Fandango to watch interviews with the actors or read peer reviews on Rotten Tomatoes – all before purchasing the ticket. A simple movie trailer isn't enough anymore – people are hungry for more information. The same is true in real estate. Home buyers and renters don't want to move into a property without really understanding the ins and outs of the building, neighborhood, and history of the unit. Some companies have emerged in the property reporting space to quench this thirst for property information through detailed reports. Companies like Revaluate, Homefacts, RealtyTrac and Housefax offer information on specific properties in exchange of contact information. Consumers get the detailed information they crave and agents get qualified leads – a win / win. As consumers grow more sophisticated, reporting tools are following suite. The latest is AddressReport. AddressReport scans and interprets hundreds of millions of data points from Onboard Informatics to generate easy-to-read, detailed reports that reveal the positives and red flags for any address — eliminating the information gap and giving busy consumers the insights they need to make a better-informed moving decision.

7 Tech Tools to Make Brokers’ Lives Easier
Technology is becoming more efficient, more affordable, and more useful for real estate professionals and their clients every day. But figuring out what's worth the time and money can be overwhelming. To help make those decisions a little easier, a panel of brokers shared their go-to apps and tech tools for managing their business and connecting with clients and agents during the Emerging Business Issues & Technology Forum at the REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo in Washington, D.C., last week. Here are seven of their recommendations: Periscope: This is Twitter's web streaming app, which gives users the ability to share live video. When your broadcast is over, you can make it available to viewers for later replay. If you want to broadcast to specific people, you can make it invite-only. Free. Broadcasting ideas for brokers: Panel or keynote presentations: Do you do a lot of public speaking engagements? Share your presentations live with your agents and followers. Company updates/major announcements: Introduce new hires or new agents, celebrate accomplishments, and announce expansions and other newsy events at your brokerage. Q&As and interviews: Get one of your top producers to sit down and do an education interview that potential clients would find useful, or talk to community leaders about local issues and events. Speakers and training sessions: Be a resource for agents on the go by live streaming speaking events or in-house coaching sessions. Invite just your agents to view the live stream or make it public. Sure, agents from other brokerages might see it, but what better way to recruit?