The Future is Now: Insights from 3 of Real Estate's Top Influencers

Regular readers of RE Technology will no doubt recognize the name "WAV Group." The partners of consulting firm WAV Group are not only the founders of RE Technology, but also the dominant voice on our MLS and broker channels. You've no doubt read many of their insightful articles before.

Every year, founding WAV Group partners Marilyn Wilson and Victor Lund appear on lists of the industry's most powerful and influential--and this year is already shaping up to be no different. Just today, the husband and wife team of Wilson and Lund were named to the 2017 Swanepoel

Power 200, a list of "the 200 most powerful leaders in the residential real estate brokerage industry."

And last week, Kevin Hawkins, President of WAV Group Communications--WAV Group's public relations division--appeared on a major industry list for the first time. Both he and Victor Lund were named to Inman News' Real Estate Influencers list.

These accolades come as no surprise to anyone who pays close attention to the industry--WAV Group consults on major projects that impact the future of real estate, like the Broker Public Portal, Upstream, RESO, and more. The company has been a driving force in pushing the industry to adapt to changing consumer expectations spurred by technology.

To give you a better idea of WAV Group's influential thought leadership, we've rounded up a sampling of their best articles from 2016.

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1. Backed by Google, Zillow Set to Become Online Brokerage
Why would Zillow become an online brokerage? The company has capped out on advertising revenue. In January of this year, they applied significant pressure to their broker advertising products in a calculated move to switch their revenue stream to agents. Brokers were really not that interested in the leads anyway – they just passed them along to the listing agent. But listing agents and buyers agents are starved for leads and were not total un-happy-ish about the price increase. The price increase weeded the garden of agents who were casual advertisers and paved the way for serious online real estate agents to get the customer flow they need.

Zillow can continue to move forward with their mortgage programs. They appear to be RESPA compliant. Zillow can continue to work with owners and renters to satisfy the property management business. Zillow can continue to work with developers with their New Home marketplace. Heck, Zillow can even continue to support FSBOs.

2. Mastering Market Literacy
Agents who demonstrate a fundamental understanding of local market trends win more business and become trusted advisors because of their knowledge. Market "smarts" have become an important marketing strategy. You do not need a degree in economics to become market literate, just an understanding of how local real estate economies work, fluency with the terminology and good sources for local data on sales, prices, values, and inventories. Add your professional expertise and your skilled observations of the latest trends in the charts and numbers and you have a winning formula.

3. Brokers and MLSs Misunderstand RESO
Today, the Real Estate Standards Organization has blossomed into one of the most collaborative industry-wide efforts we have ever seen, with funding from vendors, brokers, associations, and MLSs. This group is funding and directing a massive overhaul of how information (data) is used today, and laying a strong foundation for the future. It has inspired transformation. Like anything new, different and technical, there is also a massive level of misunderstanding that is frustrating the efforts. In some small way, my hope is to clarify some things to set people straight.

4. Broker Public Portal Reveals Partnership and Plan
It is with much excitement that I would like to announce some major news for the Broker Public Portal project! We have been researching the value of consumer property search sites like the Broker Public Portal since 2005, and we're thrilled to announce a game changing opportunity for agents and brokers to captivate consumers! Broker Public Portal has executed a binding letter of intent with Homesnap, a creator of highly rated apps for consumers and agents, to launch a national home search experience defined by simplicity, integrity and common sense.

5. Re-Inventing the Collection of Earnest Money: A Case Study
John Mosey, CEO of NorthstarMLS, has helped to bring to market many exciting new products that serve the greater good. I had the pleasure of interviewing him about the latest gem he has brought to the market for his subscribers. It's a company called TrustFunds. This exciting new service has helped automate one of the last elements of transactions that are not handled online – the delivery and deposit of earnest money.

6. To Zap or Not to Zap?
That is the question for many brokers today who are part of the Realogy® Franchise Group. The ZapLabs platform is excellent – combining an effective mix of agent website, CRM, lead management and other vital agent business tools. But the question to Zap or not to Zap is really not a question about technology at all. It is a question about strategy.

7. What Does Your Real Estate Website Say About You?
Websites are the public faces of real estate professionals. They deliver the first images and words about an agent or a brokerage that prospective clients and customers see. If a site doesn't connect with consumers in a matter of seconds, that first impression could be a real estate professional's last chance to win a new client. Sites that consistently fail to be compelling can do serious damage to a perfectly competent real estate practice. Yet hundreds of thousands of agents and brokers publish sites that miss the mark by miles. After spending thousands to build and host a site, they spend even more for canned content that can do more harm than good.

8. iPad Listing Presentations and Relationships
The worst thing that a sales associate can do is show up to a listing presentation with the same presentation as another agent. Choosing the right real estate agent is akin to dating. The seller is looking for that right fit, and the confidence that the agent they choose is going to be the best. Putting aside the iPad and the presentation, the agent stands as a human being, and hopefully an expert. The real key is the bridge to establish a trusting relationship.

9. Consumer Questions a Broker Website Must Answer
If you are tired of third party portals kicking your butt and charging you a fortune, deploy your resources into solutions that the consumer wants. Do it today. Do it before your competitors. You will be glad you did.

10. Mary Meeker's 2016 Internet Trends: 3 Takeaways for Real Estate
One of my favorite research rituals is the annual release by Mary Meeker of her Internet Trends Report. Meeker was catapulted into the financing world spotlight as the lead manager at Morgan Stanley for Netscape's IPO in 1995. Later that year, she and Chris DePuy at Morgan published The Internet Trends, and it quickly became the definitive digest of the current state of the Internet, as well as discerning big-picture trends. Here are three key takeaways that should be of particular interest to the real estate industry.