American Financial Network and zavvie Team Up to Turn More Buyers into Cash Buyers
One of the fastest-growing mortgage banks in the U.S., American Financial Network Inc. (AFN), is teaming up with zavvie, an award-winning software technology company empowering loan officers and real estate agents to win and close more deals with its popular Cash Offer programs. By partnering with zavvie, AFN aims to help turn more buyers into "cash buyers" through more than 1,150 trusted loan originators in 240-plus offices nationwide. According to the National Association of Realtors, cash buyers surged to a decade-high last month. Home buyers paying cash accounted for nearly one in three home sales (32 percent) in January, the highest share since 2014. "As we endeavor to support more of our clients to compete against all-cash buyers and win more offers, we're not just participating in a market trend – we're leading it," said John D'Onofrio, EVP, Retail Branching of American Financial Network. zavvie's research shows that a buyer using a traditional mortgage requiring a loan contingency must make offers on seven houses before their offer is accepted. Buyers using a cash offer program average just 1.1 offers submitted before successfully purchasing a home. "Cash offers continue to be the hottest trend in the home buying market," said Lane Hornung, co-founder and CEO of zavvie. "Making more buyers cash buyers creates more business for AFN's trusted loan originators, and we know that zavvie Cash Offer programs increase loan officer business activity. More importantly, it increases their GCI (gross commission income) by as much as 33%, and loan officers average at least one more loan per month," he added. Offering all cash without contingencies may simplify a home purchase, making buyers' offers more attractive to sellers who value speed and certainty. With cash, buyers can bypass potential financing obstacles, eliminating the risk of loan approval issues or related deal cancellations. Additionally, cash offers have the potential to shorten the closing period, distinguishing them from competing offers. American Financial Network, Inc. (NMLS #237341), an Equal Housing Lender based in Brea, California, opened its doors from a single location in 2001 and is now licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC. "Being able to provide clients with a Cash Offer option is a no-brainer for loan officers looking to win more deals," Hornung added. Consumer demand for Cash Offer programs is driving zavvie's rapid expansion into the mortgage business, and sustained growth in brokerage-assisted transactions makes it an integral part of real estate's modern ecosystem. Its nationwide footprint now covers nearly 50 states, with more than 75,000 agents using its platform and potentially reaching more than 700,000 real estate professionals through partnership integrations.

Redfin Launches AI-Powered Tool to Redesign Listing Photos
Redfin has launched Redfin Redesign, an AI-powered tool that lets consumers change the appearance of walls, floors and countertops in home photos. Powered by Roomvo, a leading home visualization platform, the feature empowers home searchers to envision the potential of a home, identify which homes they are serious about touring or buying, and experiment with design styles. The feature is available for all active Redfin listings and eligible sold Redfin listings in the U.S. on Redfin.com and iPhone. Redfin and Roomvo have also partnered with Bright MLS, one of the largest MLSs in the U.S. by listing count, to offer this feature for their listings across the mid-Atlantic. In total, Redfin Redesign is available for more than 75,000 listings across the U.S. To try Redfin Redesign, select an eligible home like this one from your Redfin search results. Click the "Redesign" button on the first listing photo, then select a room to redesign from a gallery of interior photos. Then, choose from a diverse range of flooring types, wall paint colors, and countertop finishes to customize the room to your preferences. Once the design is complete, use the slider bar to compare the before and after images. "Buyers often want to know what a home will look like with some changes, not just what it looks like right now," said Ariel Dos Santos, Redfin's senior vice president of product. "Sellers want their listings to appeal to the broadest pool of buyers, regardless of design preferences. Redfin Redesign uses Roomvo's AI capabilities so buyers can see what they could do with a space in just a few clicks. It's one way Redfin's using AI to make real estate better for buyers, sellers, and agents." "We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Redfin, a collaboration that echoes our deep conviction that everyone deserves a beautiful home," said Roomvo CEO Pawel Rajszel. "This partnership aligns seamlessly with Roomvo's mission to transform the way people envision and create their living spaces. This collaboration not only marks a significant milestone for Roomvo but also reinforces our dedication to making home design accessible to all, empowering homeowners to realize their dream spaces effortlessly." Redfin Redesign is part of Redfin's ongoing effort to modernize the home search and make the buying and selling process easier. Redfin was the first national brokerage to offer 3D walkthroughs on its listings to help consumers virtually tour a home. It is now using AI to enhance listing photos, which are the most popular feature on Redfin's home detail pages. "Through our partnership with Redfin and Roomvo, we are excited to bring the Redfin Redesign experience to Redfin consumers across the entirety of the Bright MLS footprint," said Amit Kulkarni, Bright MLS's chief marketing officer. "Helping brokers deliver innovative experiences is something that's foundational to Bright as an organization. We are excited to be the first MLS to partner with Redfin to offer this tool that helps people reimagine home from their desktop or mobile device." In order to make Redfin Redesign available for more listings, Redfin plans to explore partnerships with additional MLSs and brokerages who see how this tool can help agents market their listings to Redfin's audience of more than 50 million monthly visitors. Get more information about Redfin Redesign here.

90K eXp Realty Agents Can Now Provide an Opendoor Cash Offer for Listing Clients
For many homeowners interested in selling their house today, one big obstacle is the lack of security around an outcome. Mortgage interest rates are high, inflation has run rampant for a couple of years, and those who might be considering selling their largest asset are concerned that it would be better to wait a year or two because there's no guarantee they'll get the price they want (or need). A new collaboration between Opendoor and eXp Realty will provide eXp agents with the ability to share a cash offer on certain properties with the potential seller, helping them make the transaction decision that makes the most sense for them, financially and time-wise. Read on for the full news release. Opendoor and eXp Realty announced a partnership to provide greater certainty for the millions of people who move every year. With this partnership, Opendoor will provide an integrated API tool and be the primary cash offer solution powering eXp's ExpressOffers platform. eXp Realty's nearly 90,000 agents will be able to request a cash offer on qualifying properties on behalf of their clients directly within their eXp dashboard, and present the Opendoor offer alongside the option of listing the client's home on the market. Across the U.S. today, the vast majority of home sellers continue to face a complex real estate transaction process. This partnership demonstrates Opendoor and eXp Realty's commitment to providing their customers with innovative options and peace of mind when making one of life's biggest decisions. "Empowering the nearly 90,000 trusted eXp Realty agents at America's largest independent brokerage with on-demand, integrated access to an Opendoor cash offer will empower their millions of clients," said Nick Boniakowski, Head of Agents Partnerships at Opendoor and a third generation broker. "This partnership gives sellers a simple and certain option, supported by their eXp Realty agent and backed by an Opendoor cash offer. It's also the first step of a broader relationship that gives us a trusted partner for future opportunities to better serve our customers." "This is a huge win for our agents and their clients," said Leo Pareja, eXp Realty Chief Strategy Officer. "Our focus is always squarely on our agents and making it easier for them to drive their business forward. The ability to offer their clients this seamless solution quickly and easily is a significant differentiator." "As a tenured eXp agent who has worked with Opendoor for years, I'm confident this partnership is going to be a game-changer for my fellow eXp agents and all of our clients," adds eXp Realty agent Kendall Bonner. "Being able to work within eXp's existing platform to bring that cash offer solution to all home sellers at the outset puts us in a new category entirely." In addition to on-demand cash offers from Opendoor, eXp Realty agents will have access to the Opendoor for Agents rewards programs, including the opportunity to receive a commission from Opendoor on top of any previously negotiated client commission for every eligible transaction that originates and closes on their portal. Opendoor and eXp Realty aim to launch this new product experience in the coming months with the goal of serving customers nationwide.

Does your brokerage have a white-labeled pre-sale renovation solution? Meet HouseAmp
In this era of low inventory and high mortgage interest rates, two things are more true than they ever have been: Buyers want move-in-ready homes that they feel are worth the significant value they're about to invest. And sellers don't want to spend an arm and a leg making multiple pre-sale renovations that they won't be able to enjoy before selling. One solution to this conundrum can be pre-sale renovation platforms, which help sellers make the necessary upgrades to their properties so that they can capture the widest pool of buyers with the highest offers. Sellers pay for those renovations out of the sales proceeds, and that profit is usually significantly higher due to the upgrades, so everybody is happy. Brokerages that can offer a white-labeled pre-sale renovation program for their seller clients can help differentiate themselves within their market and address a need that might not be getting met by the competition. Here's WAV Group's Victor Lund with more context around a new platform you might want to investigate, Compass Concierge. Compass Concierge has been a distinguished service offered to home sellers. The ability to provide home sellers with the funding to make repairs to a property and avoid problematic disclosures is a key listing tool. Home sellers do not want to (or may not be able to afford to) put cash into capital items – such as a roof replacement, driveway replacement, foundation repairs, or something as simple as fresh landscaping; but the return on these investments pays back in multiples of home value. We have learned that home buyers prefer homes that do not have any deferred maintenance. HouseAmp allows any brokerage to white-label the concierge service. They deliver the funding to make home repairs on properties. They do not charge the agent or brokerage any fees for their service. The agent and the home seller have the discretion on who gets hired to do the work. The loan is repaid at closing. Companies like Revive or Curbio – who deliver the project – can be funded through HouseAmp. If you do not have a pre-sale renovation provider in your brokerage today, you should meet with HouseAmp. Please see below for the full press release: HouseAmp Emerges as One of the Best Kept Secrets for Real Estate Brokerages, Unveiling Enterprise Broker Partners and Nationwide Territory Expansion SEATTLE, Wash. – August 8, 2023 – HouseAmp, the groundbreaking fintech firm empowering a brokerage's ability to offer homeowners financing for pre-sell renovations, staging, and more, has quietly built traction and momentum among top brokerages in the residential real estate industry. Its customizable, white-labeled concierge service is recognized as the "best-kept secret" for real estate brokerages. It is now unveiling its pay-at-close platform nationwide, expanding brokerage offerings beyond home sellers to home buyers and their agents. HouseAmp is on a mission to help brokerages remove the friction and fees from the activities done before the sale of a home. By offering a pre-sell renovation, staging, and funding concierge platform, HouseAmp removes seller obstacles while enabling homeowners and agents to select their preferred vendors and projects. The homeowner and the agent are the priority–with flexible, fast funding solutions allowing them to compete more effectively in a complicated, cash-driven real estate market. Brokerage offerings can be customized and reimagined without building from scratch or assuming repayment risk. Houseamp powers one streamlined portal for all the stakeholders involved in the home-selling process. HouseAmp's revolutionary vision steers the traditional focus away from "software on top of software" to a more forward-thinking solution that empowers real estate brokerages of any size to create uniquely proprietary offerings without needing API integrations. In return, their agents are more productive and competitive in an increasingly profit-pinching world. Brokerages will now have programs to immediately provide financial and tangible home resources to agents and their clients without fees or costs while allowing agents and homeowners the flexibility to choose any service provider. Firms with existing funding sources can also plug in their lender to HouseAmp for some or all of their funding needs. As one of the most trusted leaders in the industry, visionary real estate brokerage John L. Scott Real Estate partnered with Houseamp early. "We've seen great success with our Market Ready+ program, which is powered by HouseAmp," said Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott. "The process is extremely efficient and offers both our agents and their seller clients flexibility and a great overall experience." "We are thrilled to see our brokerage partners' success," said HouseAmp CEO Rick Hennessey. "Our white-labeled concierge platform allows each brokerage to provide their unique offering without the overhead that usually comes with these services, enabling them to offer cutting-edge technology that immediately turns a huge cost into a profit center. We streamline the process so homeowners and agents can quickly access capital, which has vastly enhanced the preparation to sell process and is improving people's lives." HouseAmp has already built significant brokerage partnerships, enabling them to expand their territory nationwide beginning in Q4 of 2023. Houseamp's fintech solutions help brokerages gain a competitive edge and new relevance in an increasingly shifting industry. Real estate brokerages interested in learning more about HouseAmp's innovative offerings and potential partnership opportunities are encouraged to visit Houseamp.com or email [email protected]. About HouseAmp HouseAmp is a trailblazing fintech company reshaping the real estate industry through innovative concierge solutions. Leveraging advanced technology and data-driven insights, HouseAmp empowers real estate brokerages to enhance customer and agent experiences, stay competitive, and drive growth. Our white-labeled brokerage service helps homeowners leverage access to quick and flexible funding programs to fund expenses now, then pay them off at closing. Learn more at HouseAmp.com. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

zavvie Delivers Power Buying Services to the Mortgage Industry, Expansion Enabling More Buyers to Make Winning Cash Offers
zavvie, a software technology company modernizing real estate brokerages with customized buying and selling solutions, is expanding its Power Buying services, including Cash Offer and Buy-before-you-sell Modern Bridge, to the mortgage industry. By empowering more buyers – including first-time buyers – with the ability to pay cash for a home, zavvie helps loan officers and real estate agents close more deals. "The mortgage marketplace today is ripe for innovation and solutions that can help loan officers make more deals happen for their clients and real estate agent partners," said Lane Hornung, co-founder and CEO of zavvie. Targeting loan officers and lenders nationwide, zavvie now has Power Buyer partnerships with 30 mortgage lenders. Most lenders zavvie is working with today are either a subsidiary of or a joint venture with its brokerage clients. However, zavvie is not limiting its expansion into the mortgage business to brokerage-affiliated lenders: five of its Power Buyer partners are direct-to-mortgage companies. Following a successful beta launch last fall and a recent raise of over $2 million in a VC mezzanine round, zavvie's reach in the mortgage industry now extends to nine new states, with plans to cover 14 states by the end of 2023. The program has closed over 500 transactions since the pilot program began. Hornung notes the adoption of cash offers by loan officers have significantly outpaced real estate agent adoption. Industry research shows that about one-third of all home sales are cash offers. The move to expand its services to the mortgage industry allows zavvie to grow its market reach while also benefiting brokerages, which are already experiencing a 10-to-15 percent increase in their mortgage capture business from working with zavvie. "Lenders are attracted immediately to zavvie's Power Buyer program because historically, cash offers are over four times more likely to be accepted than financed offers, and they close faster, making sellers and their agents happier," Hornung explained. Hornung points out that loan officers act as the quarterback for the financial side of the transaction, typically working in partnership with real estate agents and their buyers. Hornung explained that real estate agents rarely want to be the financial expert, leaving that to an experienced loan officer to help buyers understand all their financing options. "Our Power Buyer programs are a no-brainer for loan officers looking to win more deals," Hornung added. According to zavvie research, consumers gain a significant advantage when they become a cash buyer with no contingencies versus applying for a traditional mortgage with a loan contingency. Historically, zavvie notes that mortgage-backed buyers had to make an average of 7 offers when buying a home, compared to just 1.1 offers when using cash. Being able to offer all cash without contingencies simplifies the transaction, making the buyer's offer more attractive to sellers who value speed and certainty. With cash in hand, buyers can bypass the usual financing delays, remove the risk of loan approval, and potentially shorten the closing period, making their offer stand out among multiple offers that sellers often receive. Moreover, removing contingencies from the equation alleviates one of the primary concerns for sellers — the possibility of a deal falling through. As consumer demand for Power Buyer services continues to rise in 2023, zavvie's expansion into the mortgage business and sustained growth in brokerage-assisted transactions make it an integral part of real estate's modern ecosystem. Its nationwide footprint now covers 47 states, serving over 75,000 agents using its platform and potentially reaching more than 700,000 through partnership integrations.

ChatGPT for Real Estate Data? It May Be Here Sooner than You Think
Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have gone from a snail's pace to a sprint in a blink of an eye. You've already heard of ChatGPT by OpenAI and all the amazing things it can do. Bing, Microsoft's search engine, has been making headlines for its potential capabilities. Google's Bard project had a splashy introduction recently. Big Tech is racing to create the gold standard for AI. Whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay, and it will fundamentally change real estate tech. As you may have noticed, ChatGPT isn't ready for prime time in real estate, not least of all because it's only trained on data up until 2021. Real estate relies on up-to-the-minute data to power the nearly 6 million residential real estate deals in the United States every year, and comparing 2021 to 2023 is like comparing apples to oranges. Plus, MLSs, associations, and brokerages have piles of data that services like ChatGPT can't access. Continuous advancements in AI will allow proptech companies, MLSs, associations, franchises, brokerages, and even individual agents to glean new insights from their own vast data sets and make even better data-driven decisions. Let's look at how. What is natural language processing? Natural language processing (NLP) is the field of AI that allows computers to understand text and speech like human beings do, or close to it. If you've ever asked your GPS to find directions (or used ChatGPT), you've used technology powered by NLP. The advantage of NLP is real-time data processing, which is key for our industry. But up until now, its real estate use cases have lagged behind other industries. With wider availability of NLP-powered applications and more computing power thanks to the cloud, all that is about to change. AI and real estate AI applications for real estate are advancing quickly, and innovative companies are finding creative ways to harness them. Uncovering unique trends and up-to-the-minute insights National or statewide sales trends driven by interest rate hikes, supply, and shifting consumer preferences are useful. NLP will allow even individual offices to identify their most productive niches in terms of volume and sale price from their own data lakes, without having to wait for someone else to crunch the numbers. It will also help teams supercharge their lead gen efforts by helping them identify certain lead types or predict who is likeliest to list in the next six months. Accelerating due diligence MLSs, associations, brokerages, and franchises are consolidating every day, and NLP is an effective way to parse through complex financial data quickly and assist M&A teams with the due diligence process, giving unprecedented visibility (and security) for these important transactions. Planning for the future with confidence We all need data to set realistic and actionable business objectives. AI-powered applications will empower business leaders to make even better decisions by helping them unlock unapparent trends about their own business, their competitors' business, and set smarter goals accordingly. AI isn't a magic wand, but it's close NLP isn't perfect, and AI can make mistakes that seem perfectly obvious to anyone with a brain. So, when leaders are making important business decisions or agents are helping consumers make the biggest investments of their lives, a dose of caution, professional expertise, and intuition will help the industry avoid issues as these technologies mature. Timely exploration, adoption, and smart use of this technology will help real estate professionals do more with less and focus even more on creating an impeccable customer experience. At Constellation1, we've been building a center of data excellence for nearly two decades. Our experts are already working on finding the most innovative ways to apply NLP to MLS, public record, and location insight data, combining our in-house expertise with the power of AWS. Our finger is on the pulse of technology trends, and our customers trust us to keep them on the cutting edge. Rick Herrera is Vice President of Research & Development, overseeing product and engineering for Constellation1 Data Services. Throughout his career, Rick has helped create the data pipelines powering 2 of the top 3 US real estate portals. Prior to joining Constellation1, Rick was a director at Move Inc., managing the engineering division at Realtor.com. To view the original article, visit the Constellation1 blog.

Marc Kaplan Joins zavvie to Head Up Power Buyer Solution for Brokerages
zavvie, a software technology company providing real estate brokerages customized marketplaces for modern buying and selling solutions, announces the hiring of Marc Kaplan as its new Product Offering Manager. In this role, Kaplan will oversee the development and growth of zavvie's Power Buyer solutions, including Cash Offer and Modern Bridge services that enable clients to buy their dream home before selling their current dwelling. Kaplan brings extensive experience and a proven track record in supercharging the Power Buyer space to the zavvie team. "Right now, Power Buying may be the hottest area for real estate brokerages to help their agents win new business, with more opportunities for buyers and sellers than ever before," said Lane Hornung, Co-founder and CEO of zavvie. "Marc is uniquely qualified to help us accelerate our reach," he added. Before joining zavvie, Kaplan held a similar role as Revenue Operations Specialist at real estate technology company HomeLight. He helped to implement new acquisition channels, bringing Power Buyer solutions to mortgage lenders. Kaplan joined HomeLight through its acquisition of Accept.inc, the first iLender, which empowers buyers who qualify for a mortgage with all-cash offers. Kaplan helped Accept grow rapidly, leveraging his knowledge and skills as a licensed mortgage loan originator in Colorado. During his time with Accept.inc, Kaplan helped them to achieve the largest non-iBuyer Cash Offer market share in Colorado in 2021. "I can't think of a better place to be to create an immediate positive impact on helping brokers and their agents accelerate their businesses than with zavvie's Power Buyer program," Kaplan said. "zavvie's program is unique in that it is completely broker-centric, leveraging the client's trust of the brokerage, its agents and their preferred lenders to drive success. zavvie's deep understanding of broker's needs has already propelled their Power Buyer program to impressive heights so I'm excited for what's to come," he added. More information about zavvie is available at zavvie.com.

Revive and NextHome Partner to Deliver More Move-in Ready Homes to Agents
In today's market, the largest proportion of homebuyers — Millennials, comprising a full 43 percent of the homebuying population — are seeking homes that are ready for them to move in today. The latest research shows that 70 percent of Millennial home buyers will choose a smaller home that's move-in-ready over a larger home that needs some attention. Revive, the most complete presale home renovation solution for sellers, and NextHome, the No. 1 real estate franchise in the country in owner satisfaction, are joining forces to deliver more move-in ready homes to more than 5,500 NextHome agents in 610 offices across 48 states. NextHome, by offering Revive's presale renovation solutions, will unlock more inventory, creating more listings of market-ready homes with $0 due from sellers until closing. "NextHome is a franchise for the future, well-known for leaning into innovation in the real estate industry to lead the way," said Michael Alladawi, Revive CEO and founder. "Together, we can deliver more of what buyers want in today's market: move-in ready homes," he added. The availability of Revive presale renovation services for NextHome agents debuts at the 2023 NextHome Conference, March 9 to 11, in Houston, Texas. Helping sellers maximize their profits from their home sales, Revive renovations start within seven days, with an average completion time of four to six weeks. With a presale renovation, homeowners boost their return on their most significant asset — their home. Once listed, a newly renovated home also sells faster. "Presale renovations offer homeowners a $300 billion additional profit opportunity," said Dalip Jaggi, Revive co-founder, who notes that sellers often leave between 15 and 20 percent of profits on the table when selling a home "as is." Jaggi notes that Revive sellers average $186,000 more than the cost of their renovations and can net substantially more in higher-cost markets. As a result, agents who work with Revive typically receive higher commissions (22 percent higher) and win 40 percent more listings. In addition, Jaggi points out that Revive has helped hundreds of homeowners create more than $60 million in profits. "We all know that getting a property ready for sale involves some elbow grease, like sprucing up the paint, installing new carpets, and tidying up the landscaping. Many times, it's the bathrooms that need a little love. That's where Revive comes in — it's a powerful tool that can help you and your clients fix things up and make the property even more marketable. Plus, the homeowner can pay for the Revive services at the close of escrow. It's a turning point in this shifting market and can really set your listing apart," said Keith Robinson, Chief Strategy Officer at NextHome. Learn more about Revive and NextHome at www.revive.realestate and NextHome.

Why Brokerages Are Investing in Home Concierge
The real estate landscape across the United States has dramatically shifted over the past year. Brokerages have seen 3D home tours go from a nice-to-have feature to something buyers expect to see. This is one example of mass digitization in real estate today. Along with changes in technology, brokerages recognize another emerging trend: the expanded role of a Realtor. Realtors in 2022 and beyond need to be problem solvers. Gone are the days of selling a house using a one-size fits all strategy. Homeowners want custom solutions that cater to their unique needs. One way that brokerages are equipping Realtors to meet this demand is offering home concierge services. Let's dig deeper into why real estate brokerages are investing heavily in home concierge partnerships. Win more listings Circumstances vary from homeowner to homeowner. Sometimes the best solution is to sell without making any drastic changes. Other owners might need a light cosmetic rehab. But what if that's not enough? In the past, the lack of an alternative caused brokerages to leave money on the table. Recognizing the untapped potential of a market once cornered by flippers has caused many to reconsider. Now, Realtors are leveraging home concierge services to win listings. Creative options No one wants to feel pigeonholed. Realtors can empower owners with the freedom and confidence to make the most of their situation. Owners that want to secure a new home before selling or need to sell fast can do so. A turnkey solution Anyone who's ever seen HGTV knows that turnkey houses sell for more. Not everyone knows that they can flip their own home. Enlightening sellers to this fact gives them an opportunity to share in the upside of selling post-renovation. The cherry on top is equipping them with a team that can make it happen. Industry expertise Realtors with access to additional tools position themselves as industry experts. Although not everyone will opt for home concierge, it shows owners that they have a Realtor who can do things other Realtors cannot. It also highlights that they are willing to go above and beyond, a hallmark feature of any top Realtor. Greater convenience Driving down any main street in America, you're likely to see McDonald's golden arches. That's because people love the convenience—and the fries. This desire for convenience extends to all areas of life, including home renovation. For this reason, brokerages are embracing the opportunity to become one-stop-shops. Working in tandem with home concierge services helps brokerages keep business in-house. Owners don't want to find their own contractors or source materials for renovations, they want to sit back and relax. By taking the onus off of owners and putting it in the hands of experts, brokerages are attracting more potential clients. Brokerages are able to offer an extensive variety of home concierge services including: Project Managers Contractors Owner Representation Interior designers Vendors Finance And much more Brokerages are giving clients greater convenience that stretch far beyond listing a home for sale and closing the deal. Why should a homeowner have to take time and effort hiring each individual service? Not to mention, it takes additional time to do research and find trusted services. Home concierges have trusted partners that they regularly work with. Homeowners could simply call their brokerage for advice on anything related to their home for convenience. Long term loyalty Cultivating long term relationships is at the heart of any successful business. For brokerages, this means recognizing the lifetime value of a customer. It also means recruiting and retaining talented Realtors. Real estate is largely a referral business. In fact, 74% of past clients are likely to refer business in the future. Brokerages who offer creative solutions recognize the lifetime value of a customer because they can help them buy, sell, renovate, and more. If they have a good experience, they will continue to use your services in the future. Successful brokerages also instill loyalty in their Realtors. When joining a team, a key factor tends to be the quality of training and resources available to Realtors. Home concierge is a huge differentiating factor that attracts new Realtors. It also equips seasoned veterans with additional tools that help them win listings. Shaping the future of real estate As real estate continues to evolve, brokerages that leverage creative solutions to common problems will stand out. Innovative Realtors will be attracted to brokerages that are committed to shaping the future of real estate. Similarly, clients benefit from a variety of options and professional home services at their disposal. It's a win-win-win. To view the original article, visit the Revive blog.

The Keyes Company and Revive Team Up to Help Home Sellers
Revive, the most complete pre-sale home renovation solution, is partnering with the top independent and family-owned brokerage in Florida, The Keyes Company, to provide its agents with a team of experts to help home sellers maximize their sales price. Together, Revive and Keyes are partnering to ensure homeowners can maximize their home equity through guided pre-sale renovations, as most sellers could increase their equity 15-20% by renovating before listing their home on the open market. Revive empowers Keyes agents by fronting the cost of presale renovations for their clients by helping bring turnkey, move-in-ready homes to market. Revive provides expert guidance, contractor support, and other expertise to ensure timely turnarounds. By working with Revive, the Keyes Company is making certain sellers don't leave potential profits on the table by trying to sell their homes "as is." Research shows that when homeowners renovate their homes before selling, they maximize their return on their most significant asset, on average by $186,000 more in net profits. And once Revive homes are listed, they sell faster. "Home sellers who want to maximize their returns can no longer list a home as-is in today's market," said Mike Pappas, Keyes' CEO/President. "By offering our agents easy access to Revive's supported network, renovation expertise and services for their clients, every seller can list a move-in ready home, quickly and on budget, and see a better return." "The Keyes Company is one of the most respected and trusted brokerage firms in the country and a leader in delivering best-in-class technology solutions to its agents," said Michael Alladawi, Revive Real Estate CEO and founder. With Revive, Keyes agents can offer an innovative way to help their homeowners maximize the equity on their biggest investment — their home — and this will help agents grow their business and keep ahead of the competition," he added. Alladawi notes that agents working with Revive have increased their commissions by an average of 22%. Revive recently catapulted to national prominence as the winner of the highly coveted iOi Summit (Innovation, Opportunity and Investment) sponsored by real estate's leading venture capital firm, Second Century Ventures, and its parent, the National Association of Realtors, the largest trade group in the US. Revive bested 11 other hot companies. Revive, with products available in all 50 states, offers presale renovation services for homeowners to help maximize their profits from their home sales. By partnering with top brokerages, such as The Keyes Company, Revive is addressing a $300 billion-plus problem. Learn more at www.revive.realestate and www.keyes.com.

Douglas Elliman Launches Elliman Showroom
Douglas Elliman Realty announced the launch of Elliman Showroom, a complimentary personal assistant platform that will guide home buyers through a high-touch and streamlined move-in process. Powered by MoveEasy, a portfolio company of Douglas Elliman Inc.'s PropTech investment division, New Valley Ventures, Elliman Showroom combines personal assistant services with a dashboard of recommended vendors to help clients with all their move-in and set-up needs, from utility and internet to insurance and home security options. "Moving into a new home is one of the most exciting parts of the real estate journey, but it can also be overwhelming," said Howard M. Lorber, Executive Chairman, Douglas Elliman. "We created Elliman Showroom to make the experience as seamless and trouble-free as possible for our clients and customers." In addition to connecting in real time with a dedicated personal assistant, residents can use the Elliman Showroom dashboard to find and access a range of home services, exclusive deals and other resources recommended by their Elliman agent, including movers, architects, designers, and contractors. "The best real estate professionals understand that helping a client buy a new home is often when the real work—and joy—of being an agent truly begins," said Scott Durkin, Chief Executive Officer, Douglas Elliman Realty. "Elliman Showroom enables clients to stay in touch with their agents and continue to tap their knowledge, networks, and trusted guidance long after closing. It is just another way we enable our agents to continue to build their businesses." The latest in a series of products the brokerage has developed to help its agents manage client relationships and market properties more effectively, Elliman Showroom demonstrates the company's commitment to people-centered innovation. "Real estate is fundamentally about relationships built on trust and experience," said Dan Sachar, Vice President, Enterprise Innovation, Douglas Elliman Inc., and Managing Director, New Valley Ventures LLC. "Elliman Showroom exemplifies the extent to which digital tools and technologies can make interactions between agents and clients not only more efficient, but also more human." Elliman Showroom will rollout across the brokerage's national regions beginning this month.

LeadingRE Adds Milestones to Solutions Group Program
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World announced that it has selected Milestones for its Solutions Group program, a collection of preferred business resources for the global network of 550 real estate firms. Milestones offers technology solutions that allow real estate professionals to continuously create repeat and referral business through enhanced customer lifecycle management. Milestones creates private client portals ("hubs") for real estate professionals to collaboratively guide clients to buy, sell, move, and manage home ownership. Hubs connect to a brokerage's existing tech stack – CRM, websites, transaction management, etc. Hubs are designed to provide a comprehensive and personalized customer experience throughout the decade-long transaction and home ownership journey. The Milestones platform also allows brokerages to deeply integrate in-house ancillary services such as mortgage, title, and insurance into the client experience, creating new revenue sources and enhanced brand awareness. "Buying real estate is a complex process. Milestones puts the entire customer experience in one place — including searching homes, scheduling events, signing contracts, hiring service providers, and more," said LeadingRE Vice President, Sales/Partnerships Jeff Kennedy. "Agents can guide clients to buy homes, sell homes, and get financing, from start to finish, in one central hub. We are excited to share this platform with our membership." "We are thrilled to join LeadingRE's Solutions Group and for the opportunity to partner with their network of industry-leading independent brokerages. We share a mutual vision of helping these brokerages serve the next generation of homeowners and agents. The Milestones platform not only allows agents to deliver personalized client service before, during, and after the transaction, but also provides brokerages with a marketplace platform for seamlessly integrating ancillary in-house services to create enhanced revenue opportunities," said CEO Dustin Gray. Learn more about Milestones at www.milestones.ai. Learn more about Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® at www.LeadingRE.com.

Howard Hanna and MoveEasy Partner to Launch Hanna Home Concierge
COLUMBUS, OHIO AND PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 12, 2022 -- Howard Hanna Real Estate Services (Howard Hanna) announced Hanna Home Concierge today, a new service available to clients through MoveEasy's multi-channel concierge and home management platform. Hanna Home Concierge assists homeowners with everything they need to settle in and manage their homes over time, saving them time and money. With over 13,000 real estate agents and employees across 13 states, Howard Hanna has always been committed to providing exemplary service to clients. The partnership with MoveEasy further builds on this commitment, delivering clients value throughout the lifetime of their homeownership. "We're thrilled to partner with MoveEasy on the launch of Hanna Home Concierge as we continue to innovate and find new ways to bring value to our clients," said Annie Hanna Engel, Chief Legal Officer with Hanna Holdings, Inc. and President of Howard Hanna Insurance Services. "The moving process and ongoing home projects can be overwhelming and stressful for homeowners. Now with a dedicated concierge and 360° dashboard, we can offer clients exclusive discounts and referrals to add value over time, increasing loyalty and referrals." The new homeowner dashboard, powered by MoveEasy's platform, provides the clients of Howard Hanna with access to service providers across categories including home insurance, home warranty, internet and cable providers, home security, energy, utilities, and more. The new dashboard also features a built-in savings calculator to comparison shop and apply exclusive discounts. All of these features offered by the MoveEasy platform help keep Howard Hanna agents top of mind as they continue to deliver the value that strengthens their client relationships. Combined with a knowledgeable concierge team, Hanna Home Concierge provides clients with everything they need to monitor, track, and choose all their moving and home management services – all in one place. This includes a dedicated lifetime concierge available via phone or text, as well as a "My Next Move" feature allowing clients to alert their Howard Hanna agent or broker when they're ready to move again. "Imagine giving your client the gift of a seamless move, a 360° dashboard for all their home management needs, and a lifetime concierge on top of that," said MoveEasy CEO Venkatesh Ganapathy. "You're going to be the agent and brokerage they remember and recommend to family and friends."

MooveGuru's YourHomeHub Now Available in HomeKeepr
MooveGuru acquired HomeKeepr in February 2021 for a seven-figure amount. Founded in 2013, HomeKeepr was the early leader in providing a service that agents can offer to their clients to access local professionals to help with homeownership. The acquisition added 230,000 real estate agents who have adopted the product to the MooveGuru platform (many from Keller Williams). Perhaps more importantly, the acquisition added 430,000 home professionals. MooveGuru provides a concierge service to connect consumers with the services they need. In the first year, MooveGuru was able to incorporate YourHomeHub into HomeKeepr, and leverage the home professionals relationships from HomeKeepr into MooveGuru. This introduction expanded MooveGuru's service offerings from moving related services and utility hookups to a full suite of home ownership services. The sweet spot within the MooveGuru program are the engagement emails that come from the agent to suggest services to the customer. Please see below for the full press release. Home, at your fingertips: MooveGuru's launch of YourHomeHub gives consumers access to an 'everything home' portal MooveGuru unveils platform for consumers to manage all aspects of their home in one place for free through sponsoring real estate agents Atlanta, GA — March 16, 2022 —The feverish pitch of digitalization in real estate is not limited to buyers scouring the web for home listings. Homeowners are craving technology to help them manage home maintenance and home improvement projects all in one place. The household management solution from Atlanta real estate tech company MooveGuru called "YourHomeHub" is giving them just that. "The ongoing success of our moving concierge platform has opened the door to continued expansion and streamlining solutions for homeowners looking to fully manage their home," said Scott Oakley, CEO, and founder of MooveGuru, operators of YourHomeHub which also operates under the HomeKeepr brand. "YourHomeHub is a logical extension of our core offerings. Consumers will experience a platform that allows them to fully control their property at their fingertips. No more using multiple platforms or sifting through desk drawers to find crucial documents—it is now all in one place with YourHomeHub." MooveGuru acquired home professional referral platform HomeKeepr in Dec. 2020, which added hundreds of thousands of home professionals. The key differentiator for HomeKeepr is that the service professionals in the network are curated by real estate agents on behalf of their clients. Consumers are waking up to the understanding that disrupters in home food delivery and household maintenance are a severe hardship to local restaurants and home improvement contractors. With YourHomeHub, consumers are connected directly to local, agent-referred contractors. "The launch of YourHomeHub takes the HomeKeepr product to another level," said Rob Morelli, the president of HomeKeepr, a MooveGuru company. "It has been carefully crafted with the desires of consumers in mind, built upon the success our brands have had delivering great value to both homeowners and agents." YourHomeHub is the "everything home" platform, meaning it allows homeowners to manage both the financial details and physical elements of their home. It includes the most effective features from MooveGuru and HomeKeepr—hundreds of thousands of consumers already trust these solutions for moving and home maintenance—and adds additional functionality to help people manage all parts of their home. Consumers can monitor extensive information about their home and local market conditions, store important documents, generate accurate estimates for home repairs and find a local contractor for over 1,000 different home service categories. The platform offers a reliable estimate of a home value that goes far beyond standard online estimate tools. Kathleen Kuhn, President of MooveGuru and a 35-year veteran of the home services industry, noted how quickly the concept is taking off. "We knew homeowners needed an online destination for homeownership and real estate agents needed a tool to help them continue to connect with and serve their contacts, but we didn't anticipate how quickly industry leaders would embrace the concept," Kuhn said. "Because of the interest and foundation of real estate agents who will share the platform, millions of consumers will have access to the service for free, starting today." To learn more and access YourHomeHub, visit yourhomehub.com. About MooveGuru MooveGuru Inc. is based in Roswell, GA. In 2016 the company launched a free mover engagement program to real estate agents and brokers with the idea of connecting home buyers and sellers to convenience and savings on moving services. Using just-in-time delivery through artificial intelligence algorithms, MooveGuru Inc. ensures consumers receive agent-branded savings and convenience from national and local retailers and utility connections as they step through the relocation process. Today, more than 1500 brokerages, 300,000 agents, and millions of homeowners are connected to the MooveGuru and YourHomeHub platforms. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Customer for Life: MooveGuru Is a Service Consumers Use
One market segment that WAV Group has been keeping a close eye on is moving concierge. The company that has raised the most capital and has a relationship with NAR is Updater. Oddly, very few agents report using that service, which is primarily known as a company that changes a consumer's mailing address and sells their information widely. Two other services emerged around the same time, MoveEasy and MooveGuru. Over the past twelve months, MooveGuru has emerged as the leader of the pack with a slew of large firm and franchise integrations. We believe that the sales team at MooveGuru, along with the tight integrations with broker and franchise systems, are the two key catalysts that have driven adoption. MooveGuru also acquired HomeKeepr, one of the leading aggregators of service providers that matter to homeowners. In a press release issued today, MooveGuru reports that their home service providers have been used over nine million times by agent customers. See below for the news release: MooveGuru's Home Pro Division, Powered by HomeKeepr, Hits Nine Million Home Pro Recommendations Roswell, GA – September 14, 2021 – HomeKeepr, the leading referral-only online community of REALTORS®, home service professionals and homeowners, today announced it has surpassed the nine-million recommendation mark. The company has signed on more than 300,000 real estate, mortgage, and insurance professionals who have in turn recommended more than 500,000 unique home service contractors and other local businesses to homeowners over nine million times. MooveGuru's HomeKeepr division helps real estate agents curate their favorite home service providers so that it is easy for clients to access. Beyond connecting the homeowner with the right local pro for the job, the service also helps the agent send home maintenance and repair reminders, tips, tricks and useful data via text or emails, including tasks such as changing air filters and replacing smoke alarm batteries. MooveGuru CEO Scott Oakley says, "This is a great milestone for our network of professionals and home service providers who are collaborating together to deliver a remarkably improved service to homeowners. Together, they are disrupting advertising websites like Angi and HomeAdvisor to deliver superior recommendations from professionals that the homeowner knows and trusts." About MooveGuru In 2016, Roswell, GA based MooveGuru Inc. launched a free mover engagement program to real estate agents and brokers with the idea of connecting home buyers and sellers to convenience and savings on moving services. Using just-in-time delivery through artificial intelligence algorithms, MooveGuru Inc. ensures consumers receive agent-branded savings from over 500,000 national and local retailers, connects all utilities and makes the moving process more streamlined. Today, MooveGuru's platform combines more than 1,200 real estate brokerages with 300,000 agents serving 7 million homeowners. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

The Role of Real Estate Agents in an iBuyer, Bridge Buyer World
Last week, zavvie, the creators of the first marketplace for real estate agents to help homeowners see all their selling choices, announced securing a $1.75 million inside round. In the VC world of funding, an inside round means all the funding came from the folks who already invested in zavvie. That includes NAR's Second Century Ventures, which selected zavvie as part of its Reach Class in 2019. It is an indication of a burgeoning confidence in the business model zavvie has created as well as its scalability. zavvie strategically has carved out a way for agents to remain at the center of every real estate sales transaction. Brokerages using a zavvie-powered platform – one that is often white labeled to the brokerage's brand – can help homeowners sort through all of their choices. Most importantly, homeowners employ the guidance of a trusted professional: their real estate agent. That means because of zavvie, an agent will earn their commission no matter what path a homeowner chooses when they decide to sell. The value of a real estate agent as a trusted advisor has never been higher. For more than a decade, new real estate tech players have come onto the scene, predicting the internet would "disintermediate" agents. More recently, the term disintermediate has by replace by the word "disruption." But the predictions by many of these new real estate tech startups remain the same: that tech disruption will replace agents. Apparently, all these firms forgot to ask consumers what they want. NAR has been tracking what consumers want over many years. Eighty-nine percent of sellers and 88% of buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent or broker—a share that has steadily increased from 69% in 2001. The fact that more consumers want and are willing to pay for the help of a professional real estate agent should not be a surprise. A home sale remains the largest transaction most of us will ever make in our lifetime. Would you entrust a crucial surgery to an amateur? Selling a home is actually more complicated with all the new selling choices. Homeowners want to see all their choice, they want to compare and someone with industry knowledge and skill to have their back. Every selling option available today has its own unique pros and cons. Homeowners can take many different paths: They can decide to accept an all-cash instant offer from an iBuyer like Zillow or Open Door. They can choose to pursue the "buy before you sell" offering of a Bridge Buyer, swapping a home with a firm like Knock or Homeward. They can engage a Concierge service to fix up their home without any cash outlay as improvements are deducted from the sale proceeds. Or they can opt for the traditional Open Market listing of their home, which is the most popular choice, as it often results in the highest sales price and greatest net proceeds. At one of the last in-person Inman Connects, one of the presenters on the last day of the conference showed venture capital was flowing away from companies that were positioned as real estate disruptors to firms, like zavvie, that are working with the industry and not against it. Having worked with the folks at zavvie over the last few years, we have watched their transformation into what a brokerage needs today to take advantage of what iBuyers and Bridge Buyers are doing. Unlike others, zavvie doesn't see iBuyers and Bridge Buyers as the enemy – just the opposite. These players are another partner in the process for agents and their clients when the solution fits. zavvie helps brokerages and their agents coop this business as they have deliberately placed themselves in the middle of this new marketplace. Here's the news release with more details about zavvie and its business momentum. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

EXIT Realty Launches EXIT CONCIERGE Powered by MooveGuru
MooveGuru Inc. announced the launch of EXIT CONCIERGE through its Premier Partnership with EXIT Realty Corp. International. EXIT CONCIERGE is the single source for connecting home services for free, including television, phone, internet, gas, electric, water, security, change of address, moving services and more. The program is powered by Atlanta-based MooveGuru, the real estate industry's leading service provider of homeownership concierge and moving related services that are only available through real estate professionals.

zavvie and EasyKnock Partner to Offer Innovative Bridge Option
zavvie, the nation's first iBuyer platform for real estate brokerages, today announced a partnership with EasyKnock to offer homeowners a seamless solution to sell, leaseback and move when ready. Unlike a traditional bridge loan that allows homeowners to buy a new home before they sell their current one, EasyKnock purchases the home, unlocking equity for the consumer to buy their next home contingency-free and to have more control on their move timeline. "EasyKnock provides an immediate and hassle-free solution that helps homeowners tap into the value of their homes without having to move out," said Lane Hornung, zavvie co-founder, and CEO. "Now brokerages working with zavvie can empower their agents with an immediate advantage to win more listings by offering sellers the most options," he added. EasyKnock is the first technology-enabled residential sale-leaseback company that helps homeowners sell their home without moving. Their MoveAbility program helps homeowners planning on moving in the near-term realize the value of their home immediately. Customized sale-leaseback programs are available for single-family homes, townhomes, and condominiums. "EasyKnock and zavvie share a common vision of giving homeowners innovative options to make selling a home easier and faster," said Jarred Kessler, CEO and Co-Founder EasyKnock. "By working with zavvie, real estate agents can help consumers selling a home make their best decision by exploring all of their options." Headquartered in New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina, EasyKnock currently provides its innovative products to homeowners across the country. zavvie is offering EasyKnock as part of its Offer Optimizer brokerage solution.

8 Ways to Generate Free Real Estate Leads with IFTTT
IFTTT (If This Then That) is a free internet tool to get unrelated apps and websites to talk to one another. IFTTT works by connecting two apps and designating triggers. Whenever an event occurs in one app, a second event automatically occurs in another. It's a fantastic service that has led to an explosion of productivity across the web. As real estate professionals, there is a lot we can do with IFTTT. We can save time by setting our blog to automatically post to Facebook. We can be more responsive to clients by setting up email reminders for a missed call. We can be more organized by synching our phone contacts to a Google Sheet.

Realogy Launches Agent X: Voice Powered Productivity Tool for Agents
Realogy Holdings Corp. today launched Agent X, a real estate focused Alexa Skill. Agent X is now available complimentary to affiliated agents with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker NRT and ERA brands. Operating as a Skill on the Alexa platform, Agent X gives instant, voice-operated access to an impressive suite of productivity and coaching tools – from listings and client presentations, to productivity and goals tracking, to a daily digest that includes a briefing of the agent's day ahead, top industry headlines and more. As a Skill, Agent X allows agents the ability to be more efficient and productive simply by asking Alexa to "ask Agent X."

Magnificent 7 Tech Trends to Watch in 2019 and Beyond
Two years ago, I picked a "Magnificent 7" list that included Automation, Deep Learning, IoE (Internet of Everything), Intelligent Apps, Security, Digital Twins, and Ghosting. Here's my list for 2019 of the NextGen and NextLevel tech that have caught my eye and the implications for real estate.

iBuyer or iFlipper? Let's Look Under the Hood
This week, there was breaking news about an iBuyer receiving $325 million in series "E" funding as well as lots of talk about their business model and game plan. Given all the buzz, I thought it would be a good time to spend time under the hood to understand how this motor is put together!

Real Estate Leaders See Bright Future for Predictive Analytics, Big Data, and Marketing Automation
New Imprev Study Also Shows Surprises: Lukewarm Ratings for Portals and "Hot" Technologies Real estate industry leaders anticipate big opportunities coming from newer technology like predictive analytics, big data, and marketing automation over the next five years, but show lukewarm confidence in artificial intelligence, augmented realty, and virtual reality 3D tours. These findings emerged from a new Imprev Thought Leadership Survey asking participants to predict the future of real estate marketing and anticipate the effect on their businesses. The study was released today at Inman Connect, the nation's largest real estate technology conference being held August 7-11 at the San Francisco Hilton.

Real Estate Business Incubators: What they are and why you should care about them
You may have heard the terms 'business incubator,' 'business accelerator,' 'venture capitalist' or 'real estate business incubator' before. But what do they mean? Business Incubator: Also known simply as incubators, business incubators are programs that help small start-up companies overcome the initial challenges of starting and growing a business. Start-ups usually spend 1 to 2 years in incubators before they 'graduate.' Business incubators provide work space and services such as mentoring, networking opportunities, finding investors and much more. Many business incubators are government funded. This means companies that are accepted into incubation programs are often provided grants and receive workspace and services at the incubator for a subsidized cost.

Why a Smart Home is also a Danger Zone
A most provocative talk about smart homes and the dangers of the IoT (Internet of Things) kicked-off the first Hacker Connect in New York City in January. Molly Sauter, a PhD candidate and Vanier Scholar from Montreal's McGill University, gave a presentation that scared the crap out of me when she dove into the dangers of today's smart home. Now I've been a fan and even early adopter of affordable smart home tech: in the late 1980s, I had a wireless alarm system from Radio Shack and switches that allowed me to turn on lights with a remote. But that stuff turned out to be terribly unreliable. More than a year ago, we outfitted our home with Amazon's Echo and Echo Dot and have been blissfully pleased. Great product, awesome interface and we're now dabbling in more ways to make our home smarter. I even wrote about Amazon's move into the smart home space after last year's homebuilder convention, since it was being largely ignored there ("Digital Dawn: Amazon is creating the smart house for the rest of us"). Fast forward one year later, and Alexa was the star of the most recent CES (Consumer Electronics Show), and a plethora of products at this year's International Builders Show touted ties to Alexa. In fact, the popularity of Alexa is so pervasive – Amazon sold millions of units of its Echo and Echo Dot during the holiday – when Google introduced its competing product – Home – industry experts predicted that Google is simply too late to beat Amazon at this game ("Amazon's Echo is building a coffin that's custom-made for Google").

Up Close with Clareity's Broker Dashboard
For brokerages looking to replace their aging intranet platform, there's a new player in town that can improve internal communication with agents and boost adoption of broker-provided tools. Clareity's new broker dashboard, known as DASH!, offers single sign-on (SSO) access to all MLS and brokerage provided tools. If that sounds familiar, it should. DASH! is an extension of Clareity's MLS-provided SSO dashboards that serve over 800,000 agents in 175 MLSs and associations. The broker dashboard is accessible as page extension within the MLS dashboard, or as a standalone offering. That's important because, according to Clareity, agents use their MLS dashboard an average of 3.4 times a day. That frequency of use makes the dashboard a superior place for brokers to promote the tools they provide to their agents. The dashboard also serves to reduce frustration in agents. According to WAV Group satisfaction research, a major pain point for agents is having to run around the web to access the dozen or more tools that they use--as well as having to remember log-in information for each. By consolidating all of these tools in one place under one log-in, brokers can vastly increase adoption of the tools they offer agents.

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.

What’s the Real Estate Tech Arms Race?
In the past, real estate companies have felt threatened by new technology. However, recent activity on the tech front points to upcoming real estate trends embracing technology and challenging the sector's reputation as resistant to change. Sometimes dubbed the "real estate tech arms race," the rewards are real, and both residential and commercial firms are rushing to form alliances with these new tech technologies to ensure they're not left behind. The uprising of real estate tech Up more than 350 percent from 2010, investors tossed a whopping $1.5 billion in the real estate tech pot in 2015, and they're battling all the way to the finish line to fill the void of real estate industry driven technology tools that will allow brokers to complete jobs more efficiently and effectively. An explosion of startups aimed at the industry There are 175 startups trying to change the world of real estate. Though most are destined to fail, the movement will not. The commercial sector is leading the way and the residential sector is struggling to catch up. The dragon hiding in the rafters Mega-giant Zillow is hosting hackathons to get an early read on potential ideas and consider where to invest.

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.

Top Real Estate Technologies Straight from Science Fiction (Part 2)
The future is right around the corner, and we are doing a second part of our future real estate tech right out of sci-fi. In case you missed the the first part, here it is. Now here is more tech that is impacting the real estate industry in a big bad way. Holograms A hologram uses light and glass to project a three dimensional image. We have seen it in Star Wars, Minority Report, and hundereds of other science fiction movies. But holograms in the movies are based on very real technology used in the real world. Shoe company Nike is the first company to use holograms as an advertising tactic, displaying their new shoe publicly at bus stops. The hologram display has great quality, running videos at 1080i resolution and storing up to 18 hours of compressed video at a bit rate of 4 MB per second. Imagine how powerful this could be in the real estate industry--being able to project high resolution images of houses to sell. Where a potential buyer can see every nook and cranny of the property with ease. Now imagine you can do this with every house you have listed. An agent and broker will only be limited by their imagination and the price tag. A basic hologram system can cost upwards of $10,000.

Real Estate Innovations from NY TechDay 2015
Last month, Onboard Informatics joined 400+ other technology startups and innovators at NY Tech Day to exhibit Onboard Simplicity to over 10,000 attendees. Companies came together from many different verticals including finance, advertising, social impact, fashion and, of course, real estate. The showroom represented a variety of sizes from big, established and well funded firms to those just getting off the ground. Here are some of the most innovative real estate initiatives from NY Tech Day that impressed our team so much, we had to share for those who may have missed the event: Perchwell With a sleek, modern interface and advanced search functionalities this New York real estate search engine lets real estate agents better serve and expand their client bases.

Forward Looking Technology
2015 and 2016 will be years of incredible change in real estate technology. For too long, the real estate industry evolved in an eggshell whereby data, applications, and presentation layers were composite to one another behind most fragile and isolated shell walls. Today, we see systems that separate these three components of the technology to maximize the usefulness of this information to the industry and the consumers it serves. We Got You "We got you" is a statement that can have two meanings when a technology provider speaks it. It can take on the meaning of "we screwed you" or it can take on the meaning of "we have your back." As the needs of MLSs or real estate brokers or agents evolve, it is important that the vendors of services are evolving with or ahead of their clients. If you vendor is not evolving at the pace of the industry, you are screwed. If the vendor is staying ahead of you, they have your back. WAV Group is seeing the division of "We Got You" play out across our client group in pretty significant ways. We saw quite a bit of it between 2010 and 2014 as the industry struggled to adapt to the mobile revolution. Many technology providers ducked their chins and excused themselves with contract babble or "we are working on that." Others were out ahead of their customers with ready-to-go applications that met or exceeded the need for mobile, well before the adoption curve grew exponentially.

"Must Have" Tools for Real Estate Professionals
It's 2015--time to start using all the great technology available to you! A good program needs to be time saving, reliable, secure, and helpful. There are thousands of apps and programs to choose from, so we've decided to do some of the work for you. We've highlighted a few helpful real estate tools to utilize in your day to day. So how do you decide which tool to use? Not everything is going to work well with real estate. For one, your phone (if you have a smartphone) is going to be a huge tool for you. You can access email, social media, and thousands of apps amid a great deal of other built-in programs. If you don't have a smartphone, it's time to upgrade! Most phone carriers have some pretty good smartphones you can get for free when you sign a two-year contract. Here are our "must haves" for real estate professionals: BombBomb BombBomb is a great addition to any email. It allows you to record video messages. We like this tool for several reasons: Relatability: become a face people know and trust. Ease of use: It's pretty user friendly. You also don't have to worry about spelling since it's a recording. Lists, emails, forms, and drips add to the usefulness of this email system.

5 Ways to Integrate New Services Into Your Routine (or Your Agents')
As someone who uses a multitude of technology platforms, it's increasingly hard to incorporate these tools into my daily routine. However, the platforms I love are the ones firmly planted in my routine, and I can distinctly remember the people from those platforms helping me integrate their services into my day. Here are five ways to integrate new services into your routine (or your agents' routine): 1. Hold Yourself Accountable It's the time of the year where most people have set their New Year's resolutions and started chipping away on achieving them. This is where you go to gym only to realize that every treadmill and elliptical is filled with others trying to fulfill their own resolutions. By mid-February, however, the gym becomes a little less crowded as people begin to neglect their ambitious January 2015 resolutions. This year, I resolve to hold myself more accountable, and that begins with the services that I'm using as a marketer. Accountability is defined as the requirement to be responsible for something. The accountability you now hold for the new service you purchased is under your responsibility to use, learn, and/or keep track of. However, if you don't hold you own self accountable for integrating this tool into your routine, it can fall to the wayside — just like that "going to the gym" resolution.

Tech Talk: iCloud Photo Sharing for Real Estate
Are you ready to hear about one of the greatest free tools you probably already have access to and didn't even realize it? If you have an iPhone or iPad, this post is for you! iCloud photo sharing is a free way to share your images privately with your clients using the cloud. You can share in real time from anywhere you are, making it simple for you to send snaps without heading back to the office or composing yet another email. Better still, the people you are sharing your photos with can like or comment on them, kind of like on Facebook, giving you instant feedback and the opportunity to answer any questions your clients may have in a snap. Here's the skinny: What is iCloud photo sharing? iCloud photo sharing is a free way to share photos instantly and seamlessly with a select person or group of people using the cloud. Why is it a good idea for real estate pros? Setting up a shared photo stream with active buyer clients is a great way to share photos of new listings, home tours, detail photos and more while you're on the go. Simply snap a quick pic with your iPhone or iPad and add it to the shared stream with a caption or comment (like "check out this new listing" or "here's a closer look at the kitchen"). The only people who will be able to see your pictures are the people you invite. Once a picture is added to your shared iCloud folder, an instant notification will pop up alerting any and all members that a new photo has been uploaded. Viewers can 'like' or comment on your photo.

Three Ways to Improve Marketing Tools and Technology for 2015
This time of year people tend to focus more on family than business. But before buying another present or heading to another party, spend a moment to reflect on your business and make some decisions regarding the year ahead. When business planning, where is the best place to put your efforts? The top 230 top executives in real estate were asked which competitive differentiators help their business the most, and 87% answered marketing tools and technology. Here are three things you can do to improve your marketing tools and technology and make sure 2015 is a successful year for your business. Sync your technology List your technology vendors and see where you can consolidate. Having several vendors with different technologies not only means administrative hassles, it can also mean less frequent updates, incompatible systems, and difficulty resolving issues when they arise. When it comes to technology vendors, the fewer the better. It is best to have a single point of contact, if possible. This way, you'll work with someone who understands your business in a more holistic way, not just in the one area they work on. As an example, if you're pulling listings, neighborhood information, school zones, and basic demographic information into your site, you could potentially have four vendors just for local data. Perhaps it happened over time or maybe it was deliberate, but managing multiple vendors and data feeds costs you valuable time and can create inconsistencies on your site. Use a single source for this technology to ensure standardization and consistency in your content. Make 2015 the year you have one point of contact, one vendor who understands your business challenges and can present solutions.

3 Ways to Help Listing Agents Be Proactive
Guest contributor Zach Schabot of REALTOR®Mag says: Infomercial marketer Ron Popeil had a famous saying. We all know it: "SET IT annnnnnd..... (say it with me now)... FORGET IT!" But Ron Popeil was never a listing agent who had to deal with anxious home owners, was he? With the rapid rise in technology use, clients expect faster service and more marketing exposure than ever before. The pressure to perform, even in a seller's market, is increasing every year. Even with proper staging, professional photography, and well-written descriptions, making a listing active and then sitting back to wait for a buyer is simply not good enough. Here are three proactive approaches that you as a broker can encourage listing agents to take with their listings. Measure the home before it's listed. For a nominal fee, a licensed appraiser will measure a listing and provide a floor plan. This helps listing agents get accurate information to use in the MLS and provides a nice floor plan to use in marketing pieces. It's also a chance to address any discrepancies in the beginning of the transaction instead of at the end. And for you risk-management junkies, this will add an element of protection for those agents who choose to hire a professional instead of taking measurements themselves.

So Many Apps! How Much You Pay for Software Might Surprise You
Everything is an app One of the more common "let's make fun of the millennials" tropes is the idea that today, people want everything personalized, and on-demand. And like a lot of tropes, there's at least some truth to this — everything from television channels to burrito options are under increasing pressure to be offered a-la-carte, so you can get what you want without paying for what you don't. The bad old days. Hope you enjoyed paying hundreds of dollars per user. The web has been a big cause (and proponent) of this, and in a lot of ways, it's been a huge advantage to small business and entrepreneurs. A-la-carte software systems allow you to quickly spin up a functional, customizable information structure in a few hours, which is pretty amazing if you ever have the opportunity to do it, as I did at my last startup. Need a toll-free number? Accounting system? Time tracking? Done, done, and done. Plus, since all of this stuff is independently purchased, if it any of it becomes obsolete, you can simply dump it without breaking the rest of your system. We've successfully commoditized functionality! In general, this was a sorely needed direction for software. The pre-web era gave us increasingly broad, ill-fitting suites of tools — here's a weird database to go with that word processor you wanted — and charged us for everything. In theory, the different applications would be conveniently "integrated", but anyone who's fought with an old version of something like Microsoft Office can speak to the unexpected challenges that came with this sort of thing. Today, integrations come in the form of at least semi-open APIs, and today, two products from different companies often work together more seamlessly than two 1990s-era applications from the same suite. It's amazing, and best of all, it gives customers options.

What’s the Future of Real Estate?
In 1991, the National Association of REALTORS® made an "office of the future" video predicting what kinds of space-age technologies would change the home buying and selling process by the year 2000. Jon Coile, broker-owner of Champion Realty in Severna Park, Md., dug this gem of a video out of the NAR archives for his presentation last week at the Broker Summit in Atlanta. Did NAR get the fashion wrong? Yes. (Is NAR really known for its fashion sense?) But how far off was the video, really? Today we have AT&T Digital Life (the home automation mentioned in the video), Skype (video calls), thumb drives (mini discs), MLS with photos (home tour line drawings), smart appliances ("Microsoft Maytag software"), Siri (talking cars), and GPS (car navigation systems). "And they're still going to need an agent – they got that right, too," Coile said. So this video begs the question: What does the next decade hold for the real estate industry?

Real Estate Tool of the Month: Google Trends
What is Google Trends? I discovered this little gem about six months ago, and have been obsessed with it ever since! Google Trends is an online search tool that allows you to see how specific keywords, topics and phrases have trended over a period of time. It graphs how often a term is used over time and where geographically most people are searching for a given term. This data can be exported the data into a .CSV file which can be opened in Excel or other spreadsheet applications. Another cool feature is that you can compare up to five terms to view their relative popularity. Why is all of this important? For a couple reasons: Mobile: More and more consumers are searching on mobile devices. And people search differently on mobile than they do on a computer. If they are typing the search, they tend to use fewer words. If they are using voice controls, they tend to be more conversational. This will an affect on the keyword phrases you choose. Change: The only constant is change, and you can be sure the topics and phrased that consumers use to search for real estate online will change as well. If you're going to go to work hard at optimizing your website and content for a keyword phrase, wouldn't you rather use a phrase that is trending UP, rather than one that is trending DOWN?

Agent Adoption: Celebrating Small Victories
We all know that getting agents to use technology tools is a difficult challenge. Many times, agents will adopt technology when it is proven to bring them more business, and it will alleviate extra work, such as paperwork. All too often, I see a company make progress getting a CRM or other tech system adopted, then slow down when it comes to promotion. This is a constant challenge and takes a commitment from the top down to prove to your agents that a new technology will make their job easier in the long run. The old saying, "no pain, no gain" is never more evident than with agent technology. Agent Adoption Three of the best ways to get agents to use their technology are to: 1. Offer incentives. Some examples of this are to keep track of logins and activity, then create a wall of fame for those using it. Monitor key metrics such as contact size, email volume or any performance based metric you can find to know if agents are using the system. Then, offer rewards. Small performance fees, centered around productive tasks that increase ROI, may be worth a periodic payout.

Top Broker Product Reviews from 2013
Last week, we shared a list of our top product reviews for agents in 2013. As promised, this week we're bringing you a run-down of last year's top reviews for brokers, sorted by category. We intend for these reviews to be a starting point in helping you decide which products to choose for your company in 2014. If you'd like more advice on how to evaluate products, see our series of articles on questions to ask before choosing a solution. Listing Syndication 1. ListHub Global ListHub Global is an extremely low maintenance solution that, once activated, acts like any other affiliate ListHub publisher. The only difference is that instead of syndicating listings domestically, ListHub Global distributes your listings to potential buyers in 19 countries. See more Listing Syndication / Global Marketing solutions in our Product Directory. Virtual Office Websites (VOWs) 2. Quantum Leads"It puts your client in the driver's seat," is how Quantum Leads explains their Virtual Office Website (VOW) solution. Fortunately, the company has provided a vehicle that both clients and your agents will want to drive, thanks to intuitive, easy-to-use interfaces that are beautifully designed. See more VOW solutions in our Product Directory. Recruiting 3. HG-RecruitsAs a real estate broker, you are only as strong and successful as the members of your team. Finding, recruiting, and hiring rock star agents is imperative; it's also one of the most challenging parts of your job. Happy Grasshopper built HG-Recruits expressly for this need, to help ease the stress of growing your roster. See more Recruiting solutions in our Product Directory.

How to Make Technology a Business Differentiator in Real Estate
In the last decade, almost everything in the consumer and business worlds has gone digital, with all kinds of information now accessible on your smartphone and tablet at anytime. Real estate is no different. From reaching a purchase agreement with all parties on an iPhone and booking home showing appointments with the click of a button, to using social media to increase inbound leads, successful agents and brokerages are making technology a part of their larger business strategy. Adapting to this new 'digital-first' world can be a massive business differentiator if you do it right. Of course, there are hundreds of technology choices nowadays. How do you decide which are right for you? How do you ensure your organization actually makes use of them so you see the return on investment (ROI)? Here are my strategies for success: 1. Don't Fall Victim to Shiny Object Syndrome: Choose Technology That's Right for Your Business With so much technology available today, it can be absolutely overwhelming. It's the matter of sorting through the noise and finding the tools that are most effective for your business that can be the trickiest part. I've seen it all too often—fellow real estate professionals throw out their credit cards at trade shows because everyone else is and the excitement of being able to say, "Yes, I have that!" is overpowering. Of course, the problem with being swayed by a group mentality and spending hundreds, or even thousands, is not actually evaluating the product for its purpose and how it will work with your business model.

Are you struggling with agent adoption across one or more of your systems?
A common concern we see with many brokerages is getting agents to adopt new technologies. We've got a tip for you: Create digestible strategies for agents by building a scorecard or report card. Here's how: Break down your technology systems into each category. For example: CRM, Video Platform, Listing Presentation, CMA tool, etc. Take each one and ask yourself: What does it look like with basic usage? Intermediate usage? Advanced? Create a scorecard. Here's an example: Technology Resource: Customer Relationship Management Basic Adoption: Are contacts loaded in the system? Is the agent assigning contacts to campaigns or using automation for this? Is the agent assigning tasks and reminders? Does the agent have social media integrated?

Real Estate Tool of the Month: Postagram
This post comes to us from the Obeo blog: This is a great real estate tool for sending postcards! Now you can send thank you notes, follow ups and congratulations. Time management in this day and age has become critical and Postagram can help. What is Postagram? This application, developed for both iPhone and Android, allows you to print customized, glossy photo postcards to anywhere in the United States for only $1 and other countries for $2 per postcard (which includes postage). You can select a personalized photo and include a message up to 140 characters. People often use Postagram to send thank you cards, 'I love you' notes, greeting cards, birthday cards and invitations. Postagram has had over 11,000 reviews between the iPhone and Android market with 4.5 - 5 star ratings. Both applications allow you to send your first couple for free with a new account. Postagram – Google Play Store Link iPhone – App Store Link

Cloudy With a Chance of Disaster
Apple introduced iCloud to the world of consumer computing. The service promises to provide access to files, such as music and photos, from multiple devices. A radio advertisement touts the benefits of an online payroll system that can be accessed from anywhere in the world, and is so easy to use that even a boy operating a lemonade stand can use it. The concept behind iCloud and software that is accessible anywhere is not new, but is part of a rapidly growing technology platform called the cloud or cloud computing. Cloud computing gives both consumers and businesses the ability to use software applications and input and access data on any number of devices anywhere in the world. Cloud computing is generally the ability to remotely access software and data from off-site servers and other hardware through the Internet. It is divided between public and private clouds. A public cloud services multiple clients and customers, and a private cloud, similar to traditional outsourcing that is controlled by the user, services only one or a limited number of clients and customers. Application software offered in the cloud, or software as a service (SaaS), runs on servers located off-site or in a remote location--the software does not reside on the desktop or local computer or server. Netbook computers are designed to operate SaaS because they don't need a hard drive, but instead merely need access to a browser and the Internet to operate the SaaS application. Many of us are already in the cloud with Google's Gmail, Yahoo mail, Facebook, Flickr, and Google docs. The number of business applications is rising rapidly. The economic and other benefits cannot be ignored, particularly in stressed economic times. There are several potential drawbacks, especially for business applications, however, that need to be addressed before fully embracing and launching the concept.

SMS Marketing is Tops for Real Estate Pros
Guest contributor Properties Online says: Real estate agents rely on a lot of traditional marketing tools, such as signage, to promote their properties for rent or sale. The rise of the internet brought email marketing to the fore, but it is being rapidly trumped by SMS (text messaging) marketing. And SMS marketing is a great thing for real estate professionals. Over 5 million of the world's 6.8 million people own a cell phone, and Americans send more than 193 billion SMS and MMS messages every month. Morgan Stanley tells us that 91% of all smart phone users keep their phones within arms' reach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And one of the first rules of marketing is what? That's right: go where your customers are. Marketing via text message is one of the smartest, most effective and inexpensive options available. More than 73% of cell phone users already use their phones to send and receive text messages, and the positives only carry on from there.

CityBlast and Real Estate: How it works
Social media has become a way to build relationships with a large group of people you might not have the ability to personally keep in contact with or talk to on a daily basis. We often hear that people want a presence in social media, but they don't have the time to build it. It can also come down to simply not understanding how it works, and therefore harnessing its capability. This is where CityBlast comes into play. CityBlast is the world's first and largest social media listing service. CityBlast allows real estate professionals to attract new clients within their social network and market their listings to thousands buyers, all for the price of a coffee per day. How it works CityBlast has two important functions: ClientFinder and Blasting. Both serve different purposes and those who sign up can opt for either or both of the services. Visit the next page for an overview.