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Listing Bits

Greg Robertson, co-founder of W+R Studios and publisher of Vendor Alley, talks real estate technology with the people who are shaping it.
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Now displaying: 2022
Dec 1, 2022

Listing Bits is back!

If your role in real estate involves sales demos or any kind of training, you’re likely familiar with the frustration of delivering the same webinar over and over again.

 

Or worse, preparing a webinar that is either poorly attended or no one shows up.

 

But what if you could do 100 or even 1,000 webinars a month—without getting in front of a camera?

 

Melissa Kwan is Cofounder and CEO of eWebinar, a platform that saves people from repeatedly delivering the same webinar by turning videos into automated, interactive webinars.

 

Prior to eWebinar, Melissa founded and successfully exited the real estate tech startup Spacio, a check-in app for open houses.

 

On this episode of Listing Bits, Melissa shares her journey as a proptech entrepreneur, describing how she developed her mad sales skills and why she was ready for a new challenge after Spacio.

 

Melissa discusses how her experience with onboarding and training for Spacio inspired the creation of eWebinar and explains what differentiates the platform from Zoom, YouTube videos and webinar replays.

 

Listen in for insight around Melissa’s intentional approach to life and learn how your real estate business might leverage eWebinar to get your time back and spend it on things you enjoy!

 

What’s Discussed: 

 

The initial idea for Spacio and how it evolved into a check-in app for open houses

How Melissa developed her hustle and sales ability out of necessity

Melissa’s successful exit from Spacio after 4 years of running the business

The real estate leadership dinner that launched Melissa’s career as an entrepreneur

What differentiates eWebinar from YouTube, Zoom and webinar replays

How Melissa’s experience with training for Spacio inspired the creation of eWebinar

How brokerages and real estate teams are using eWebinar to qualify leads

The benefit of using eWebinar in terms of video quality and availability of content

eWebinar’s use cases for sales demos, onboarding and training

How Melissa runs eWebinar to reflect her work less, enjoy more philosophy of life

 

Connect with Melissa:

 

eWebinar

Melissa on LinkedIn

ProfitLed Podcast

 

Resources:

 

Spacio

Inman Connect

Greg’s Post on Melissa in Vendor Alley

Pocket

SAP

HomeSpotter

The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss

 

Our Sponsor:

 

Cloud CMA for Brokers

Jul 26, 2022

 

NAR’s MLS Policy Statement 8.6 goes into effect on September 1, 2022.

 

So, what tools are available to make the implementation of the new One Data Source Policy easier for MLSs?

 

Katie Smithson is Director of MLS Relations at Zillow Group, where she leads the team building their MLS data licensing and distribution platform, Bridge Interactive. Prior to joining Zillow, she spent eight years with W+R Studios as Director of Enterprise Sales and Director of MLS Services.

 

On this episode of Listing Bits, Katie walks us through Policy Statement 8.6, explaining what problems the mandate does solve and why it’s a problem to provide vendors and brokers with data in a single feed.

 

Katie discusses the Bridge platform’s current functionality and describes the new feature her team is developing to help MLSs implement 8.6, the One Data Source Solution.

 

Listen in to understand how MLSs can use Bridge to auto-approve certain vendor agreements and find out if the One Data Source Solution is right for you.

 

What’s Discussed: 

 

How MLS Policy Statement 8.6 requires that MLSs offer participants data in a single feed

The security issue with leaving it up to brokers and vendors to know what data can be used in a VOW, IDX or back-office feed

What problems the new One Data Source Policy does solve

How the Bridge platform alleviates pain points around data distribution for MLSs

What differentiates the Bridge platform from CoreLogic’s Trestle

How Katie thinks about asking MLS boards to give Zillow their data (and pay for the service)

How Bridge gives MLSs a simple way to combine existing data feeds for members

The benefit of adding field-specific tags to MLS metadata via the Bridge One Data Source Solution

How MLSs can use Bridge to auto-approve certain vendors or certain types of data access agreements

Connect with Katie:

Bridge Interactive

Katie on Twitter

Katie on LinkedIn

Email: katiesm [at] zillowgroup [dot] com

Resources:

MLS Policy Statement 8.6

CMLS Implementation Guide—One Data Source Policy 8.6

Lone Wolf Technologies

Trestle by CoreLogic

Marilyn Wilson’s TSA Pre-Check Concept

Inman Connect Las Vegas 2022

 

Our Sponsor:

 

Cloud CMA for Brokers

Jul 1, 2022

What if it was easy for an MLS to raise money to develop the data services it needs and run the software its customers use?

Colette Stevenson is CEO of REsides, the premier MLS in South Carolina. Formerly known as Hilton Head MLS, REsides serves REALTORS who represent properties in both South Carolina and Georgia, maintaining the most dependable and powerful data in the marketplace. 

On this episode of Listing Bits, Colette shares the story of the rebrand from Hilton Head MLS to REsides, explaining what differentiates her team’s vision from that of the average MLS.

Colette describes how REsides is developing a new business model to address the challenge of raising capital for software development and discusses why she’s open to collaborating with MLSs anywhere in the US.

Listen in to understand Colette’s disciplined way of thinking about potential changes to cooperation and compensation—and learn how REsides is empowering agents and brokers with data in a way that keeps the industry at the center of the real estate transaction.

What’s Discussed:  

How Colette’s background in the ticketing industry informs her work at REsides

What REsides is doing to keep the industry at the center of the real estate transaction

The story of the rebrand from Hilton Head MLS to REsides

What differentiates REsides’ vision from that of the average MLS (and how being small benefits Colette’s team)

Where buyers in the Hilton Head market come from and why Colette is open to collaborating with MLSs anywhere in the US

How REsides is developing a new business model to address the challenge of raising capital for software development

Colette’s take on what keeps MLSs from making bold moves (and how REsides is overcoming it)

Colette’s disciplined way of thinking about potential changes to cooperation and compensation

REsides’ mission to empower agents and brokers with data

Connect with Colette:

REsides

Colette on LinkedIn

Resources: 

‘Atlanta’s No. 1 Broker Bought Homes for Big Investors From 600 Miles Away’ in The Wall Street Journal

Our Sponsor:

Cloud CMA for Brokers

May 9, 2022
Approximately 8 million appraisals were conducted in the US last year. By contrast, there are only 40,000 active real estate appraisers. So, it's no surprise that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are exploring appraisal modernization initiatives like the desktop appraisal option.

 

But to make these alternatives to the traditional appraisal work, we need data in the form of an accurate floor plan. And we need it at scale.

 

Jeff Allen is EVP of Innovation Labs Clear Capital, a leading property valuation tech company, and President of CubiCasa, an easy-to-use app for automating the creation of real estate floor plans. On this episode of Listing Bits, Jeff explains how the barrier to entry to become an appraiser has sparked a total transformation of the industry.

 

He discusses his work helping GSEs test alternatives to the traditional appraisal, describing why floor plans are an essential part of ‘bringing the house to the appraiser’ and how he discovered the CubiCasa technology that automates the process. Listen in for Jeff’s insight on the copyright dispute over real estate floor plans and learn how to support the creative partnerships necessary for CubiCasa to scale.

 

What’s Discussed:  

 

How Clear Capital serves large financial institutions in the realm of property valuation

How the barrier to entry to become an appraiser has sparked a total transformation of the industry

Jeff’s work helping GSEs test alternatives to the full traditional appraisal

Why floor plans are essential in ‘bringing the house to the appraiser’

How Jeff discovered the CubiCasa tech for automating floor plans and how it works

The creative partnerships necessary for CubiCasa to achieve scale (e.g.: real estate photographers)

How the desktop appraisal option supports CubiCasa’s efforts to scale

The other major appraisal modernization initiatives coming from Fannie and Freddie

Jeff’s take on the current copyright dispute over real estate floor plans

 

Connect with Jeff:

 

CubiCasa 

Email: jeff [at] cubicasa [dot] com

Jeff on LinkedIn

Clear Capital

 

Resources:

 

10K Research and Marketing

Appraisal Subcommittee

Dodd-Frank

Desktop Appraisals

Vendor Alley

FloPlan App

Greg’s Post on FloPlan

Copyright Dispute Over Real Estate Floor Plans

Designworks Homes v. Columbia House of Brokers Realty

CMLS’s Amicus Brief on the Floor Plan Copyright Dispute

NAR’s Amicus Brief on the Floor Plan Copyright Dispute

 

Our Sponsor:

 

Cloud CMA for Brokers

Apr 28, 2022

We're baaaaaack!  

 

I spend a lot of time at conferences explaining why MLSs, brokers, and franchisors should let the ‘professionals’ build their technology. And yet, there are real reasons why these stakeholders might want to design their own.

So, when is it appropriate for an MLS to create its own tech stack rather than relying on a vendor? And what does the development process look like?

Faith Geronimo and Colleen Yasuhara are the CEO and COO, respectively, of Hawaii Information Service (HIS), the MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai. On this episode of Listing Bits, Faith and Colleen explore HIS’s history of building its own technology and explain their decision to spend the last four years creating a new MLS system.

Faith and Colleen discuss the transition from their initial system, REsearch, to the new HIMLS, describing HIS’s partnership with software developer MEV and their experience working with a team of Ukrainian developers. Listen in to understand why the Russia-Ukraine conflict hasn’t disrupted the development process and learn how HIS leveraged research and user testing to inform the design of HIMLS.

What’s Discussed:  

HIS’s role as MLS provider for the islands of Hawaii and Kauai

HIS’s history of building its own technology

How Faith & Colleen’s decision to build a new system on their own was influenced by their ability to integrate public records and MLS data

Faith’s take on why Hawaii needs 3 MLS providers

What Faith & Colleen learned in their research on MLS systems and how it informed the design of HIMLS

How the pandemic influenced the development process and allowed for rigorous user acceptance testing

The timeline for the transition from REsearch to HIMLS from 2018 to present

HIS’s partnership with MEV and how they built the portal and web API together before tackling the MLS

Faith & Colleen’s experience working with developers in the Ukraine and why they flew the team to Hawaii early in the process

How Ukrainian developers continue to work on HIMLS despite the Russian invasion and how they’re handling the conflict

Connect with Faith & Colleen:

The Story of HIMLS

Hawaii Information Service

Hawaii Information Service on YouTube

Faith on LinkedIn

Colleen on LinkedIn

Resources:

HIMLS Update on YouTube

Inman Connect New York

CMLS Conferences

Craig Pennington

Paragon

Matrix

Realist

RESO Web API

MEV

Alex Natskovich

 

Our Sponsor:

Cloud Agent Suite

Jan 12, 2022

When Zillow announced its intention to acquire ShowingTime in February of 2021, a slew of companies jumped into the showing solutions space. But Instashowing had already been in business for two years, and despite the fierce competition, its young founder believes that his startup has an edge.

William Schoeffler is the Founder of Instashowing, a software company out of Bend, Oregon, that offers the premiere showing solution for forward-thinking real estate professionals. On this episode of Listing Bits, William shares the experience with an agent that inspired him to build Instashowing and describes the suite of listing agent tools his team is developing.

William explains how he raised $4M on the heels of Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime, discussing the expectation to grow that comes with that kind of an investment and the advantages Instashowing has over its many competitors. Listen in to understand the challenge of supporting several showing solutions in a single market and learn how William is forming a syndicate to allow MLSs to invest in Instashowing.

What’s Discussed:  

The experience with a real estate agent that inspired William to build Instashowing

How William raised $4M from industry giants Pete Flint and Greg Schwartz

The wave of competitors in the showing solutions space after Zillow’s acquisition of ShowingTime

Why Instashowing started selling to agents and brokers (not MLSs) when it launched in 2019

The advantages Instashowing has over its competitors

How Instashowing’s success in a given market hinges on full integration with its MLS

Why William believes the industry will return to a single showing solution product in each market

The suite of listing agent tools Instashowing is developing

The expanding vision and expectation to grow that comes with a $4M investment

Why William is not planning on adding a call center to the Instashowing offerings

How William is forming a syndicate to allow MLSs to invest in Instashowing

Connect with William:

Instashowing

William on LinkedIn

 

Resources:

Instashowing’s $4M Raise

Zillow’s Acquisition of ShowingTime

Tomo

Offerpad

BrokerBay

Homesnap Showings

MLS Aligned

SentriLock

CRMLS Glide

 

Our Sponsor:

Cloud CMA for Brokers

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