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Understanding Your ListTrac Report
The image below is a clip from ListTrac Web Insights for an MLS. ListTrac is now reporting metrics from nearly every major IDX vendor, the major portals, and the MLS systems including Black Knight, Matrix, FlexMLS, and Rapattoni – in total, over 100,000 real estate property search sites. This particular report shows listing views. It should be no surprise that Zillow is the leading consumer site for viewing property. In most MLS areas, Zillow has more traffic than all other sites combined (which is true in this market). Here are some interesting observations: The MLS system matters The MLS system is a major point of engagement for consumers who are home shopping. Moreover, consumers viewing property from the MLS system are working close enough with a real estate agent that the agent goes through the trouble of setting up their saved search. Of course, the MLS views will also include the research done by agents when they do searches. It is a hard number to dissect, much in the same way that traffic to Zillow is hard to dissect the intention of consumers on Zillow or other consumer sites. Homes.com? Homes.com was contested by Realtor.com when CoStar CEO, Andy Florence, announced that Homes.com has garnered enough traffic to become the second highest ranking portal in America. Realtor.com CEO, Damian Eales, stated in a podcast that Andy's statement is easy to make "when you are grading your own homework." WAV Group has not seen a ListTrac report that validates the claims of Mr. Florence in any market, but we have no reason to doubt him. If you have evidence, please pass it along. Homesnap? Sadly, Homesnap has also disappeared from these reports. Homesnap was the partner to the Broker Public Portal and was garnering tremendous traffic in many markets. Before the sale to CoStar, I believe that 1.2 million real estate agents were benefiting from their service through their MLS. I still do not understand why CoStar killed that product. As you can see, Zillow has retained Trulia, which is outperforming Homes.com in this market. Who is IDX vendor Cyberitas? A Google search result of the company indicates that they are working with Anywhere brand Century 21. In this market, Century 21.com is slightly ahead of virtual tour vendor Property Panorama in terms of traffic, and slightly behind Homes.com in overall traffic. I found it interesting that Century 21 has more traffic than Coldwell Banker in this market. Typically, it is reversed. The Power of IDX (or powerless IDX) In terms of IDX vendors, Reliance Networks and MoxiWorks were tied, followed by IDX Broker and iHouseWeb. But overall, IDX is dwindling in terms of attracting consumers to search for properties. WAV Group believes that IDX vendors have failed to keep up with the portals in one key area: IDX sites do not display listings of all parcels. They only display the listings for sale or recently sold (in many markets). Consumers love getting the listing information at the parcel level published by Zillow, Realtor.com, Trulia, Homes.com, Movoto, Redfin; and the newly appointed sites by RE/MAX and Compass that have also become parcel centric. If you are a broker, remember to log into ListTrac and look at how your listings are performing in the market. Share that information with your agents so they understand these numbers and remind them that ListTrac has seller reports that show where a client's listing is being viewed. If you are an MLS and would like help interpreting the ListTrac report and communicating that to your brokers, agents, or consumers, reach out to our team. WAV Group Communications can help. Other ListTrac Data Points ListTrac will also show you how many leads were generated off of listings, and which sites generated the most number of leads. They will also show visitor trends. You will be amazed at how much traffic dips in the MLS on weekends. I love the top agent report. As you might expect, the agent with the most listings has the most views of their listings. The geographic traffic report is fascinating. It allows you to look at where the consumer is searching from. This particular market has significant search traffic from the major Texas cities. The national narrative is that everyone is moving to Florida and Texas – but this area is attracting folks from Texas. Last but not least are the most popular price points. Seventy percent of all search traffic in this market was for homes under $500,000. As you can tell, I am a ListTrac fan. If you have it in your market, make a point to review it every month. Be sure to include it in your training and communications. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.
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Did IDX Kill Buyer Agency?
If you wind back the clock, the greatest value of working with an agent as a home buyer was access to inventory – the MLS and "coming soon" listings. There was no internet, and consumers could not reasonably find all of the homes in a market on their own. They were limited to newspapers and magazines. Back then, buyers highly appreciated the service of a buyer's agent to find listings, schedule showings, craft buyer CMAs, offer submission and negotiation, and closing management. IDX allowed the consumer to find listings without an agent, and in some ways, schedule showings. But the rest of the work has remained the domain of the buyer's agent. I am a strong supporter of buyer agency and understand the value of IDX to serve the home buying consumer and their agent; but, I believe that IDX is a child of the offer of compensation. If the listing broker is offering buyer-broker compensation, then it strategically aligns to support programs – like IDX – that allow buyer agents to advertise their services to consumers with home search. Now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an opinion in the Nosalek case which points the industry toward eliminating any offer of compensation to the buyer agent from the seller/listing firm. The DOJ does not condemn buyer agency; they condemn the relationship of competitors working together with the seller and buyer to determine commissions. They want a clean cut. The seller hires their agent, and pays them. Same is true of the buyer's agent — they get paid by the buyer. The listing broker is no longer incentivized to support the buyer agent lead generation on IDX websites if the offer of compensation is not part of the MLS. Given this new construct, it seems like the best way that MLSs can support buyer's agents is by eliminating IDX. If consumers no longer have access to every listing on the 500,000+ websites, it would increase the need to work with a buyer's agent. The online landscape of property search would dramatically change if IDX was terminated. The only property search solution remaining for consumers would be VOW. VOW requires home buyers to register and hire a buyer's agent to search for property. If you want to see a model property search solution on a broker website without IDX, search homes in Cleveland using HowardHanna.com. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services opted out of IDX, so they only display their own listings to consumers who are unregistered on their site. When you register and agree to use a Howard Hanna agent to buy your home, you see all of the competitor listings. I have long believed that the buyer's agent often does a lot more work to earn a commission than the listing agent, even in today's condition of limited inventory. I want to see the buyer agency survive these class action lawsuits. The best idea that gets my vote is the cancellation of IDX. The one segment of the industry that would be most damaged by the loss of IDX are paper brokers. Those are brokers in license who only use their license to gain data access and do not endeavor to represent home buyers or sellers. I have not conjured up a fix for those companies in the absence of IDX. I guess that they would need to go back to being advertising websites, and advertising in magazines and newspapers may have a comeback. Additionally, ListHub or similar services would presumably have a comeback. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.
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Is IDX Under Fire and Are VOWs Rising from the Ashes?
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Howard Hanna Opts Out of IDX and Tests VOW
Howard Hanna is the largest privately held real estate company in America, closing 113,853 transactions in 2022 – resulting in more than $36 billion in closed sale volume – ranking the firm No. 5 in the nation among all brokerages. HowardHanna.com is also among the most visited websites among all brokerages in America. Also, in the 13-state footprint of the firm, they experience consumer visits that compete head-to-head with many of the top national portals, often exceeding Redfin, Homes.com, and others in core markets. In northern Ohio, the firm has opted out of the IDX program in MLS Now. When consumers search the site HowardHanna.com in those markets on their broker website, they only see Howard Hanna listings unless they are logged in and assigned to a Howard Hanna agent. Users that are logged in see all MLS listings. That is how a VOW website works. VOW pumps up registrations and highlights company listings As you might imagine, consumers do not really understand IDX vs. VOW websites. Howard Hanna has turned this into a lead generation tool. I did a search for Rocky River, Ohio as an unregistered user and the following interstitial appears: "...Our company has 63 listings that match your search criteria out of 105 listings on the market. To view more, click here." Clicking takes the consumer to a registration page. In deploying a VOW, Howard Hanna is also promoting their listings in the market front-and-center. Many visitors to broker websites are drawn there from a yard sign or the firm's reputation. Placing their inventory first makes a lot of sense, especially when you have more than 60% of the listings in a community. For visitors looking for a Howard Hanna listing, they are more easily accessed without sorting through hundreds of listings of other firms. For buyers who want to see all homes that match their search criteria, they create an account. Howard Hanna agent websites were also converted to VOW. They operate just like HowardHanna.com, displaying company listings to unregistered users and all MLS listings to VOW consumers. Howard Hanna continues to advertise listings on Zillow.com One element of the Howard Hanna strategy is the company's commitment to advertising listings on Zillow.com. Although Zillow is a participating broker of MLS Now, the company is also an advertising platform for real estate listings. Howard Hanna maintains an advertising relationship with Zillow, local newspapers, real estate magazines, and other popular real estate advertising firms to widely market listings for sale. Worth noting, Redfin.com is also a VOW real estate website. When Redfin refreshed their feed from MLS Now, the Howard Hanna listings were not displayed unless users register to the website. Howard Hanna listings are in the MLS This should almost go without saying, but Howard Hanna listings are in MLS Now. All agents working with homebuyers can use the CoreLogic OneHome client portal and set up listing alerts. None of the MLS tools or services for agents have been impacted by the selection not to participate in IDX. If you search a Howard Hanna listing by property address, it is interesting to note how many websites are out of compliance with the refresh rules of the MLS. There are numerous sites that have not taken down the listings to unregistered users. I doubt that this is intentional, but merely a result of poor IDX data handling systems. What should other brokers and agents do? All brokers and agents in the market have the option to upgrade their website to a VOW website. Today, HowardHanna.com has a competitive advantage. Given that Howard Hanna is the leading firm in the market, consumers will quickly realize that they are not seeing all the listings from IDX only sites. They are more likely to start using HowardHanna.com. It is important that agents set up searches for their clients in the MLS to view all listings. Brokers should also look into converting their websites to a VOW site. Want to learn more about VOW? WAV Group wrote a series of articles about VOW websites: What Is a VOW and How Can It Help You Grow Your Business? How to Use Your VOW Website for New Customer Acquisition How to Use Your VOW Website to Communicate with Buyers Sell Homes Quickly with a VOW Website How to Use Your VOW Website to Retain Clients for Life In closing, it is exciting to see innovative brokers like Howard Hanna testing strategies to drive more opportunities to their real estate agents. Here are a few other link examples to tests and innovations that we have covered by Howard Hanna: Howard Hanna Syndication Announcement 'Coming Soon' Programs from Compass and Howard Hanna: Find Out How HH Sold 55 Homes in One Month with Find It First Hanna Financial Driving Real Estate Transactions with Buy Before You Sell Program In review of our posts mentioning Howard Hanna, we actually foreshadowed this strategy back in 2012. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.
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Products

IDX Real Estate Website

VestorFilter™ sites are smart home IDX search platforms with patent-pending technology built for solo real estate agents, teams, and Brokerages. Connecting to local MLS systems, the modern search platform provides easy-to-use smart maps and analytics the public home buyer cannot find anywhere else. Visit VestorFilter.com to find out more.
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Stratus IDX Search

Stratus Data System’s Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Search (commonly called Broker Reciprocity) is a smart-frame, lead-generating solution that can be added to any existing office and agent website. By having an IDX feed in a website, online homebuyers are able to search for high quality MLS listings. Participating MLS members frame searches on their public sites, giving potential buyers and sellers access to these listings. IDX listings are updated by the minute, with no lag between a home's appearance on the market and its availability on participants' websites. Subscribers to Stratus IDX Search can customize search templates for their market or specialty areas. They choose a font, style, and colors to match the appearance of their established sites. Site visitors can search listings with a customized template using an interactive map to browse neighborhoods in street, aerial, bird's eye, and detail views. They can view property photos and virtual tours. Without leaving the website, visitors can calculate mortgage payments, email a property to a friend and obtain neighborhood and school info. Sold Property Search allows site visitors to research comparable home values and browse neighborhoods and schools on a map. The interactive search provides accurate, reliable information about sold properties within the MLS. Like the Stratus IDX Search, the Sold Property Search can be framed on an agent or broker's public website, and customized to match the agent or broker's site appearance MLS IDX Administration enables authorized MLS staff to define global parameters and business rules for the IDX Search engine. Administrators establish searchable and reportable fields, as well as default searches that IDX subscribers may modify.
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PropertyMinder Mobile Application

Home Buyers are mobile,IS YOUR REAL ESTATE BUSINESS? Give your clients the most up-to-date real estate listing information in a self-branded mobile application. Great for home buyers who are on the go and need the information NOW! Agent Branded - Mobile App With the PropertyMinder Agent Branded mobile application, you will be given a unique Activation Code to distribute so that your clients see YOUR branding, YOUR photo, and they will know its YOUR app! List View - IDX When searching for real estate, visitors can easily sort and view properties in your coverage area. Map Search - Google or Apple Maps End users can use the application to find nearby real estate for sale using GPS position as well as search for properties to acquire via Google or Apple Maps. Add To Favorites - Track Listings Your registered mobile app clients will be able to track their favorite listings to buy while home owners can see what activity is happening in their neighborhood. Manual Search - IDX A more refined search with specific parameters can be performed by your mobile app clients. Photos View - Swipe to view Using the IDX data feed of your local MLS, all the property photos will show up for each listing. Property Detail - IDX Listings Along with your personalized agent branding, all listings will have the primary details including property address, price, bed, bath and more. Send Request - Lead Capture There will be different lead capturing opportunities built in on your own mobile app including Click to Call, Request Info and Showing Appointments forms. Share - Distribute End users who want to share listings with their family and friends can email the listing out, or post it to Facebook or Tweet it to their followers. Click Here to Learn More!
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dsSearchAgent Mobile

Diverse Solutions' dsSearchAgent mobile is a software created for agents and brokers. This software brings IDX search and lead capture features to mobile devices. Find listings and open houses near your location or search the entire MLS IDX feed within the mobile IDX app interface, with built-in contact forms and registration features for lead capture. This IDX solution makes an interactive map onto which properties are plotted and made the central focus point.  Internet Data Exchange (IDX) allows potential homebuyers to search the local MLS listings for up to date property information. Diverse Solutions provides this software to help build a comprehensive IDX feature on mobile devices. It offers both exisiting real estate clients and new leads on-the-go mobile IDX access so they can take your site with them wherever they go on their home search. With a single click, users are also able to save any MLS listing to their favorites tab for reference later. Their phone's built-in GPS will allow them to see a map of listings within a given radius of their current location as well.  For more information click here!
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Industry News

Constellation Real Estate Group Acquires Showcase IDX, Expanding Portfolio of Industry Leaders in Real Estate Technology
The Constellation Real Estate Group enhances its suite of real estate software with a leader in WordPress IDX and property search technology. BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 16, 2023 -- The Constellation Real Estate Group ("CREG") and Romulus, a portfolio of vertical market software companies within the Perseus Operating Group of Constellation Software, Inc., announced today that it has acquired the Showcase IDX business ("Showcase IDX"). Showcase IDX offers a full suite of essential tools for real estate professionals, including state-of-the-art mapping IDX and property search tools, lead capture, a powerful CRM, and listing marketing functionality. Showcase IDX has steadily grown since it was founded in 2003, becoming a leader in the real estate technology space. Last year, more than 12 million consumers used its IDX search on agent and broker websites. The Showcase IDX WordPress plugin is a multifaceted IDX solution which fits alongside the other powerful products offered by the Constellation Real Estate Group, while also expanding its presence in an important space within the real estate technology marketplace—helping agents using the world's most popular website content management system to generate more business from their online presence. "Showcase IDX is a natural fit for us," said Robert Vickers, President, Agent Group at Constellation Real Estate Group. "They offer a host of strong, well-developed products that will allow us to better serve our customer base. We're happy to have their industry-leading technology as part of our portfolio. Showcase IDX has a similar vision to the 22 other brands in the Constellation Real Estate Group—delivering exceptional experiences for consumers and industry partners and building meaningful relationships. We'll continue to do that together, and this acquisition is certainly a value add for all involved. We're excited to work with Showcase IDX's employees and customers and to bring them in as part of the family." "We are so pleased to welcome Showcase IDX, its customers and its employees, to the Constellation Real Estate Group. This acquisition is another testament to our long-term approach to purchasing and nurturing leading real estate technology companies," remarked Andrew Binkley, President, Constellation Real Estate Group. Powering over 500,000 agents, brokerages, franchises, and MLSs across the U.S. and Canada, the Constellation Real Estate Group portfolio continues to offer the real estate industry's broadest set of technology solutions year after year. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. About Constellation Real Estate Group The Constellation Real Estate Group acquires and invests in real estate software companies that are committed to providing long-term solutions and partnerships with franchises, brokers, agents, MLSs, and associations. The Constellation Real Estate Group provides market-leading technology solutions designed specifically for the real estate industry through its portfolio of brands. For more information, visit ConstellationREG.com and CSIRomulus.com. About Showcase IDX Showcase IDX empowers real estate professionals to grow their businesses by providing innovative, cloud-based tools, including the leading IDX integration plugin for WordPress. Showcase IDX's state-of-art technology is trusted by thousands of agents from some of North America's most successful brokerages. For more information about Showcase IDX, visit ShowcaseIDX.com.
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IDX Broker Expands Client Services to Incorporate IXACT CRM
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RealtyTech Expands Partnership Program with IDX Broker to More Cities in the USA
RealtyTech Inc. has decided to expand its partnership program with IDX Broker to get attract more clients in more American cities. The expanded partnership will serve as the pathway for IDX Broker to attain and retain new clients in unchartered cities. It would also be a step up for IDX Broker to boost operations and understand numerous client dynamics in different parts of the U.S. THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Jan. 22, 2021 -- RealtyTech has announced that to expand its partnership program with IDX Broker to more cities across the U.S. The news serves as a broader strategy of RealtyTech to solve one of the country's biggest challenges: simplifying how brokerage organizations in America connect with the "right" people. "The expansion will hopefully accelerate our unique joint partner program for years to come," said Uzelac R., the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. The expanded partnership program with IDX Broker will increase the efforts of the platform to help out more people in their home selection. It will also allow customers a powerful and unique experience. RealtyTech understands the comprehensive, modern, intuitive, and tech-oriented approach to get and hold onto more clients. It is an effective way to build trust and manage clients for an extended period. The housing market dynamics are shifting, and IDX Broker intends to move forward in a more progressive direction. "RealtyTech just wants to remain side-by-side with the IDX Broker to deliver the best value to the clients," noted said Uzelac R., the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. The expanded partnership will help IDX Broker to manage and review more service benefits that would attract more customers in the foreseeable future. "RealtyTech wants to lend its hand to IDX broker to navigate the tech-savvy and competitive housing market and deliver the best advisory services to clients," continued said Uzelac R., the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, attracting new clients has been a tumultuous task for brokers. With millions of investors and brokers ready to trade in risky markets every day, the real estate market has become more saturated than ever. The good news is that external specialists and or brokers understand the process of how to bring in valuable customers. In fact, IDX Broker does more than appease its clients; the platform offers real value through its home selection process to the clients. One of the reasons for the expanded partnership between RealtyTech and IDX Broker is to ensure sustainable growth and success. "IDX broker can now view the expanded partnership as a platform to advance their business practices," added Uzelac R., the CEO of RealtyTech Inc. The partnership also hints at more flexible and customized commission plans in the IDX Broker business model to achieve short-term and long-term objectives. In addition, IBX Broker is not new to real estate territories in the U.S. and can capture the attention of clients in different cities. It will also allow IDX Broker to build and maintain a nationwide reputation. It will also allow IDX Broker to segment and personalize different client preferences in various American cities. At its core, personalized support and dedication will enable IDX Broker to offer its expertise to clients with more freedom. About RealtyTech Richard Uzelac's RealtyTech Inc was created in 2002. Since that time RealtyTech has helped thousands of Agents and Offices to build strong brands and online presences to enhance their real estate businesses. RealtyTech specializes is Websites, IDX, and Internet Marketing and Advertising for the Real Estate Industry. Contact Richard Uzelac directly at RealtyTech Inc. at 805-413-7888 for more information.
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eXp World Holdings Acquires Leading Real Estate Search Technology Company Showcase IDX
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Companies

ListingWare
Easy, Effective IDX Solutions for Real Estate
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Dynamic IDX LLC
Your website should be one of the, if not the most valuable tool in your Real Estate Marketing arsenal. It needs to be automated, it needs to work for YOU, and it needs to be Search Engine friendly. With the Myrsol Real Estate IDX CMS, you are getting a product/tool that does all of this and MORE. We pack in the features and don't nickle and dime you for addons - cause we don't have addons! Everything is included, no matter what package you buy. Our vision was to build a Real Estate IDX CMS website product that did the work for the real estate agent, so they could be out selling real estate and not updating their website constantly. The Myrsol Real Estate CMS is exactly what alot of real estate agents have been asking for - An "All-In-One" product that has NO addons, and NO contracts. When you buy the Myrsol Real Estate IDX CMS product, your website will be constantly updated with improved code, more features, and best of all - any new modules that we program will be absolutely FREE.
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Cevado Technologies
Real Estate Websites   Insurance Websites   Author Websites   Custom Business or Personal Websites Video Listing Syndication & You Tube video Real Estate MLS & IDX   Interactive Maps Realty TV Lobby & Window Rotator   Search Engine Optimization   Franchise Listing Syndication
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Real Estate Webmasters
Real Estate Webmasters provides high end website products, IDX, hosting and marketing for Realtors and Brokerages.
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Webinars

Rewind! 3 Videos from our October Webinar Series
Did you miss our October webinar series? Never fear--we recorded them for you! Even better, we've made it easy to catch up. Check out the recordings of each webinar below. Make Your Business Explode with a Powerful Lead Generation Program October 8, 2013 Why do home buyers end up on third party portals like Zillow and Trulia, time and again. It's because even though the data on these websites is often inaccurate, they provide a more complete market picture than agent and broker sites do. So how can real estate professionals compete with third party portals? By giving consumers what they want--more data! We teamed up with Quantum Leads to teach our readers how to do just that. Watch the video below to learn how to attract potential new clients directly to your website, and keep them there. Say goodbye to paying for promotion on third party portals! Read our Product Review to learn more about Quantum Leads.
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