Listing Bits
84 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 20 ratingsGreg Robertson, co-founder of W+R Studios and publisher of Vendor Alley, talks real estate tech with the people who are shaping it.
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Episodes
Facilitating the Shift to RESO Web API with Rebecca Jensen of the MLS Grid
December 04, 2018 19:22 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBWe’ve all heard the rallying cry to drop RETS and move over to the RESO Web API. What’s been less clear is exactly how to go about making that transition. So, what’s step one? How exactly might vendors help make this shift happen? Rebecca Jensen is the President and CEO at Midwest Real Estate Data, the real estate data aggregator that provides the Chicagoland multiple listing service to more than 45K subscribers. Under Rebecca’s leadership, MRED was named Most Innovative MLS by Inman New...
Showing Management & Real Estate Market Stats with Mike Lane of ShowingTime
October 31, 2018 04:53 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MBShowingTime was built to help people buy homes more efficiently by making the process of scheduling a showing much easier. Since it was founded 18 years ago, the company has grown to include a family of technology products that serve MLSs, brokers and agents in the areas of showing management and market statistics. Mike Lane is the Co-Founder and President of ShowingTime, the most widely used showing management service provider in the market. ShowingTime serves 1M agents and 200 MLSs, sche...
Commit to Service & Innovate by Asking WHY with Tim Dain of MARIS MLS
October 30, 2018 05:04 - 42 minutes - 38.6 MBTim Dain has a reputation for being the ‘mad scientist’ of the MLS world. He is not afraid to challenge established systems and ask WHY things are done a certain way. Tim facilitates innovation by assigning a creative writing piece, commissioning a study or building a spreadsheet—and then implementing the best ideas with a commitment to being of service. Tim is the President and CEO of MARIS MLS, a multiple listing service out of St. Louis that serves 13 REALTOR associations, 58 counti...
AI Image Recognition for Real Estate with Dominik Pogorzelski of Restb.ai
October 29, 2018 15:34 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MBLet’s say you have your heart set on a kitchen with hardwood flooring, natural light and an island. Imagine having the ability to search images on the MLS for those specific features. With advancements in artificial intelligence, it is possible to have software read the images, identify the room type and even recognize the objects in it! There are an infinite number of use cases for the real estate industry and Restb.ai is quickly becoming a leader in the space. Dominik Pogorzelski is...
Building a Full-Service Brokerage in the Virtual World with Cameron Paine of eXp Realty
October 29, 2018 15:04 - 19 minutes - 17.5 MBAs real estate professionals spend less and less time in the office and real estate offices host fewer and fewer walk-ins, you might start to question the merit of spending top dollar for office space in a high-rent district. What if you saved that money and reinvested it in agent services? What if you could build a full-service brokerage in the virtual world, conducting business and meeting with colleagues in VR? Cameron Paine is the Senior Vice President of Industry Relations at eXp ...
A Blueprint for Implementation of RESO Standards & Web API with Mike Wurzer & Andy Woolley
October 24, 2018 18:48 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MBTalk of standards adoption at the recent RESO conference in Milwaukee sounded much like the conversation last year. And the year before that. And the year before that. So, how do we move beyond discussing the reasons for converting to Web API and begin to execute on that plan? What might vendors do to help facilitate a little less talk—and a lot more action? Mike Wurzer is the President and CEO of FBS, a leading innovator of MLS technology and one of the most respected real estate sof...
Choosing the Right MLS Technology Solutions with DaVina Lara of OBAR & bridgeMLS
October 09, 2018 14:28 - 23 minutes - 21.4 MBHow do MLS executives make decisions around which technology solutions work best for their REALTOR-members? What motivates leadership to establish a system of choice? Are there benefits to offering agents options when it comes to MLS solutions? And what are the challenges associated with giving members more alternatives? DaVina Lara is the CEO of the Oakland/Berkeley Association of REALTORSand bridgeMLS. Her career in real estate began working for Russ Bergeron at SoCalMLS in 1993. Since t...
The Influence of Design on a Real Estate Brokerage with Matt Beall of Hawai’i Life
October 08, 2018 23:12 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBHow does design impact a real estate brokerage? Does it go beyond aesthetics to influence processes? How does quality design shape the user experience? And what are the benefits of an in-house creative team? Matt Beall is the CEO and Principal Broker at Hawai’i Life, the state’s largest listing brokerage with over $25M in annual revenue across 13 commercial locations. He founded Hawai’i Life in 2008 to solve for representation of properties in marketing and digital technology, and now the ...
Keeping a Startup Mentality with Brian Tepfer of Rapattoni
September 24, 2018 22:35 - 43 minutes - 40 MBHow does a tech company maintain a startup mentality after nearly five decades in the real estate space? Rapattoni has held on to its spirit of independence since its inception, embracing change and demonstrating a pride of ownership that is rare in the tech industry. Brian Tepfer is the Executive Vice President and CTO of Rapattoni, a 48-year-old startup that offers a suite of innovative software products and services designed specifically for real estate associations and MLSs. In his...
The Century 21 Rebrand with CEO Nick Bailey
April 18, 2018 13:26 - 32 minutes - 29.3 MB‘Defy mediocrity and deliver extraordinary experiences.’ Century 21 has been in business for the past 47 years, and in that time, the branding has remained virtually unchanged. When Nick Bailey took the reins, however, he moved quickly to rebrand the company in a way that reflects the consumer-driven movement in the industry, engenders multi-generational appeal, and inspires his global team to deliver extraordinary experiences. Nick took on the role of CEO and President of Century 21 in ...
A New Approach to MLS Consolidation with Kevin McQueen of T3 Sixty
April 07, 2018 00:53 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MB88 MLSs serve 80% of REALTORS. The remaining 20% are served by the rest—that’s nearly 600 MLSs! We know that consolidation will make it much easier for brokers to serve consumers, but what is the best way to approach the issue? How can we work to understand the 20% in rural, small town and resort communities and bring that group in to alignment with the 80%? Kevin McQueen is the President of the T3 Sixty MLS Division. He joined the firm with the express purpose of facilitating MLS consolid...
The Role of an MLS Exec with CEO Shelley Specchio of MIBOR
April 04, 2018 00:31 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBWhat do you think of when you hear the term ‘MLS’? The software vendors? The providers? The database itself? What about MLS executives? We tend to use the label as a catchall for all of those things, which can get problematic. Shelley Specchio has a handle on all aspects of the MLS system. In 1994, Shelley began her professional career publishing a home magazine for the Reno/Sparks Association of REALTORS. The association expanded in 2003 to become the Northern Nevada Regional MLS, and...
Building a Chatbot that Converts with Jatinder Singh & Katie Djurich
March 28, 2018 21:58 - 33 minutes - 30.8 MBReal estate professionals spend $9B annually to drive traffic to their websites, but less than 1% of that traffic leads to conversion. What’s to blame for this abysmal data? The vast majority of customers are looking to get an answer to a quick question, yet they are met with an aggressive chatbot who demands their contact information before agreeing to provide any information. And even if they do acquiesce to giving a name and email address or phone number, they have to wait several hours f...
Backing Ambitious Initiatives in Real Estate with Victor Lund of WAVGroup
March 09, 2018 23:04 - 1 hour - 57.5 MB‘You can change anything you want to change. People can sit around and complain all they want, or they can do something about it. We’re consultants. We want to go do something about it. We’re tired of talking about it. Let’s just go do it.’ Victor Lund is involved in some of the most ambitious initiatives in the real estate industry. From Upstream to Broker Public Portal, Victor is passionate about solving big problems, and whether or not you agree with his approach, you have to respec...
Maintaining Relationships Via CRM Software with Zvi Band of Contactually
February 15, 2018 15:42 - 28 minutes - 26.1 MBAs the saying goes, the best CRM is the one you use. Today’s guest has enjoyed great success onboarding agents to his platform, and when brokers with a strong training culture employ his software, agent adoption is as high as 80%--compared to the industry average 6%. So what’s his secret? Zvi Band is the co-founder and CEO of Contactually, the leading intelligent CRM for real estate professionals. Agents have seen an average increase in GCI of 42% by staying in personal contact with th...
A Sneak Peek at the 2018 Trends Report with Jack Miller, President & CTO of T3 Sixty
January 18, 2018 01:34 - 37 minutes - 34.1 MBThe vast majority of real estate professionals read the annual Swanepoel Trends Report for its analysis of the top developments shaping the industry. A phenomenal resource for agents, brokerages, associations, MLS firms and vendors, the T3 Sixty report offers in-depth research around what’s happening in real estate—from investment in tech innovation to the direct buyer phenomena to the latest brokerage models. Jack Miller is the President and CTO of T3 Sixty, a team of strategic, techn...
Denee Evans, CEO of CMLS, talks best practices, compliances and member advocacy
October 27, 2017 18:52 - 36 minutes - 29.3 MBThe concept of the MLS creates a strange contradiction for brokers who are both competing with one another, yet sharing inventory by way of compensation and cooperation. In the middle of it all is CMLS, challenged with refereeing any acrimony between brokers and MLSs, promoting best practices, and supporting its membership of 203 MLS providers representing 1.2 million subscribers. At the helm is Denee Evans, the CEO of this premiere organization dedicated to leading the MLS industry in Nor...
Katie Smithson, W+R Studios’ Director of MLS Services, talks about being a professional woman in real estate tech
October 27, 2017 13:35 - 25 minutes - 20.3 MBKatie Smithson picks her battles. Even well-meaning colleagues occasionally make insulting or offensive comments, and a professional woman has to decide what she can brush off and what she simply cannot accept. Though the lines can be blurry, nine years in the industry have taught Katie how to establish boundaries and present herself as a professional. Katie grew up in Franklin, Tennessee, and went to school at Tennessee Technological University. Discouraged by the boys’ club that was elec...
Making Real Estate Mobile with HomeSpotter CEO Aaron Kardell
September 27, 2017 16:18 - 33 minutes - 26.7 MBBy 2009, mobile users could do a lot with smartphone apps—get directions, listen to music, take pictures, play games, even film a video. Aaron Kardell thought that you ought to be able to add ‘look for a house’ to the growing list of applications, and he founded HomeSpotter with the intention of doing just that. Aaron grew up in rural Nebraska in a family of entrepreneurs. He started writing software programs in high school, and went on to earn a BS in computer science at Bethel Univer...
Listing Bits: Flipping the Pyramid with NAR's New CEO Bob Goldberg
August 22, 2017 15:39 - 30 minutes - 24.4 MBIf you feared more of the same when Bob Goldberg was named CEO of NAR, take heart. The rhetoric of our new leadership is focused on engagement, openness and transparency—knocking down the façade of the ‘Ivory Tower’ and facilitating dialogue with members, even those who disagree. Bob Goldberg has been a senior executive with NAR since 1995, and his accomplishments include the launch of the REALTOR Benefits Program, the introduction of the top-level domain initiative, and the expansion of N...
The Upstream Pivot with FBS CEO Michael Wurzer
May 22, 2017 16:08 - 34 minutes - 27.3 MBThe Upstream Pivot with FBS CEO Michael Wurzer I had a chance to sit down with Mike Wurzer again at NAR Midyear to discuss the recent announcement about Upstream, well not really doing upstream anymore. This was recorded before NAR announced the details to their additional funding. More on that in a later blog post. The first step of problem-solving is to assign blame. Right? That seems to be part of Upstream’s tactics in explaining their delayed progress at NAR’s May Legislative...
Tyler Gordon, Agent Inbox CEO, talks Building the Real Estate Messaging Infrastructure
May 15, 2017 04:47 - 20 minutes - 16.6 MBHenry Ford is credited with saying, ‘If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.’ True innovation provides you with the tools you didn’t even know you needed. Today’s guest understands the challenges of the real estate industry, and he created a platform that provides a unique solution tailored to the work we do. A solution that will make you wonder how you ever did without! Tyler Gordon is the CEO and Founder of Agent Inbox, an all-in-one communications...
RESO CEO Jeremy Crawford discusses the controversial pivot to API
May 09, 2017 16:16 - 31 minutes - 25.3 MBLIVE from the RESO Spring Conference 2017 ‘…You’re building a new infrastructure. You’re building a brand new interstate, and one of the hardest things is the off ramp and the on ramp.’ RETS has been a solid technology standard for fifteen years, and many vendors are resistant to make the change to API. But as the needs of mobile shift the industry, a new ‘interstate’ is necessary. Today’s guest is prepared to discuss the details of this controversial pivot. Jeremy Crawford is the ...
Jonathan Spinetto and Luci Fortier of Remine talk leveraging big data in real estate
May 07, 2017 15:09 - 27 minutes - 22 MBLIVE from the RESO Spring Conference 2017! In a world where your every move is tracked via geocode through your Starbucks orders and Instagram posts, there is an abundance of data. And those who know how to interpret that information can learn an awful lot about a person and her behavior, using it to either market or serve … or both. The world of real estate is no different, and there is much buzz in the industry regarding an innovative new data solutions product for agents. Remine is a ...
Joel MacIntosh, CEO of WolfNet talks pioneering innovation in real estate tech
May 03, 2017 16:17 - 28 minutes - 23.2 MBPioneering Innovation in Real Estate Tech with WolfNet CEO Joel MacIntosh LIVE from the RESP Spring Conference 2017! Talk about being at the forefront of new technologies… Today’s guest was working to develop ecommerce in the mid-1990s, streaming video in 1998, and consolidating MLS data in 2000. Joel MacIntosh is the CEO of WolfNet Technologies, a real estate tech pioneer offering highly configurable IDX and VOW property search applications, MLS data standardization services, and prop...
CRMLS CEO Art Carter Talks Data Consolidation
March 24, 2017 21:54 - 36 minutes - 33 MB“If the MLS industry had a face, that face would have a facial tick – because it’s always threatened by something or someone.” With such constant scrutiny, you’ve got to have a pretty thick skin in the MLS business. And if your goal is to consolidate, let’s say the listings for the entire state of California, you’d better be even tougher. Today’s guest on Listing Bits faces such across-the-board resistance daily as he works to convince real estate professionals that giving up a little ...
Kevin Greene of Core Logic Talks Trestle
March 16, 2017 14:52 - 32 minutes - 30.2 MBSifting through listing data is no one’s idea of a good time. But both brokers and technology providers spend a lot of time and money managing information from multiple MLSs. Would you be interested in a tool that could offer you a competitive edge by way of data access and control? Trestle might be the tool for you. Kevin Greene is a real estate tech executive with expertise in business partnership development, strategy and product management. He has worked on both sides of the real e...
The Integration of APIs with Clareity President Amy Gorce
March 03, 2017 13:50 - 29 minutes - 27.3 MBAmy Gorce is the President of Clareity, the leading provider of security products and single sign-on services for the real estate industry. Their innovative products service over 850,000 agents daily and directly serve the majority of MLSs, associations and brokerages across North America. Gorce entered the real estate industry in 1997 when she was hired by Intermountain MLS because of her experience in getting systems online. During her stint there, Gorce grew the organization from 2000 t...
Charting new directions in real estate with Rebecca Jensen, CEO of MRED, LLC
February 04, 2017 19:04 - 22 minutes - 21 MBRebecca Jensen is very busy. She's the President and CEO of Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED), the real estate data distributor for the greater Chicago area. She also serves on the boards of Broker Public Portal (BPP), a national consumer-facing property search experience powered by MLS data, and the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS), the trade association dedicated to strengthening the MLS industry. Jensen began her career working the tech support line for what is now UtahRea...
The Staying Power of MLS with Mike Wurzer, CEO of FBS
January 28, 2017 14:28 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MBMichael Wurzer is the President and CEO of FBS, Creators of Flexmls. FBS is a 100% employee-owned company, and every employee-owner is committed to exceeding customer expectations. Flexmls is a standards-driven technology platform connecting real estate professionals to their customers with collaboration tools that deliver timely and accurate information. Their products serve 185 organizations and 2,000-plus agents in the real estate sector. Before taking over for his father at FBS, Wurzer...
Raising Standards in Real Estate with Rob Hahn (The Notorious R.O.B.)
January 24, 2017 18:01 - 28 minutes - 26 MBThe Notorious R.O.B., Robert Hahn, is Managing Partner of 7DS Associates, a real estate consulting firm that specializes in developing and implementing corporate strategy including product management, brand marketing and social networking. Hahn has a wide range of experience. His holds a BA in Philosophy from Yale and a graduate degree from NYU School of Law. After working briefly for a firm, he took a 98% pay cut to work as a magazine editor. Hahn’s diverse resume also includes positions ...
The Business of Design in Real Estate Tech - Damien Huze, CDO at W+R Studios, talks design
January 07, 2017 15:51 - 31 minutes - 28.9 MBDamien Huze is the Chief Design Officer at W+R Studios. He was born in Paris and grew up in a creative environment, watching his parents design ads on the floor of their home office. When Huze was ready to apply his own talent, the internet was just taking off. He found his medium in building websites, first for his band and then his father. Huze has known W+R co-founders Greg Robertson and Dan Woolly since the inception of the company in 2008 when they connected over a shared approach to ...
The Beauty of Automation Renwick Congdon, CEO of Imprev, talks Trends and Tech in Real Estate Marketing
December 26, 2016 14:42 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBRenwick Congdon is the CEO and founder of Imprev Inc., a trend-setting marketing technologies company based in Seattle. He began his career in the 1980’s as a top-producing loan officer, helping the agents he worked with create personalized marketing fliers and eventually developing software to automate the process. A serial innovator, Congdon went on to write code for the PC and Mac desktop software program Flyerware, which instantly created personalized real estate flyers for agents and br...
Innovation and Growth in Software Tech with David Friedman, CEO of Boston Logic, discusses the evolution of the Industry
December 22, 2016 16:24 - 28 minutes - 25.8 MBAloha and welcome to the inaugural episode of Listing Bits! Greg comes to you from Ko Olina, Hawaii, where he is attending Hawaii Life’s Worthshop 6, and chatting with real estate tech leader David Friedman. Friedman describes himself as a Jewish kid from New York who went to engineering school during the dot-com boom. Interested in startups, he discovered that the real estate brokerage space lagged behind the curve in tech and set out to build a platform during the recession. That idea gr...