On Syndication: Is A MLS A Data Repository, or An Exchange?

A current discussion within the MLS and tech vendor industry is around the issue of listing syndication. This post by Brian Larson, and the discussions therein, is a pretty good summation of the thinking on the part of MLS executives, vendors, and consultants. As Victor Lund of the WAV Group, a leader in the world … Read more

Will SocialBios.com Be the Evidence We Need?

While at Inman NYC in January, I met a great guy, Ernie Graham, a co-founder of an outfit called SocialBios.com. He’s smart, he’s personable, he’s driven, he’s focused, and he sure can carry a tune at the karaoke. [Ed: We won’t be talking more about that now, y’hear?] I spoke with him yesterday about his … Read more

Immediacy vs. Mediation and Online Real Estate

Just read this interesting post over on The Big Picture on The Daily, the new attempt by Rupert Murdoch to save print media by using the iPad as the distribution platform. While most of it is pretty neat review/analysis of The Daily, one statement just jumped out at me: It may just be that tablets … Read more

Time for a Grand Debate? MLS, Syndication, Data Mining

Something must be in the air. Within a fairly short period of time, I’ve had emails, phone calls, and direct messages about the perils of listing syndication. In the last couple of days, two extremely smart, extremely influential people have written on topics that revolve around the issue of syndication. The first is John Heithaus, … Read more

Brief Thoughts on Google’s Retreat from Real Estate

As I’m sure you all have heard by now, Google has decided to beat a hasty retreat from real estate: In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API (used by listing providers to submit … Read more

Brief Thoughts on Google's Retreat from Real Estate

As I’m sure you all have heard by now, Google has decided to beat a hasty retreat from real estate: In part due to low usage, the proliferation of excellent property-search tools on real estate websites, and the infrastructure challenge posed by the impending retirement of the Google Base API (used by listing providers to submit … Read more

Trulia, Syndication, Confusion

Sami Inkinen, co-founder of Trulia, has written a blogpost about the future of syndication where he raises some important questions about where the real estate industry is headed with distribution of listings: Now that listing syndication has become a mainstream practice and “syndication sites” like Trulia have grown to serve millions of users, an old … Read more

Quick Observation: On MLS Board Members

Marilyn Wilson of the WAV Group has posted a plea for MLS boards to set aside personal agendas and work towards the good of the whole MLS, asking, “Is your heart in the right place?“: I would suggest that every MLS board member in the country think about the importance of the role they are … Read more