In 1999, Wise co-founded Threewide Corp. Focusing on data and marketing information solutions for MLSs, Threewide worked with major players, signing up MRIS® as its first MLS customer. In 2006, looking at the new online landscape for real estate, Threewide realized the need for listings to be everywhere on the Internet. Thus was born ListHub, Threewide’s network to pull listing data from MLS and broker providers and distribute it to individual portals — from Google™ and Yahoo® to Trulia, Homes.com, HGTV’s FrontDoor and more.
As an “industry visionary,” what do you see as the major changes occurring in the real estate industry?
Increased transparency. Brokers and Agents are sharing with the consumer how the process works, which was driven by the consumer’s ability now to look online for anything and everything. The more transparent you are about how the real estate process works, the more your professionalism will show and customer expectations will be better managed.
What major “corporate players” are driving change and what may be their impact?
The new partnership between NAR and the Realtors Property Resource™ is very interesting and will drive change. The big title and mortgage companies are a factor. But the biggest players are the major brokers, the top 20-30 brokers. We work with many of them, and they are exciting, they are smart, and they are going to evolve with new business models that increase the value in the real estate transaction for the consumer.
Who are the “individual trendsetters” that are shaping the future real estate industry?
Consumers are driving the bus. They want data, they want transparency, and they are getting smarter about the real estate transaction. This has become a bottom-up process. The consumer is the trendsetter.
How should the Brokerage and Realtor Association / MLS respond to these real estate consumer expectations?
I love working with MLSs because they ARE responding. They are the reason ListHub is successful. Five years ago, we asked a group of MLS executives if they thought the consumer was a customer and they said no — only the brokers and agents. Not today. They are responding to demands of agents, brokers AND consumers.
One of the key values that MLSs provide is rules and structure for data acquisition and maintenance. This process is in place and it is valuable to the entire industry. I think NAR and the individual MLSs should advocate the concept of better data gathering and maintenance. Someone has to do the work and they are in a great position to always be the best source of real estate content. It is a key strategic position and a value proposition for them.
What changes should Brokerages implement to ensure profitability in the future?
They need to evolve their relationships with their agents, which most of them are doing. Ancillary services are also important.
But most important is to have an efficient and effective marketing program for each listing. This is where you can save money — speeding up the transaction by finding the right buyer faster and not wasting money on unnecessary marketing. This starts with gathering the right data and using it to build the marketing plan for that listing.
A broker once told me, “The moment the agent steps on the property to gather data, the transaction begins.” So everything builds from that point, starting with accurate information, good photos. You make decisions about marketing starting at that point.
What role do you see the Realtor Association / MLS playing to ensure Broker profitability?
The role of the association or the MLS comes back to getting closer to the consumer on behalf of the agents. In addition to good data, that speaks to public Web sites, advertising, marketing assistance to brokers and agents, and to open systems where the broker’s back-office system can access data without having to re-enter it.
Based upon your vision of the future of the real estate industry, what are you doing to help influence positive change?
We are staying focused on who our customer is and what they need. We have developed an effective dashboard for real estate brokers and agents with four main elements. ListHub is a single place to syndicate listings, to view reports and to get support. Our fourth and very exciting piece that we are currently working on will help brokers and agents work with individual portals on marketing spends.
What books would you recommend as a “must read” that have influenced your vision?
I don’t have one particular book. I enjoy reading articles about how companies work with customers to establish better relationships — Zappos, for example. I also like to read articles about how to leverage social media networks. I think anyone can benefit from learning about companies that do a great job on interaction and communication with consumers that ultimately ends with a consumer referring business back to the provider.
What advice would you give Brokerages and Realtor Associations / MLSs to assure they stay relevant and successful in the future?
It’s all about the consumer.
Stay focused on them and everything else will fall in place.
