VOWs empower industry, consumers
Perspective: A primer on virtual office Web sites
By Inman News, Tuesday, February 24, 2009.Editor's note: Victor Lund is a founding partner for WAV Group, a real estate consulting company.
By VICTOR LUND
As a result of a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors, brokers now have a powerful new marketing tool at their fingertips.
Brokers who are members of a multiple listing service can now provide more comprehensive information to their customers than any non-MLS-member Web site can feature. They can now offer a data feed of all MLS listing information to their clients via a Virtual Office Web site (VOW).
Consumers are hungry for more and more real estate information. They are not only looking for active data, but any information that will help them get a better gauge on the local real estate market and neighborhoods they are interested in. They are looking for as much accurate, comprehensive and current information as available.
Who better to serve their information needs than Realtors? The MLS has the greatest depth of real estate information available anywhere. VOWs can help the industry capitalize on the strength of MLS and property databases. They can help keep Realtors at the center of the real estate transaction instead of encouraging consumers to go to third-party non-Realtor Web sites for their real estate search needs.
What is a VOW?
The simplest definition of a VOW is a broker Web site that allows consumers to access all of the non-confidential information in the MLS after registering with a Realtor.
Virtual Office Web sites are really not much different from the Web sites that brokers offer to consumers today. There are only two significant differences -- more data fields and a registration requirement.
The rules and regulations pertaining to the display of listing information on broker Web sites across the country vary from market to market.
Some markets have long permitted the display of deeper data fields like sold listings, listing history, tax data, price per square foot, and days on market. However, many markets did not allow this information to be displayed online.
Only a member agent or broker could access that level of data by signing into the MLS and delivering the information to their clients.
Suffice it to say that MLSs are now required to provide a data feed of all MLS information to any member broker for display through VOWs, with a few exceptions:
- Expired, withdrawn, or pending listings
- Compensation offered to other MLS participants
- Type of listing agreement, such as "exclusive agency" or "exclusive right to sell"
- Seller/occupant's name and contact information
- Showing instructions
- Sold data -- but only in those states like Texas where that information is not considered part of the public record. If the information is public according to your state law, then sold data must be included for display on VOW.
- Registration requirement
The settlement between the Justice Department and NAR recognizes that access to this level of real estate information should be permitted only when there is an expressed working relationship between a consumer and a Realtor. To access a VOW, the consumer is required to register, agree to the terms of use, and agree they are entering in a lawful broker-consumer relationship (broker-consumer relationship as defined by state law).
To satisfy the registration requirements, the consumer must provide a name and a valid e-mail address. The password must also expire on a specified date, and the broker must keep the registration information of that consumer for 180 days after expiration.
To satisfy the lawful broker-consumer relationship, the consumer must click to agree to the terms of use, verify that they will not use the data for any commercial use, and confirm that they have a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale or lease of real estate of the type being offered through the VOW.
Nobody -- not the broker, consumer or the Web site provider -- may redistribute any of the information to any third party.
How will VOWs change the agent-customer relationship?
With the evolution of Internet Data Exchange (IDX) -- another type of online real estate data-sharing system that does not require registration -- and literally millions of real estate Web sites, the consumer has had access to a significant number of sources of property information.
VOWs will allow brokers and possibly agents to once again place themselves at the center of the consumer's property-search experience.
A broker's VOW will offer consumers the most comprehensive, accurate and timely real estate information available.
Because of the quality of information offered to consumers through VOWs, customers will be less likely to spend much time on non-broker Web sites that offer less listing information. In mature VOW markets like San Francisco, more than 50 percent of all transactions were to registered VOW consumers.
Both buyers and sellers appear to value the depth of information available through VOWs to watch market trends and find the right home. Home sellers using VOWs are pricing their homes more realistically. Buyers using VOWs are working closely with their agents reviewing listings that match their search criteria -- all under the supportive hand of their real estate professional.
The new challenge for VOW operators is to stay attuned to the behavior of real estate clients as they perform their research using their sites.
Historically, agents have prepared a specific set of information for their buyers and sellers to review in their decision-making process. The new process will be more conversational, both online and offline. The customers are likely to be doing as much or more research as the agents. This will challenge agents to be as well-informed as the clients. A good VOW product will support agents by providing visibility into the behavior of their customers.
Virtual Office Web sites are one of the most valuable tools a real estate professional can use today to provide the depth of information today's real estate consumer is looking for.
Victor Lund is a founding partner of the WAV Group, a real estate consulting company. This guest perspective is reprinted with permission of the author. The original post can be viewed here.
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Submitted by Larry Whited Sr. on February 24, 2009 - 6:09am.
We talk about transparency and then require people to login to a VOW.
Am I missing something?
I think most people prefer to use a brokers IDX MLS feed so they can look anonymously until they are ready to reach out to the agent.
I know when I go to a site and it asks me to login in I move on to another site.
Larry A. Whited, Sr., CRB, CRS, GRI
President & Founder
www.maxUnet.com & www.WebMLS.net
P.O. Box 757
West Chester Ohio 45071
Cell - (513) 543-2727 Fax - (513) 297-7497
Submitted by REALonomics .net on February 24, 2009 - 8:06am.
VOWs are essentially becoming an extinct species, although those who use them still swear by them as productive tools that eliminate consumer "chatter" that wastes a broker/agent's time by forcing "serious" consumers into registering.
The comment by Larry Whited, Sr., based, I assume upon instinct, is the only correct analysis. And our research confirms it. Consumers reject control and forced conversations and the VOW registration tactics continue to be more a message about our industry's hunger to control and capture consumers as "leads" than about the MLS systems.
In addition, consumers typically want general property information and not truck loads of historical data that cannot be assembled, parsed and collated into useable information that can help them in the home purchase cycle.
From the industry's standpoint, what was really at stake in the DOJ vs. NAR debacle was the ability of someone who "DOES" want the data for property analysis and who has the time and talent to parse it. Opening the property data door to registrants has historically been the industry's most feared right and one that should not be given to a consumer.
Do any of us still remember the warning printed on the front of our MLS Books? The warning "This information is not to be distributed to non-members..." or, something to that effect was a warning that, if violated, could result in expulsion from the local MLS. Yikes!
The long and short of it all is that we have always been fearful of the consumer's unfettered access to "ALL" property information. There are still those who believe that knowing everything about a property, a subdivision or a market, is more than any consumer should be entitled to and perhaps more than they can actually comprehend without our "expert" assistance.
A large section of the industry is still grappling with "transparency" and what it should mean and this is a valid struggle for us.
However, we continue to believe that a portion of today's market paralysis was brought on in part to a lack of transparency, information and real data which, if given to unsuspecting consumers, may have blunted some of the economic trauma we now face.
Larry's comment "...when I go to a site and it asks me to login I move on to another site" might also be written from the consumer's point of view as follows:
"When I, the consumer, encounter blatant control models in my quest for property information I will reject these attempts to capture me as a lead...I will immediately seek an alternative, truly transparent source that allows me the power I deserve and if you keep trying to control me, I will not only continue to walk away, I will continue to mistrust you until I eventually discover a source that will replace you by giving me what I want and need."
Donald Teel - Founder
e-Partner
www.ePartnerUSA.com
REALonomics - New Real Estate Model Math
www.REALonomics.net
877-380-1000
Submitted by Steve & Mary Wiley on February 24, 2009 - 9:22am.
How can NAR require difficult, costly and onorous conditions precedent to VOW data viewings which website owners and their visitors must meet, yet have a different (no) standard of practice for agents who hand out printed versions of the same information within the confines of a physical office?
From first hand observation, I'd say that for the majority of "in office" meetings, agents have not discussed or excuted a broker agency disclosure, and/or any other documentation with the person on the other side of the table to establish a "substantial working relationship" - or any other standard required with VOW data dissemination.
Agency disclosure is often embraced only on a pre-dated form at the time an offer is written. It is also still rare for an agent to request a Buyer Agency Agreement, even though they ask sellers for Listing Agreements routinely. So much for meeting the same standards in-office that have been required for VOWs and their online visitors.
Let's see . . . same data, same recipient, same end-result, yet different standards for dissemination. Only the "location" of where the data is given differs.
I can't see anything fair or just about current VOW requirements, even though I have agreed to abide by them. I am left wondering WHY those of us without a physical office must carry a higher and more costly standard of operation . . . ?
Didn't the Department of Justice see this coming and recognize it as a legacy of anti-competitive practice which it could have also eliminated?
Steve Wiley
Smarter Choice Real Estate
Lincoln, NE
Submitted by Victor Lund on February 24, 2009 - 9:25am.
Excellent comments. However, don't loose site of the good news. Agents and brokers will now be able to share any detail of a listing online that they can share with a customer by any other means. This is a huge breakthrough.
The REALTOR will be in the center of the conversation as the only online access point to the full compendium of all property information available in the MLS.
Please review our full post at http://waves.wavgroup.com to learn more.
Victor Lund
Partner
WAV Group
http://waves.wavgroup.com
http://www.wavgroup.com
Submitted by Marilyn Wilson on February 24, 2009 - 3:16pm.
It does seem counter-intuitive to believe that consumers would be interested or even willing to register to receive real estate information. In our research for the article presented above, however, we found that consumers in markets like Greensboro, NC for example where VOW's are well-accepted, were clamoring to register.
The reason - they want the "real" REALTOR real estate information. They believe that REALTORS have information "hidden behind the curtain" that is really interesting and valuable - so much they are willing to register and "give up" their identity to get it. They want to know as much as they can about the market.
Buyers want to know if it's a good time to buy, sellers want to know if they are priced right and if the "competitive" properties in the area have anything on their property.
The key to capturing this type of information-hungry consumer is to use a VOW technology that allows the consumer to access the information they are looking for in a digestible consistent way. The well-developed VOW systems make the consumer feel as though the agent is paying close attention to their real estate information needs without getting too "close". The consumer decides when it is time to engage so they do not feel like they are being intruded upon.
Case in point, we heard from one consumer who told us how he called, emailed and even cajoled an agent to finally give him access to his Listingbook VOW account. The customer wanted to have access to as much real estate information as his neighbor was getting. When he didn't get a quick response from the agent, he finally called him and said if you don't allow me to register on your website TODAY, I am going to find another agent to sign up with. Some consumers are really passionate about getting as much real estate info as they possibly can. VOW's just simply allow us to satisfy their need legally.
Submitted by Ira Luntz on February 24, 2009 - 3:41pm.
Very interesting thread. How many times have you shopped for a new car without talking to some friends or listening to experts?
A home purchase is an emotional, large, and today very, very complicated transaction. Experts need to stay involved. In my view, the new VOW regulations have simplified access to the information and to some degree given the consumer a secure feeling knowing their registration information is not being sold in Russia or China.
Today, Listingbook (a VOW for over 8 years now)supports over 250,000 registered consumer accounts and the relationships they create with their real estate professional are long lasting. A registered VOW user is a serious buyer or seller.
Like it or not- VOW is here to stay and everyone needs to understand that the consumer is in charge- so you might as well let them have the access in a way that is beneficial to both parties getting a deal done faster and better.
Ira Luntz
EVP, COO Listingbook LLC