WFG News
February 23, 2015

Have a problem with Zestimate? More AVMs are coming your way

If you have concerns about how Zillow’s automated valuation model (AVM), Zestimate, could affect sellers’ perceptions of home value, then brace yourself because automated valuations will be a major battleground for portals starting this year. To stay competitive on the Internet, all of the major portals (and perhaps even a…
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WFG News
February 23, 2015

New portal surfaces research on benefits of housing

The Urban Land Institute (ULI) has launched an online portal dedicated to highlighting housing’s role in individual and neighborhood well-being. “How Housing Matters” serves up research and news that connects housing with a broad range of topics, focusing on the links between housing and “better educational opportunities and outcomes for children; stronger foundations…
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WFG News
February 23, 2015

Joe Schutt: ‘Adding an inside sales associate helps our agents get hot leads and close more deals’

Unit Realty Group agent Joe Schutt talks about ISAs, keeping an open-door policy and “unitails.” The post Joe Schutt: ‘Adding an inside sales associate helps our agents get hot leads and close more deals’ appeared first on WFG National Title Insurance Company.
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WFG News
February 23, 2015

Debunking 6 myths about IDX

The ubiquity of embedded IDX (Internet data exchange) widgets is something that can’t be ignored. The traditional agent website and its visitor search experience are almost always tied to some type of embedded IDX widget, which has been the industry’s answer to the question of how to provide home searches…
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WFG News
February 21, 2015

Study finds patent licensing rarely results in innovation

It may come as little surprise to players in online real estate who have been cajoled into such deals, but patent licensing rarely results in new products, technology transfer or other markers of innovation. That’s according to an academic study that provides some ammunition for critics of “patent trolls,” who…
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WFG News
February 20, 2015

Why the FTC let Zillow buy Trulia

Federal antitrust regulators say they decided to allow the nation’s most popular real estate search portal to acquire its closest rival because real estate agents have “numerous” ways to market their services, and that there was “insufficient evidence” that the deal would result in higher advertising costs or hurt innovation.…
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WFG News
February 20, 2015

News Corp. delivers one-two punch to Zillow Group

With Zillow finally swallowing Trulia, the head-to-head portal bout is officially on. News Corp. — owner of realtor.com operator Move Inc. — has thrown the first punches. In a press release on Tuesday emblazoned with an all-caps headline, Move jabbed that “Zillow’s year of the merge will be realtor.com’s year…
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WFG News
February 20, 2015

Zillow Group seeks restraining order to keep listings flowing to Trulia

Zillow Group filed for a temporary restraining order today in a bid to keep listings flowing to Trulia from listing syndicator ListHub. ListHub — which is owned by realtor.com operator Move Inc., a News Corp. subsidiary — announced yesterday that it had terminated its syndication agreement with Trulia, the nation’s…
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WFG News
February 20, 2015

5 steps to creating viral real estate blog posts

Most real estate agents are great at showing listings, advising and interacting with their prospects. They also know the ins and outs of their real estate market and can talk endlessly about it. But when it comes to putting those ideas into writing, most agents will just chicken out. Love…
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WFG News
February 20, 2015

Michael Glover: ‘It’s not enough to replicate a desktop experience on a mobile screen’

Technical lead, Redfin Time at Redfin: Almost two years What he does: I build software that helps agents quickly move on behalf of their customers both at their desk and on the go. Age: 35 Degree: Bachelor of science in computing and software systems, University of Washington, Bothell Location: Seattle, Washington Social…
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