Just got through attending the annual NAR meeting. The news will be dominated by RPR – the long-awaited, ever name changing national database of property and the new consumer website – www.houselogic.com. (The best name I heard it called was “reaper”) I haven’t explored these and don’t know enough to intelligently comment but it is very cool that NAR is thinking outside the box and propelling us forward. However, I saw a few other things that I thought were also noteworthy.
On Thursday, I attended the Legal Seminar. I heard a lot about lawsuits (There are fewer filed this year) and insurance (expanded Board coverage at no cost to us). One of the things Laurie Janik said was if an MLS has a lockbox system in place, they can require keyholders to have a Board-endorsed lockbox on each listed property. We’ve been having problems with the combo boxes in town so I am sure we will be discussing this.
NAR strengthened the rules about referral companies. If an agent in a referral company acts in a licensed capacity, the DR might be required to pay back dues. We’ll have to take look at the final wording and get the message out.
The exhibit floor seemed to be much smaller. I looked for the Homes & Land magazine booth and they weren’t there this year. I always enjoy looking at the Palm Beach County Florida magazine because I recognize many of the properties so I missed them. There were three or four companies doing video syndication. This is a deal like ListHub that sends your listings to the various internet real estate sites only it sends video to YouTube and other places. I even saw a cookbook publishing firm and think it might be an idea worth exploring.
The absolute coolest thing I saw was Sentrilock. They are a Supra competitor (Also heard that GE just sold their security division – including Supra – but haven’t confirmed it.) Anyway, the new Sentrilock wireless box is very cool. You can buy a wireless gizmo that will turn on the lights and email you and your Seller’s when the box is opened.
More later.
CVG
