The Realtor Association of Greater Fort Myers and the Beach Inc. a 5,000-broker and agent member organization and one of the 10 largest real estate boards in Florida, announced that it has completed the implementation of a national online listing exposure initiative in partnership with Point2 Technologies Inc. (Point2) that will significantly expand online visibility [...]

 By Jenn Sharp Saskatoon's Point2 Technologies was founded in 1996 by five entrepreneurs who saw the power of the Internet as a useful sales and marketing tool for an industry that was struggling to sell its product in the global marketplace. Company president Barry Willick said they decided to focus on Internet-based software that could be used [...]

By Mike Parker RISMEDIA, — I was recently informed that one of our new online marketing services clients had experienced success ridiculously quickly. I found it hard to believe that someone could sell a home to their first lead from their website, and obtain that lead in their first month of using it, so I wrote the [...]

Association forms partnership The Monmouth County Association of Realtors, provider of the Monmouth/Ocean Multiple Listing Service, announced its partnership with Point2 Technologies, which will provide property listing distribution of the industry's largest syndication and re-syndication network of nearly 40 third party, high traffic Web sites and search engines, as well as more than 260 newspaper Web [...]

By Kathy Bevan The Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR) has joined with Point2 Technologies to establish the first national real estate listing syndication program to be set up in Canada by a regional organized real estate association. The syndication service plans to complement CREA’s national Realtor.ca listing website, by offering Saskatchewan brokers and salespeople the option of [...]

MLS Matters by Saul Klein Once MLS 5.0 has been fully implemented, the changes that will have occurred in the real estate landscape will be equivalent to a seismic shift of catastrophic proportions, catastrophic to those who refuse to adapt. Traditional MLSs, Realtor associations, franchises, brokerages, teams and agents that embrace these scalable, visionary initiatives will provide unprecedented [...]

A study by Point2 Technologies, a provider of website and listing syndication software for real estate professionals, says home buyers are more attracted to online listings that have lots of photos. The study set out to examine the impact of photos in driving real estate transactions, as part of a broker’s or agent’s online marketing efforts. [...]

The StarPhoenix A local company and a provincial real estate association have teamed up to implement Canada's first national real estate listing program by a regional association. Point2 Technologies Inc., which employs more than 120 people at its corporate office in Saskatoon, and the Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR) said Wednesday the national listing syndication program is [...]

MLS Matters by Saul Klein RISMEDIA, – MLS 5.0 is constructed as a property Wiki. While traditional MLS is listing or transaction based, MLS 5.0 is parcel based. A sale or transaction is but a moment in time in the life of a property. Information about properties may be needed during periods other than a transaction [...]

The StarPhoenix Point2 Technologies Inc. has signed a deal with one of the largest real-estate associations in the United States. The Saskatoon-based company and the Southland Regional Association of Realtors have implemented a major program designed to extend advanced property listing syndication technology to the association's 10,000 real-estate brokers and agents in the San Fernando and Santa [...]

Detroit Free Press – Freep.com • Ann Arbor-based SchoolPictures.com, a provider of school pictures, donated more than $2 million to Michigan schools that have used its portrait services in the four years since its founding. This milestone validates the company's mission to supplement funding for education and improve the academic environment for children while providing pictures. Partnerships • [...]

Inman News HAR listings on Zillow, Cyberhomes, Google Base, Realtor.com The Houston Association of Realtors has added Trulia to the list of Web sites it pushes listings to, under a partnership that will automatically feed more than 50,000 for-sale property listings to Trulia.com. Other multiple listing services (MLSs) providing direct feeds to Trulia.com include MLSPIN, CLAW, MLSLI and [...]

Inman News Survey is basis for company's 'Real Estate Confidence Index' Nearly two out of three estate professionals rated current market conditions on the bottom half of a 10-point scale in July, but were considerably more optimistic about the near- and long-term outlooks. That's according to surveys of more than 3,000 agents in the U.S. and Canada who [...]

Inman News  Real Estate Connect Speaker Profile: Zach Scott What new features are in the pipeline? Obviously our focus is still very much on providing value to Realtors by aggregating their data from the MLSs. We're working hard on that and have a number of new MLS clients announced, many more in the pipeline, and more [...]

RISMEDIA While potentially at risk of becoming irrelevant in the next generation, MLS has within its power the assets needed to continue to lead the real estate industry and become an even stronger, more essential player in the future. It is important to note that no other entity or organization in our space has what we [...]

Real Estate Today Radio interview with Point2’s CEO Saul Klein, on social networking. Listen

Internet Strategies by Saul Klein, Part 1 RISMEDIA, What will be required to build on the current solid foundation of today’s MLS? Here is part of the MLS 5.0 whitepaper, a vision that attempts to answer the question and creates a basis for an industry discussion. Open and frank discussion is essential to creating the tools and [...]

By Bernice Ross Inman News Need help building your online business? Check out what real estate’s leading women had to share at the recent AFIRE (Awesome Females in Real Estate) conference in Savannah, Ga. 1. Distribution trumps destination Jennifer Anderson of Point2Agent explained how “distribution trumps destination.” In other words, it is more important to have your listings [...]

by Saul KleinCEO, Point2 Technologies Inc.  Today, if you want to find out anything about anything, where do you go? There is a high probability that you go to Google. So ingrained in our culture is the power of Google search, that Google has become a verb. On a daily basis, many of us “google” one [...]

By Bernice Ross  Several months ago a number of articles appeared on the Internet saying that Google had once again changed their algorithms (i.e., the mathematical formula that they use to determine organic web rankings.) To get "Google juice" or good ranking, the algorithm now appears to place the greatest value on videos. After that, pod [...]

By Saul Klein RISMEDIA, -Progressive MLSs have adopted new thinking and launched platforms designed to generate more exposure and leads for their subscribers and participants. Approximately 400 MLSs in the U.S. have now introduced consumer-facing websites to allow home buyers and sellers to research local listings as they would on sites such as Realtor.com, Yahoo!, Point2 [...]

By Joel Burslem International Listings, an search portal for global luxury properties, has put together a very clever marketing device they’re calling their Real Estate Marketing Report Card. The idea is pretty simple; a seller can punch in their address and listing price and the system will quickly check a handful of real estate search destinations to [...]

Asked what skills future realty agents will need to compete, Saul Klein–president and CEO of InternetCrusade and CEO of Point2Technologies–cites product knowledge, sales competency, access to customers, and service with integrity. More specifically, he says an agent working in 2015 will need the ability to communicate effectively across generational spans as the different age groups move [...]

By: Saul Klein, CEO, Point2 Technologies Inc. If you believe that Distribution Trumps Destination at this stage of the evolution of real estate on the WWW, that the distribution of listing information to many consumer accessible and trafficked web sites is far more important than listing information appearing on any single web site, then it is [...]

Real Trends  Social networking is becoming a hip, new way to network with consumers and professionals. It may take time, but its low (or no) cost publicity for you and your brokerage. But, with so many options out there, which one is worth your time? REAL Trends spoke with three real estate professionals about what they use [...]

By Maria Patterson, Stephanie Andre, and Paige Tepping RISMedia The close of the year often begs a retrospective approach to the events that took place-good, bad or otherwise. The sharp edges are often dulled in hindsight, motivated by the desire to put it all behind us and move on to the fresh promise of a new year. For [...]

HAR will feed data on more than 60,000 properties By Matt Carter, Inman News Zillow.com has reached an agreement to automatically receive more than 60,000 listings from the nation's second-largest Realtor association, the Houston Association of Realtors, the companies said today. Launched a year ago, Zillow's listings feed program allows any broker, multiple listing service or vendor with [...]

By Lai Saetern, Inman News It all began with an advertisement in the newspaper over three decades ago. After serving for five years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer, Saul Klein was ready for a change. He sought a career with better pay and plenty of room for advancement. It made sense for Klein [...]

Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix Saskatoon's Point2 Technologies Inc., an employer of 113 people, is beginning to take its product in a new direction. The software development company is moving away from promoting its online real estate programs to individual agents, instead looking to regional real estate agencies for contracts. SP reporter Cassandra Kyle recently sat down [...]

Canwest News Service Point2 Technologies Inc. has entered into a partnership with the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors (GEPAR), giving the association’s members access to individually branded Point2 Agent websites. The Saskatoon-based company, which develops and markets web-based e-commerce and online marketing software for the real estate and heavy equipment industries, announced the partnership with [...]

The StarPhoenix Real estate markets in Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and other communities in Massachusetts now have access to Saskatoon’s Point2 Technologies Inc.’s Agent Solution System. The company and Cape Cod and Islands Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Inc. jointly launched Point2 Agent Solution in Massachusetts this week. The service is set to automate listing syndication for Cape [...]

Regina Leader Post SASKATOON — Real estate markets in Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and other communities in Massachusetts now have access to Saskatoon’s Point2 Technologies Inc.’s Agent Solution System. The company and Cape Cod and Islands Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Inc. jointly launched Point2 Agent Solution in Massachusetts this week. The service is set to [...]

By Patrick Cassidy, Cape Cod Times HYANNIS — The real estate market on Cape Cod and the islands went “back to the future” yesterday. Much like in the 1985 Michael J. Fox movie by the same name, officials from the Cape Cod and Islands Multiple Listing Service Inc. took a look back as they revved up for [...]

Inman News Michigan’s biggest multiple listing service, Realcomp, will send listings to syndicator Point2 Technologies Inc. when authorized by member brokers and agents, the companies said today. Realcomp members will be able to send their listings to any or all of Point2’s more than 30 listing syndication partners, including Cyberhomes, eBay, Google Base, Homescape, Point2 Homes, Trulia [...]

RISMEDIA Time is of the essence. The real estate industry has the opportunity to “take back its future.” In order to do so, it must begin the process of socializing and implementing MLS 5.0. While many in the real estate industry have heard of Web 2.0, with all the press it has received, few understand or can [...]

Industry veteran envisions marriage of MLS, Web 2.0 Inman News Multiple listing services are not dead or irrelevant, real estate technology industry guru Saul Klein says in a paper released this week, though they must evolve to embrace Web 2.0 ideals and expand beyond for-sale listing information to encompass parcel-based information. It’s not an entirely new concept for [...]

Internet Strategies by Saul Klein RISMEDIA Most Realtors have access to cost-effective technology that they can use to build their business. Often, however, the technology is applied ineffectively, and outside of the context of a plan. Take websites, for example, which, for the most part, are “billboards on the middle of nowhere” and a waste of [...]

Discussions focus on ‘The Future of MLS’ By Glenn Roberts Jr., Inman News SAN FRANCISCO — Cameron Paine, CEO for Connecticut Multiple Listing Service Inc., a broker-controlled statewide multiple listing service that launched in February 2007, said smaller MLSs are in danger of becoming irrelevant. And what many MLSs don’t seem to understand — and [...]

RIS Media The Senate cleared a massive housing bill on Saturday designed to prop up the struggling U.S. housing market and put in place a U.S. backstop for giant mortgage-buyers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Senate lawmakers approved the bill, which contains billions of dollars in loan guarantees, a tax break for first-time home buyers and many [...]

by: Amy Hoak, Market Watch To sell a home with an Internet listing, it pays to provide pictures — and lots of them, according to a recent study from an e-commerce and online marketing firm that serves the real-estate industry. Compared with listings that had only one photo, those that had 21 or more photos received double [...]

How many photos are overkill for a listing? by: Bernice Ross, Inman News Are you marketing your listings with just one picture or are you marketing with 20 or more? Is it possible that too many pictures online is preventing buyers from looking at your property? The research is clear that having only a single photo of your [...]

Companies seek to capitalize on popular social network Inman News  Point2 Technologies Inc., which offers online tools for real estate professionals, and media technology company Local Matters Inc. on Wednesday announced an agreement in operating Point2's Facebook Neighborhoods application. The application for Facebook, a social networking site with about 70 million active users, draws from Point2's database of [...]

The StarPhoenix  A Facebook application developed by a Saskatoon company has been acquired by a U.S. online media publisher. The deal involving Point2 Technologies Inc.'s Facebook Neighborhoods application will allow the company to maintain and develop the application's database while Local Matters Inc. will assume marketing and development efforts for the program. The application draws on Point2's database [...]

I didn't realize that Saskatoon was a hotbed of software development, but that's where a Facebook real estate application was developed by Point2 Technologies. Point2, a 100-person company that also has offices in Vancouver, B.C., is a big player in the real estate software industry, producing software for syndicating listings. That platform was the basis for [...]

By David Kaplan Local search marketer Local Matters has acquired online real estate listings syndicator Point2 Technologies’ Facebook app. Financial terms were not released. Point2 had been hoping to get attention for its “Neighborhoods for Facebook” app, which it released last summer. Point2 claims that 800,000 Facebook users have downloaded the app, which is aimed [...]

RISMEDIA Point2 Technologies Inc. (”Point2?), one of the industry’s largest independent providers of website and listing syndication software for real estate professionals, and RealtyTrac Inc., a leading online marketplace for foreclosure properties, announced a marketing partnership agreement that aims to extend both organizations’ market reach and exposure while establishing new revenue streams at the same time. According [...]

RISMEDIA Today, the word “syndication” is used in the real estate industry to express the distribution of listing information to various websites and/or Web portals. While it was once thought that exposing a listing in one spot on the Internet and driving consumers to that spot (the early theory for Realtor.com) was the best way to [...]

Buyers, Sellers, and Brokers Benefit from Internet Technology By Brian Flock: Mexidata.info guest columnist The rapid growth in use of a new Internet technology over the past two years by Mexico real estate brokers has resulted in a de facto Mexican multiple listing service (MLS). The new system better serves buyers and sellers of real estate throughout [...]

RISMEDIA, April 15, 2008 The National Association of Realtors® and other industry members of the Real Estate Standards Organization have unanimously approved a draft standardized data format for distributing real estate listing information. Real Estate Transaction Standard, an industry effort initiated by NAR and maintained by RESO, simplifies the process of sending real estate information by allowing [...]

REALTOR Fine Tunes Web Marketing Strategy with Dramatic Results    by: Mike Parker Priscilla Allen is a RE/MAX broker in San Antonio, TX. In 2006, she and her husband, along with a long time associate, were the 25th ranked team in San Antonio; in 2007, they were the 10th. RE/MAX singled this little team out as the [...]

by: Mallory Vough, Wilkes-Barre Times Leader Establishment business people – at least those above the age of 30 – might think Facebook is a publication filled with photographs of people showing off their finest toothy grins. But in fact Facebook is one of the most popular Web sites on the Internet, with a claimed 70 [...]

By Renae MerleWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, April 12, 2008; Page F01 Cindy Lawson won't venture from her sofa for anything less than a two-bedroom condominium with a parking space and washer and dryer. In the meantime, she continues her year-long search by scanning the list of Arlington homes in her price range that is sent to her [...]

Commentary by Gar Benedick RISMEDIA, – Pictures that are poor or less-than-flattering can turn buyers off, leading to fewer leads and offers. In real estate, good pictures–the right pictures–are worth more than a thousand words-they can be worth thousands of dollars. According to a survey of buyers and sellers by the National Association of Realtors, 80% of [...]

Court document reveals preliminary list of possible witnessesBy Inman News, Thursday, March 27, 2008. The National Association of Realtors has plans to call nine witnesses to testify in court if an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department proceeds to trial, and may call upon an additional list of 14 witnesses. A preliminary live trial witness [...]

The StarPhoenix Published: Thursday, February 28, 2008 Realtors in Belize have embraced made-in-Saskatoon technology to create and launch the South American country’s online real estate listing system. The Belize National Association of Realtors (BNAR) chose to work with Point2 Technologies Inc. to create its multiple listing service (MLS) system based on the Saskatoon company’s national listing service (NLS) platform. [...]

Tech innovations to jump-start real estate biz Friday, February 08, 2008 By Bernice RossInman News Are you ready to jump-start your business? Upgrading your technology is one of the fastest ways to do it. If you need some help, here are some important innovations to consider. 1. Stop dripping and start predicting Instead of using drip e-mail, a process in [...]

New technology creates data that are tough to refute Friday, February 01, 2008 By Bernice RossInman News Persuading sellers to be realistic is a consistent challenge for any real estate agent, especially in a slowing or a declining market. Recent technological innovations make this much easier than ever before. In previous columns, I have discussed how to use rate-of-absorption [...]

Brokers can send same feed to many Web sites Thursday, January 10, 2008 Inman News Nearly a dozen Web sites that aggregate for-sale real estate listings — including Trulia, Zillow and Yahoo! Real Estate — have agreed to adopt common data standards that will make it possible for brokers to send a single listings feed to multiple [...]

Realtor group says both sides are open to discussion Thursday, January 03, 2008 By Glenn Roberts Jr. Inman News Representatives for the National Association of Realtors have engaged in talks with U.S. Justice Department officials in an effort to resolve a 2-year-old antitrust lawsuit, and both parties are open to continuing the dialogue, according to a spokesman for the Realtor [...]

Video, lead systems and radio commercial services stand out Friday, December 28, 2007 By Bernice Ross Inman News The biggest surprise at the National Association of Realtors’ tradeshow this year was the lack of new technology. Nevertheless, there were a number of new products that could help you build your business in 2008. If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by [...]

By:  Steven Groves, Executive Conversations The answer I have for you – don't do it… Let's back up a minute – what is a wiki? Wikipedia (a wiki itself) defines it as "A wiki is computer software that allows users to easily create, edit and link web pages. Wiki's are often used to create collaborative [...]

A Zillow spokeswoman said today that the company has been in discussions with the Houston Association of Realtors to receive property listings information supplied by its members. "We are in discussion with a number of brokerages and organizations about listing feeds," Zillow spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky told Inman News….(read more)

Inman News Houston Realtors in talks to partner with real estate media co. Zillow and other online real estate sites are eyeing larger deals for property listings partnerships. A Zillow spokeswoman said today that the company has been in discussions with the Houston Association of Realtors to receive property listings information supplied by its members. “We are in [...]

By Jonathan Nicholas, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Obeo RISMEDIA, Oct. 5, 2007-A couple of years ago, Tom Peters, the renowned business management practice guru, spoke to the Houston Association of REALTORS®. In preparation for his talk, he interviewed six agents as if he was going to list his property. He summed up the [...]

By Bernice Ross Inman News Part 2 of 2: Technology for a better business Tired of having to go to a separate vendor for your fliers, your Web site marketing and creating unique Web addresses for your listings? If so, VFlyer.com has a solution to make your business soar. One of the most difficult aspects of Web 1.0 was [...]

By Bernice RossInman News Part 1 of 2: Technology for a better business Consolidation is one of the key trends occurring in the real estate industry today. Are you ready to capitalize on this trend in your business? Will there be a single multiple listing service for the entire country? While there has been a heated discussion about this topic, few people have [...]

By RIVA RICHMOND September 4, 2007; Wall Street Journal Page B4 Site's Growing Ranks Seen as Potential Source Of Revenue, Customers Another online gold rush is on. Entrepreneurs are scrambling to create small software programs for Facebook Inc.'s social-networking site and grab footholds in its emerging economy. Three months ago, the Palo Alto, Calif., company invited software developers to create applications [...]

 By: Jeff Tomlin Builder/Architect Vol.18, No.8 Download PDF

lore Magazine  Series of Live Broadcasts Discusses Major Issues in the Real Estate Industry  lore Magazine, a magazine devoted to profiling fascinating individuals in the residential real estate industry, has launched a new and compelling series of interviews called “lore Live.” lore Magazine, currently distributed to top agents and leading brokers, is thrilled about the launch of their new podcast videos. The [...]

By Glenn Roberts Jr.Inman News Part 3: Future of MLS: Full speed ahead There is more to a multiple listing service than warehousing data. MLSs are marketplaces for showcasing information about properties, including pricing and property amenities. They are cooperatives that provide neutral ground for industry competitors to work together, make offers of compensation and share data. They are marketing portals [...]

By Jessica SweseyInman News Part 2: Future of MLS: Full speed ahead Consumer-facing multiple listing service Web sites — once taboo and controversial in some markets — are gaining interest again as MLSs scramble to define their value and role in future real estate markets. About 300 MLSs throughout the country currently have consumer-facing Web sites where buyers and sellers [...]

Jay Thompson Interview – Part 3  Is 95% of a real estate sales professionals business attributed to online social media significant? From his overall web presence (blog, a website or referral from an online associate,) Jay gets 10-12 contacts or a each day from his online presence.  Of course they may be unqualified at that point, but I can probably [...]

Jay Thompson Interview – Part 2  In this segment, Jay continues talking about his use of social media tools from the early days of ActiveRain and how he spends his day; from the first cup of coffee throughout the business day.  He is either blogging, using email, checking his social network tuning his web presence on either his [...]

Jay Thompson Interview – Part 1  Jay Thompson / PhoenixRealEstateGuy.com is a blogging icon in the Arizona real estate social media world. His investment in using blogging and social media as virtually his only form of marketing is very much the model of the agent of the future – what I call the Agent2.0™. I've been following Jay [...]

Inman News Mortgage Fraud Blog, vFlyer among other category winners SAN FRANCISCO — The craigslist online community in a slight twist from past years received a special Inman Innovator Award for "Innovator of the Year" during Inman News' Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco this week. The Innovator Awards honor forward-thinking technologies, Web services, business [...]

by Michael WurzerInman Blog Inman Blog writes today that the Realogy deal with Yahoo! Real Estate doesn’t knock Prudential out of the picture, instead Yahoo! has created (and Realogy apparently agreed t0) a separate “classifieds” section of their search and Prudential still gets the “Homes for Sale” section.  The upshot: you can’t search both Prudential and [...]

Cassandra Kyle, The StarPhoenix Point2 Technologies Inc. teams with Facebook on search feature It's a beautiful day in the neighbourhood for Saskatoon-based Point2 Technologies Inc. Their latest web-based creation, a Facebook application that connects people by neighbourhood, is gaining more interest as each minute passes. Since the application launched last week, more than 1,200 people have added the feature, using it to [...]

By Maureen Farrell Forbes.com Every new business owner needs to know the fundamentals. Forbes.com is breaking down those building blocks by answering eight core questions related to a given industry. Taken together, the information will give budding entrepreneurs a head start on making those first critical steps. How do I choose suppliers for my real estate brokerage? [...]

By Glenn Roberts Jr. Inman News Part 1: Lead generation evolves in real estate Editor's note: In this three-part series, Inman News looks at how the changing market is impacting lead generation, how agents are competing for top spots on Google, and how the lending industry faces increased criticism of its use of trigger lists. (Read Part 2, [...]

  Last week I followed in the footsteps of fellow Phoenician and Point2 user, Jay Thompson and was able to meet and greet the team at Point2 Technologies in their native habitat – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.  Saskatoon is a a beautiful, small community of 207,200 situated on the banks of the South Saskatchewan River.  The Point2 offices [...]

What it might mean to you and what you might want to start doing today. by Michael Parker With all the uncertainties facing the real estate industry today, none has more far-reaching possible implications than the ongoing legal battle between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors®. Nothing less than the entire business model [...]

39 real estate, technology and media companies compete Inman News Inman News today released the finalists' names for the coveted 2007 Inman Innovator Awards, recognizing innovation in real estate. Winners will be announced at the annual Real Estate Connect SF technology conference, Aug. 1-3, at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Thirty-nine real estate, technology and media [...]

 By Eric Enge, The ClickZ Network About 6 weeks ago, I wrote a blog post titled 6$ of Web Sites are Real Estate Related. Since then, I have had a chance to look at some aspects of this market in more detail. In this article, I am going to show how slowly this market is maturing, [...]

by Joel BurslemFuture of Real Estate Marketing John L. Scott’s Neighborhood Wizard was just the latest by a web site to clean up map based real estate search (see The Evolution of Map Based Searches). And while I called it a ‘gimmick’ in my earlier post, it is an important step forward towards making map searches [...]

Research finds content deals can include far-reaching terms By Glenn Roberts Jr.Inman News While opportunities abound to market properties online, real estate professionals should take heed of what they are signing when they submit property listings content to Web sites they do not control, says a paper prepared for a subsidiary of the Florida Association of Realtors trade [...]

By Stefan Swanepoel RISMEDIA, June 1, 2007-Many think that the notion of a national MLS is a good one. According to Jim Sherry, technically there is no reason a national MLS would not work. He says it’s more about getting the egos out of the way first. The consolidation of MLSs into super-regional ones or even one national MLS has already [...]

Posted by Brian Montopoli Earlier this month, “60 Minutes” aired a mostly flattering piece on Redfin, an online real estate company that charges sellers a flat fee of $3,000 instead of a percentage-based commission. You can watch it by clicking on the video box. The segment, headlined “Chipping Away At Realtors’ Six Percent,” infuriated many realtors. The National Association of Realtors [...]

In this final segment, the third of three, Jeff Tomlin, Manager of Channel Relations for Point2 and I talk about how the Point2 solution aids in compliance and quality control for a broker.  Jeff goes into how the Point2 Handshake helps build social capital both inside the profession and to the consumer.  At the end of the segment Jeff [...]

NAR, Zillow, Trulia, Point2 NLS and Real Estate Brokers Find Common Ground [...]

NAR technologist describes mouse-motion research Monday, May 21, 2007 By Glenn Roberts Jr.Inman News WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Houston Association of Realtors plays an active role in marketing members’ property listings. The association sends property information from its multiple listing service into an association-operated public Web site that also features a home-valuation tool and agent profiles. The association aggressively advertises the search site on billboards, though [...]

Point2 gives away their websites, publishes syndication data to over 23 consumer real estate sites and offer a 1 touch publishing solution.   Jeff Tomlin, Manager of Channel Relations (and an avid blogger at Real Estate Alchemy) tells us more about how they do in this second segment of the interview. It also allow some to step up the [...]

Fidelity announces agreement with Keller Williams Friday, May 18, 2007 By Glenn Roberts Jr.Inman News Cyberhomes.com, an automated home-valuation site operated by Fidelity National Real Estate Solutions, is now open to for-sale property listings information, Fidelity officials announced Thursday. The field of property-search Web sites has grown rapidly in the past few years, with newcomer sites such as Cyberhomes,Google Base, HomePages.com, Point2NLS.com, PropertyShark.com, Propsmart.com, [...]

RISMEDIA, May 17, 2007-Point2 Technologies Inc. has announced that it has expanded its Point2 NLS listing syndication network, adding 10 new consumer-facing advertising destinations for members’ listings. The most recent sites to start drawing live Point2 NLS listing data feeds include HotPads.com, Vast.com and CityCribs.com. Newcomers also include Propbot.com, House.com, VideoHomes.com and TheHousingPages.com. In early March, Point2 also added simplified, [...]

Brokers can choose 10 more Web sites to market listings Wednesday, May 16, 2007 Inman News As more consumers go online for real estate information, brokers are being offered an array of choices by which to market their listings to a wider audience. Some companies, including Point2 Technologies, are trying to simplify a complicated process of syndicating listings to a variety of different [...]

Agent2.0 is not just about technology, but technology is what I like to write about.  A real estate agent is a small business person and like every business out there, they should have a website as an underpinning of their marketing program.  Website are available to agents and brokers range from free to several thousands dollars and almost every price [...]

By Mike Parker RISMEDIA, March 22, 2007-In a dynamic and stimulating presentation given at the Association Executives Institute Conference February 19 in San Diego, Blanche Evans, editor of Realty Times, woke up many in the audience with her call to action. Evans presentation, titled: “The Conspiracy to Put You Out of Business and How You Can Help Your Agents & [...]

BY MICHAEL RUSSERBroker Agent News It’s advice you often hear in the real estate business: To be successful, you must find a profitable niche and gear your marketing to that specific audience. However, when it comes to online marketing, few practitioners take that advice to heart. Here, I hope to show you why it’s worth it to transform your Web [...]

By Stefan Swanepoel RISMEDIA, April 27, 2007-Last month, we highlighted some of the trends affecting today’s home buying and selling consumer as reported in the recently released Swanepoel TRENDS Report. This month, we explore author Stefan Swanepoel’s views on the impact of the Internet on our industry. Here, Swanepoel details how technology is changing the real estate business for the long [...]

Point2 Technologies Inc. and InternetCrusade’s RealTown have introduced Single Sign On (SSO), a Web authentication initiative that will enable members of Point2 NLS (Point2 National Listing Service) and RealTown.com to access or sign up to either system directly from their respective Online Office, using their existing credentials, identity and pass codes. “There are many situations in the real estate industry where Single [...]

Users can send, view ads using mobile devices Inman News VFlyer, a company that builds marketing tools for real estate professionals to distribute and showcase property listings, today announced that it has entered the mobile realm with the rollout of wireless Internet and text-messaging tools. With this latest innovation, vFlyer users can send or view property ads on mobile [...]

By Stefan Swanepoel RISMEDIA, April 13, 2007-Many think that the notion of a national MLS is a good one. According to Jim Sherry, technically there is no reason a national MLS would not work. He says it’s more about getting the egos out of the way first. The consolidation of MLSs into super-regional ones or even one national MLS has already [...]

by Michael E. Parker In a dynamic and stimulating presentation given at the Association Executives Institute Conference February 19 in San Diego , Blanche Evans, Editor of Realty Times, woke up many in the audience with her call to action. Ms. Evans presentation, entitled: The Conspiracy to Put You Out of Business and How You Can Help Your Agents [...]

Real estate practitioners are trying out an array of social networking Web sites as a way to connect with consumers and other industry professionals. Twitter.com, for example, allows users to send phone or computer text messages to provide personal or business updates to other users. Other sites are focused more on the real estate niche, including RealEstateVoices.com and RELiberation.com, let [...]

To attach a lead form or not to attach a lead form — believe it or not that’s still a pretty hot-button issue in the real estate industry. Not long ago pretty much every Web site with real estate listings on it required consumers to fill out a form before they could get access to the goodies. The form [...]

Company provides real-time data on Web traffic, member stats Monday, March 26, 2007 Inman News Point2, a technology company that offers online tools for real estate professionals including a National Listing Service that allows members to manage the marketing of other property listings, has opened its user statistics to the world. The company today announced the public availability of several company statistics, including membership, [...]

RISMEDIA, March 21, 2007-Following Monday’s lead article on RISMedia.com, by Stefan Swanepoel titled “MLS: Industry Asset or Public Utility,” a debate has arisen on RealBlogging.com as to whether Trulia can or should become a national MLS. The discussion on this topic was recently fueled by Trulia’s announcement that they had, in addition to their agreement with the Keller Williams [...]

Part 3: Social media and real estate By Glenn Roberts Jr. [...]

Technology is a great time saving tool, but only if you use it. Here are five tasks you can automate: 1. Distributing listing data. Use syndication software, such as Point2Agent’s (http://agent.point2.com) Point2 Exposure Engine, to automatically push listing data to multiple real estate Web sites. You enter the data once, and the software does the rest. 2. Replying to e-mail. Use [...]

Agreements represent more online exposure for sellers Friday, March 02, 2007 Inman News Real estate giant Realogy Corp. (NYSE: H), with corporate brands including Coldwell Banker, Century 21 and ERA, today announced a major play to broaden its online exposure for property listings that are represented by company-owned and franchise offices. About 500,000 Realogy-affiliated property listings that appear at the Century21.com, ColdwellBanker.com and [...]

Part 6: New business trends in ‘07 Friday, February 23, 2007 By Bernice RossInman News (This is Part 6 of a six-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5.) Our last five articles have examined the demographic, digital, economic and Web trends will influence your business in 2007. Today’s article examines six more trends that will [...]

Part 5: New business trends in ‘07 Friday, February 16, 2007 By Bernice RossInman News (This is Part 5 of a six-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.) If you’re not up-to-date on today’s technology, your business may be gradually eroding away. To avoid going the way of the dinosaurs, it’s imperative that you update your technology tools now. Our last four articles examined how demographic, [...]

Part 4: New business trends in ‘07 (This is Part 3 of a six-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.) What will Web 3.0 look like and how will it influence your business in 2007? No matter what happens, the rate of change is only increasing rather than slowing down. Over the last three weeks, we have examined how demographic, digital and [...]

Point2 Technologies unveils REliberation.com Inman News Point2 Technologies has unveiled a new broker community site, REliberation.com, for its broker and agent customers to collaborate, promote and drive future successes and advance key industry issues through discussion, debate and opinion sharing. The beta site made its debut on Jan. 26, and has attracted hundreds of authors and contributors discussing key issues such as the [...]

Part 4: New business trends in ‘07 By Bernice Ross Inman News (This is Part 4 of a six-part series. Read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.) What will Web 3.0 look like and how will it influence your business in 2007? No [...]

By Michael J. Russer Realty Times In this day and age of hyper-change a lot of new terminology gets bantered about. “Web 2.0″ is the latest that has created a considerable amount of buzz, yet no one seems to have a [...]

Part 2: New age of online marketing and ROI By Glenn Roberts Jr. Inman News Editor’s note: Online marketing in real estate is quickly moving forward as brokers test new methods for reaching consumers on the Internet. Marketing choices have grown more complicated with a larger selection of Web sites to promote property listings and a growing list of lead generation and management [...]

By Glenn Roberts Jr. Inman News A new Internet portal launches today with a depth of real estate-related content created by a thousands-strong community of real estate professionals. The site, RealTown.com, also features links to hundreds of multiple listing service-operated property-search Web sites, a database of properties maintained by real estate technology company Point2, and an agent-search tool. The new site includes a consumer-facing collection of [...]

Abandoning a Do-It-Yourself Web Strategy By Frances Flynn Thorsen My year-end technology audit was full of FrontPage updates, new software, and a host of add-ons for my real estate web site. Each aspect of web authoring technology has a learning curve that involves time and labor. Each year the time and labor associated with a do-it-yourself web site grows. The new millennium spawned [...]

Free system puts agents in charge of Web marketing By Glenn Roberts Jr. Inman News A real estate technology company today launched a free international service to assist real estate professionals with marketing properties online, establishing agreements with other professionals [...]

Top Realty News iSuccess.com Real estate platform aims to connect members with Internet consumers ahead of their competitors Point2 has announced that subscriptions to its real estate online marketing and lead management software, led by the industry’s most widely used [...]

Real Estate Technology News A marketing and integration agreement between Point2 Technologies and RealEstate.com gives agents access to lead incubation and conversion tools. Read on to see why the groups believe the time is right for lead management technology to take off. Point2 [...]

Point2 supplies lead incubation, conversion tools Inman News LendingTree’s RealEstate.com has partnered with Canadian tech company Point2 Technologies Inc. to offer Point2’s real [...]

Top Realty News Point2 PropMan designed to increase property manager productivity and facilitate rental listing marketing for Point2 broker and Point2 agent users Point2 Technologies Inc. has launched Point2 PropMan, a rental real estate online marketing and lead management software platform targeted at property [...]

Top of the Heap – Realtor Magazine [PDF]

Edgeio muscles up as listings search powerhouse Inman News Edgeio, a service for online classified listings that launched this year, has raised $5 [...]

Real estate developers are a major target audience for Google Earth. In India, they, like their US counterparts such as Point2 and Earth Point (www.earthpoint.us) have started to use Google Earth. Real estate developers such as the Prestige Group and Goel Ganga Group, both based in Pune, have been using Google Earth in their businesses [...]

Tool allows neighborhood-specific searches Inman News Point2 Technoligies Inc. has introduced a real estate agent directory that is sorted by cities and neighborhoods [...]

Toledo Blade Ask someone in the real estate industry how business has been lately and they’re likely to tell you it has slowed down compared to last year. With mortgage rates rising, fewer people are in a hurry to move, and [...]

Jane Gadd – Globe and Mail Real estate agents are missing out on a lot of new clients because they fail to respond promptly to Web inquiries, says a Canadian e-business company that has devised a solution to the problem. Consumer research [...]

Bring them back MICHAEL ANTONIAK Realtor Magazine Online The competition for Internet shoppers has never been more intense. That’s why practitioners who market [...]

Part 1: Hot strategies from Real Estate Connect Bernice Ross Inman News During the last week of July, the movers, [...]

July 9, 2006 Tampa Tribune Ask someone in the real estate industry how business has been lately and they’re likely to tell you it has slowed down compared to last year. With mortgage rates rising, fewer people are in a hurry to move, and houses are staying on the market longer. As a result of the increase in inventory, sellers are [...]

The Regina Leader Post Where is the most advanced real estate software developed? Not in hot real estate markets like Calgary or Vancouver. Not in high tech hotbeds like Ottawa or Toronto. Each month, a Saskatoon-based technology company signs up [...]

Real Estate Technology News When EXIT Realty Northwest launched in northwest Arkansas in late 2004, it faced a number of challenges related to brand recognition, agent recruiting and online presence. For the unknown and unproven brokerage, generating listings was a [...]

Real Estate Technology News Point2 Technologies’ Real Alerts is designed to help Realtors contact potential homebuyers quickly. The system also eliminates the need for third-party lead incubation services and systems, the company said. Point2 Technologies has launched Real Alerts, a prospect incubation and [...]

Integration includes county property data Inman News Google Earth put the world- at least a computerized version of it -at computer users’ fingertips, and a real estate agent in Idaho has put a new spin on property listings by sprinkling local [...]

April 25, 2006 Post Tribune Ask someone in the real estate industry how business has been lately and they’re likely to tell you it has slowed down compared to last year. With mortgage rates rising, fewer people are in a hurry to move, and houses are staying on the market longer. As a result of the increase in inventory, sellers are [...]

Guest perspective: Problems with current structure lend clues Inman News The idea of a national multiple listing service has been floating around for years. Lately, with the arrival of Google Base and consolidation of some large MLSs, the talk of a national MLS is heating up again. It makes one wonder, what would or should a national MLS look like? [...]

Jessica Swesey Inman News Part 2: New era of real estate search Editor’s note: Real estate search has entered a new phase with the emergence of applications that narrow the hunt for consumers, pool from multiple sources, and enable consumers to search without having to register at a broker site to gain access. In this four-part series, we examine the latest tools and [...]

Inman News Consumers on property search Web sites Google Base and Trulia will now be able to view all Point2Homes.com home listings and can follow links to the respective real estate agents’ Web sites thanks to real-time data feeds, Point2 said today. Similar feeds to free online classified site LiveDeal and property search site Propsmart are expected to go [...]

Point2 Technologies partners with online classifieds search engine Inman News Point2 Technologies and Oodle today announced that development work on a real estate data feed from Point2Homes.com to Oodle Real Estate has been completed, and that the feed is [...]

WIS10 News, Columbia, SC. (Also featured in Charlotte Post) (ARA) – Not so long ago, housing inventories were turning over so fast you had to pretty much put a bid on the home of your [...]

Murray Lyons [...]

Blanche Evans Realty Times It’s natural for individuals to bond together to form a larger, more important union. That’s why our government protects institutions from marriage to corporations. But what does it mean when MLSs merge? Is there more [...]

A new online forum gives buyers some insider insights from the soon-to-depart owners Lew Sichelman United Feature Syndicate Los [...]

Globe and Mail Update Vancouver-based Point2 Technologies Inc. has announced that Shutterfly Inc., of Redwood City, Calif., has signed a licensing agreement for patented Point2 technology in the field of formatting, resizing and storing of image data and photos on a [...]

System allows selective opt-in, opt-out based on agent, broker preference Glen Roberts Inman News Forget about IDX, VOW, ILD and even MLS for a moment. An online system created by a Canadian real estate technology company allows [...]

Online services take local search to a new levelNovember 16, 2005 Glen Roberts Jr.Inman News Neighborhoods are taking shape online as Internet companies expand the capabilities of local search. Neighborhood-specific searches allow users to move beyond the typical geographic parameters of city or ZIP code to find relevant matches, though defining neighborhood names and boundaries can be an [...]

Saskatoon-based firm impresses Microsoft with Internet innovationErin Morrison, Saskatchewan News Network Regina Leader Post/ Re-printed in Saskatoon Star PhoenixSaskatoon Star Phoenix [PDF]Regina Leader Post [PDF]

Real Estate Technology Insight Matthew Smith, Editor One of the biggest deal-breakers in the real estate business is outdated online listing information. The problem is rampant, according to Larry Stewart, RE/MAX Saskatoon broker and franchise owner in Saskatchewan, Canada. “The biggest [...]

REAL Trends Volume XIV, Number 10 [PDF] (Point2 Technologies featured on Page 7)

Inman News By Janice Mara Point2 Realty Solutions, a Canadian company whose software enables agents to [...]

Tuesday, February 24, 2004 – Inman News Brendan King, COO of Point 2 Realty Solutions in [...]

A Saskatoon company whose software quickly dominated online heavy equipment auctions has successfully launched software its leadership [...]