Kurland Realty’s founder, Kevin Kurland, has started a new firm, offering his take on the 100 percent commission model.

The new venture, known as Spire Group, launched this past Saturday, Jan. 1, said Kurland, who started the boutique firm Kurland Realty in 1997.

Rather than splitting their commission checks with the firm, Spire agents will keep all of their commissions, but pay “agent dues” of $495 per month, he said. In exchange, they get access to the firm’s listings, website (which operates as a virtual office website, or VOW) and other resources. [more]

Dottie Herman

After some delay, the new, $1 million Prudential Douglas Elliman
website is up and running, the firm announced today. The beta version of the
site, which includes a Virtual Office Website or “VOW,” encompasses
Elliman’s listings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, including
the Hamptons, plus those of o [more]

Dottie Herman

After some delay, the new, $1 million Prudential Douglas Elliman
website is up and running, the firm announced today. The beta version of the
site, which includes a Virtual Office Website or “VOW,” encompasses
Elliman’s listings in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, including
the Hamptons, plus those of o [more]

From left: Dottie Herman of Elliman, Frederick Peters of Warburg, and Matt Daimler of Buyfolio.com

While it’s true that most brokers can’t read minds, with a VOW they can come pretty close.

Real estate pros say that VOWs, also known as “Virtual Office Web sites,” can give agents a backstage pass to their clients’ predilections. VOWs allow buyers to view an agent’s listings — and those belonging to other brokerages — all on the same Web page.

But VOWs present serious invasion of privacy issues and as a result can be a real turn-off to homebuyers, critics say.

VOWs can track your buying behaviors. For example, if a buyer tells a broker that she has a budget of $1.2 million, but the broker sees the buyer checking out $1.5 million listings on the company’s VOW, the broker could potentially push the buyer to make a larger purchase than she had talked about. [more]

Anthony Longo (insert) the CEO of CondoDomain, and a screengrab from the site (Click image for larger version)

New York City is getting a new VOW-based brokerage company, in what may soon become a flood of companies taking advantage of the new technology.
Boston-based CondoDomain, a Web-based discount real estate brokerage, is now a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and offers a VOW, or virtual office Web site. That means that customers who log onto CondoDomain’s New York site can browse through all of the listings in REBNY’s database.

CondoDomain founder and CEO Anthony Longo told The Real Deal that the appearance of VOWs in New York City has opened the floodgates for new companies like his to penetrate the lucrative New York City market.

“The VOW will lay the groundwork for companies like ours to come in and compete,” said Longo, who has had his eye on the New York market for years. [more]

Listing information provider On-Line Residential has joined the VOW fray, this week introducing its new software product for brokerages to adopt virtual office Web site, or VOW, capabilities. A VOW allows consumers the chance to view all industry listings in the Real Estate Board of New York database on one Web site, a strategy now being adopted by many of the city’s leading real estate firms, including Halstead Property, Prudential Douglas Elliman and A.C. Lawrence. OLR’s version of the VOW is particularly aimed at smaller brokerages who want to give their customers comprehensive search experience while maintaining their loyalty. “Essentially, it’s a Web site within a Web site but the VOW will maintain the brand image of the firm by incorporating the firm’s logo, banners and footers, color scheme and font choices,” said Jonathan Greenspan, OLR’s president and founder. “We felt that it was very important for the consumer to feel that he/she was still working on the same Web site and not being sent somewhere else.” REBNY approved the software last week, and more than 40 firms — ranging from one-person agencies to some of the city’s largest firms — have already committed to adopting the new product, Greenspan said. TRD

Stephen Kotler of Prudential Douglas Elliman

Prudential Douglas Elliman gave The Real Deal an update on its new Web site, which will include VOW capabilities and track listings’ price changes. Elliman has spent a year and more than $1 million developing the new Web platform, which is slated to launch the first week of April, according to Stephen Kotler, an executive vice president at the company. The redesigned site will include a virtual office Web site, or VOW, that allows customers to see not only Elliman’s listings, but all of the properties for sale in the markets where Elliman has offices: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Hamptons, and Long Island. Kotler, who is overseeing the launch of the new site, said the fact that Elliman’s VOW capabilities extend to markets outside New York City will set it apart from other brokerage Web sites. “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” “What will make ours stand out is the fact that it’s not just Manhattan,” he said. “There’s nobody in the marketplace that is going to deliver all the [region’s] listings in one place.” TRD gets dirt on Elliman’s new $1M Web site” class=”read-more-link”>[more]

Matt Daimler, a technology wiz with little background in real estate, thinks he can solve some of the most vexing problems in New York City residential sales today.

His new site, Buyfolio.com, which launched Tuesday, allows buyers and brokers to communicate through a single Web page. After seeing listings on sites like Streeteasy.com and the NYTimes.com — or even brokerage sites like Corcoran.com and PrudentialElliman.com — users can save the listing to their personalized Buyfolio.com page and evaluate, compare, and organize them.

Both brokers and clients are welcome to launch pages — for free, for now — and no registration is required. When a listing changes in price or status, or it will be having an open house, the user is notified via e-mail, something Daimler said could eliminate the need to incessantly check listings on their home sites. Also, a broker can use the site to monitor his or her clients. Although the site is exclusively for residential sales in the five boroughs right now, Daimler said he’d be open to other listings, like commercial properties, in the future. [more]

The Real Deal had a contingent of reporters and editors at the New York Hilton for the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual banquet and awards ceremony (click here to see an article on the event). The Real Deal’s Web editor Lauren Elkies interviewed a slew of real estate bigwigs from Bill Rudin of Rudin Management — who said Jonathan Mechanic of Fried, Frank (who The Real Deal also spoke to) is “the real deal” — to Bruce Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield — who said he loves The Real Deal, to Frederick Peters of Warburg Realty — who said “Virtual Office Web sites,” or VOWS, “will ultimately be insignificant.” [more]

A.C. Lawrence will be launching a VOW, or “Virtual Office Web site,” which will allow users to browse all of the industry’s listings without leaving the A.C. Lawrence Web site.
The company plans to launch the site by the end of the week, pending approval from the Real Estate Board of New York. The Manhattan-based firm will implement its VOW company-wide, rather than by agent only, making it the first to do so in New York City, according to Antonio del Rosario, president of the sales division at the nearly 40-agent firm. A VOW provides an opportunity for the boutique residential firm to keep apace with its larger rivals, del Rosario told The Real Deal. “It’s really a no-brainer… the virtual office Web site levels the playing field for all the firms,” he said. The VOW approach is still a relatively new innovation in New York City, following a recent settlement between the Department of Justice and the National Association of Realtors. Under the terms of the settlement, REBNY is required by law to provide these listings directly to VOWs who are REBNY members, provided they agree to certain guidelines and pay a fee for an audit by REBNY. Last summer, online firm CBS 2 Real Estate Market, launched the first VOW in Manhattan. By December, Halstead Property had joined the trend, making it the first of the city’s major brick and mortar firms to do so. [more]