11 Realtors Property Resource Questions With HAR President
Posted in Technology, Tools and Tidbits By Justin Britt, Monday, February 15, 2010.I recently spoke with HAR (Hawaii Association of Realtors) President Tracy Stice about whether or not Realtors Property Resource (RPR) will be a game changer in the real estate industry:
http://tinyurl.com/rpr-zillow
If you read the article you know that our conversation was cut short--right after Tracy announced that one large MLS had already signed a letter of intent to participate.
Well, I got back in the office on Monday and the first thing I did was corner Tracy to ask him the questions that had been running through my mind all weekend.
Justin: Tell me why your so excited about RPR?
Tracy: Well, 1st off it’s 100% Realtor owned and accessed.
Will it be available to the public?
At this time, it’s not a publicly available site.
What will the RPR site contain?
The information on the site will be a parcel specific archive that includes all public records available in one resource: deeds, conveyances, sales data, building permit info, floor plans, covenants and restrictions, actual recorded financial documents.
Anything about a property (historical data) including photos will be available free to Realtor members (NAR members only).
What role will Multiple Listing Services play?
It’s designed to accept a direct feed from Multiple Listings Services. In order to participate the MLS will have to be RETS compliant.
Well then I have nothing to worry about, at least here in Hawaii, right?
(Tracy laughs) Well most MLS's in Hawaii are RETS compliant, and all will be eventually.
Whose paying for RPR?
It's payed for through reserves being held by the NAR.
I can see this would add lots of value to an NAR membership.
Yes, and this is potentially a huge cost saver for Realtors and brokers.
Can you share RPR data with clients?
On an individual property basis you would be expected to do that if you had a client relationship. Realtors are held to the highest standards possible in the courts. If information on a property was available then Realtors have the obligation to present that information to our clients.
OK, now the real estate entrepreneur in me who's been quietly waiting in the background needs to ask...would brokerages be able to display this data through their websites to clients with signed buyers or sellers rep agreement?
No, Highly secured site for Realtors only.
When will it be available?
Projection dates are by June 2010 and possibly sooner.
OK, last question, if people over at Inman have additional questions about RPR will you be available to answer them?
No problem, but next time you can just send an email, you don't have to fly to Maui.
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Submitted by Joe Cline on February 16, 2010 - 12:32pm.
Questions...
>>> Will it be available to the public?
>>> At this time, it’s not a publicly available site.
So at some time it might be??
>>> Whose paying for RPR?
>>> It's payed for through reserves being held by the NAR.
So it's being paid for by members, but it's free?
>>> I can see this would add lots of value to an NAR membership.
>>> Yes, and this is potentially a huge cost saver for Realtors and brokers.
What does it save costs on? Public records are publicly available here in Texas. I can get tax data online, school data all over, parcels, flood, easement, and other data in GIS systems, and they are all provided by the government. FREE.
This RPR thing just doesn't seem like an effective use of resources. I wrote a longer post about it on my http://www.affinityproperties.com/wordpress/ blog if you're interested in one REALTOR's questions about the usefulness of such a product.
Joe
Submitted by Justin Britt on February 16, 2010 - 5:52pm.
@Joe - I think I can answer these questions without Tracy.
1) No, there are no plans to make it public.
2) You will not pay any additional fees for RPR. It does come out of the reserves, and yes this money could be spent on something else. But it is FREE to Realtors.
3) We do NOT get this type of information online in Hawaii, and I'm sure other states don't either. You are very fortunate and I'm sure you can see the value in having online access to that data. However, if RPR is not developed, a private company will begin to provide this data in locations where the government does not have it for free...and they will charge for this service. Hence the potential cost savings.
Joe, it sounds like in Texas this wouldn't be as valuable as in other areas. But we have to remember that NAR servers states other then Texas.
Nice blog by the way. Great content.
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Justin Britt
Head-Web-Head
Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, LLC