7 MLSs agree to share, exchange data
Group of Northern California MLSs forge regional ties
By Glenn Roberts Jr., Monday, September 15, 2008.Seven Northern California multiple listing services are joining forces to establish a data sharing and exchange system for their 70,000 members that will eliminate the need to join several MLSs within the network.
The agreement will allow a broker member of any one of the MLSs to access, download and display information from all of the other MLSs. The new sharing and exchange system is expected to be completed within the first quarter of 2009.
Tricia Thomas, CEO for the Bay East Association of Realtors, said new system will allow MLS members to search within all of the participating MLSs for property information, to enter listing information for a property at the most appropriate MLS, and to update and maintain that listing information. The arrangement will eliminate the need to enter duplicate information about a property in multiple MLSs.
Thomas said there are a lot of agents who work in many MLS areas in the region, so the new arrangement makes sense for members.
And while MLS rules are generally similar in the region, Thomas said there are some unique business practices -- "some of us are representing listings for houseboats," she said, and "some represent ag land."
To resolve any discrepancies, the prevailing rule for a property listing will be that of the MLS in which the individual listing is placed, she said.
The new regional data sharing and exchange arrangement does not have a public component and is intended for MLS participants, though Thomas said that brokers could choose to display property information shared by members of all seven MLSs on a Web site.
Participating MLSs will continue to use their current vendors, and Thomas said the intent at her MLS is to launch the new capabilities at no charge for its 6,400 subscribers.
The Bay East Association of Realtors MLS, Contra Costa Association of Realtors MLS, East Bay Regional Data Inc., MLSListings Inc., San Francisco Association of Realtors, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services Inc. and MetroList Services Inc. are participating in the sharing and exchange arrangement -- several of the MLSs have already been engaged in other collaborative efforts.
The San Francisco Association of Realtors, Bay Area Real Estate Information Services Inc. and MetroList Services Inc. have been involved in a reciprocal data-access system for members called Quattro, for example, and MLSListings Inc. was created last year through the consolidation of two MLSs -- other MLSs in the region have considered whether to join this consolidation.
Several members of the seven-MLS effort are also a part of MLSAlliance, a data-sharing effort with MLS members in Northern California and Southern California that offers a search engine for all participants.
Thomas said there is no formal governance for the seven-MLS effort and all participating MLSs will continue to operate autonomously.
Meanwhile, CALMLS, an effort sparked by the California Association of Realtors, is pursuing a statewide property information database that could evolve as a statewide MLS system.
Thomas noted that her association has expressed support for the CALMLS concept and the participation in the sharing and exchange effort "is not incompatible with support for the statewide initiative."
The seven-MLS effort, she said, "Is historic for the level of cooperation we all have and it's putting aside whatever special interests we might have."
In addition to the CALMLS initiative, Quattro, MLSAlliance and the seven-MLS sharing and exchange agreement within California, there is another effort dubbed CARETS -- initiated by a group of MLSs in Southern California -- that is working to standardize data definitions and rules for participating MLSs. And there are many other examples of data-sharing and other MLS collaborative agreements and consolidations across the country.
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Submitted by Shuki Haiminis on September 16, 2008 - 2:47am.
Sharing and exchanging data across any mls ultimatley will help the mls subscribers and their clients. This wasa good move and I applaud their efforts and urge others to take a look at consolidating and joinging together mls boards across the country.
Submitted by Jodi Bakst on September 16, 2008 - 6:56am.
I am so glad to read this post. It is excellent news and another example of how California is a trend setting state. I have long felt and argued that if you are licensed in a particular State you should be able to practice real estate anywhere within the legal boundaries of that State. I look forward to hearing how things work in the future. Please keep posting on this topic.
Jodi Bakst, Team Jodi, Chapel Hill, NC, www.TeamJodi.com
Submitted by David Faudman on September 16, 2008 - 7:01am.
Congratulations to all the Quattro members, both new and previous. This is excellent work and makes total sense for brokerages, agents and their clients. Hopefully, Quattro will bring third party vendors, like CleanOffer, into the fold too.
David Faudman, CEO
CleanOffer, Inc.
http://blog.cleanoffer.com
Submitted by Brad Garbutt on September 16, 2008 - 7:25am.
I have watched this unfold during the last 10 years as a state director with CAR. This would have happened sooner if brokers were not so focused on protecting their "territories". "Statewide" MLS was a dirty word for years until threats from internet giants like Zillow and Trulia forced agents to rethink protecting their market areas from, heaven forbid, an agent from outside the area selling one of their listings. I believe there was a power struggle going on behind the scenes as vendors tried to push for regionalization of MLS's instead of one vendor being awarded the sole contract for a statewide MLS.
Submitted by Jeff Manson on September 16, 2008 - 7:53am.
Yes, they are finally starting to get it! The sooner all these boards start sharing their data the better for involved. Having 50 mls boards would be a good start compared to the mess that we have now.
Jeff Manson
American Dream Realty
Oahu real estate agent
Hawaii real estate search
Submitted by Raj Cee on September 16, 2008 - 8:33am.
If you're a broker who's paying dues across 5 or 6 of these Offices what is your recourse of action?
http://neighborcity.com
Submitted by Michael Espiritu on September 16, 2008 - 10:07am.
CARETS has 5 participating MLS organizations and will be up and running fully by October 1, 2008. I believe the desert areas and the San Diego area will want to join when they see the benefit of one MLS for their members.how seamless it is to use and the amount of data available.
CARETS differentiates itself from others by the following:
-One system to add listings
-One system to search for listings
-One system to learn
-One set of Rules and Regulations
-One set of data violations
-One set of enforcement rules
The benefit of CARETS is that the agents will have more listings, more data, more searchable choices in one system.
Carets is comprised of 5 MLS organizations and 27 Associations of Realtors.
As a broker who must join many MLs organizations I see nothing but upside to the cost savings, and the access to the data has obvious added value.
Congrats to the Bay Area and I think there will be cooperation to move in the right direction regarding a ststewide MLS.
The other important thing to remember is that the the CALMLS is not the only show in town
and that CARETS is a viable alternative and offers a choice and enables members to pick which system is better for them.
Michael Espiritu
Broker
Copeland Wealth Management/CWM Real Estate
Director-
East Valley Association of Realtors
Multi-Regional Multiple Listing Service MLS Operations
SoCal
Submitted by Miss L.S. on September 17, 2008 - 8:53am.
@Raj - If you're a member of more than one MLS that is participating in the Quattro effort, you can cancel your memberships in all "duplicate" MLSs systems, and only pay dues to one MLS.
Also, I believe that the membership fees are NOT rising in most of the participating MLS's.
The thing to conquer now is the lockbox access/keysharing, which is the biggest blocking point in any agreement....
With Quattro each MLS keeps their own operating structure, staff and rules, so no messy "mergers" needed!
Submitted by Justin Britt on October 1, 2008 - 5:24pm.
Glad to see some MLS companies taking the plunge
--
Justin Britt
Head-Web-Head
Hawaii Life Real Estate Services, LLC
Honolulu real estate | Real Estate Marketing