Bring down the MLS data walls
Letter to the Editor
By Inman News, Friday, June 12, 2009.Re: 'It's time for MLS consolidation' (June 11)
Dear Editor:
After reading the article by Amanda Adams about having an integrated or standard multiple listing service, I wanted to also echo the need for this. We are in a world where information is vast, cheap, and the lack of openness and the unwillingness to provide information is seen as a sign of having something to hide.
The truth is, much of what anyone would ever want to know about a property is already available at the touch of their fingertips, whether it's a property profile, sale history, comparables and nearby sold listings, amount owed, and what it looks like (using Google Street View) without ever having to pick up the phone to call an agent. So agents need to understand that in order to be successful in today's world, it's no longer about having more information than your clients.
And as the authoritative source of all the data, why not be the most reliable provider of information, demonstrate transparency, and understand that service, integrity and follow-through is what is going to earn you the business?
At the same time, eliminate the opportunity for someone else to manipulate buyers' and sellers' perceptions. The truth is, for the National Association of Realtors to survive and thrive and to provide what's important to its clients (agents), this has to be a top initiative and it has to be implemented well and FAST!
Ingrid Yen
Realtor and information technology professional
Coldwell Banker
South San Francisco, Calif.
***
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Submitted by Amanda Adams on June 12, 2009 - 7:45am.
Very well put. And I would like to add that my essay was in no way demanding that all MLSs join statewide or regional systems. There are a lot of larger MLSs and datashares already occuring within my home state of California, and I think they are all doing great. I just feel that there is more work to be done on a larger level.
Submitted by Kristin Noll-Marsh on June 12, 2009 - 1:02pm.
What does MLS consolidation have to do with opening up MLS to the public? They are two separate issues.
I'm in a large, metro MLS in southeastern Wisconsin. Why would I need to access the MLS 6 hours away in Northwest Wisconsin? Or in Minnesota or New York, for that matter? If I need active listings there, so some weird reason, I can go to Realtor.com and see what is available that way.
However, I do agree that NAR needs to start requiring MLS's to provide more information to the public. The archaic theory that less info makes them call agents is completely backwards. Less info just makes them go to sites like Zillow and Trulia! Realtor.com should start posting info like those sites (with the exception of estimated worth like "Zestimates") and be the ultimate "go to" site. Once they start displaying the details like DOM, sold prices, assessments, google street view, estimated proceeds, etc. nationally, local MLS will have no reason to bar agents/brokers from displaying the same info on their local sites. (My local MLS doesn't allow "sold" info to be publically displayed.)
Some web site developers are perpetuating this "hide the info" idea to ignorant agents, as well. I just had a debate with a real estate web provider about requiring sign-in for basic IDX access. He insists "it works to capture leads" and I insisted I've tried it both ways and all it does is send them to the MLS site, local broker sites or Realtor.com - which doesn't require sign-in.
Buyers and sellers want to see all of the information they can get - actives, solds, DOM, etc. I say, "Let's give it to them!" Why? Because just having the information doesn't give you power - it gives you information overload. The skill and knowledge of what to DO with the information is what gives you power.
http://bestmilwaukeehomes.com
http://blog.bestmilwaukeehomes.com
Submitted by Braxton Beyer on June 13, 2009 - 7:56am.
Well put. NAR needs to adapt or die.
Braxton Beyer, Your Austin Realtor
Submitted by Terry Edger on June 13, 2009 - 5:12pm.
What wall is that. Google any city in the Country and you can find listings and agents ready to help you.
I live in a resort community and almost every day some one walks into our office wanting to tour properties they've seen on the internet...Oh and by the way I'm working with my REALTOR. (Who happens to live five hours away)
This is a service industry not a catalog store.
Submitted by Terry Edger on June 13, 2009 - 5:27pm.
Let the NAR die. Their service is over-priced and underserved.
Submitted by Gabriel Gross on June 14, 2009 - 7:00am.
MLS consolidation and reform would also benefit the realtor community indirectly: by making it easier for idx providers to develop innovative products. As it is today, with some 1500 MLSs in the country, no service provider (except Realtor.com) can scale their business efficiently because every MLS has different licensing, fees, reporting requirements and data feeds. Therefore, instead of spending resources for software development and marketing, idx providers have to spend a significant part of their revenues for overhead. Given the low service prices that prevail in the real estate industry for such services as websites, search tools, etc, the result is that innovation is difficult and good products can't be made available nationally.
MLS consolidation would also save a good amount of money - MLSs now run each their own servers, and must employ personnel for technical and customer support. There is no technical reason why all this could not be consolidated. Just consolidating servers into one server farm would save some $50 Million a year, not including personal and energy costs.
It is easy to see that the NAR is now a promoter of monopoly, and their mantra seems to be "divide and rule"
Submitted by Robert A. Hulme on June 14, 2009 - 7:07am.
Consolidation of the MLS will happen sometime soon. These moves are important for Realtor success in the future. The consumer is the one who will win and I am all for that.
As for the NAR, we desperately need them, NAR is one of the largest and most successful lobbyist groups in the U.S.A. and will continue to help each one of us be successful.
Robert A. Hulme
Realtor, GRI, e-PRO
Utah Select Realty
Loan Officer
Mortgage Xpress
www.UtahCountyHomes.ws
www.UtahCountyRealEstate.us
Submitted by Jeff Manson on June 14, 2009 - 9:55am.
I agree NAR is good a good lobbyist group, but they sure get in the way of agents a lot :-( The very people they claim to be helping and are collecting fees. Maybe if they got some ne w young blood running it instead of the backward thinking dinosaurs that are running it now.
Jeff Manson
Oahu - American Dream Realty
Submitted by Jerzy (George) Szkup on June 28, 2009 - 6:36am.
George Szkup
www.DestinationTucson.biz
Why not to expend Realtor.com and make it more like typical MLS?
As far as consolidation is concerned - I work in Tucson AZ and have very little interest in properties in Manhattan but I certainly would like to do a search in Green Valley and Sierra Vista and, may be, in Phoenix?
George from Tucson
http://www.DestinationTucson.biz