{"id":3192,"date":"2014-11-12T15:56:24","date_gmt":"2014-11-12T22:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realuoso.com\/?p=3192"},"modified":"2015-07-22T19:10:09","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T02:10:09","slug":"nerdy-nar-board-decision-mls-matters-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/editorials\/nerdy-nar-board-decision-mls-matters-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Why a nerdy NAR Board decision on MLS matters to all of us"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the Realtor population was all abuzz this week about the National Association of Realtors Board of Directors\u2019 announcement that they\u2019re creating a Code of Excellence initiative<\/a> in order to \u201craise the bar\u201d in our industry, a perhaps more important (yet much more boring) announcement was glossed over by most and received little attention. <\/p>\n

Most likely only the nerdiest of the real estate tech nerds – those who truly understand listing syndication, IDX and the MLS system – focused on these mandated MLS policy changes that shift the purpose and meaning of the MLS system.<\/p>\n

Time for a Grand Conversation on the MLS<\/h3>\n

In \u201cIt\u2019s Time for a Grand Converstation on the MLS<\/a>,\u201d blogger Rob Hahn devoted over 3,000 words this week in a post about just how monumental this shift is and how the original purpose of the system may finally be adapting to the modern tech age. <\/p>\n

Hahn\u2019s article is detailed and tedious, and links to an even longer line-by-line description of the policy changes by Andrea Brambila<\/a>, but it\u2019s worth reading and digesting both of these pieces to understand Hahn\u2019s premise that the old purpose of the MLS system (according to NAR: a \u201cprivate offer of cooperation and compensation<\/a> by listing brokers to other real estate brokers\u201d) is evolving to allow brokers to better compete with internet portals and generate leads for its participants.<\/p>\n

Changes that support this point<\/h3>\n

The board voted for several changes that support Hahn\u2019s point. First<\/em>, MLSs were ordered to allow sold data to be provided on broker sites (as long as that data is publicly available). Zillow and other portals already pull this information and provide it to the public. This will allow broker sites to stand toe-to-toe in providing the same data the public is already hungry for.<\/p>\n

Second<\/em>, the board ordered MLSs to refresh their data every 12 hours, not every 3 days. (Okay, big facepalm on this one – why do we have to mandate this anyway?). If we want to assert our broker sites and public MLS sites are the providers of the most accurate data, why not have realtime data available?<\/p>\n

Third<\/em>, the board allowed brokers to co-mingle searches pulled from various MLS systems into one search. I, for example, belong to two MLS systems and provide two different search portals on my site. Sometimes consumers search on both MLS systems to make sure they are truly picking up every house available in the MLS. On Trulia, Zillow, and Realtor.com it is a single search that pulls up every listing. Again, this move makes the search easier on the broker site, and puts its participants sites on par with the big portals.<\/p>\n

Core values are changing<\/h3>\n

Hahn\u2019s piece states that less than a decade ago, the MLS system was considered a purely business-to-business venture. Brokers shared listing information and offered to share commissions in exchange for cooperation amongst participants. We used the system to help our clients buy and sell property. In 2014 there are over 800 MLS systems serving the Realtor population, and their role is not just to offer B2B services, but also B2C services.<\/p>\n

By allowing members of \u201cthe club\u201d to show sold data on their brokerage sites, making searches easier for the consumer, and helping brokers compete against the big portals, the MLS system acknowledges lead generation is now a core value it can offer its brokers. As a broker, it seems to me a logical evolution that – if anything – is better late than never. Brokers who want to keep information behind a firewall of secrecy have their heads in the sand. The data is out there. <\/p>\n

Savvy buyers and sellers sometimes know more about a particular property than their agents might. They can look up sold data, mortgages, tax information and other previously \u201cpersonal\u201d information with a few keystrokes. <\/p>\n

Trying to be the gatekeepers of the data is a losing proposition<\/h3>\n

These changes by the board are positive steps in the right direction, in my opinion. Now if we could just figure out how NAR is ever going to enforce a Code of Excellence<\/a> that will \u00a0\u201cfocus the attention of REALTORS\u00ae on key issues, such as data protection, property rights, community involvement, and proficiency with technology\u201d then it would be a pretty good week overall. (Seriously, what does that line even mean? But that\u2019s another editorial.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nerdy MLS news may feel over your head, but it’s not, and it must be paid attention to. At the NAR convention, a big change was made that you must know about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335861,"featured_media":3193,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[254,264],"tags":[99,100,332],"class_list":["post-3192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-real-estate-technology","tag-breaking-news","tag-hot-stories","tag-mls"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/11\/nerdy-mls-stuff.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335861"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3192"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4587,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3192\/revisions\/4587"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}