Caveat - I'm not in the real estate industry per-se but work as a programmer in real estate related spaces (namely ActiveRain.com although these ideas don't reflect on or imply ActiveRain's approval - I just work for them. I have nothing to gain [other than a weekly paycheck] by promoting/mentioning them here - just doing full disclosure. I'm not an owner, investor, etc. in ActiveRain). I would be interested in working with the industry to implement ideas put forth below.
Since many of the Realtors out there I've spoken with don't seem to understand what open-source is or how it could solve many of the issues in the real estate industry I'll try to layout how open source could resolve many of the Core Issues
Core to most open source projects is the idea that Information wants to be free. For information to be free the tools controlling that information must be of an open nature: no one owns the tools, has full control over them, etc. In an open source world you make your money on the services you offer, not on controlling the free flow of information (i.e. MLS listing fees) or access to that information (i.e. my competitors can't see this for arbitrary reasons that really only benefit me). It is to the advantage of those making money on the services to fund and develop the tools and the data. "Many hands make light work" is how open source projects work. The diverse nature of those working on the open system remove competitive problems.
Right off the bat an open source MLS system (backed by an open data format / repository) would likely solve the following Core Issues:
1) inefficiencies /expenses
2) legal permissions regarding advertising (this would not be a monetized system)
4) consumer access to MLS data
6) innovation of software
8) compensation
9) who runs and owns the MLS system
Missing from the Core Issues (from a consumers perspective) is the idea that the MLS listing isn't the Realtors/Brokers property but the consumers property. The consumer should be able to decide what is and isn't available to people viewing the data.
To start to address the other Core Issues (which I admit I might not fully understand, but am here to learn):
3)
Use of MLS data by lead generation companies to sell leads back to agents and brokers. I believe a more open system with more open data would remove this as an issue. With open access to the data a more efficient lead system would develop (something like ActiveRain's Referral Exchange but on a much larger scale)
5) Competitor access to listing data, and use of such data for advertising purposes. I see this as an industry problem related to "how do I remain the biggest fish in the tank?". I probably don't fully understand this issues around this point but they seem to be related to competitors calling up your clients and offering them better deals. Doesn't the contract you sign with your buyer/seller agent cover this?
7) How and when do agents engage consumers on the web while complying with agency disclosure and representation rules? I don't know - I don't understand this issue well enough. Example?
- Data Format
- Data Access rules
To tackle how that would work in an open source system would require a relatively detailed discussion of the MLS Data. I would propose starting a page that outlines the MLS Data and it's permission issues. In any case the governing body needs to be conflict free. In other words, they can't be governing something that they have a direct interest in, or you'll see the same issues pop up that exist in the current MLS systems namely the numerous anticompetitive rules.
The Data Access issues might be solved by a national registry of Realtors (does NAS solve/have this - do they have a webservice the supplies this type of data?) which would be used to determine access control rights and levels to data. In other words - the user access would be anonymous (consumer, public, etc.) or a NAS member... something along those lines. Again - I don't fully understand Access issues to MLS data but that's what I'm here to better understand.
I am a Realtor and you have managed to do an excellent job in analyzing the issue. The real estate industry as a whole has not fully accepted that we must morph into a "service" industry and away from a sales-oriented industry. But there is good news on that. There is a growing cadre of real estate professionals who see the light and are making the change.
I believe that if you stick with the gist of your blog, you will stay on the right track.
Item #3 in your article (the one about Realtors buying back leads generated with their stolen data) is a core issue that supports an Open MLS. Remember that our clients don't want or need us to be salespeople. They want us to be their service representative. If we are to sell anything, it will be - as you said in your blog - service, not homes. There is, therefore, no reason for us to withhold any property information for the public.
At first blush, your choice of the term Open Source MLS might appear contrary to the traditional MLS model, but the details of your proposal are really not much different than what exists today. First, real estate agents have voluntarily cooperated with each and self-funded the creation of MLS systems in order to share data with each other and the public. Second, as you suggest, the seller is and always has been in control of how and where the sale of their property is advertised. Often, sellers exercise this control by hiring a broker, but other times they don't. In either case, the seller remains in control and can direct the broker whether to put the listing in the MLS or not, and where to advertise the listing or not. So, the information is free already to the extent the question is control over where advertising occurs.
If what you're suggesting is that sellers should be able to put their information into the MLS system without hiring a broker, I agree that such a model would help aggregate the data more comprehensively (joining both for sale by owner and broker listings together) but it only works to the extent the brokers continue to get paid in some fashion or the system will cease to exist. In other words, the question you raise isn't whether the information is free (it is already) but whether the MLS system is free, which, by definition, it cannot be, because things like hardware, software, bandwidth, and people to manage it are not free. For the system to exist, those paying for it must make money for something, whether it is for advertising or services or whatever. So, how that is different than what exists already, I'm not sure.
I do think you've hit on some excellent points regarding "access control rights" and agree that "starting a page that outlines the MLS Data and it's permission issues" is a great idea. The web is changing the environment in which the seller makes the decision about whether and what broker to hire and is changing how listings are advertised and shared. Defining what that environment should look like is exactly what this wiki is about.
Great start to a very sensative topic - the 'big fish' comment is probably at the heart of the issue; personal egos aside the industry and the consumer will benefit from the more open system you cite.
I've written a couple of post at my blog about MLS2.0 you m,ay find interesting -
This one was prompted by a report at the Inman Connect -
http://stevengroves.typepad.com/stevengrovescom/2007/08/mls20---what-is.html
This one was a summary of the Inman 3 Series Article on the topic -
http://stevengroves.typepad.com/stevengrovescom/2007/08/mls20---inmans-.html
@Steven Groves: There are tons of models that would cover the costs of hosting a MLS system - targeted advertising being the most obvious (and most lucrative). Despite what MLS system vendors might be telling you guys, hosting web sites is pretty cheap and, given the data and "game changing nature" of opening this data up there are probably 100's of companies that would host this for free, no questions asked (Google comes to mind as does Craigslist). It's an open source system - it'd be maintained for free by definition.
The information isn't free already. In my years dealing with the web and it's data (around 15 years) MLS data is perhaps the most convoluted, restricted, backwards stuff out there. Hell, the stupid MLS system in WA even went so far as to create their own "barely works" PDF viewer software - I mean... that's so backwards it's amusing to anyone in the know. Show me where I can download the data from a MLS system and use it however I like? That doesn't exist, and that's the problem. The closest I can come to getting access to MLS data is write a bot to scrape some site like John L Scott ( http://www.johnlscott.com/SearchAdvanced.aspx ) which, while trivial, is also illegal.
>Show me where I can download the data from a MLS system and use it however I like?
Doesn't this statement conflict with your earlier statement that "The consumer should be able to decide what is and isn't available to people viewing the data"?
I presume by consumer you mean seller. Why should you or just anyone be able to download the data and do whatever you want with it without asking the seller's permission? If you were running a porn site and wanted to post listings on there, too, don't you think the seller should be able to say no to that?
Also, Google wouldn't host the site for free. Check out their terms of use some day. Google does a great job of making it seem like they are offering their services for free, but it most definitely is not.
I’m glad I found this article; I am a developer that has been working on this very same issue. I have actually developed a site that solves this issue. We have integrated a database platform that allows ANYONE to list there property on our site for free. We have bypassed the MLS and empowered the end user to take control of there data. The site allows Agents and for sales by owners to list there property on the site manually. We have created accounts for users to manage multiple listings and to log back into their accounts to modify or delete the listings. The reliability is the responsibility of the party listing the data. We hope to provide a service that allows a home buy a larger view of the market. A view that is not muddied by selective and controlling regulatory management systems that currently monopolize the real-estate industries data. We are fortunate to have a test market very very small which allows us to measure the reaction of the local industry. Unfortunately the local mls has directly confronted us and said “we do not see the need for two property listing sites in our area”. This statement is the quintessential mind set that has severely limited the potential of the real estate industry. Rather then stimulate competition and change the regulators of the data they horde it and keep the general public in the dark. We think this is wrong. Due to some current legal endeavors we apologize for the some what encrypted wording of our post. If you would like to visit the site please email me here and I would be happy to direct you our site. cloakendagger@hotmail.com ; Posting the link my jeopardize our legal affairs.
Thank you,
Just joined the realtor ranks for the technical sales ranks (internet application development).
When I think of an "open source mls", I think in terms of the actual code base. I do not think in about it being the complete disclosure of all information on the system to anyone who wants to look at it.
An example of why the latter is a bad idea…the owner's contact information is easily accessible. Can you imagine all of the use (and thus abuse) by spammers and sometimes scammers?
There are many other reasons for confidentiality of some of the information. There are many reasons for an open source MLS–just not complete, open, and unfettered access to all of the information in the database.