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There are many challenging issues facing real estate agents, brokers and, in turn, MLSs and local, state and national Associations, including:
- Inefficiencies and expense from disparate rules and standards among MLSs, especially as agents and brokers continue to expand the markets they serve across MLS service areas.
- Legal challenges regarding advertising permission policies.
- Use of MLS data by lead generation companies to sell leads back to agents and brokers.
- Consumer access to listing data.
- Competitor access to listing data, and use of such data for advertising purposes.
- Innovation and competition in listing services and software.
- How and when do agents engage consumers on the web while complying with agency disclosure and representation rules?
- Should there be an offer of compensation? What form should it take?
- Who runs and owns the MLS?
- And many more.
A question is whether some of these issues can or should be addressed in a united fashion to provide guidance to local MLSs while allowing them to enhance the value they provide their members, who, in turn, can provide more value to consumers.
- Should MLSs unite to create a federated entity to foster cooperation?
- How should such an organization be formed?
- How should such an organization be run?
- What powers should it have?
- Who can join?
These basic organizational issues impact:
- Standard MLS rules and enforcement.
- Standard data formats.
- Data sharing among MLSs, with the public . With each other, with members' clients, and with the public. Who are the members of the MLS?
- Advertising, syndication, choices, control.
- Confidentiality of specified data.
- Security, compliance with consumer laws, protection of contact and other private data.
- Offers of compensation.
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I would hope the nearly 1.36 million realtors would each post a message regarding a unified MLS. It would be to our advantage. By having a larger number of individuals participate, the cost should go down and it would take the local MLS out of the hands of Local Brokers who sit on the board of directors and set prices high to keep other independent companies out. The best thing that could ever happen in this country would be to get the government out of our business so we can start making money again.
As a consumer and not a real-estate professional I think the entire view of the MLS system is a bit backwards.
The MLS listing on my property should be mine, should be controlled by me (or someone I authorize) and I should decide who can and can't see information in it. The MLS system should be consumer driven, it's what benefits the consumer.
At it's core the MLS (from a consumer perspective) is marketing data for the house I'm trying to sell - making that proprietary, convoluted, hard to access, restricted, etc. is in direct conflict with what the consumer is trying to do - namely get their property in front of as many eyes as possible. The Realtor is someone the consumer hired to help with that sale... it's not "their listing".
I believe that's the fundamental thing that's broken with the current MLS system (and industry in general) and, if not changed, will be "fixed" by Redfins, Zillows, etc. in the next few years. A "Google" level player of this data will eventually emerge and I don't believe it will be NAS unless they embrace this idea.