I really enjoyed many aspects of the NAR Convention this past November. For one, the Las Vegas venue was excellent for this event. The exhibits and exhibitors were great; I was amazed at the fantastic vendor turnout given what a real estate year we have just had.
My one disappointment was with the NAR MLS Committees! In my humble opinion they remain out of touch with this millenium! They spent the last year working on this agenda item to protect the MLS name . . . but that horse left the barn decades ago.
They also worked on . . . and passed a measure that allows your local board to "pull the plug" on all of your brokerage listings in the event that even one licensee fails to make a timely status change to his/her listing. Of course, adoption by locals boards is voluntary . . . for now! That literally means that my local board could immediately de-list over 3000 of my company's listings over such a violation. Isn't that consumer friendly!
Again, the NAR level MLS groups have worked two years on a national MLS Gateway. Oh, but the term MLS was removed right in the middle of the discussion at the NAR Convention once everyone realized that this effort was no longer moving in that direction. In fact, the so-called Gateway will be primarily a consumer driven database. Meanwhile, there was no prototype database to show anyone and no real clarity on where this is headed or when! That leave the door wide open for Point2NLS, Trulia, Zillow, etc. to build a national MLS database long before NAR can pull it together.
We seriously need the entire population of Realtors represented by their local boards, state associations, and certainly at NAR. We need a cross-section of younger as well as newer Realtors as state and national representatives. How else are we going to address their concerns or reach the younger generation of buyers and sellers with the technology, products, and service they demand?
The first step is easy! If you have any time in your schedule at all . . . please consider joining one committee (any committee) at your own local board and simply get involved. Why? Well, because if these national committees are really out of touch . . . it's our fault for not getting more involved and making our opinions and ideas heard!
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