For years, the mantra has been that the Muliple Listing System is the one thing that we REALTORS can hold on to and should protect to protect our industry. Through many legal challenges, NAR has successfully fought off attacks from groups seeking to gain access and turn the MLS into a public search engine like Google or Yahoo. However, at the same time, much smarter outside companies have started niche marketing and creating their own multiple listing systems that are, in some ways, superior to what us REALTORS have access to and without the hassles.
Take for example RealtyTrac.com. I came upon this website a few years back and like everything, I was skeptical. They promised to keep me abreast of the foreclsures in the area as well as provide some foreclosure data. I'm getting ready to sign up for an account because this data is crucial and you can't find it in our MLS. Outside of their website, you'd spend days driving from courthouse to courthouse researching which homes are going under, auction times, etc. They do all that for you with some level of accuracy.
Now our local MLS could have chosen to provide this service and these types of stats but they haven't. I can assume that your local MLS didn't as well. Jump across the border to Rock Hill South Carolina and their MLS system does have a feature to reveal only foreclosed listings but only those listed with a realtor. Any frequent courthouse visitor knows that most of your deals come from the steps of the courthouse. So as a CIO's of our local business, a large portion of our markets are going under the radar simply because the local MLS's never figured out what RealtyTrac did.
Another aspect are For Sale By Owners. Now, I don't expect the MLS to pick up on these guys but there are certainly dozens of sites geared to allowing FSBO's to list for little or free. Most serve as a spring board to a limited service listing with an MLS listing. One company, Century 21, has even formed its own discount brokerage under its very name and targets FSBO's with its limited service program. I was shocked to see this but the lack of service provided usually results in expired and withdrawn listings.
Finally, there are the sheer numbers of MLS's out there. When I sold real estate in Maryland, every county had an Association of Realtors with their own forms and lockboxes. THANKFULLY, they atleast had the idea to form a Multi-state MLS system that is the largest in the United States; the MRIS. While I was a member of quite a few boards, the cost of joining was minimal compared to having multiple MLS's in an area. Travel anywhere and you have an MLS per county in some areas. These services aren't cheap at a couple hundred dollars a quarter. If you are a member of two, that can add up quick. Each one has their own rules, only philosophy, and nothing is the same even if the software is.
So while every BOR has managed to set up its own multiple listing service to for REALTORS to join, some outside companies have found a way to still find their way into the market place and become as relevant as the BOR and the MLS's. Just listen to any news report and they don't referrence board MLS stats but those of RealtyTrac. Hopefully going forward, the MLS's can learn from this oversight and find away to provide its members the data necessary to have a complete story on the market and the data to sell every home for sale.
Sincerely;
Jonathan Osman
The Charlotte House Hunter
Charlotte NC Homes, Charlotte Real Estate
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