BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Bruce Gardner, a real estate practitioner with Keller Williams and a member of the board at Metrolist. Bruce, welcome to the show.
Bruce Gardner: Thanks Dan.
BrokerIPTV: Thanks for being here. Metrolist obviously has spent an enormous amount of time and effort in Prime Access and getting up to being very Web 2.0 these days for people in the real estate business and so forth. Talk a little bit about how that is going.
Bruce Gardner: Well, the way we see it is that Prime Access will be the central point of our vision for the future. Web 2.0 concepts are about interactivity between users of the system and we see Prime Access as the heartbeat of that interactivity.
BrokerIPTV: Now, we have got a lot of different tools that are very Web 2.0 for people whether you are talking about documents online or whether it is online management or you can upload disclosures and so forth. Talk about some of those different features.
Bruce Gardner: We have a number of features that are coming online, but the key concept for us Dan is that we see the MLS of the future as the heartbeat of the real estate transaction. So, what our company, Metrolist, wants to do is be more involved with the transaction life cycle, be involved from more in the beginning to more at the end and step beyond just the data entry or database system.
BrokerIPTV: And you are talking about incorporating what, the title company in there, the mortgage company, how would that all work?
Bruce Gardner: Again, the vision for the future of MetroList is to tie all of the players in the transaction together, so that the realtor can do a single point of entry with the information on the property, the other components of the transaction can access that information through the MLS system, and work on a single platform, which will allow each of these players to be more efficient and more effective.
BrokerIPTV: What has the response been to a lot of these different features?
Bruce Gardner: We have had overwhelmingly positive response. Everyone seems to really like the new tools and the new direction of our company.
BrokerIPTV: I know a lot of realtors are kind of resistance against change. I actually have a couple of realtors in my office who are still using the really old system, before the standard www.mymls.com. Are people starting to move over from mymls to Prime Access?
Bruce Gardner: Well, it is a good question, because I don't think it is just realtors that are hesitant to change; I think it is people in general, but what we are really seeing is an adoption of the new Prime Access system and transition through, but keep in mind, Metrolist is one of the only companies in the country, MLS systems in the country, that offers this level of choice to their users. Our users have three different access methods to the MLS data, the old system, the current mymls, and the new platform called Prime Access. In addition to that, we have created interconnectivity so that our users can choose to use a front end software solution by a different vendor if they would rather do that too.
BrokerIPTV: Now the old, old access, is that going away?
Bruce Gardner: Well, eventually, it will; yes.
BrokerIPTV: Yeah and then eventually, everyone will phase from mymls into Prime Access?
Bruce Gardner: Absolutely.
BrokerIPTV: All right. Do you have a specific feature that you like the best?
Bruce Gardner: Well, the new features what I really enjoy is the Microsoft mapping feature, which allows us to really not only do a search based on the location, but then transition over to a satellite view. You can actually see the property from a satellite view, look at it on a 45 degree angle, and learn much more about the property than you would through a static database system.
BrokerIPTV: I like that as well, because when you pull up and you are searching for a home for a buyer and you have got all of your actives down there at the bottom, you are trying to see on the map how close in proximity they are to each other, so you don't have a drive all the way over here and a drive over here; if you see them all bunched, you are kind of happy and say, "Okay, we know where we are going." So, that is a favorite feature of mine. There is a lot of stuff that is in testing still from Metrolist and Prime Access to support the whole transaction lifestyle. Talk a little bit about that.
Bruce Gardner: Well, on the front end of the transaction, we are looking at integrating CRM customer relationship tools into the system, so a user can start to work with the data that is specific to a client and then connect it and marry it to a property that they end up wanting to buy. On the back end of the system, we are also looking at integrating... we already have integrated Instanet contract software, allows the user to do the contract online, manage that paperwork all the way through the transaction, and then store it after the transaction is closed indefinitely.
BrokerIPTV: Wow! That sounds great. Bruce, thanks. It is terrific information. Appreciate you being here.
Bruce Gardner: All right Dan. Thank you.
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