What’s the future role of the MLS? That’s a tough question that MLSs must be ready to answer in short order.
Key point: “The next real estate disruption isn’t technology — it’s regulation of who controls the data.”
Is the answer to “Who Controls The Data” as elusive as has been the answer to the 5 decades old question “Who Pays the Commission?”- is it the Seller, the Buyer, or the Transaction itself.
There are those approaching the answer from the perspective of the SELLER’S CHOICE (marketing listings to accommodate seller needs) and those from the perspective of the BUYER’S CHOICE (database of facts to make informed decisions).
The MLS is built for cooperation among professionals representing sellers and buyers. Can the MLS service both sets of subscribers?
That’s a complex question that requires awareness of a number of topics in the Nomenclature list below, as well as from articles appearing in The Data Advocate (TDA).
One article suggested maximizing the MLS data’s value by using this structured approach:
- Collect – Mandatory submissions of data with limited time exceptions
- Protect – Safeguard data through copyright and licensing agreements.
- Curate & Control – Ensure data accuracy and prevent dilution.
- Distribute – Use APIs and RETS to share data efficiently.
- Monetize – Introduce usage-based pricing to ensure equitable pricing based on actual consumption of data.
To help you develop your thoughts for the best Seller’s Choice and the best Buyer’s Choice, here is a list of articles from The Data Advocate:
https://thedataadvocate.com/todays-battle-for-content-on-the-internet-insights-by-saul-klein/
https://thedataadvocate.com/the-data-monetization-path/
https://thedataadvocate.com/understanding-the-nomenclature-of-mls-data-distribution/
https://thedataadvocate.com/the-idx-elephant-in-the-room-its-time-to-reclaim-the-value-of-your-data/
https://thedataadvocate.com/open-mls-is-not-a-threat-to-realtor-associations/
https://thedataadvocate.com/a-world-without-the-mls-is-a-wild-west-show/
2 Responses
While the topic of who controls the data always generates readership, is it really an important question to ask? Perhaps not.
To understand my perspective, however, requires some context.
The idea of a Multiple Listing Service came from the desire of practitioners who saw their purpose as being at a level higher than the curb-stoners who operated outside of organized real estate. They saw value in sharing accurate data and encouraging cooperation between brokerages.
This sharing and cooperation strengthened our communities by encouraging:
• The widest distribution of ownership
• Championing the highest and best use of land
• Representation of those seeking to own, or already owning real estate.
The result of so doing they recognized as being the:
• Strengthening of society
• Strong development of industry and farms
• Preservation of a healthy environment
• Fostering an informed ownership and through ownership, an informed electorate.
Sound familiar? If not read the Preamble to the REALTOR® Code of Ethics, articulated more than 100 years ago. Nowhere in that aspirational statement does it talk about controlling the data.
Why control of the data is important today is for only two reasons:
1. Money
2. Misguided purpose
Because misguided purpose is the distraction, I will start there.
Those who sought to operate at a higher level recognized that their value was derived from their service to those owning or seeking to own real estate. And while much has changed in the last 113 years, what quality service looks like has not.
As for the distraction created by money, let me simply cite the last paragraph of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics:
“In the interpretation of this obligation, REALTORS® can take no safer guide than that which has been handed down through the centuries, embodied in the Golden Rule, Whatsoever ye would that others should do to you, do ye even so to them.”
Finally, these aspirational purposes should not be construed to set aside the right of aggregators to require conditions of access or use. No reader would allow a stranger off the street to live in their home or drive their car without some control over use. Even Airbnb and Whamo have fine print.
Bob, thanks for your perspective of the MLS in sharing accurate data and encouraging cooperation between brokerages, and your conclusion that the aspirational purposes in the COE should not be construed to set aside the right of aggregators to require conditions of access or use. “No reader would allow a stranger off the street to live in their home or drive their car without some control over use. Even Airbnb and Whamo have fine print.”