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This week’s
marketing tip features an article by Karen Kage, CEO of Realcomp II
Ltd. in Michigan
Today’s REALTOR®
must not only be skilled and effective in customer service, sales,
marketing and product knowledge, he or she must also master the
latest technology and be able to use it to their advantage. In
Karen’s article, she explains how working effectively with the
sophisticated tools offered by today’s MLS can help keep you on the
competitive edge. You’ll find out how to capture the power of the
MLS to provide better service to your clients. The future is
changing in the Multiple Listing Service, and Karen gives some
thought provoking comments on the newest trends in the MLS Industry.
Today's MLS: The Realtor's New Best Friend
by Karen Kage
Location, location,
location remains a guiding principle in real estate.
However, for today's residential real estate professional, a new
mantra of information, technology and service also applies. To
remain competitive and provide the highest value service to home
buyers and home sellers, a REALTOR® must combine traditional people-
skills with the ability to access, understand and manipulate
information.
It used to be a "good" Realtor could be identified by his or her
dog-eared yellow legal pad (covered with coffee mug stains, no
doubt), #2 pencil and, if they were organized, folder after folder
of select properties for sale. Fortunately for everyone involved,
these tools have given way to the desktop and laptop computers and,
now, even hand-held computer-like devices. Similarly, the old
land-line telephone and fax have given way to more efficient cell
phones, and the Internet has replaced the old, cumbersome source
books for property listing information.
Keeping up with the changes, the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)— one
of our oldest and most basic real estate tools— has been transformed
into an Information Age ally. In this article, I will review trends
that have helped bring about the modern MLS, some of its new,
exciting "modes and means," and what we might look for in the
future.
The Modern Realtor
Customer service, sales skills, market and product knowledge and a
keen sense of consumer and social tastes remain essentials for
success in residential real estate. Today's Realtor must also be
adept at technology. And we're not simply talking about having a
cell phone in every coat pocket here. Rather, we need to have the
knowledge of and the skill to strategically and effectively "work
the technology," be that in the form of functions like e-mail,
Internet searches, personal Web site design, construction and
management, database maintenance, multimedia presentations, direct
mail marketing campaigns and even cable television advertising and
promotion.
This rush to technology has two key drivers. First, research from
the Web site www.realtor.com reveals that a majority of home buying
and selling now begins on the Internet. If you miss that consumer
connection, you miss a lot of potential commissions and fees. At the
same time, our field is attracting more and more full-timers,
especially young people right out of college who are choosing real
estate as a career. These technologically savvy folks have responded
to market realities perhaps quickest of all.
The Power of Today's MLS
As mentioned at the start, the Multiple Listing Service has been
transformed by our industry to meet and exceed the modern Realtor's
thirst for timely, accurate information. Let's review some of its
"modes" and "means."
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Immediacy and reach. On any given day, a major metropolitan
area MLS may add new listings for as many as 710 homes now for
sale, with the updating accomplished in near-real time. For
example, in Michigan, the Realcomp II Ltd. MLS (Realcomp Online™)
serves more than 11,700 Realtors collectively; has approximately
38,000 properties listed for sale at any given time; and we may
send out as many as 8,300 individual e-mails daily in answer to
queries by REALTORS® acting on behalf of buyers and sellers. The
Realtor has expanded his or her scope of operation much wider at a
much faster rate, especially valuable for us in an era where
family dynamics, corporate relocations and the trend towards
multiple home ownership by a single family cross so many
traditional geographic boundaries.
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Power. The power of the modern MLS is further demonstrated
in at least three ways. The first is its existence as an
electronic product, accessible 24/7, by the Web, e-mail, and even
wireless. Next, Realtors are able to download a distributed
database generally updated daily, if not more frequently, and
using Realcomp's LandShark™ software, the database can be
downloaded to the user's laptop computer en mass. Third, the MLS
database entries can be linked to additional property photos
beyond the basic entry photo to virtual (multimedia) tours and
property Web sites.
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Security. In this Information Age, we must be up-front
about issues such as accuracy and shelf life of data, privacy,
security and copyright protection. The MLS sets the listing rules,
which can include monetary or privileges sanctions for submitting
incorrect information. Obviously, patterns of "mistakes" are of
more concern than a single erroneous submission.
Every MLS should have a state-of-the-art computer network and
database security, including log-in control through a password
system which discourages "sharing" of MLS access to nonmembers.
With respect to copyright, the MLS data itself cannot be
copyrighted, but the way in which the data is formatted can be
copyrighted. Each broker submitting listings garnered by individual
Realtors is the owner of the data, but at Realcomp we handle any
copyrighting as part of the Realcomp II Ltd. service as a part of
basic membership.
Regional Multiple Listing Services can also have significant cost
advantages, compared to maintaining multiple memberships in
Boards/Associations of Realtors and their local MLSs. Membership
costs for the Realcomp II Ltd. MLS have been the same for four
years. The cost of membership and services—including access to data
from other, outlying MLSs—are less, in real dollars, than what many
Realtors were paying a decade ago for a single, local MLS.
The Future
The more the merrier, if done intelligently.
The existence of sophisticated database capabilities and Internet
access pave the way to value-added services for MLSs and their
member subscribers. One of the most successful for our system has
been Public Record Data access, where users can search among all
properties in ten Michigan counties.
Another exciting trend is Data Sharing Arrangements. Blanche Evans
discussed progress being made in this arena
in a recent Realty Times article, including our experiences so
far in Michigan. In that article, I commented on the two models
being employed: actual data sets being swapped and incorporated into
each others' computer systems; and a system of guest IDs and
passwords. We are continuing to energetically pursue these
arrangements.
Finally, I would like to touch on new media relationships. One
example includes working with local cable systems on Home Preview
programs. We find that the modern-day guise of this tried-and-true
format is doing an excellent job in creating name recognition for
Realtors within specific communities. As on-demand services mature,
we envision consumers being able to initiate inquiries through their
cable television service, much as they can do today on Web sites.
As our industry evolves and matures, incorporating new technologies
while anticipating the needs of the ever-changing consumer, the MLS
is proving its worth for Realtors more than ever. Stay tuned for the
next chapter in the MLS chronicles; it is sure to be an exciting
one!
(Reprinted
with permission)
Karen Kage is the chief executive officer of Realcomp II Ltd.
Realcomp II Ltd. is Michigan's largest Realtor-owned Multiple
Listing Service (MLS) and provider of real property information.
Through direct service subscriptions with participating Brokers and
their Agents and various Data Sharing Arrangements with bordering
MLSs, Realcomp has grown to serve more than 11,700 Michigan
Realtors, nearly one half of all Realtors in the state. For more
information about Realcomp II Ltd., please visit www.realcomp.com.
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