Wow! What a great NAR Mid-year meetings it was! I’m on my way home right now and I’m reflecting on what I am hearing. See if you can relate to some of this right now. Association and MLS executives and leadership are asking, “With all the changes occurring in our industry right now, what should we do?” I applaud bold leaders like Cameron Payne who take a position on the future (Future of MLS). While we might not agree with everything that is said, it is important to listen to those who have the passion and courage to put it out there. There is no doubt that... [Read more]
This is a great short piece from Marilyn Wilson, WAV Group. What do you think? I was engaged in a discussion yesterday afternoon with a forward-thinking group of Regional MLS Directors. 13 Shareholders are in the background of the conversation about whether to include some level of SOLD listing information on the new consumer-facing website to be launched June 1. Without the proper context – consumers are the users of the listing websites who already have access to SOLD information as well as public records FOR FREE, the Shareholders overwhelmingly chose not to... [Read more]
The MLS Vendor arena is highly competitive! Superior installs build upon the foundation from the sales team; they are essential to solid relationships and happy, long-term MLS customers. In my 25 years as a vendor, my never-ending pursuit was to make each implementation a positive experience. I built upon what worked and maybe more importantly, what did not. Giving back to the industry that has been so good to me over the years is another commitment of mine. My basis for this comes from being the vendor during my tenure with BORIS/ FNIS (now LPS) and also with Threewide... [Read more]
This is the first in a series of posts aimed at educating MLS leaders and vendors about how to create better long-term relationships. When I joined Focus Forward earlier this year, Kevin (McQueen) and I set out to make a big difference through our services by changing the status quo. We are very passionate about achieving the ultimate result, which is a much-improved experience for both sides – MLS and vendors. We have worked with some amazing MLSs and vendors over the past 25+ years. Right now, many are moving to action as they prepare to select a new vendor or... [Read more]
What’s Your Movement About? This past weekend, I attended a 3-day coaching program, which after 3 years of participating in the event, continues to stimulate me to action and to truly live my life. Bill Baren’s Big Shift Experience is the real deal. I am grateful to Bill and his team. Bill reminds us (me) that we all have responsibilities. Each one of us is responsible for doing our part to change the world. He asked, “so, what is your movement about?”. And I am reminded of mine this morning as I prepare to serve. To make it easier for my clients in... [Read more]
Predicting the Future is Easy! I will be speaking on this topic Sunday morning, March 17 at the Association Executives Institute (AEI) in San Diego. How the MLS of Tomorrow Affects Your Association Today Sunday, March 17, 10:15 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Art Carter, CEO, California Regional MLS, San Dimas, CA; Kevin McQueen, President, Focus Forward, Denver, CO and David Charron, President & CEO, MRIS, Rockville, MD The current threat to the future of MLS can affect the relevance of your association. Discover how MLS existence (or... [Read more]
IRMLS Ready to Launch For the first time, more than 5,000 real estate professionals across Indiana – who formerly used 13 independent MLS systems – will now have unrestricted access to more than 750,000 real estate listings through LPS Paragon’s advanced capabilities. Newly formed Indiana Regional MLS (IRMLS) will collect from and distribute listing data to the 13 Realtor associations in Indiana, allowing members to search across multiple markets and pay only one MLS fee to access the IRMLS data. Read entire press release Read More →
My good friend Judith Lindenau recently completed a 3-month stint as the Interim Association Executive. She did an exception job of explaining the value in her first two posts. And there are four more coming! Judith makes it easy to understand the benefits to everyone involved. I know first-hand how difficult it is for the person who moves their life to another city for 3-6 months of intense work like this. The value and benefits to the leadership are amazing. Just ask the volunteer board officers who try to “run the association” and the MLS for 3-6 months. They... [Read more]
January 2013 — Eight REALTOR® associations in Southern Missouri have banded together to create a brand new regional MLS. They have created the new corporation and their “Creation Workgroup” to discuss and define the specifics of what their unique regional MLS will look like. They have adapted the nickname of SOMO REGIONAL MLS. When you take a first glance at the words, you see “so more”. They see this regionalization project meaning SO MUCH MORE for their collective members. “We are banding together to create one bigger and better... [Read more]
Richard Haggerty and his team have been on the move since they merged three associations over the past 18 months. They are leading the way and showing all of us how to do it right. There is a logical and business-like “flow” to these type of opportunities for REALTOR(r) associations and MLSs. They chose to focus on the associations first. This resulted in one Board of Directors to make a series of good business decisions about how to best serve the members through MLS and other association services. In January 2012, the Members of the Westchester... [Read more]
