Open MLS Institute Seeks Nation-Wide Open MLS for Real Estate Group aims to create standards that will allow real estate agents and consumers to view and list all homes for sale and rent in the United States
RISMEDIA, July 26, 2006—A group of real estate brokers and software firms have formed the Open MLS Institute, a nonprofit corporation, www.OpenMLSInstitute.org, seeking to create open multiple listing service (MLS) standards that will allow real estate agents and consumers to view and list all homes for sale and rent in the United States.
The Open MLS Institute also seeks to end certain real estate abuses including steering, spooking, pocket listings, withholding purchase offers, and hoarding of listing data.
The Institute will administer a five-question survey in all fifty states to determine the ethics practices of agents and firms. Ratings of all agents and firms will be published on the Institute web site so consumers can select agents and firms with the highest ethics rating. The quiz is available at www.OpenMLSInstitute.org/en/cms/?49 . Agents and firms may take the quiz now and submit their answers for inclusion in the survey results. The survey is free.
"The public deserves to know which agents are totally committed to them. We joined the Open MLS Institute to show we place our customers first," said Mike Davin, executive vice president and director of marketing at Catalist Homes, Inc., in Southern California.
The Institute also supports the Maine Open MLS Initiative.
www.OpenMLSInstitute.org/en/cms/?91 Initiative sponsor Stavros Mendros, a Maine city councilman and Institute director, has one year to gather 50,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
If adopted by voters, the Maine Open MLS Initiative would create a statewide MLS of homes for sale and rent. Real estate forms would be changed to provide owners the option to direct their agent to place the home in the open MLS. The owner-operator of the Maine open MLS would be selected by a low- bid competition after the initiative was enacted. Real estate agents and the public would be able to view all homes for sale and rent on the web for free. Agents and owners would also be able to list properties for a price determined by the low-price bid in the range $20 to $50 per month. A full download of all open MLS data would be available to anyone on request every 24 hours for free.
The Maine Open MLS would inter-operate with open MLSs in other states to create the functional equivalent of a national open MLS. |
