Real Estate Listings Going Regional Organizations jumping on the bandwagon in a new data-sharing deal
RISMEDIA, July 19, 2006—(MCT)—Realtors organizations all over Southwest Florida are jumping on the bandwagon in a new data-sharing deal that should make life easier for buyers, sellers and agents alike.
Tentatively named the "Florida Gulf Coast Alliance," the plan so far involves upwards of a dozen local Realtors organizations from Naples to St. Petersburg.
Multiple-listing services have been around at least as long as personal computers. As things stand today, each local Realtors organization runs its own MLS. Member agencies can access all the listings within their immediate vicinity.
But knowing what's for sale in the next town can be a problem.
It's a real problem when you have two local economies as closely linked as Fort Myers and Cape Coral, said Don Heisler, president of the Cape Coral of Association of Realtors. For years, agents on either side of the Caloosahatchee River had only limited access to listings just a few miles away.
This couldn't continue, so Heisler said he made regional data sharing his top priority after taking over as association president last year.
"The individual customer should benefit, whether buyer or seller, because the agents they are working with will have access to all the properties listed in a given area," Heisler said.
As things stand today, the Cape Coral and Fort Myers associations have signed contracts with a data processing vendor, MLS Alliance, of Boca Raton. They should have their data-sharing systems -- which might be described as an MLS of MLSs -- operational within about a month.
Although the concept germinated in Lee County, the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors was an early and enthusiastic supporter, Heisler said. It has nearly completed its arrangements with MLS Alliance, and should be joining the Lee County organizations by late summer.
The local Realtors group is unusual in that it has separate leadership for its MLS operation. The current MLS president is Bill Dryburgh, retired Punta Gorda fire chief and agent for Berson Properties Inc.
Heisler gave Dryburgh high marks for his leadership throughout a long series of meetings. "He's not only operating as the association's MLS president, but also operating as ringleader in bringing us all together on common ground."
Dryburgh said that what may be the biggest meeting yet is scheduled for Tuesday in Englewood. He said that more than a dozen Realtors organizations are expected to participate, along with representatives of MLS Alliance.
This time, there should be more on the table than just getting everyone to agree that sharing data is a good idea. Dryburgh said he expects some of the final technical issues to be resolved and some letters of intent to be signed.
"It's going to cost us some money but the bottom line is that it's not about the bucks, it's having all the data available," Heisler said. Member agencies already pay their local Realtors organizations for MLS services.
Although the core group of Lee County and Charlotte County Realtors appears to be solid, organizations further from the geographical center of the data-sharing plan are generally reluctant to make any public comments at this early date.
Heisler said that this doesn't mean that they're sitting on the fence. Actually, "I think they all see this as a real benefit to their business. But not everyone can react immediately because of the time constraints of dealing with boards and financial budgets," he said.
Anne McDonald, president of the Marco Island Area Association of Realtors, said she expects to take the proposal to her 19-member board toward the end of this month. She added that although she has some technical questions, the basic concept of regional data-sharing appears to represent the future of the industry.
The Florida Association of Realtors has offered a data-sharing arrangement, MLS Advantage, for several years. But it has proven unpopular with local agencies, largely because they have found the software hard to use.
This shouldn't be a problem with MLS Advantage, said Marlene Merkle, executive vice president of the Venice Area Board of Realtors. "Basically, what this is going to do is to have the data translated by a third-party vendor, and dumped into one site that will be password protected. And individual members will be able to access that site for MLS data."
The biggest obstacle to data sharing has been the fact that Realtors organizations use different MLS vendors, Merkle said. For example, the Venice Realtors uses the same vendor as the Englewood organization. But their software can't communicate with Fort Myers or Sarasota.
MLS Alliance's software seems to provide a simple and secure fix for these problems, Merkle said.
Copyright © 2006, The Sun, Port Charlotte, Fla.
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