Comments on: What if – the MLS went away? http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/ Tracking Charlottesville's Real Estate Market since 2005 Sun, 12 Feb 2012 23:56:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: Real Central VA - Tracking the Charlottesville and Central VA real estate market and more » Where do you search for homes in Charlottesville? http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1729 Real Central VA - Tracking the Charlottesville and Central VA real estate market and more » Where do you search for homes in Charlottesville? Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:05:13 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1729 [...] An aggregator for the aggregator? What if the MLS went away? [...] [...] An aggregator for the aggregator? What if the MLS went away? [...]

]]> By: Real Central VA - Tracking the Charlottesville and Central VA real estate market and more » Cracks widen in MLS dominance http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1335 Real Central VA - Tracking the Charlottesville and Central VA real estate market and more » Cracks widen in MLS dominance Sun, 12 Nov 2006 19:11:12 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1335 [...] JR, Another thing that many realtors fail to realize is that their email address also reveals... Karen Rhodes: The writing is on the wall. I have agreed with you in the past on this and still do. We aregoing... TrvlnMn: Re: Hacking the Vote... It looks like Google might have pulled that content. I can't imagine HBO giving... Search [...] [...] JR, Another thing that many realtors fail to realize is that their email address also reveals… Karen Rhodes: The writing is on the wall. I have agreed with you in the past on this and still do. We aregoing… TrvlnMn: Re: Hacking the Vote… It looks like Google might have pulled that content. I can’t imagine HBO giving… Search [...]

]]> By: Athol Kay http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1332 Athol Kay Sun, 12 Nov 2006 15:04:39 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1332 It's only a matter of time before an alternative "MLS" springs up that is public and free. It’s only a matter of time before an alternative “MLS” springs up that is public and free.

]]> By: Philip http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1237 Philip Mon, 23 Oct 2006 23:58:15 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1237 Hi Jim, You may be interested in my company's new Reverse MLS. It's Realtor friendly and free. http://buyerhunt.com/. Sellers search for buyers. -Philip Hi Jim,

You may be interested in my company’s new Reverse MLS. It’s Realtor friendly and free. http://buyerhunt.com/.

Sellers search for buyers.

-Philip

]]> By: robert http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1232 robert Mon, 23 Oct 2006 05:23:57 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1232 In the conversion, will they do away with all the re-list? In the conversion, will they do away with all the re-list?

]]> By: Karen Rhodes http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1221 Karen Rhodes Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:20:55 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1221 We need to take control of our MLS systems. If MLS's would refuse to sell off their data to anyone who is not a <b>member</b> we would not be in the situation we are now. They were created, are maintained and paid for by the <b>members</b>. Period. It is an offer of cooperation between <b>members</b>. It is not and was never meant to be advertising however we have only ourselves to blame for that being the perception. I see no problem with listing agents advertising their listings on websites just like they advertise in the paper and magazines but to sell or give the entire MLS to google or anyone else is shooting ourselves in the foot. We need to take control of our MLS systems. If MLS’s would refuse to sell off their data to anyone who is not a member we would not be in the situation we are now. They were created, are maintained and paid for by the members. Period. It is an offer of cooperation between members. It is not and was never meant to be advertising however we have only ourselves to blame for that being the perception.

I see no problem with listing agents advertising their listings on websites just like they advertise in the paper and magazines but to sell or give the entire MLS to google or anyone else is shooting ourselves in the foot.

]]> By: Todd Tarson http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1216 Todd Tarson Fri, 20 Oct 2006 15:44:25 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1216 >Are we as Realtors undermining the value of the MLS by posting our listing content in all these places? Are prospective buyers looking at these alternatives because Realtors put content there? Hmm.. interesting as always. I'm on the other side on my views. I think we could be hurting our MLS because of our traditional stance that the data is 'ours' as in it belongs to the members of the MLS... which means that the public cannot view it. Buyers are searching the internet when starting the home buying process. Often times I'll have someone walk in to my office and hand me print outs from Realtor.com and say these are the homes they want to see before making a decision to buy. While I haven't been handed a google, trulia, or other online search print out as of yet... I know it won't be long until a buyer will. I think the MLS can do it's Members, and more importantly the Members clients, a big favor by agreeing to post a limited view of the database to any and all search sites. I'm talking of negotiating with these online sites and providing them a data set that appeals to buyers while at the same time promoting the listing clients property AND promoting the listing agent. >Are we as Realtors undermining the value of the MLS by posting our listing content in all these places? Are prospective buyers looking at these alternatives because Realtors put content there?

Hmm.. interesting as always.

I’m on the other side on my views. I think we could be hurting our MLS because of our traditional stance that the data is ‘ours’ as in it belongs to the members of the MLS… which means that the public cannot view it.

Buyers are searching the internet when starting the home buying process. Often times I’ll have someone walk in to my office and hand me print outs from Realtor.com and say these are the homes they want to see before making a decision to buy.

While I haven’t been handed a google, trulia, or other online search print out as of yet… I know it won’t be long until a buyer will.

I think the MLS can do it’s Members, and more importantly the Members clients, a big favor by agreeing to post a limited view of the database to any and all search sites. I’m talking of negotiating with these online sites and providing them a data set that appeals to buyers while at the same time promoting the listing clients property AND promoting the listing agent.

]]> By: Jim Duncan http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1214 Jim Duncan Fri, 20 Oct 2006 10:41:55 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1214 search engine technology has a long way to go. As the amount of information/content has exploded, the need for targeted search engines will be greater. Already there are engines specifically for scholarly research, and other segmented aspects of search. My concern is that the business of searching for and marketing homes will be vastly more inefficient than it is now. But ... over time, I expect that there will be a "Google Real Estate" search ... What we have now, for all of its limitations and criticisms, makes searching for properties very efficient. For better or worse. search engine technology has a long way to go. As the amount of information/content has exploded, the need for targeted search engines will be greater.

Already there are engines specifically for scholarly research, and other segmented aspects of search. My concern is that the business of searching for and marketing homes will be vastly more inefficient than it is now. But … over time, I expect that there will be a “Google Real Estate” search …

What we have now, for all of its limitations and criticisms, makes searching for properties very efficient. For better or worse.

]]> By: Kevin http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1213 Kevin Fri, 20 Oct 2006 07:33:16 +0000 http://www.realcentralva.com/2006/10/18/what-if-the-mls-went-away/#comment-1213 I'll take a pass on your primary question and concentrate instead on the secondary one: What would a real estate search look like if you had to wade through duplicate or triplicate entries? My response: it would look a lot like the Internet. That might sounds like a facetious answer, but here's what I mean: the Internet is already replete with multiple entries about the same content/product/service. The role of search engines is to wade through the morass, and the online competition between the content/product/service providers ideally provides you with great choices. If I search for, say, a "Lenovo X41" laptop, I get hundreds of hits. Many of the top ones contain valuable information. I may well go to one of them to buy the product. I’ll take a pass on your primary question and concentrate instead on the secondary one: What would a real estate search look like if you had to wade through duplicate or triplicate entries?

My response: it would look a lot like the Internet. That might sounds like a facetious answer, but here’s what I mean: the Internet is already replete with multiple entries about the same content/product/service. The role of search engines is to wade through the morass, and the online competition between the content/product/service providers ideally provides you with great choices.

If I search for, say, a “Lenovo X41″ laptop, I get hundreds of hits. Many of the top ones contain valuable information. I may well go to one of them to buy the product.

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