The NAR Gateway inches out of the box

Read it in today’s Inman before it goes behind the pay wall.

“We think that there is a demand by practitioners wanting to have all the data they can, and having a database that has all properties throughout the country and is as deep and as rich as we can make it is only going to enhance the practitioner, whether they use it in their own community or they use it in looking up something for a relative in another state … to help them understand what’s going on in that different area.”

Consumers and Realtors want the same thing – every property, and its history in one place.

Here is one of the keys –

The Gateway, unlike MLSs, would not allow the offer of compensation and cooperation, he said, “at least not initially.”

Buyers agents would have to negotiate their commissions independent of what is being offered through the MLS. How ’bout that? (hint: Divorced Commissions (no longer available))

Disclaimer: I happen to sit on the reference Group and will be at another meeting on Monday.

Update 11/29/2007: 1000Watt Blog and Michael Wurzer weigh in.