I’m so glad you enjoyed the presentation… I definitely enjoyed giving the presentation and got some really good feedback.

For those that are curious, I ended up cutting the presentation back considerably… My plan was to go through the second to last section (”Web2.0 websites work because they deliver on evolving consumer expectations…”) and then do a bit on blogging… But even that turned out to be a bit long and I had to cut my blogging section in half!

To everyone who gave feedback… Thanks! It was all very helpful and made for a great day in Sacramento!

Great presentation yesterday! I was one of those in attendance and you have definately opened the floodgates for me. I am pretty tech savvy, having worked for an ISP before my career in Real Estate, but until now I haven’t effectively used my tech skills in my business. I will be doing a bunch of research and updating myself asap

Why don’t you bring up the problem of SoCal MLS not using HTML Markup standards where only Internet Explorer users can get on. Anyone using a mac with safari or windows using Mozilla still have to switch to IE or IE under parallels to get on the MLS

That would be a great thing for them to do

Loren

Here in Clark County (Vancouver), Washington, RMLS has been the entrenched MLS, with the NWMLS trying to make in-roads in the past few years.

In some ways the competition from NWMLS has provided a necessary incentive for RMLS to improve and remember who the customer is.

However, in my opinion there does not seem to be a clear long-term, sole-MLS solution for Clark County. That is leaving many of us agents with two MLS boards to post listings to, two sets of rules to follow, etc.; increasing our over-head costs; and decreasing our availability to clients to some extent.

I have heard that some areas outside of Washington periodically put the MLS function out to competitive bid. The winner is then the sole franchised MLS provider until their term expires and a new round of competitive bidding is opened.

I personally like the idea of competition incenting service providers to be the best at what they do. I also prefer to have one MLS system to work with in my area.

I hope this input helps with your presentation.

The spam filter was working overdrive today (over 1000 spam messages caught)… Problem is, they caught all three of your great comments! I so wish that wouldn’t happen!

I’m going to start calling you “DATA BOY”, LOL The issue is Statewide offer of compensation, not merely data.

If there were one statewide mls, online services would expand dramatically. No one would have to be an expert. The mls on a statewide basis, would facilitate online services much better than the current mls model.

Remember an mls is not DATA, it’s much more. The offer of compensation is to mls members. If you open that up to any agent in the state, then online property would become like an online catalogue, and “agents” could just man the phones and take orders.

It would make sense to have a central office type company that services both buyers and sellers for a flat fee. Instead of the buyer agent contacting the seller, as in the current limited service model, the online agent would simply set up an appointment for the buyer to meet the seller at the house just to view it. The agent would be the facilitator and talk by email or phone to both, and facilitate the contract and send out an “all in one” appraiser/home inspector. Draw up the inspection negotiation and facilitate escrow. All online.

Not a bad business model, when you think about it. If the mls were ONE for the entire state, that would standardize all forms and business practices.

I’m not sure why CA is even considering it, given they don’t like it when an Agent in San Diego tries to write up a property in Sacramento. We are licensed for the entire state, but mls offerings are only between members. So the way it is now, the mls in Sacramento can refuse payment to a non-member in San Diego. Opening membership in the mls to include everyone in the entire state, there would be no reason one office couldn’t sell online all over the state.

The cost savings per agent do not warrant such a massive change in the way the business is currently done. But the consumer would likely be much better off as the end result. So would the Banks. This model would defiitely facilitate banks getting into real estate.

We could have all kinds of 3D films for every aspect of the house, including the home inspection with close up photos of any defects or repaired defects. The whole thing could be done online, with the buyer seeing the property once, after it is in escrow. Even the staging could be done online with pretend furniture.

This is getting interesting. Someone in California has been positioning this for about ten years. There has been a push toward legislation that would make buyer agent agreements as sacrosanct as the listing agreement. It would put attorneys on an even playing field with agents regarding property transactions. It would also give banks a huge opportunity for people to just go to their local branch to do the contracts and escrow.

Next step would be a National MLS, and huge companies that would operate as brokers, similar to the stock market.

Hmmm, could be the precursor to banks getting into real estate, now that I think about it.

I’m sure they’re aware of the potential “threats” from Zillow, Trulia and the like and want to find ways to compete against these models, but likely more in a broader sense rather than in a technical sense.

Looking at the committee members from the CAR site, here’s what I found:

Jeff Barnett (Chair) – only found him on the Alain Pinel site at http://www.apr.com/DesktopDefault.aspx?pageid=1070&pagealias=AgentDetail&AgentID=1056.

Karen Halliday (Vice Chair) – did not find a website for her. only found an inactive Active Rain blog at http://activerain.com/khalladay (only 4 posts since March ‘07).

John Hickey (Vice Chair) – served on various MLS committees. has a linkedin profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhickey, websites at http://www.johnhickey.com (basic Advanced Access site with little customization and still has the dreaded states pages for realtor links) and http://www.lacrescentahomes.com (another Advanced Access site with slightly more customization. IDX is both the Dilbeck system and the Rappatoni system, and neither has true lead generating abilities.)

Elizabeth Miller-Bougdanos (coordinator) – only found her on http://rentalcashflow.com, which is not her site.

Tim Johnson (coordinator) – hard to identify without his location, since this name is fairly common.

None of these people show much use of technology, or at least not from what I found in a quick Google search. This is kinda scary, considering that these people hold a piece of our destiny in their hands!

How many MLSes does Washington have anyway? It’s my impression that NWMLS is gaining share at the expense of all others in the state (at least until you reach large metro areas outside Puget Sound like Vancouver, WA or Spokane, WA).

Do you think agents are better served by MLS consolidation or not? I believe in the past, you’ve said it doesn’t matter to you because an agent can only be an expert on a small area anyway. Having the entire state’s data isn’t really helpful. After all, your area of expertise only extends to Seattle & the Eastside. Is it fair to say that Everett and Tacoma listing data is as useful to you as San Diego and Miami listings would be?