The Ventura County Regional Data Share (VCRDS), a regional multiple listing service (MLS), is breaking their data-sharing agreement with the California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS).This acrimonious split may be a sign of things to come for all regional MLS partnerships.
The January 2015 deal allowed for the CRMLS and the VCRDS to import listing data into each other’s MLS systems.
The deal was supposed to benefit the 4,500 brokers and agents served by the VCRDS — by allowing them access to CRMLS’s largest-in-the-nation MLS system while adding listings unique to the VCRDS to CRMLS’s database in an attempt to map all listings throughout Southern California for centralized control by the AORs.
The data-sharing agreement officially ends September 4, 2016 — will this pave the way for private listing portals like Zillow and Redfin?
In theory, the deal was a technological and cost-effective way of improving the business information for thousands of real estate sales agents and brokers in Southern California.
In reality, the small realtor-owned regional MLS understandably considered the demands of the mammoth CRMLS too much to handle.
The CRMLS is required by The National Association of Realtors (NAR) to comply with the Real Estate Standards Organization’s (RESO) platinum Data Dictionary standard. All part of the greater plan to control MLS data. This NAR mandate necessitated a change to the VCRDS’s data storing and mapping system — technological upgrades too onerous for a smaller MLS to handle.
The reason for the split? According to the VCRDS, it was all about money.
At an estimated total cost of $25,000, this equates to an additional $5.50 per member to cover the upgrade. Chump change compared to the income from publishing agent’s listings.
So why did the regional data-sharing service feel membership in the CRMLS and compliance with NAR dictates wasn’t worth it?
Regional data control and the statewide CRMLS
Some regional associations believe data-sharing agreements devalue and even “threaten to destroy” their sacrosanct databases on local listing information. Whether it is conforming regional MLS software to a statewide system or the diminished value they can command for their perceived proprietary information — to the VCRDS, a loss of control over marketed properties represents a loss of revenue.
However, as a member of California Real Estate Technology Services, Inc. (CARETS), a nonprofit data-sharing competitor to the CRMLS comprised of five regional MLSs, the VCRDS makes their proprietary information available on private listing portals such as Redfin via a common Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feed.
CARETS boasts “no conversions” required to enjoy the benefits of their data-sharing service. By leaving the CRMLS data-sharing agreement in favor of the CARETS partnership, the VCRDS recovers exclusive control over their MLS and the technology it uses. For the directors of the VCRDS, it is easy to see the appeal (and the dollar signs). Coincidentally, the CRMLS cited technology and cost when withdrawing from CARETS in 2014.
The CRMLS has the most to lose when regional MLSs withdraw from their data-sharing agreements. The VCRDS is essentially forcing the wide pool of CRMLS brokers and agents to pay their fees or access their information through private portals.
But how does this benefit Ventura buyers and sellers who are the clients of MLS members? Answer: not at all.
The more data access homebuyers and sellers have the better. The VCRDS is not pulling out of their agreement for the benefit of their clients who might want to sell to a larger pool of out-of-county buyers — they’re reneging since they believe it will make them more money. Now, VCRDS brokers and agents who want access to CRMLS listings will need to pay separate dues for the privilege.
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However, the VCRDS can’t hide its head in the sand forever. The VCRDS will be required by NAR to comply with the RESO’s platinum Data Dictionary by 2020 regardless of their current obstinance, if they stay NAR connected.
Competition among data-sharers will only make room for private listing portals like Zillow and Redfin to grow ever bigger and further consolidate their present hold on market share. If CRMLS and CARETS (and the VCRDS as its proxy) fail to work together, MLSs will give way to these online listing aggregators who are transparent, all-inclusive and shown to be very capable of providing extensive property information on listings to buyers, sellers and their agents.
These companies make their money from advertising and will continue to compile a massive and accurate database in competition with the CRMLS and CARETS. Statewide MLSs and their regional counterparts in a desire for control over listing data have lost the battle for access. It is now with the web giants to fight over the scraps.
In the age of smartphones and ubiquitous internet access, data-sharing and its inevitable consolidation is the future for the MLS formats that flourish today. Building a wall around data is not possible in the modern web world. As technology adapts and improves — and society becomes more and more connected — people simply demand parallel treatment from agents in their homebuying and selling experience.
Self-determination is an admirable quality, but when it defies flourishing future business practice and comes at the expense of buyers and sellers who depend on their agents to fulfill their fiduciary duty, it has gone too far.
You ask, “… will this pave the way for private listing portals like Zillow and Redfin?” Just for the record, Redfin is a broker, not a listing portal, although it’s sometimes hard to tell.
What surprises me most about VCRDS breaking with CRMLS is how long it took. I personally left CRMLS several years ago, going to TheMLS w/ CLAW. If CRMLS were a human it would be the big, dumb, bully on the block. I’ve operated under several different MLS products/vendors in the past 20+ years and CRMLS is hands down the least cooperative & has the worst customer service of any. I won’t even get into the lack of quality, user friendliness & reliability of the software behind the system.
Multiple listing systems were designed as tools for agents to better serve their clients. There was no intention to make them tools for advertisers to attract ‘clicks-for-$$’. The final straw for me was CRMLS sending advertisements to my clients along with my reports. I think it’s equally offensive to see Zillow using my listings to attract buyers for their advertising, which they sell to my competition. On one hand, it stands right there beside blackmail in my mind. On the other hand, my sellers didn’t contract to have photos of their home & their address propagated across the internet for use by unscrupulous viewers.
As real estate agents, we owe our clients our best service, and a good result for their objective. We don’t owe aggregators or advertisers anything. Similarly, our MLSs owe us, as their clients, their best service, and good results for our goal. Those trying to make a profit from what should be an industry service ought to be shut down.
I could not disagree more. The broker is the legal owner of a listing contract, their relationship with an MLS somewhat dictates where that information will be shared. When NAR failed to take Realtor.com to the next level and sold it off to an independent that wanted the agents to pay premiums to Realtor.com to receive leads back on their own listing, they royally screwed up. Zillow took the ball and ran, now we have to defend ourselves to buyer and seller leads that we have to pay Zillow for the privilege of working with, providing accurate information and not something Zillow just cloned out there from another date or guestimate. And we pay through the nose. If we as a group control the quality, accuracy, and content of listing information, isn’t that serving our clientele? Sellers want their property exposed and properly presented, buyers want to know the home they are getting emotionally involved with online is really for sale and still available. I think regional MLS groups make far much more sense. With the broker’s permission, agents can still cross market in Zillow and all the other aggregators.
I happen to love it that all these little boards are going to be gone and hopefully a national MLS that is NOT tied to NAR and all their money making methods they claim are in the best interests of the members. In this age of technology and all the advertising fees the big search engines can obtain, it only makes sense to me anyway that there should not be a near monopoly control of basically free data that contributors are allowed to share to the public.
You have to ask yourself what has NAR or any of these smaller organizations done for all property owners across our nations who have lost their property to greedy, unfair, and unscrupulous lenders that are continuing to this day to commit fraud by conducting wrongful foreclosures based upon fabricated, forged, and phony documents. One of the worlds greatest scams of all time in my humble opine.