Letters to the Editor

Re: 'Debate rises over MLS role in offer of compensation' (Aug. 23)

Dear Editor:

Thank you for your articles on the future of the MLS.

We have three MLSs that overlap the Front Range in Colorado -- needless to say, very frustrating. The issue we have is that the MLS will not allow our company to send a bulk upload of all our listings daily. The MLSs want the listings sent one by one. Our strategy is to aggregate our company listings before sending to the MLS; then we would have the ability to syndicate our listing content to many of the top independent real estate Web sites such as Trulia and others. Presently, we are forced to use the IDX as a way to get our listings aggregated through the MLS. In turn, we have all the rules and regulations of the MLS put upon us over OUR listing content! The explanation we hear: we are not set up to handle the bulk input. We told the MLS we would create the "widget" at our expense.

The MLSs are definitely not listening to what their customers want. Shame on them!

Peter Niederman
Chief operating officer/owner
The Kentwood Companies

Dear Editor:

The times they are a changin' even in the real estate industry. There is a new business model developing.

For a long time, the business was characterized by being the "gatekeepers" of information. Slowly and inexorably the walls are being broken down. The successful professionals in the future will not manage access to information. Their success rather will be based on their ability to take information and transform it into workable, useable form; in other words, they will take information and turn it into knowledge.

Information is available anywhere. In fact, it is so accessible that it has become overwhelming. If you are in doubt, just "google" a phrase, like the name of your city combined with the words real estate, and see how many millions of "hits" you get. How to make sense of it all is way beyond most people's comprehension.

Trulia, Google, craigslist, Zillow and MLSs are all sources of information that can give both the client and the professional some good data to familiarize oneself with a market. However, the value added for the real estate professional comes with the detailed knowing of the market and how it meets your client's needs. Knowing the neighborhoods, the schools and the trends of development in the area are things that the experienced professional brings to the customer.

The smart professionals have already embraced this change in the business. They are prepared to add value to the process not by jealously guarding access to information but by showing their expertise in creating knowledge that makes the real estate transaction successful.

David Levin
Principal
David Levin & Associates

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