RISMEDIA - The MLS of the Future – A Seismic Shift, Technologically and Generationally Driven
MLS Matters by Saul Klein
Once MLS 5.0 has been fully
implemented, the changes that will have occurred in the real estate
landscape will be equivalent to a seismic shift of
catastrophic proportions, catastrophic to those who refuse to adapt.
Traditional MLSs, Realtor associations, franchises, brokerages, teams
and agents that embrace these scalable, visionary initiatives will
provide unprecedented benefits to consumers by better positioning the
Realtor at the center of the online real estate conversation. Those who
fail to act early and decisively may likely lag behind, lose market
share and possibly cease to be a force of any measure or consequence in
the industry.
So far in this series, we’ve discussed what MLS 5.0 is and what it will look like. But, specifically, who will MLS 5.0 serve?
MLS 5.0 will serve the customer of today and be ready for the
customer of tomorrow. That customer is the Realtor and their customer,
the buyers and sellers of real estate. According to NAR, Gen X and Gen
Y made up 78.8% of all first-time home purchases in 2007. This is a
significant milestone. Within a few years, these generations will be
first-time home sellers and second-time home buyers. The size of these
two generations combined is greater than the Baby Boom Generation. They
will have a significant economic impact on the real estate industry.
MLS 5.0 must be built to fulfill the expectations of the Realtor and
consumer of today, as well as the Realtor and consumer of tomorrow.
While there is a variety of information and definitions about the
different generations, one thing for certain is that there are truly
generational differences based on the times in which people live, the
seminal events in their lives and the world conditions they experience
during their lifetime.
Traditionally, MLS has always been a broker-to-broker
(business-to-business) network. It was not created as a central
platform to facilitate marketing efforts. As all listing information is
now digitized, the first point of entry is typically the MLS. The MLS
of the future must consider becoming the single point of entry to
facilitate the distribution and, thus, the marketing of listings both
online and eventually offline. This will actually give control back to
the brokers.
So how can an MLS restructure its business model to ensure the
Realtor is in the center of the real estate conversation online,
communicating and speaking the language of the new consumer? We’ll
visit this issue in next month’s article.