The challenge of doing business in an archaic industry

Don’t Judge a Realtor by the company they keep

I don’t know about you, but access to my MLS is governed by my local Realtor association. So when I wanted to become a Real Estate Agent, I had to join my local board. And joining my local board meant that I was also joining my state association and the National Association of Realtors. Board membership is mandatory to be an MLS participant. MLS participation is mandatory to have a successful real estate career. Joining my board was a business decision, not a political one.

There’s the business of real estate: the hustle for clients, the unpredictable (yet flexible) hours, the commission based income, the interesting people and fascinating homes. Then there’s the politics of real estate: the numerous MLS fiefdoms, IDX policies, data aggregation and syndication, and, national, state, and local association rules, to name a few.

Why join the board

Most agents that I know are like me, and joined the board because they had to. It was a business decision. This may explain why so many agents I know go out of their way to avoid the politics of real estate. Ask most agents for their position on IDX rules, data aggregation and syndication policies, and you’re likely to get a blank stare. Not because agents are stupid or short-sighted, but simply because agents focus on what they feel they can control, and most agents I know feel extremely disconnected from the decisions being made on their behalf at the local, state and national level.

Speaking quite frankly, I feel that many local boards have spent the last few years advocating policies that will perpetuate their existence, regardless of if the policy is good for their members or real estate consumers. For many agents there is an enormous disconnect between their day-to-day business practices and the policies adopted by our local, state, and national Realtor Associations.

As an example, let’s take the continued existence of almost 1,000 MLS systems across America. If you can look me in the eyes with a straight face and tell me that the real estate industry is better off with hundreds of local MLS systems rather than one (or a few) national systems, then I’m going to bet you’re a local MLS or association executive.

Consumers don’t think they should have to know that as soon as they cross a county line they need to start searching a different website for home listings. They want to go to one place, type in any address in America, and find out what’s for sale nearby and how the market is doing. Don’t believe me? Go visit Zillow. Or Trulia. Or even Realtor.com.

The evolution of the MLS

Our patchwork of MLS organizations developed in an era when cooperative listing information was shared on paper index cards updated weekly by a clerk at a local office. The clerk has long since retired (and perhaps died), the index cards have been relegated to the novelty drawer and yet we still have hundreds of little MLS systems across the nation. The logic for their existence is long gone, we should help them die a graceful death.

While I don’t have an issue with one (or several) national MLS systems, I think the real estate industry – at a minimum – needs to get serious and make 50 statewide MLS systems (each adapted to their own unique state laws about real estate) a reality. Because if our associations don’t make this a reality, some plucky entrepreneur will make it happen, either with or without our help.

The presence of hundreds of MLS systems when a few could accomplish the same task is indicative of the challenges that associations have created for their members. Associations, when faced with an onslaught of change, have – for the most part – each hunkered down and done everything they could to protect their little island of real estate data. In my area, for example, it has taken more than three years for seven local associations to agree to lockbox key interoperability. For comparison, Apple transformed computing with the introduction of the iPad in less time than seven associations could agree to share keys.

The conundrum

It’s a conundrum that I can’t quite wrap my head around: some of the most entrepreneurial, dynamic, and interesting people I’ve ever met are fellow real estate agents. But all of these individuals are doing business in one of the most rigid and archaic business frameworks I’ve ever encountered. I’d really love to hear what your thoughts are about how agents can help the real estate industry give itself a long overdue remodel?