Well, just as I remind you that we?re entering the annual holiday slowdown of newsworthy events (see my last post) comes an amazing announcement that will impact the entire real estate industry!
David Barry, a San Francisco lawyer specializing in antitrust lawsuits against real estate industry groups, has filed a ballot initiative with the California Attorney General?s Office that, if passed by the voters, would establish a statewide residential multiple listing service that is ?open to the public and realty agents alike.?
To put this into some sort of perspective, I am a member of our local MLS. Recently, I?ve been developing an application that will allow agents and brokers to showcase their listings using the new interactive maps from Yahoo and Google. In order for this mapping application to reflect up to date listing information, it needs to ?read? data from our MLS (yes, the one I belong to). In fact, to make this process of having one application read MLS data for use elsewhere, the National Association of Realtors Center for Technology has even created a specialized tool! And yet, when I approached our MLS to open a dialogue on all of this, I?ve found myself hitting a stone wall that seems to be fueled by fear and paranoia about who ?owns? the MLS listing data.
Well, if Mr. Barry has his way, then every MLS in California will lose its reason to exist. And that?s what happens when people start believing that information is somehow proprietary. You don?t lose a little control?you lose everything. We?ve seen this phenomenon already occur in other industries, and yet somehow the folks in our industry actually believe that they?re immune. It must be the same feeling that the buggy-whip manufacturers felt at the sight of the first automobiles.
To qualify for the ballot, supporters of Mr. Barry?s initiative need to gather 373,700 signatures across the state. If they are successful, there?s little doubt that the measure will pass ? opposing it will be the most anti-consumer position one could possibly take. And then the folks who believe they ?control? our MLS data will begin to discover how illusory control really is.
Blu is a full-service corporate lodging company based out of Denver, Colorado.