The new Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches and St. Lucie County has launched a multiple listing service for its 11,100 members.
The West Palm Beach, Fla.-based association was formed from the merger between two of the three associations that made up the now-dissolved Regional Multiple Listing Service Inc. (RMLS). The association will be the second largest in Florida and one of the largest in the country when the merger becomes official on Sept. 1.
The launch of BeachesMLS puts a cap on a busy summer for the associations.
The three associations that made up RMLS — the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches (RAPB), the Realtors Association of St. Lucie (RASL) and the Jupiter-Tequesta-Hobe Sound Association of Realtors (JTHS) — voted to dissolve the MLS in June following the settlement of a lawsuit brought by JTHS against its former partners alleging false and deceptive advertising, unfair competition, and interference with business relationships.
As part of the dissolution, the three associations agreed to operate three separate MLSs, but still pool their listings into a shared database. After more than two years of planning, the Palm Beach and St. Lucie associations voted to merge this month and will continue to share listings with JTHS through the new BeachesMLS.
BeachesMLS launches with technology partners FlexMLS, which will provide MLS services, and the international listings database ProxioPro, which translates listings into 20 languages.
The MLS’ size gives it negotiating power and clout with vendors, the MLS said.
“The purchasing power of BeachesMLS is tremendous. As a result, we are able to provide our members with the best tools and services available,” said RASL President Donn Wonderling in a statement.
