Colorado’s largest multiple listing service, Metrolist, has rebranded, adopting the name of its public-facing MLS website in the hopes of resonating more with consumers.
Metro Denver-based Metrolist, now REcolorado, will now also avoid confusion with another MLS, MetroList Services Inc., which serves more than 25,000 real estate brokers and agents in seven Northern California counties, including the Central Valley.
The name change comes as REcolorado makes efforts “to solidify its position as the premier provider of innovative technology tools for real estate professionals and grow REcolorado.com,” the MLS said in announcing the move.
The MLS celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and the rebranding is an important milestone in that history, said Kirby Slunaker, president and CEO of REcolorado, in a statement.
“It reflects our broader focus on providing consumers the most accurate and up-to-date resources for buying and selling Colorado homes, while continuing to serve our member base of more than 16,000 Colorado Realtors and real estate professionals,” he said.
While the MLS includes listings from all over Colorado, the vast majority of its listings and its members are located in the 12-county Denver metro area, Slunaker told Inman. The MLS currently has no plans to expand the reach of its public-facing site further, as the Houston Association of Realtors plans to do with its upcoming rebranding of HAR.com to “Homes And Realtors.”
Early in Metrolist’s history, it was known for its printed books of active and sold listings, published on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis, the company said. Now, agents and consumers search for homes on REcolorado.com, which is updated every 15 minutes.
Screen shot of REcolorado.com home page.
Metrolist launched REcolorado.com in 1999 and over that time consumers have identified the site as a “great resource” but not associated it with Metrolist, Slunaker said. In that vein, having one name for both the site and the MLS is “probably a good thing,” he added.
“We just thought it made sense and thought it was time to freshen our name and our relationship with consumers,” Slunaker said.
Having “a little bit of a relationship” with consumers helps the MLS serve its agent and broker members in three ways, he said: providing them with professional exposure, marketing their properties, and providing them with leads.
REcolorado.com was relaunched in January 2012 with the aim of competing with national real estate search sites such as Zillow and Trulia. In addition to a new “look,” the revamp included mobile optimization, property alerts, the ability to search for local open houses, and a home valuation tool. The site also offers neighborhood data, sold listings, loan calculators and a Realtor database.
Last year, the MLS transitioned from an in-house proprietary system to Matrix, a platform from third-party vendor CoreLogic. The move gave subscribers the ability to quickly perform very specific searches for clients, a speedier experience, and mobile capabilities, the MLS said.
REcolorado is owned by four Realtor associations: the Denver Metro Association of Realtors; the Aurora Association of Realtors; the Douglas-Elbert Realtor Association; and the South Metro Denver Realtor Association.
