In a nod to brokers, two Colorado multiple listing services have inked a deal to share real estate listing data.
Information and Real Estate Services (IRES) in Northern Colorado and the Pikes Peak Association of Realtors began sharing active and sold listings on Monday through a free tool called RPR View from National Association of Realtors subsidiary Realtors Property Resource.
RPR View allows Realtor-affiliated MLSs to make on- and off-market listings viewable to Realtor subscribers of other MLSs or to all Realtors nationally, at the MLSs’ discretion.
Earlier this year, large real estate brokers in Colorado’s Front Range region called for IRES, PPAR and the state’s largest MLS, REcolorado, to merge. REcolorado and IRES took up the call, but Colorado Springs-based PPAR declined to participate in merger talks, saying doing so was “not practical.”
Brokers also called for the three MLSs to share listing data in advance of a merger — a request that PPAR and IRES are partially fulfilling with this deal. IRES has about 6,000 agent, broker and appraiser subscribers; and PPAR’s MLS has about 3,600.
Lauren Hansen
“The exchange of expanded listing data between the Colorado Springs market and Northern Colorado is in the best interest of Realtors throughout the Front Range,” said IRES CEO Lauren Hansen in a statement.
Hansen told Inman that the data share would offer two main benefits: expanded inventory and broader marketing exposure.
“If a broker has someone looking for an investment property while their child attends college, for instance, they have access to available properties,” she said.
And because listing information will be available to a broader audience of agents and brokers, “the listing enjoys more exposure within the industry and prospective buyer clients,” she added.
Amy Reid
PPAR CEO Amy Reid told Inman PPAR had signed up for RPR View at the request of its members. “Our members will benefit from information from the other markets in providing the best service to their clients and customers,” she said.
RPR View is not integrated with the MLS but is accessible from the MLS through single-sign on, according to Hansen. IRES’s previous data-sharing efforts with PPAR and REcolorado involved integrated their listing information into IRES’s MLS system, she said.
“It’s really easy to accomplish [with RPR View] since the MLS decides what information to share and with whom. RPR personnel even make the changes for you so there is no development time or vendor involvement,” she said.
If an agent or broker conducts a listing search in RPR View, he or she will get results back from both MLSs, according to Hansen.
IRES activated RPR View in 2015 to share on-market data with all Realtors using RPR nationwide. But IRES has granted permission only to PPAR to see its sold listings and additional confidential fields such as showing instructions, compensation, private broker-to-broker remarks, possession terms and sold terms, Hansen said.
IRES and PPAR have a separate agreement extending cooperation and compensation via RPR View, she added.
According real estate consulting firm WAV Group, data sharing via RPR View is “data sharing lite — all of the great taste of a full data share, but less filling.”
“RPR view is free to the MLS and the Realtor, but does not involve managing reciprocal links, managing data feeds, etc.” WAV Group’s Victor Lund wrote in a blog post.
“A full data share would include lock box integration, forms reciprocity, IDX/VOW integration, rules integration, etc. Full bodied data shares would come with a price tag of $1 to $6 per member per month and take upwards of a year to launch.”
IRES and REcolorado announced a binding merger deal last month with only shareholder votes needed to make the merger final. Although votes were anticipated by mid-December, they have yet to happen.
“The documents are being reviewed by a team of attorneys at this point — on behalf of our owners, IRES, and also taking Colorado law into consideration since the documents were drafted by a Seattle law firm. REcolorado also has legal counsel involved. We aren’t sure of the timeframe now,” Hansen said.
REcolorado declined to comment on the merger’s progress other than to say both MLSs continue to work on it.
What will happen to the data sharing agreement between IRES and PPAR after the merger closes? That’s yet to be determined, according to Hansen.
In the meantime, PPAR is willing to participate in data-sharing with any other MLS in the state through RPR View, Reid said.
