In Illinois and Iowa, Realtors have consolidated four multiple listing services to create the RMLS Alliance, which will now cover 61 counties over 30,000 miles and serve a population base of 2 million customers, executives of the new MLS announced.
Launching this fall, the new MLS will merge Capital Area Realtors MLS, Egyptian Board of Realtors MLS, Peoria Area Association of Realtors MLS and the Quad City Area Realtor Association MLS.
“After extensive discussions and due diligence, we’re excited about the wealth of possibilities this new alliance offers,” said Ed Mahoney, president of Capital Area Realtors. “We believe that providing our members with greater access to technology tools and resources in a constantly evolving industry is needed to compete in today’s real estate market and better serve the consumer.”
The multiple listing services are being consolidated to give homebuyers a more streamlined portal of real estate listings in a single source and create a shared repository between bordering towns, according to RMLS Alliance executives. Realtors in other states have similarly consolidated or branched out in recent years, with mixed results.
“The Egyptian Board of Realtors is excited to be a part if this combined venture,” the group’s president, Suzanne Wood, said in a prepared statement issued on Tuesday. “This opportunity will allow us to provide our members with an array of services we couldn’t otherwise provide alone.”
The new Alliance will serve as many as 3,000 subscribers and use Black Knight’s Paragon system as its underlying vendor. It will be owned by shareholders and have a management team comprised of CEOs from the four MLS systems.