PT: Do these solutions help brokers combat the impact of third party website publishers?
BG: We think so. To begin, as the largest operator of MLS systems in America today, we have a deeper understanding of data and the meaningful impact that data quality has on actionable consumer search. We enable brokers to establish a beachhead with the most accurate, timely, and enriched data available to consumers. Syndication powered websites can’t compete with that. Moreover, we support the brokerage in tying the consumer to the service provided by the broker and its agents in the best possible way. Consumers choose a brokerage because of the real estate services they demand. Excellent data and excellent service are the keys to brokerage success today.
Just to elaborate a bit. Today a new listing or listing update goes on a journey before arriving on a third party website. About half of the time, that journey starts on a CoreLogic MLS platform. From once to four times a day, syndication service companies access those updates and pull them to their servers. Listing data for syndication has a limited, incomplete number of fields and suffers a time lag. From there, syndication service providers make the data available to third party websites that also only update, which happens anywhere from once to four times a day. It’s a relatively slow process, and that can be a problem for consumers. With AgentAchieve, data is updated constantly, at intervals of an hour or less. That’s a huge data advantage, especially in today’s hot real estate market.
PT: When a broker is differentiated, does it help attract and retain agents?
BG: I hear a lot from large brokers that they need differentiated product offerings to attract and retain the best agents. That’s especially vital right now as the market is hot again. For large brokerages, AgentAchieve is perfect. Not only is it our premium enterprise management system powered by CoreLogic data, but AgentAchieve allows agents to inter-operate between their CoreLogic MLS system and AgentAchieve with deep links and single sign on sessions that keep them from jumping back and forth. That’s key. Agents simply won’t click back and forth between two systems without a smooth transfer of their contacts, forms, and other data. I would tell any large broker searching for a technology “higher hill” to look at a solution like AgentAchieve that provides the best of both worlds.
PT: What is next for our industry?
BG: Today, third party websites have commanded an unusually high pitch of consumer voice. I think that the consumer will shift back in the direction of brokers and agents. The strategy behind our product development thrust for both brokers and MLSs is to support this shift by enabling real estate agents to win back the consumer with better tools and information services that support retaining customers for life.
For more information visit AgentAchieve.com.