From its inception, Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) had the vision of creating valuable tools for members of the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), all with the goal of keeping REALTORS® in the center of the transaction. By giving REALTORS® ways to showcase their local market expertise, RPR has helped them increase their business while saving time and money. Available to all REALTORS® at no additional cost, RPR continues to develop tools for agents, brokers, associations and MLSs. Let’s take a look at what RPR has accomplished so far in 2014.
RPR kicked off 2014 with the launch of integrated MLS data with Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC (MRED) in the greater Chicago area, West Penn MLS in Pittsburgh, New Jersey MLS, and Information and Real Estate Services, LLC (IRES) in Loveland, Colo. RPR also welcomed the Austin Board of REALTORS® in Texas, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc. (NTREIS) and the REALTOR® Association of Greater Fort Meyers and The Beach into the RPR family with a licensed partnership.
For brokers, the launch of the Broker AVM Widget allows them to increase website traffic and generate leads by offering customizable estimated property values, an attractive source of consumer engagement online. Designed to load quickly, the Broker AVM can be used on broker websites, as well as intranets. This widget complements the popular Broker Tool Sets offered to brokers at no additional charge.
To give REALTORS® even more data in their arsenal of information, RPR recently added Points of Interest (POIs) to the maps in RPR Commercial. Available to all REALTORS®, these POIs are not simply just pins on a map. Separated into 10 broad categories such as retail, manufacturing, transportation and finance, with nearly 100 subcategories, each point of interest displays basic information about the business at that location, including address, number of employees, annual sales volume and industry.
Created to give associations and MLSs a portal into RPR user metrics, as well as reports to complement housing statistics already provided by NAR, the newly released RPR Dashboard also includes federal and Local Economic Area Reports. These two reports support brokers in partnership with association outreach on government affairs and economic development, and are available to association staff, Governmental Affairs Directors and Federal Political Coordinators.
Out of all the progress RPR has made so far in 2014, probably most exciting is the development of the RPR Enhanced Mobile Application. Following beta testing, this new application will be available in both the App Store and Google Play. RPR Mobile will be your all-in-one data source right in your pocket. Search for properties, create and send reports, and even find market updates quickly for the area you’re located in, all from your phone. The RPR Enhanced Mobile App will sync with the main RPR platform, creating a seamless integration with increased productivity.
And while RPR has been busy creating more value for REALTORS®, REALTORS® are taking the time to share their RPR success stories. REALTORS® are increasing their business, becoming heroes to their clients, working smarter—not harder—and making more money…all by using RPR. So if you haven’t started using this NAR member benefit, now is a great time to get started by visiting http://blog.narrpr.com.
Ray Gronowski is the vice president of Broker & Specialty Services for Realtors Property Resource®.