RISMEDIA, May 26, 2009-It is not the intent of this column, nor is it possible, to answer every question about MLS 5.0; rather it is to begin the discussion and move to outcomes that will be beneficial to the stakeholders: consumers, agents, brokers, vendors, associations, MLSs, staffs and anyone interested in MLS. Question (which has been asked many times over the past 10 years, but never really answered):
“If we were to build an MLS today, with the technology available and for the different generations of Realtors, home buyers and home sellers, what would we include and how would we go about the task?”
Answer: It would be parcel-based (best described as a “Property Wiki”) and built upon Web 2.0 concepts.
MLS 5.0 will leverage that information to bring consumers and real estate professionals together on the Web to participate in ongoing conversations with real estate at the center.
MLS 5.0 will have a public-facing side for consumers and for consumer-to-Realtor interaction, and a private side for the use of real estate professionals.
This is a far cry from where MLS is today, and this is the challenge. If we do not take up this challenge as an industry-to create the authoritative and trusted source of real property information on the Web-it will happen anyway. In fact, the battle has already begun.
In a follow-up article next month, we will provide some historical background about the MLS as well as take a closer look at MLS 5.0 and some of the key advances it could introduce.
What’s your opinion? Please write to thefutureofmls@point2.com.
Saul Klein is CEO of InternetCrusade and Point2 Technologies Inc.
For more information, visit www.point2agent.com.
