RISMEDIA, Oct. 24, 2007-ListingbookTM, an online service that connects real estate agents and their clients, announced that it has signed an agreement with the Multiple Listing Service Inc. of Long Island, New York that will allow up to 26,000 real estate agents to deliver an unparalleled level of service to their clients.
With the agreement, Listingbook has reached agreements with five MLS groups just this year.
Jim Speer, vice president of operations for the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, hailed the agreement. “Our MLS leadership was absolutely thrilled with the direct communication the Listingbook system provides agents with their buyers and sellers on a daily basis,” said Speer. “Listingbook lets consumers form a stronger relationship with their agents.”
Listingbook will showcase the system today at the 6th Annual MLS Tech Fair at the Huntington Hilton on Long Island to give agents a preview of the system and its collaborative, powerful tools that help agents work efficiently to help their clients find or sell properties. Formal training will occur in early November.
The MLS of Long Island serves Nassau and Suffolk counties as well as the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. “The Long Island real estate market is experiencing an increase in inventory and an increase in the time it takes to sell properties, much like the rest of the country,” said Speer. “We are expecting Listingbook to improve the flow of critical information to buyers and sellers, which will increase the amount of homes sold and sold in less time.”
MLS databases collect information about properties, and the system is listing-centric. According to the company, the Listingbook system, though, provides real-time data within a user-friendly, accessible and collaborative platform that facilitates communication between agents and their clients, enhancing the experience for buyers and sellers.
“We are confident that the agents will immediately see the value and effectiveness of the Listingbook system,” said Listingbook President James Barry. “We are pleased to begin working with the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island so that their member agents can begin to enhance their own communications with their clients.”
The Listingbook client-servicing product complements any local Realtor® MLS system and allows secure access to MLS data only when an agent provides a client account for a buyer or seller. The agent is then able to supply reliable, personalized, current market information, and interact with buyers and sellers while guiding and monitoring their activity.
According to the company, buyers feel empowered with Listingbook because they can search, select favorites and keep track of homes they have viewed to find their dream home quickly. Sellers can see the number of times their homes are viewed and, with their agent, view real-time competitive information like price changes and new listings in their area.
Speer said the system has many benefits for agents, including allowing them to facilitate the forwarding of updated housing listings on a regular basis. He said the Listingbook system is particularly helpful because it gives consumers a broad window into the housing market in a given region. For example, sellers can gain a much more accurate picture of real estate sales activity.
“There is much more inventory out there and it is taking a bit longer for homes to sell,” said Speer. “And many times sellers don’t realize what other properties are selling for. Listingbook provides sellers with an information and communication tool that keeps them abreast of current market conditions on a daily basis. This information better enables sellers to make informed decisions with their agent to maximize the potential of their home sale. In doing this, the seller can readily see what other houses are selling for and have sold for.”
The Long Island agreement comes on the heels of six earlier deals involving Listingbook this year. In May, Listingbook signed separate agreements with the Southern California Multiple Listing Service, which includes 55,000 Realtors; and the Realtor® Association of Greater Fort Myers (Fla.) and The Beach, which has 7,500 Realtors.
In April, Listingbook entered into agreements with the Pinellas Realtor Organization® of Clearwater, Fla., and West Pasco Board of Realtors of New Port Richey, Fla., serving a total of 10,500 real estate agents. And in January, Listingbook finalized an agreement with Michigan-based multiple listing service MiRealSource. Most recently, Listingbook renewed its contract with the Triad MLS of North Carolina.
Barry is confident about the future working relationship with the MLS of Long Island.
“Agents and consumers will find vastly improved communications across all facets of the home buying/selling experience,” said Barry. “This will be a tool that will have immediate impact for all parties involved in home transactions.”
For more information, visit www.listingbook.com.
