In Greater Chattanooga and across the country, the real estate industry is abuzz about listing syndication. Just last week, we had an Association membership meeting on the topic, and learned a few things we didn't know. This got me to thinking that the general public also might also benefit from a little Listing Syndication 101. The basics, if you will.
We should start at the beginning – the very beginning, when an individual licensee affiliates himself with a real estate firm. The managing broker of the real estate firm chooses to become a member of the Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors. Then the managing broker decides to participate in the Association’s optional service, called the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).
By participating in the MLS, the managing broker offers cooperation and compensation to the other real estate brokerages that also participate in the MLS. In short, the firm representing a seller alerts all the other participating firms about the new property on the market and offers a commission to the firm that represents the buyer in a successful transaction. The blanket, unilateral offer of compensation to other participants is what defines an MLS. However, there are other places where listing data also can reside.
Currently, the MLS has agreements with various entities to supply them the MLS data on active listings. In addition to making active listings available to all consumers via www.gcar.net, the Greater Chattanooga Association’s MLS provides data to www.timesfreepress.com and www.Realtor.com. In addition, we provide data to ListHub, which in turn publishes the data to numerous channels across the web. This re-publishing of listing data is known as listing syndication.
There are strong and varied opinions on whether or not listing syndication is a positive for consumers, and questions on whether or not it's good for the real estate industry. There have been comparisons to what happened with other industries – bookstores and travel agencies, to name a few. Consumers no longer have to drive to a brick and mortar retail store to purchase reading materials. Consumers can now book their next dream vacation online without the knowledge and expertise of a local travel agent. It's easy to argue that Realtors simply are concerned about their livelihood. However, for us, it's really about what's best for the clients and customers we serve.
While we have control over the sites to which we send our data, we cannot control the sites that obtain data from a variety of sources. As a result, there is legitimate concern about the accuracy and timeliness of the data. The Realtor Code of Ethics obligates us to present a true picture in our real estate communications and to look out for the best interests of our clients. Therefore, we are closely monitoring all the places where our local market data resides, whether obtained directly from the MLS or elsewhere.
We strive for sellers to have great exposure for their listed home and not get lost among those homes that currently are not for sale, or never were. Sellers should expect that, on all sites, the value of their home is not over or under inflated. At the same time, buyers should expect that the property values they see online for a potential next home are accurate and not creating unrealistic expectations.
Locally, we're working diligently to ensure our data is kept current, regardless of where we determine it should reside, so as to benefit both sellers and buyers. As an Association, our goal is to provide the most up-to-date and accurate information to serve our community’s real estate needs.
The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors, a regional organization with more than 1,400 members, is one of more than 1,800 local boards and associations of Realtors nationwide that comprise the National Association of Realtors. The Greater Chattanooga Association of Realtors services Hamilton and Sequatchie counties in southeast Tennessee and Catoosa, Dade and Walker counties in northwest Georgia. For more information, visit www.gcar.net.