As many as 41 percent of Americans are estimated to use the Internet. Six million consumers per month search for homes on Realtor.com, where each home is viewed as many as 130 times. Yet despite overwhelming evidence that the Internet is becoming a preferred home search method for home buying consumers, the real estate industry lags in its ability to facilitate listing-based communications between the REALTOR® and the consumer.

Until now.

In a climate crackling with change, including the NAR's push toward open standards for Internet listing information, agents are increasingly turning toward the Internet for business solutions.

With legacy client/server information systems currently in operation, most REALTORS® are forced to follow complicated steps to enter and retrieve listing data, especially with systems which don't offer access to a browser. They must close their systems, open a browser and then communicate with the customer via e-mail. Some organizations are waiting for Internet overlays promised by large client/server system vendors such as Moore and GTE, who are working to iron out kinks.

An Internet MLS overlay that works should enable those agents working on legacy systems to be able to search for homes without being slowed by cumbersome codes and then communicate their findings in real time with their clients. In fact, the search features, as designed by one company, MLS2000, lend themselves to finding errors which can be communicated to the vendor.

MLS2000 has just been launched as a subsidiary of HomeSeekers as the Internet-based MLS "conversion solution." MLS2000 is designed to work with, not replace, legacy systems. Instead it will serve as a bridge between proprietary client/server MLS systems and the browser/server systems featuring open Internet standards.

Because every legacy system includes individual hardware and software systems, even from the same vendor, it is very expensive and technically difficult for many of these systems to be adapted to the Internet. In addition, many REALTORS® still lack the equipment, training or inclination to adopt a 100 percent Web-based MLS. These barriers keep most MLSs moored to their legacy systems and reluctant to invest in the Internet.

But many agents, frustrated by the fact that they can perform some functions more quickly and efficiently using third party home search sites that they can with their own MLS systems, are demanding an Internet solution.

John Giaimo, president of HomeSeekers believes he has found the answer. At a relatively low cost to MLSs and boasting an easy learning curve for agents, Giaimo believes easy installment and use will convince the industry to adopt the Internet.

"We have thousands of visitors per day searching for home on HomeSeekers - without a handbook," he says, a reference to the ease of use.

An Internet "old-timer" of four years, HomeSeekers is a veteran in listing aggregation, serving as many as 200 MLSs at a time, each with proprietary data methods. Giaimo believes this incumbency will give MLS2000 a marketing advantage.

Giaimo plans to overwhelm the competition on two other key fronts - number of search elements and the ability to modify search elements.

"There are a lot of would-be MLS Internet vendors that are out there all of a sudden, and a lot of MLSs are looking at these companies as the solution," says Giaimo. "We are making the statement that what we have is a serious product."

Outlining the points of difference, Giaimo says MLSs should be wary of vendors with limitations in database structure and data modification.

"If there are only 100 search elements available, and no flexibility in redefining the elements, then these systems are little better than the legacy systems they are supposed to be enhancing," says Giaimo. "We have 490 elements and the ability to add an unlimited amount without slowing the system."

"MLSs should look at the number of database elements and the ability to add elements," advises Giaimo.

Using XML among other codes, MLS2000 has created a common language and search protocols which can be easily used by any MLS member who has access to a browser.

HomeSeekers is part of a group of Internet MLS solution providers including OpenMLS and 4th WORLD Telecom which are working to establish RELML (Real Estate Listing Markup Language) as a universal standard code for real estate listing information on the Internet. RELML was co-authored by OpenMLS and 4thWORLD Telecom during the late spring of 1998. Last week at the Mid-winter Governance meeting in Atlanta, John Petit presented RELML to the NAR panel. The NAR is seeking a way to establish open Internet code standards for the real estate industry. If RELML or another XML based standard is adopted by the NAR, listing information could potentially be written in universally accepted code by all MLSs and their system vendors.

"Our target market is every MLS in the country," challenges Giaimo. "Our system runs parallel with current legacy systems."

Fears about the Internet are a hurdle, admits Giaimo. "There has been a lot of talk and a lot of fear. The Internet means public, most people believe, but our system was designed with all the firewalls and password protections.

Another obstacle is price. Stung by legacy systems that run as much as $40,000 to $80,000 a month in fees, many MLSs are determined to "make it pay."

"An Internet solution is affordable," says Giaimo. "Our fees aren't nearly in that range."

And the ease of use is worth the cost. Agents will be able to search, not in complex codes, but in user-friendly fields. Not only are search elements improved, so are the way they are used.

"If you are searching for a property, and you want two bedrooms, what exactly do you want?" poses Giaimo. "MLS2000 gives you both positive and negative search elements. You can look for two bedroom homes but eliminate any which have a pool, for example."

Another benefit is the ability to set up a search file for a particular client.

"I can open a file for my client John Doe. I put in the file what he is searching for. The system waits for listings to appear that meet that criteria. As soon as the listings are added to the MLS database, the system will notify me and my client of the homes that match. The e-mail is a link back to the MLS system. My client's link is to the home flyer. My link is to the password protected area. In other words, the client sees the public version with the 360 degree tour, the voice description and additional photos. The agent will get the full data including tax records, financial information, etc," outlines Giaimo.

In addition to eliminating headaches for agents, MLS2000 proposes to save money for the MLS organization.

Greg Johnson, CEO of HomeSeekers, says,"MLS2000 will dramatically reduce the cost of MLS data aggregation."

"Under most MLS systems available today, changing one field of listing information or adding a new search parameter can cost many thousands of dollars. We can make these and other changes with the stroke of a key."

Can your MLS do that?

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