I find it interesting that every time someone justifies an internet based MLS system, it is never the MLS system that gets touted, but the transaction management system - linking all the partners, etc. But should that be part of the MLS system? Will we now be responsible for collecting confidential buyer data? When you add your prospect to the system will you now collect social security number, income, debts, etc.?

I apologize for the crude reference but so far the overriding reason for getting your MLS on the internet is the same reason a dog licks itself - because it can.

All these new companies coming to the forefront are interested in one thing - making money from this alleged cash cow - the MLS. Well I hate to break it to them, it ain't gonna happen. MLS is no longer the business it was.

I'm not saying that being on the Internet is bad. There are many things that an internet based system does that legacy systems can't - and Phil pointed those out - the ability to connect and link with other systems, the power of e-mail, etc. Those are all great. But none of these new systems can compete with the speed and content of legacy systems. And that's why parallel systems are a good idea. If the legacy system was just used for adding and modifying that would be very little of the overall use of the system - probably less than 5 per cent.

The other thing that people miss when touting Internet MLSs is that they assume that every real estate agent is web-enabled and anxious to do business on the web and spend additional funds for their ISP, etc. This is just not true.

XML

Phil, like NAR, oversimplified the XML juggernaut. XML in itself is not a standard database definition. It is just a way to define a database. Even with XML you still have the same problem of standards. Who determines what the standard for real estate is?

And the focus of XML is probably not the MLS system. The focus should be on the transaction. How much data from an MLS system is actually used in the transaction? What data do you need to order a title report - APNO and address - I think I could type that without having to develop some fancy system to pass 2 data elements. What do you need for escrow - we don't keep that info on the MLS system. And so forth and so on.

Do we pay attention to the man behind the curtain? We better find out what he's up to.

Russ Bergeron, General Manager, Southern California MLS
101 East Lincoln Avenue, Suite 120, Anaheim, California 92805-3203
714-517-2626, Fax 714-517-2604, Fax-On-Demand 888-860-2699
RussBergeron@SoCalMLS.com