There's a new MLS services vendor in town, if you overlook the fact that it has been around for over 30 years.

Rapattoni, a leading association management software vendor since 1970, is reinventing itself faster than Madonna. First, it took on MLS information service providers, becoming one of the first and biggest stand-alone Internet MLS service providers, and one of the first to come up with a low-cost IDX/VOW solution that was free to MLS members.

For its next trick, Rapattoni plans to take on keybox leader Supra.

A bold plan? Not from where Andy Rapattoni sits. "Rapattoni represents about 80 percent of the Realtors in the country today," he says. "About four years ago we decided to leverage our good relationships with these people."

Fortunately for Rapattoni and his company, other MLS vendors left the door wide open to competition. And he was fearless enough to go through it, he says.

"We had a lack of knowledge of what is required to be an MLS vendor," recalls Rapattoni "We started with a blank page, and never looked back.

Rapattoni wasn't without MLS information management experience. "We had some experience in the '70s, we had the exclusive rights to market PRC Realtronics, the precursor to Interealty. In 1968, I was on the staff of RealTron. We developed a basic MLS system, and went to the field with it. The first customers gave us feedback and said what features they wanted, and we kept supplementing the software."

In record time, Rapattoni was serving about 76 MLSs with Internet-based MLS systems. Total agent seats are about 100,000, ranking Rapattoni about third or fourth in market penetration.

"We are a stand-alone system," emphasizes Rapattoni. "Seventy four contracts are installed except for NTREIS which is running parallel (on a FNIS system) and they will drop the parallel."

Why is a stand-alone Internet system better?

"The MLSs want to be stand alone because legacy systems are expensive," says Rapattoni, "The real issue's that the Internet changed the paradigm of MLS allowing us to get rid of complicated communications systems. It made it much simpler to bring information to the agent because of the Internet concepts that have emerged like browsers."

Rapattoni predicts that the legacy systems are going away. "They are archaic in technology and serviceability to agents and in presentation, so Internet systems will prevail. There is a certain amount of paralleling to get agents from a legacy system to an Internet-based system. The big hurdle is the adjustment the agent makes to change to an Internet based system. It's easier and forces the agent to change keystrokes. There is a learning curve, but it isn't necessary to sell people on it. Everyone knows they need to be on the Internet."

Rapattoni says that his company's reputation has made it easy to compete with startups as well as legacy companies. "The legacy companies have been falling apart," he says, "and been bought and sold several times, and the changes have been so rapid and traumatic it shakes people's confidence in those legacy companies and made it easy for us to move in."

IDX, VOWs

Rolling out products that assuage MLSs' need to produce IDX and VOW solutions for its members helps, too.

"There are new things that will help further our advantage over competitors," says Rapattoni, "We have one software set that is customizable, and it permits us to do quarterly upgrades, and our customers will always be current. When IDX came out, we implemented it over a weekend, and they all have IDX. And now VOW is coming, and as soon as the controversies settle, we will do that at no additional cost to the customer."

IDX and VOWS will be the "dominant part of agents' business," says Rapattoni.

"In the MLSs that have adopted it, the public represents about 70 percent of our traffic," says Rapattoni, "to gain access to the database. The MLSs thought their book was their reason to exist. I think it is misunderstood by agents. Their services are the reason to exist. The listing information is just a vehicle to provide those services. Most resistance to IDX and VOWs is coming from the concept of 'if we control the data then we are in a better position to exist.'"

IDX traffic increases are coming from two areas - the IDX pages themselves and link-backs from e-mails sent by Rapattoni's auto-prospecting system.

"I believe it is making a difference but I can not document that," says Rapattoni, "We can see what is going on and most MLSs survey their agents. One stat says that over 70 percent of public is starting their search for a home on the Internet."

Blackberries

"At the NAR convention in November, there will be our new concept of pushing data from the MLS automatically to a PDA, like a Blackberry," says Rapattoni, "It is a completely different approach. Other MLS systems require agents to keystroke a query and Realtors hate small devices. This will be a hot sheet in the pocket and data will be viewable on blackberry and they can see changes that have come in."

Supra

A chink in the armor is what allowed Rapattoni to successfully strike against Interealty, FNIS (which now owns RISCO and Homeseekers MLS products) and Marketlinx. Rapattoni is hoping to use the same advantage when it takes on Supra.

Supra is the undisputed leader in keybox technologies. Last year, the company opened itself to controversy when it told MLS customers that it was discontinuing support on older keybox software and requiring agents to purchase new keybox technologies. While Supra CEO Greg Burge made a convincing argument that the newer technologies were safer for sellers, and provide more functionality for agents, the new subscription model chafed some MLS executives who want to get a few more years out of their older, paid-for Supra systems. Some grumbled that Supra is a monopoly, which it enforces with an army of patents that prevent others from creating similar products, and many of these brokers and executives would like to see a competitor to Supra emerge so that at least there would be more choice.

They are getting their wish.

"Rapattoni Corporation is going to compete with Supra in lockboxes," says Rapattoni, "and we are through the engineering stage and the attorneys looking at patents. Our technology will be integrated with the MLS and Blackberries, so you will be able to view who has been showing houses. The beta will be ready in about eight months, and we'll be delivering product in 12 to 15 months. Supra contracts are ending, and we really want to make it a gradual move. Five years is the perfect time.

How will Rapattoni's product be an improvement? "There will be no 'clamshells,'" says Rapattoni, 'it will be the same only on the key business. It won't try to be an application. We are doing an end-around Supra's patents in that we are using all new technologies. There's no legacy stuff to preserve. We'll be advanced when we hit the marketplace because we can start with all new technologies. As a competitor, I think we will improve Supra's service and attitude. I think most people laugh that we are going to do this, and I'm hoping Supra takes that attitude, but we have the money, and we have proven that we have done that in the MLS. They created the opportunity for us. We can integrate the two - MLS and Blackberry, and provide a higher level and less expensive service."

Rapattoni's parting shot is, "Technology is moving along so fast, we view our Internet MLS as the agent's portal to the world, and we see the advantage of the Internet to link to other services."

Published: October 9, 2002

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.