Real estate is an industry that continues to look forward while taking two steps back.

The recent debacle in Dallas is a case in point.  This is the classic example of how decisions are made.  Let's be kind and call it, "Lowest common denominator committeeocracy".   And like some insidious genetic disease, most Association owned MLS's have it.  The way it works is that a committee is created to study different information systems and make a recommendation to the membership at large.  Volunteers tend to be either semi retired or unofficially retired Realtors.  Who else has the time to do this stuff?

When new systems are presented to the committeeocracy, neither the provider nor the platform are "recognized" by the volunteers.  And heaven help the new system if it tries to introduce a new business model.  That's a sure ticket to the door.

The committeeocracy view is dominated by the way things have been done.  A view which creates an industry that turns on the "limitations of the past", rather than the "possibilities of the future".

The committeeocracy attempts to find a system that first and foremost meets the need of how "they used to" do business.   Most problematic is the overriding indignation that real estate has been and will be sold with or without new fangled gizmo technology.   So issue numero uno becomes that of servicing that "lowest common denominator" of possible membership users - the retired committee members themselves!!

In this age of Internet based universal access and exchange, the Dallas Realtors actually decided on a system because it offered DOS based access!  I too have great affection for my first 8088 machine (after all, it did cost me $8,000).  But that doesn't mean I'm still trying to eke out the last penny of my investment at the expense of my business future.

Perhaps the entire Board Owned MLS model has outlived it's usefulness.  Lowest common denominator decision making might be holding the industry back, which was okay as long as "everyone" was being held back equally.  The MLS does, after all, serve a useful purpose in keeping the information playing field level.

But if there is one dominant trend in real estate it is that of a continuous surge in the growth of multi office brokerages.  Now understand that these guys have corporate needs that must be met and that means highly advanced information networks.  It becomes consensual suicide for local MLS's to continue to offer dumbed down inventory systems while these important players absolutely must be installing advanced network systems, if only to make sense of their corporate needs.

Balance in the real estate industry is the art of triangulating the needs of Brokers, Agents and Associations.  In the middle of this triangle of interests is the MLS information system.  While tension between the interests is nothing new, the ability of committeeocracy driven MLS's to balance the needs has ended.  Multi Office Brokers in particular are stressing the old model in every area of the country.   That Dallas would be one of the first areas to snap is actually a tribute to the increased technology demands high end Texas practitioners are now making.

Careful now.  The Dallas situation isn't about technology!  It's about a cranky decision making mechanism that has outlived it's usefulness.  The technology platform multi office brokers need is going to happen with or without the consent or participation of local MLS's.

Published: February 19, 1999

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