Two sales associates at the Northwest Office of Prudential Alliance Real Estate Group say they made Oklahoma real estate history when they posted a property listing on the company’s web site from the seller’s kitchen within minutes of signing the listing contract.

Prudential e-certified sales team Shannon Robinson and Marsha Duncan say they were the first in their state to accomplish this feat without a telephone line, but via a cell phone connection, and complete with digital photographs.

This story is good news for the giant listings and technology companies such as Homestore and Wyldfyre who are backing technology platforms for Realtors which will include wireless access. It's also good news for Prudential Real Estate, one of the backers in the Homestore/N.A.R. transaction management platform. But it may be bad news for the legacy system-bound MLS which came in second place for the e-listing.

"We are the first to immediately advertise a property internationally," says Duncan. By instantly posting the listing to the Prudential Alliance Real Estate Group site, the listing gets instant international exposure on www.prudential.com.

What about the MLS? The listing is posted to the MLS the next day by an office administrator, says Duncan. "Sometimes by the time you look on Realtor.com or on the MLS site, the property is already sold," she says. "There is more exposure and also same day posting on Prudential.com. It is immediate."

What's the significance of this story? Duncan's franchise loyalty demonstrates the importance of instant e-listings as a marketing advantage. By posting immediately on the Prudential system, the listing can be emailed to buyers whose criteria matches those of the listings. Buyers working with Prudential agents also receive password access to search the company’s complete database of properties, including MLS listings, where they can see photos of properties. Access is allowed only after the buyer signs a buyer's agency agreement.

That's why the N.A.R. and Homestore are working to level the playing field by empowering the MLSs with the RETS standard, which will enable all MLSs to communicate instantly with each other and with Realtor.com and other vendors online. But first, they have to become Internet-ready.

Metro Association of Realtors spokesperson Janet Jackson says that postings to the MLS and to Realtor.com are same-day. She also confirmed that the MLS is in the process of deciding upon an Internet MLS vendor which can accomplish a system cutover by the first of the year. But until the MLS is able to serve its members with Internet MLS services, Prudential, it seems, has a built-in Internet pocket listing advantage. Says Duncan, Prudential sales associates are authorized by the company to place the property on the Internet immediately after a listing agreement is signed.

Another advantage for Prudential in terms of acquiring critical mass via listings is that Prudential listings are automatically posted to the Internet. By contrast, Jackson says that approximately one-fourth of the MLS listings are never posted on the MLS site or Realtor.com for a variety of reasons, including seller reluctance to see their homes on the World Wide Web.

“When we meet for a listing presentation with a laptop computer and a digital camera, our sellers are less than one hour away from worldwide marketing of their property,” says Duncan.

Published: June 2, 2000

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