The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) and your MLS say you can have public versions of MLS listings on your personal Web site. That's easier said than done. A database of listings can mean a lot of storage on your Web site. Can your ISP and host handle it, or will you be required to buy more storage? And, do you want to go to the trouble and expense of getting a Webmaster to customize them for you? Some brokers and agents will say custom listings are well worth it, but for the rest of you, there are other alternatives. Here's how it can work for you if your MLS has a "vendor of choice" policy.

Most MLS organizations have an MLS information services vendor such as Vistainfo, Interealty, Homeseekers, and others which can provide framed listings for Realtors so that they may have a large number of listings on their Web sites for visitors to browse. The way this works is that the MLS aggregators "clean" the listings for public display, much like they do for listings sites like Homestore and HomeAdvisor. The difference is that for broker-displayed listings, the MLS can only allow the listings to be posted that brokers have agreed upon, as outlined by the Internet Display Policy of the NAR. This agreement is called Broker Reciprocity.

MLS organizations can enable Broker Reciprocity a number of ways. First, they aggregate the listing data from the brokers who have agreed to share their listings with other brokers. Then, the MLSs can either offer framed listings themselves, resell framed listings to vendors, or they can charge a fee to vendors who are doing custom listing services for individual broker and agent clients.

Some MLS organizations, such as Traverse Area Association of Realtors plan to offer public version MLS listings to members as an upgrade. "Our vendor (VISTAinfo, Inc.) has worked with TAAR in developing a local TAAR website which mirrors portions of the MLS database," explains Judith Lindenau, CAE, RCE, president of TAAR. "That can be framed cheaply by our members. We also allow members and their vendors to customize the info from the MLS on their website."

Customized versions of the framed listings are also available for an additional fee, and TAAR also works with outside vendors to help agents and charges them a small setup fee and monthly maintenance by signed agreement. An example of the way TAAR handles broker reciprocity listings can be found on RE/MAX Bayshore Properties Web site.

Lindenau explains that TAAR developed the program using a RETS interface. "It cost us a minuscule amount. By the same token, we don't charge our brokers much (if anything) to use this program," she says. "It's not meant to be an income source for us...just a way to produce a healthy real estate sales environment."

Some MLSs are Broker Reciprocity-ready, but agents will have to supply their own vendors. That's where the opportunity could be big for vendors like Vistainfo, Interealty, Homeseekers, and others who are already used to displaying aggregated listings on public Web sites.

Southern California MLS (SoCalMLS) has also facilitated Broker Reciprocity by opening the database of listings to vendors such as HomeSeekers which supply the agents with consumer-ready listings that can be framed into their personal Web sites. This approach allows the vendor to bundle framed listings into online lead generation packages such as Web sites. While it creates a profit center for the vendor it also pays the MLS which can charge a fee to facilitate the framing.

Says Russ Bergeron, president of SoCalMLS, "It keeps costs down for members."

Other MLSs are still on the fence with how to best implement Broker Reciprocity. According to the NAR mandate, they have until January 2001 to put a plan forward to members.

Published: February 3, 2001

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