For local Florida real estate and MLS organizations that have been trying to figure out a way to implement NAR's Internet Data Display Policy guidelines, yesterday's announcement by the Florida Association of Realtors (FAR) must have been as welcome as a winning lottery ticket. FAR plans to help its MLSs and brokers get compliant with IDD free of charge.

But, for third-party IT service providers, with their eyes cast on the lucrative Sunbelt states, it's another step down the ladder into shrinking customer hell. Why? FAR may represent only one state, but it has set up its Living Network of free agent Web sites to all comers, attracting a following of 28 other states. That means that eventually, half the country could be set up with free IDD solutions, putting IT service providers out in the cold.

According to Jerry Matthews, executive vice president of FAR, the state organization will take responsibility for designing a Broker Reciprocity solution so that all local MLSs, brokers and agents will be able to have online listings according to the rules of sharing outlined in the NAR's IDD policy. And, they will save themselves hundreds to thousands of dollars in the process. Most important, they will be set up on time to be compliant with the NAR's January 1, 2002 deadline.

Why would a state level real estate association take on such a chore? Why cut IT service providers out of a NAR-sanctioned revenue dream-come-true? "Because we can," says Matthews. "Otherwise our associations and brokers are going to be out a lot of money."

FAR first got wind that all IDD implementation was not going smoothly at a recent extended leadership meeting of district VPs, during which some executives complained of the expense involved with implementing the NAR's IDD policy. "The NAR mandated the services but didn't suggest a service provider," says Kevin Janes, vice president of information systems for FAR. "So it was up to each MLS how they implemented IDD, through an MLS provider or a Web service provider."

That left many MLSs in a state of paralysis, while the clock continues to tick. Which providers will do the best job? How much should IDD cost? Whose expense should it be? While some MLSs are willing to pass the costs back to members, there is still a large initial outlay of approximately $10,000 to $15,000, sums large enough to stop some smaller MLSs in their tracks. "We've seen some proposals and contracts for two or three years duration," says Janes.

The FAR leadership decided that it had all the experience needed to make the IDD problem go away for members. In 1995, it had created the Florida Living Network®, a consumer-directed Web site which contains Web pages for every member and firm in Florida. In 1996, FAR began to offer Residential Property Ads, the display of residential property listings to the public on the Internet. "That was long before Realtor.com even existed," says Matthews. Then FAR followed up with Planet Realtor(r), a members-only business tools Web site that includes large databases of information such as the entire state's tax roll property records on over 8,300,000 homes.

In five years, 28 states have joined the Living Network, representing over 325,000 Realtors, a fact that should cause IT service providers such as VISTAinfo and Interealty to blanch, if they were hoping to capture IDD implementation revenues.

"This IDD application is in the core of FAR's technical capabilities," says Matthews. "We've already done the displayed listings on the Internet and we've already handled huge databases, and we are going to do it without cost because this is a chance for us to make a real difference to the MLSs and the members by taking this cost out of their equations."

Why is implementing IDD so expensive? Because there are two levels of expense - one for the MLS to pay a third party to enable it to display listing information on a frameable site or as a direct data feed. "The other is that the member has to create a Web site that is capable of handling this data display or altering their existing Web site to display the listings, and they will have to pay someone to do this," says Matthews.

What are they paying for? The IDD guidelines mandate that MLSs should allow the sharing of the entire MLS database among members who want to post the MLS listings on their personal Web sites. Every member can have every listing, with the cooperation of the brokers, hence the term - Broker Reciprocity. "You can be a broker with 20 listings and you get to post 3,000 listings on your Web site," says Matthews. "But you can't mislead the public that these are all your listings. That's where the guidelines for publishing come in and that's why the information has to be displayed properly because this is information that the public is going to see."

So what is the technology solution? The execution of IDD requires the creation and display of dynamic Web pages, exporting of data files and handling large databases of information, which is very similar to Internet products FAR has already delivered in Florida and other states."It is a series of software packages that implement all the major portions of IDD," explains Matthews. "We will take data feeds from the boards which they are sending out to the public sites like Homeadvisor and Homestore, and by getting that, we can create the IDD solution. We create Web pages for the members, we create the frameable site."

Not every board will be able to take advantage of FAR's generous offer. Some have already implemented Broker Reciprocity. "The board/MLS has to make the first move," says Matthews. "When they say they want us to be their solution, then we make the following options available to the members depending upon the sophistication of their Web presence:

1. We'll create a Web page if you don't have a Web presence
2. We'll improve the Web site you have
3. If you have a URL and want a data feed, we'll give you one
4. We'll do a data feed for advanced brokers and agents."

The solutions sound more complex than they are, but simply put, members come with different levels of expertise and Web presences. "So you have to treat them differently and provide a solution differently," says Matthews.

With only about nine months to go to give birth to IDD all over the state, FAR is limiting its free roll-out of IDD services to Florida associations only, but that doesn't mean the generosity ends with the state's borders.

"Initially, we will concentrate on Florida," says Janes, "depending on the timelines. Our main concern is to take care of our members, and to meet the NAR deadline, but if we are finished early, then we'll take whatever time is left to help other TLN states."

Published: April 20, 2001

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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.