In an age when personalization and DIY culture are taking over, it can become challenging to rise above the static to showcase the true importance of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The culture of independence can make it challenging for agents to clearly see the value of shared services, standardized data and fluid communication. Without the backbone of an MLS, collaboration and the integrity of the industry can be threatened.
The challenge is clear: how do you explain to today’s agents that the MLS is alive and well, and so vitally important to the health of their real estate business? Here are a few ideas and messages that might hit home with your membership and community:
- It’s all about collaboration that benefits you and your clients. As an MLS member, you are committed to sharing information about listings and sales so that all agents can benefit. At the heart of the MLS is a true intention to better the market and provide the most educated information for your buyers and sellers. Your MLS affiliation is an indicator of your professionalism.
- MLSs put in the time (you may not have) to find and partner with the best public records tax company on the market today. We at CRS Data know this because our team often undergoes an extensive review process with MLSs and associations that can last months to years as they thoughtfully question and carefully dissect our CRS Data MLS Tax Suite (a leading property tax data service). Your MLS’s research and concerns run the gamut from unique customization needs that provide access to up-to-date mortgage and sales histories to reviewing the accuracy of our data acquisition process. Your MLS has your best interests at heart.
- Your MLS will give you interconnected software management and property data tools you can’t easily afford on your own. The online systems your MLS provides, from the property tax records just mentioned to your MLS management software, are carefully integrated by teams of data and program specialists to provide ease-of-use that truly can’t be found anywhere else. Information is fed from one customized system to the other so that you can pull accurate, up-to-date information easily and quickly from any mobile device (for example, our CRS Data MLS Tax Suite is now customized for mobile devices).
MLSs all across the country share their value in a variety of ways. You can start by communicating the work your board or membership teams conduct to research, plan and negotiate the programs you provide as membership benefits. It is a vast amount of time that is incredibly well spent and allows your agent members to efficiently do more of what they do best: list and sell properties.
For more information, please visit www.crsdata.com.
