The Broker Public Portal (BPP) Board of Managers has entered into a termination agreement with Homesnap. This will dissolve the joint venture that featured Homesnap as the consumer facing website and agent mobile app provider to the BPP. The BPP- Homesnap service will terminate on October 31, 2022.
BPP 2.0 will be built on three pillars:
National consumer platform created through technology reciprocity:
This reciprocity will be created by innovations licensed from brokers, MLSs and vendors that develop consumer websites and mobile app components. Said developments will be “open sourced” to BPP brokers, MLSs and vendors.
The BPP will have a national search site and corresponding mobile app, which will also be licensed by BPP for “cloning” by MLSs and brokers who wish to engage consumers directly with local listing agents and brokers – much like brokers providing “cloned” websites to their agents.
Developer tools will enable BPP MLSs and brokers to customize their consumer-facing platform and “make it their own.” Any innovation developed by BPP participants will be available to all MLSs and brokers who wish to participate in technological reciprocity.
National dataset created through MLS reciprocity:
The data will be contributed by MLSs and held in trust for the benefit of BPP owners. It will be used by any reciprocating MLS for deploying a national portal.
American consumers have long benefited from IDX Broker Reciprocity, to provide home sellers with more buyers and buyers with buyer representation. This construct has created an unprecedented and superior consumer experience for people seeking homeownership in America.
MLS Reciprocity follows the same mantra of “you can display my listings if I can display yours.” MLSs who participate in the Broker Public Portal will have their listings displayed on the new BPP national website, and will be able to display a national dataset on their local consumer facing portals.
The goal is to have the MLS records aggregated into a national dataset, and maintained by the BPP to future-proof industry ownership. The national dataset will be used to engage consumers across the country, and connect them with local listing brokers and agents.
The national dataset and underlying intellectual property rights ,will be held in trust by the BPP for the benefit of the BPP owners. Listings will be secured and made available for display on the basis of real time API calls–no distribution.
Last but not least, the national dataset will only be for use by MLSs seeking to complement broker IDX search with a “your listing your lead” search experience. Brokers will have access to listings from MLSs where they are a participant in good standing.
National display ruleset:
These rules will follow the fair display guidelines to create a consistent national experience. The BPP consumer platform’s headlining mantra is “Your Listing, Your Lead.” Consumers will only see information about the listing broker and agent, and all inquiries will go to the listing firm.
MLS fair display guide websites complement broker IDX websites and do not allow competitor marketing on listings – the way MLS consumer sites across America and Canada already display listings.
BPP benefits:
The benefits of MLS consumer facing websites remain the cornerstone of the new Broker Public Portal strategy–unbiased listings search empowers consumers to make better decisions on their quest to achieve homeownership.
A common consumer-facing technology platform and a technology reciprocity framework will assure BPP participant ownership over their consumer technology, reduce barriers to innovation, and reduce overall technology costs – increasing broker and MLS competition to serve consumers.
Consumers will benefit from being able to connect directly with Listing brokers and agents who will never have to pay for listing exposure, while buyer agents will continue to be able to serve their clients with IDX search.
For more information, visit https://www.nar.realtor/ or https://brokerpublicportal.com/.
