Business Uses of the MLS

To me, the real negative impact of this agreement is not VOWs (nobody liked them much anyway), or IDX policy--we all have figured out how to achieve some stability with this issue. The real problem occurs because the agreement, as I understand it, limits MLS access to those with real estate licenses. This is a time when real estate should be embracing the entire professional community--lenders, appraisers,office managers (who in some cases don't need real estate licenses), staff paralegals, title companies and others who need statistical information to perform their functions. It is over-protective and reactionary (not to mention financially foolish) for MLS operations to restrict their membership to licensees only. The compromise answer would be to create a dual level MLS membership--full service, and 'read-only'. That way, the real estate community operates from the same data, and with the same level of market knowledge.