RETS and Syndication

I wanted to provide an example of how RETS has benefited us and our members as an MLS.
There are many reasons, but the Inman news article this morning regarding Prudential partnering with Google and cyberhomes lit a spark. Here is the latest instance of how we have utilized RETS as an MLS to provide a FREE enhancement for our members: (Although any data feed would probably work, the integration because of RETS, was easy, quick, and flawless.)
Syndication is a tool that should not only be embraced by the REALTOR community but also by the MLS entity. I cannot imaging the thousands upon thousands of hours that REALTORS® have spent entering their listings by hand into search engine providers such as Google, cyberhomes, Zillow, Etc.
Our MLS partnered with Threewide a few months ago as a syndication partner.
Threewide has a product called Listhub which is a syndication tool. We have set it up as a "Opt-In" enhancement for our members.
CEO Mark Wise, is very active within the RETS community and is a fine, fine gentleman.
The Listhub implementation only took a couple of weeks and was a zero cost item for the MLS and our members.
The Broker in Charge or Broker/Owner from each office simply creates a free account on the web and selects the search engines he/she wishes to syndicate their listings to. Within 72 hours, the firm’s listings are syndicated to:
Google,Yahoo,Trulia,Zillow,AOL,Homescape,MyRealty.com,hotpads.com,Vast,CLR,cyberhomes, FRONTDOOR, homesearch and Homes&Land.
Listhub has an enhanced product that firms may purchase and a small fee which includes more detailed reports, but the base product is FREE and drives consumers back to the listing firm opf the listing that they were viewing which after all.. Is what firms want.
Currently over 70% of our total MLS listings are being syndicated to the above partners. There is very limited management from our end at the MLS. I would estimate our administrative time to be less than five minutes per week.
Now, our members listings have been showing up on many of these sites way before the Listhub implementation. The agent would go in and manually enter the property data which was cumbersome and time consuming. No longer is this the case. Our member’s listings, upon approval from the Broker-In-Charge or the Broker/Owner automatically get sent daily to all of these channels and search engines.
This provides a large and so far, flawless vehicle of no-cost advertisement for our members and maintains the integrity of the data when posted on these channels. Some of these search engines have been notorious for maintaining bad or exaggerated data on their sites. That is no longer the case.
If Realtor® members and firms want their listings to appear on search engines, I believe the MLS has the technical responsibility to both the member and the consumer to provide not only accurate data but also a means of easy transport to these engines that consumers research. According to multiple reports and surveys, consumers and potential buyers are looking at the internet before contacting a Realtor®.
We should be responsible to our members and offer innovative technical solutions that enhance their business, lower their administrative costs, promote their listings and drive the “searching consumer” back to the member and firm that listed the property in the first place.
If we stand by and do nothing, 3rd party worms and sleazy vendors will begin popping up more and more frequently all over the internet, illegally scrape and re-syndicate listings and drive revenue by forcing referrals. That would NOT be beneficial to Realtors®, the MLS entity or…consumers… We cannot afford to let that happen to our members or the public, and now… we have a chance to do something about it before it is too late. Imagine someone at a call center in India attempting to solicit referral fees for your listings without your knowledge. Although fraudulent and unethical, it could happen. Many consumers simply do not have the “internet experience” needed to even know the difference.
Being able to provide a no-cost solution for syndicating our members listings to multiple search engines that are consistently used by consumers to research properties for sale has been nothing but a blessing and a positive experience that has not impacted fees, dues, or cost for the MLS or our members one bit.
More information about the Listhub product we have offered our members may be obtained by visiting www.listhub.net.

G. Brian Bell
Chief Technology Officer
Wilmington Regional Association of REALTORS®, Inc. / RETS Education Workgroup Vice Chair