Recently, RealTown released the MLS of the Future Vision Article authored by RealTown's Saul Klein. The article release has created an incredible buzz in the Real Estate industry. If you have not read the entire 28-page paper, you can download it by visiting . In the meantime, we will be releasing a portion of the paper several times a week to allow you to read the specific sections and make online comments that will fuel additional views and opinions on the subject as we move forward. http://FutureofMLS.com

What will be required to build on the current solid foundation of today’s MLS? This paper attempts to answer this question and create a basis for an industry discussion. Open and frank discussion is essential to creating the tools and organizations that will position REALTORS® to provide services to meet the expectations of future buyers and sellers. This Paper is a vision and not a roadmap. MLS in the broad, generic sense, needs to be redefined in the age of information proliferation and online participatory environments. MLS is more than an offer of compensation and cooperation, but how much more? That decision is up to you.

MLS 5.0 is a Property Wiki - (Parcel based not listing based)

A wiki is a collection of web pages, where the content is written by contributors (Wiki in plain English). Wiki software can have many uses and applications, the most well known being Wikipedia, which is an encyclopedia written by volunteer writers and editors. Companies today often use wiki software to create searchable, retrievable information about the company. A wiki begins with something referred to as a “Stub,” which can be a word or a phrase and then contributors write about the stub. Because of a concept known as the “wisdom of crowds” the information about that stub becomes more and more comprehensive and accurate. Wikis are fundamental to Web 2.0. Do not be led to believe that wikis are not accurate. To test, go to Wikipedia.org and search for a word or phrase that you are familiar with and check the accuracy.

The word wiki is the Hawaiian word for fast or quick. If you have ever flown into the Honolulu International Airport, you have probably taken a ride on the Wiki Wiki Shuttle.

A property wiki then is a wiki where the stubs are property addresses or parcel numbers, to which information from contributors and editors can be added to create a comprehensive record.

Imagine a blank web site for every property address in the US. To that blank Web site imagine adding anything publicly known. Now imagine inviting the property owner and REALTORS® to add what they know about the property. While there are some concerns about accuracy, Web 2.0 concepts, self-policing, flagging, and social capital will in time minimize the inaccuracies.

This is a key to understanding MLS 5.0. A listing is merely a moment in time of the life of a property. MLS data is a subset of a larger body of data relative to a parcel of real property. Of value to REALTORS® and consumers is information about a parcel before the property is listed for sale. Property history, in one convenient place, is a valuable asset that grows in value as more information is accumulated over time. Pictures, video, audio, text and other formats of information relevant to a property and conveniently aggregated have value. A prospective buyer might be interested in pictures of a home before and after a remodel.

Who Will MLS 5.0 Serve?

MLS 5.0 will serve the customer of today and be ready for the customer of tomorrow. That customer is the REALTOR® and their customer, the buyers and sellers of real estate. According to NAR, Gen X and Gen Y made up 78.8% of all first time home purchases in 2007. This is a significant milestone. While there is a variety of information and definition about the different generations, one thing for certain is that there are truly generational differences based on the times in which people live, the seminal events in their lives, and the world conditions they experience during their lifetime. MLS has always been a Broker to Broker (Business to Business) Network. It was not created as a central platform to facilitate marketing efforts. Marketing today needs to take into consideration generational destinations, modes of communication, and targeted marketing messages.

At who is this message targeted?

Understanding and Adapting to Generational Differences

From Wikipedia:

Generation X – Baby busters - 48 Million

• Original Latch Key Kids

• Independent

• Skeptics

• Techno literate

• MTV generation

• Inception of the Internet

Generation Y - Echo Boom - 80 Million

• Generation Me

• Confident

• Collaborative

• “Bathed in Bits”

In their book, Connecting to the Net Generation, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa found that in a survey of 7,705 college students in the US:

• 97% own a computer

• 94% own a cell phone

• 76% use Instant Messaging and social networking sites.

• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week

• 34% use websites as their primary source of news

• 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs

• 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing

• 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing

• 75% of college students have a Facebook account

• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.

They represent Tomorrow’s REALTOR® and Tomorrow’s Home Owner. MLS 5.0 is built to fulfill the expectations of the REALTOR® and consumer of today as well as the REALTOR® and consumer of tomorrow.

The fourth part of this series will be published on Tuesday.

Comments

RE: MLS 5.0 -- A Vision for Tomorrow -- Part Three

Comment by: Woodbridge Estates Real Estate Group

- Sep 12, 2008 9:40:57 AM

"Connecting to the Next Generation" sounds like a book to be read by all Realtors who have any intention of having a successful career in the years to come. I intend on ordering the book as soon as I finish this comment.

Jackie Fecske

Woodbridge Estates Real Estate Group

Studio City ,California

Comment by: Pam Ghanaati

- Sep 14, 2008 5:23:19 PM

Thanks for the great info and insight, Saul. You give us some deep topics but write them in a way we can all understand. I would love to see our local associations discussing this topic. However, with two associations and two different MLS's in the same metropolitan area, I'm worried they will stick their heads in the sand and ignore this important issue. They can't even get along with each other, let alone think about a vast interent MLS cooperating with other Realtors, associations, areas, consumers. But hope does spring eternal. I plan to mention this and try to open discussion with others in my office to get the ball rolling.

Comment by: Steve

- Jan 4, 2009 6:55:32 PM

I just logged on tonight and took some time to poke around a bit and came across this article. I plan to take the time to read the entire article and then maybe I can add something intelligent.

I would like to share with you that many years ago, as Chairman of our local MLS, I and a couple of other members felt/saw the need for a greater MLS system, one that could serve our members better. We envisioned a state wide MLS and then wondered why it could not be nation wide. It took 7 years for us to get together and form a rationalized MLS. We started with 3 Boards and then grew to, if memory serves me correctly, 8 boards. Soon after Realtor.Com came into the picture and now today we have a national MLS and here in Connecticut we now have CTMLS which embraces most of the state.

I'll look forward to reading your thoughts on the future of MLS. I've been doing this for 43 years now and I must say I enjoy the real estate business as much today as I did when I first got into it.