Jan. 9, 2012 - National Broker Survey on IDX and Social Media Rules

The IDX Policy draft reviewed at the November 2011 Anaheim NAR meetings, designed to address social media, mobile "apps", and provide other modernizations, was not found acceptable by attending brokers, associations and MLS leaders - or by the blogosphere in general. 

Clareity Consulting, in cooperation with REAL Trends, performed a survey in December 2011 to learn more about brokers’ opinions and concerns regarding the proposed IDX and Social Media changes to NAR’s MLS Policy.  Nearly 700 broker-owners from across the country participated.  This survey should provide grounding for future discussions and decisions regarding the evolution of IDX policy.

Clareity will submit this report to the new PAG that NAR has assembled. Clareity will also invite the PAG to provide an update at our annual MLS Executive Workshop March 1-2, 2012 and solicit additional feedback from MLS executives and leadership to contribute to the process. 

Following are key survey results:

·         On the question of whether IDX listings should be displayed on specific social media sites (Facebook, Google+, and Twitter)  brokers were evenly divided.  Also, 74% were in opposition to IDX listings being used on a more broadly defined set of websites, and there was no consensus on how one would easily draw the line between the enumerated social media sites and others.

·         If the policy is nonetheless expanded, compliance is clearly an issue:

o   88% agree that, if listings are sent to third party websites, it must be a rule that the broker responsible for sending the listing to that site must be clearly identified so they can take responsibility for display policy non-compliance.

o   Over two-thirds of brokers indicated that if listings were sent to third party websites, it should be required to tell the MLS where the listings have been posted, so the MLS can manage compliance.

·         If the policy is expanded to include non-participant sites, 85% of respondents favored providing an opt-out for display on non-participant sites (or sites where the owner/operator is unclear).

·         79% of brokers feel IDX policy needs to be updated – though most of that interest correlated with an interest to use IDX data on mobile “apps”, not for social media use. 77% are in favor of expanding IDX policy to permit display of IDX listings in “apps” on mobile devices.

The divide between brokers on the subject of using IDX listings on social media sites seems to fuel the argument to not allow for the expansion of IDX display to social media sites. However, Clareity believes...

Please read the full report for the rest of the story and to see the results for all of the questions.  A PDF of the report is also available for free download.  

Link to survey results:

http://www.callclareity.com/Broker-Survey-IDX-Social-Media-Rule-Changes-January-2012.pdf