Three MLSs in the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday announced the
launch of a consolidated property-search database for their members.
The unified database, called Quattro,
supplies subscribers with property information covering 15 California
counties -- the MLSs serve about 42,000 agents and brokers and the
region has about 5.6 million residents. The effort to establish the
shared database was launched last year.
The area is a hotbed for MLS
data-sharing and regionalization efforts, as a separate group of MLSs
in Northern California is proceeding with a consolidation plan. The
National Association of Realtors had
formed a group to consider the future structure of the MLS system,
and the California Association of Realtors has pursued discussions on
forming a statewide MLS. Brokers in some markets have been
aggressively pushing for more consolidation and data-sharing among
MLSs, and for more control in the management and operation of MLSs.
The San Francisco Association of
Realtors, MetroList Services Inc. and Bay Area Real Estate Information
Service Inc. are participants in Quattro. Jim Branscombe, CEO for
BAREIS MLS, said that members of the three MLSs now have "open and
equal access" to four databases: the three separate MLS databases and
the unified Quattro database.
Users of the Quattro database can jump
directly to a member MLSs' database if they wish to view more detailed
information for properties, he said.
"The organizations really focused on
working together and not on politics," Branscombe said, which has been
a key to Quattro's success. "We were able to move through this process
very fast. We didn't change the governance of each of the MLS
systems." He noted that each MLS participant has a slightly different
ownership structure, "which is proof that entities with different
structures can work together. The whole project has been extremely
well-received by the membership across the board, and particular those
that have been affected by the traditional artificial boundaries."
MLS software vendor Rapattoni Corp.
provided the software and platform for Quattro.
The data-sharing agreements among the
MLSs will allow some real estate agents and brokers to subscribe to a
single MLS rather than maintaining memberships in multiple MLSs in all
of the areas that they serve.
Branscombe said that a next step in the
development of the Quattro system is to supply aggregated data feeds
to subscribers so they can post property information on their Web
sites. This will eliminate the need to process multiple data feeds
from the participating MLSs, he said.
The Quattro effort has attracted "a
great deal of interest" from MLSs outside the region, he said, and the
participants are also open to expanding Quattro to include other MLSs
in the area. "We are certainly more than open to have discussions with
other MLSs interested in participating in the effort."
The San Francisco Association of
Realtors had earlier participated in the MLS consolidation plan called
NCREX, but
backed out of that effort.
NCREX in January
announced the appointment of its
board
of directors, which is composed entirely of brokers. Jeanne Garde
of RE/MAX Today serves as chairwoman of that group. The groups
participating in NCREX consolidation discussions include Bay East
Association of Realtors, Central Valley MLS, Contra Costa MLS and RE
InfoLink.
Bob Moles, chairman of Cupertino,
Calif.-based Intero Real Estate and a board member for NCREX, said
Thursday, "It's a long battle. It all happens a little slower than
what I'd like to see happen. We continue to make progress," he said.
"Our goal is to reduce the duplication of effort and reduce the
different boards and associations and MLSs that brokers and associates
have to belong to."
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