2007 MLS Committee Report

By Laura Case, Chair
MLS Committee

Your MLS Committee has been busy and productive this year. As a member of the committee for several years now, I would like to share who we are, what we do, and why we do it.

Your MLS Committee consists of a representative group of agents, managers, brokers and area representatives from regionalized counties, which represent all 7,000 CBR licensees.

The membership range is from small companies to the large brokerages, and in-between. We all leave our brokerage affiliation at the door, and understand we need to make decisions for the good of the entire membership.

We have a huge geographic area to represent, all with varied needs. It is helpful to have the ranges of experience and expertise that the committee brings to the table for discussions and voting. We take our jobs seriously.

What we do is review current and upcoming issues that will affect MLS from behind the scenes to the day to day policies. We are always looking for improvement - from the CBR Tempo^TM software updates, to reviewing other software available, and the many server (behind the scenes) needs to stay ahead of all your business needs. We are always looking to the future for the best product and the best price for our members. You will find Columbus to be an industry leader in technology and being proactive.

We also weigh decisions very carefully, and vote on what we feel is best for the membership at large. Many of our recommendations then go to the Board of Directors for approval, so there are a lot of checks and balances for these important decisions.

We also spend a lot of time and energy on current problems and concerns. Many of us have served on the committee for several years and can identify problems which tend to continue to creep up. Also, having newer committee members each year continues to keep fresh thoughts and ideas.

Your MLS Staff does an excellent job of providing guidance and fact finding before many decisions are reached. We are very fortunate to have the capable staff people that we do.

There is no one reason why our large committee serves. We all have our own reasons to spend hours each month in committee and sub committee meetings reviewing problems and determining the best way to solve them.

We also look outside Columbus to other Boards of REALTORS® for their experience to avoid making the wrong decisions. Integrity in our data for truth would probably lead the list for most of us in importance. We want to be able to perform a CMA and have the information we are utilizing be correct before making recommendations to our clients.

Although we have initiated too many changes to list, a recent change was to remove the days on market section from the Buyer Report. We want Buyers to see houses that are available. We also want your Sellers to have a fair shot selling their property.

MLS Fines... A recent change which has impacted everyone would be the MLS fining system. This system was discussed for over one year before being put in place last year. It was a drastic change that was necessary.

The goal in implementing fines for MLS policy violations was NOT to be a fundraiser. The goal was to encourage correct data for everyone else to be able to use. From listing information and property information to the correct status of a property (including sold information), agents need to have correct information. Yes, there are those that have manipulated the system for their own personal reasons, too.

We are thrilled to announce the fining system is working! Every month we compare the reports and there is no doubt there has been a huge improvement, and we thank all of you for that, and hope you see it in your day to day business, as well. Additionally, if you receive a fine, there is an appeal process.

So, what's new? The upcoming area mapping is long overdue. We used to spend a small fortune to print the map books, with area overlays, that were out of date by the time they went to print. Effective January 1, 2008, the "areas" will disappear and you will do your searches either by map, schools, zip codes, styles - all of the current searching tools, plus mapping. If you would still like an "area", you will be able to save searches and label them however you like for your future use.

And, since we are a Board of REALTORS®, and not a mapping company, you can use a Rand McNally map found at many retail outlets for locating various grids. We feel Rand McNally does a better job at mapping than we do. Yes, all those new areas with new streets? Rand McNally will do a much better job keeping up with them.

Tempo 5 is coming in 2008. We have had a sneak peek at the new system and I think you will be very pleased with the changes. It includes a lot more than we currently have, including a Contact Manager feature. We are really excited about it! Please watch for more information in future announcements.

As a committee, there is no way we can make everyone happy all the time. It is our goal to look at the entire situation, take all factors into account, and make the best decision for the entire membership. We also look forward to continuing to move ahead with the industry to provide you the best tools available to meet your business needs.

We certainly appreciate all your support. Glad to hear so many of you want ot be able to do your job without a lot of back tracking!