Copyright © 2011 by MiRealSource. All rights reserved.
The economic philosophy of the United States of America is based squarely on its faith in free competition. Our legal system not only recognizes that an open and competitive marketplace is in the best interests of the American consumer, but takes great care to foster full, free, and robust competition.
In a healthy marketplace… Multiple businesses actively compete against one another as they sell their particular brand of product or service to consumers. If only one business services a marketplace, it can easily take advantage of consumers by dictating lower quality services, at less favorable terms. Unfortunately under these circumstances, there are no competing businesses to which the unhappy consumer can take his or her business. Competition keeps businesses consumer-focused on offering the best services possible.
In a healthy marketplace… Multiple businesses eagerly endeavor to prove to their consumers how responsive and efficient they can be in delivering cost-conscious products and services. If they fail to do so, the consumer can immediately turn to a competing business that offers to sell the same product or service at a better price. Competition keeps businesses consumer-focused on offering the best prices possible.
For years, active real estate professionals in the Metropolitan Detroit area have vigorously debated whether or not to establish a single, regionalized Multiple Listing Service in lieu of multiple competing Multiple Listing Services. The need for lower costs and increased efficiencies have certainly influenced the discussion. Economic challenges fostered, in part, by the subprime mortgage problem and resulting foreclosures have sharpened the debate.
Historically, it was thought that the larger the business, the more resources it had to provide better products and services, and to do so at lower prices. Unfortunately, history is also filled with numerous examples of some businesses becoming so large that their initial philosophy of doing what is in the “best interests of the consumer” morphed into an ongoing philosophy of doing what is in the “best interests of the corporation.” When this occurs, it tends to be less an indictment of business in general, and more a problem with flawed human decision-making.
We Realtors® understand the value of healthy competition as well as any respected industry or profession. During the 1990s, the National Association of Realtors® adopted its policy establishing “Board of Choice.” The concept currently allows Realtors® to choose the board or association to which they want to belong on the basis of the factors they decide are most important rather than being limited by office location or jurisdictional boundaries. The resulting friendly competition between independently-operated local boards and associations has been beneficial for its consumers–the real estate brokers and their affiliated salespersons.
The acceptance and success of this policy begs the question: If “Board of Choice” can work so well for the consumer of real estate association services, then should not a philosophy of “MLS of Choice” work equally well for the consumer of MLS services? MiRealSource says, Categorically, Yes! If the compression of market power into a single business entity is an outdated and outmoded business model, then what should replace it?
The Internet and other technological advances have ushered in new, and more flexible business opportunities that foster competition while preserving economies of scale. According to MiRealSource CEO Dave DeRees, A visionary group of Multiple Listing Services have launched a central database or repository into which a potentially unlimited number of Multiple Listing Services can contribute their valuable data while maintaining independence and local viability. This ‘single point of sale’ concept protects competition in the marketplace, provides a common database, and–most importantly–eliminates the need for brokers to pay multiple fees to simultaneously participate in more than one Multiple Listing Service. This progressive resource is known as the Great Lakes Repository.
As consumers of real estate services, buyers and sellers have long benefitted from healthy competition between local real estate brokers. As consumers of MLS-based services, these same brokers have benefitted by obtaining these services from the local MLS of their choice. The Great Lakes Repository preserves this opportunity while providing an even larger economy of scale. Simply stated, if one MLS provides better services at a better price, a broker has the ability to exercise his or her choice as a consumer without having to sacrifice availability to data.
The Multiple Listing Services that participate in the Great Lakes Repository have created the perfect solution for today’s cost-conscious broker who desires global access to information at a single point of sale and price. Most brokers prefer having their key services provided by local enterprises that understand the marketplace best and delivered by talented staff members who they personally know. That friendly smile of someone you know and trust can often accomplish twice what a faceless voice or email can from across the state or country. The Great Lakes Repository is the critical resource that preserves the broker’s ability to obtain high-touch, local services in a high-tech, global world.
This concept was beautifully forecast in the landmark book, Global Paradox by John Naisbitt. He accurately predicted in 1994 that the bigger the world economy would grow, the more powerful its smallest players would become. Exponential developments in telecommunications simultaneously create a huge global communication interface while multiplying and empowering its individual parts. In similar fashion, the Great Lakes Repository empowers its individual participating Multiple Listing Services by leveraging cutting-edge technologies.
The best news is that the Great Lakes Repository is not the fanciful imagination of a visionary, but rather, a reality currently available to any and all MLS-based services in Michigan. The repository protects each individual MLS by empowering them to operate as separate, independent, and economically viable entities. No one is asked to surrender local power, control, influence, or services. Each participating broker continues his or her valued relationship with the local MLS of choice with one major added benefit: Global access to data without having to pay multiple fees.
What a perfect solution to meet the needs of today’s professional Realtor®. What a perfect answer to an age-old question: One MLS or One Database?
The debate is over and the choice is clear. Every broker wins when every Multiple Listing Service participates in the Great Lakes Repository.
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