REALTOR® Magazine Daily Real Estate News May 19, 2008
On Saturday 4/17/08, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® Board of Directors took a major strategic leap, authorizing the association to work with a technology company to create a broker-controlled national repository or “library” of property data that would provide members-only access to detailed information on all properties in the United States.
The repository, which NAR is calling a "digital library/archive," would be revenue neutral but could eventually be fee-based to cover operating costs.
In a report preceding the vote, NAR CEO Dale Stinton emphasized that the repository will not be a national MLS. There will be no offers of cooperation or compensation, nor any attempt to create a national online marketplace for property listings. The database also will be accessible to REALTORS® only, with no consumer-facing components.
“A number of technology companies are actively working to aggregate property data and provide such information to consumers, with the potential of creating an ‘information gap’ between content available to consumers and reliable information available to REALTORS®,” according to a whitepaper prepared by NAR’s Leadership Team to explain the scope and importance of the project. “We want to…arm our members with the most comprehensive information imaginable, literally for every property in the U.S. In that way our members will remain in the preeminent position to serve their clients with the best information available for any property,” the paper reads.
Last year, the directors gave approval for start-up funding for the project. Now, the association and its technology partner are charged with delivering a “proof of concept” working model of the property library/archive as soon as possible, using one or more pilot locations around the country.
The proposal wasn’t without detractors, who expressed concern about the cost and operation of such a database. Stinton said waiting for a business plan and budget to be presented for board approval would almost certainly doom the idea, allowing competitors to get a leg up in establishing their own database. After a brief debate, the directors overwhelmingly passed the proposal.
— By Robert Freedman and Stacey Moncrieff for REALTOR® magazine online
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