On November 26, Information Technology Systems Ontario (ITSO) is holding a second Ontario-wide meeting for Ontario real estate association leaders to discuss options for increasing access to MLS data.
The organization believes “realtors should have access to all data (from the province’s seven MLS systems) so that they can do their jobs and appear professional in the eyes of consumers.” Allison McClure, executive director, feels this access will improve professionalism in the industry along with the profession’s public image.
Options for increased data access
A solution for access to province-wide data will be presented by Corelogic. PropTx will also present its MLS services as another solution.
These options include allowing each association to maintain its own corporate identity, local presence and ownership of its data. ITSO believes there’s no need for associations to be forced into or rush into amalgamations simply to gain access to data.
The call to action
The organization is seeking support from the leaders of Ontario’s realtor associations. Its hope, as a result of the meeting, is for the industry to have an action plan that will provide all Ontario realtors with the MLS data access they need.
Representation so far
The meeting will be co-facilitated by Trevor Koot, CEO of the British Columbia Real Estate Association, and Alan Tennant, CEO of the Calgary Real Estate Board. Trevor brings a deep perspective on navigating several amalgamations in B.C. Alan has great insight from the work he has done in moving Alberta towards a mostly province-wide MLS system.
Currently, 100 people will be attending, representing 23 out of the 29 boards and associations in Ontario. As well, several brokers of record and broker-owners from large brokerages will share their perspectives on how multiple MLS systems with different rules, fields and input forms affect their operations.
Emma Caplan-Fisher is an editor and writer for REM. She has over a decade of experience in various content types and topics, including real estate, housing, business, tech, and home & design. Emma’s work has also been featured in Cottage Life, the Vancouver Real Estate Podcast, the Chicago Tribune, Narcity Media, Healthline, and others. She holds a Certificate in Editing from Simon Fraser University.
How does this affect or is it affected by the ORWP THAT OREA is shoving down our throats.
Good Timing!!
THEN
Nov 29th SGM
Agree. Timing couldn’t be worse. We should have one system across Ontario. And TRREB clearly supports Realm.
It might be worth the Ontario decision maker’s time to connect with managing brokers and Realtors in the Okanagan, (in particular, the central Okanagan) area), as we have recently amalgamated and updated our MLS system, and it hasn’t been received well by the majority from what I can tell. Our fully loaded and updated data system has just been released this week and it could be in the early stages and being met with the usual change resistance and that’s why there’s so many problems, but at this point, it just seems too much information, and/or not the right kind of information, and not sure yet if clients like it? It also seems to have the potential to lower the bar of professionalism and how the public views us as, at this point, we are doing a lot of trouble shooting or just apologizing to our clients for messing up their custom email searches, and not being able to find things, etc. Our new system feels similar to popping into your favourite coffee shop in the morning on the way to work, and simply wanting to order a coffee but instead, you are met at the door by a nutritionist that wants to sit down with you for an hour and discuss your nutrition and what’s lacking and how to improve it. Even though it might be a great idea, the timing and everything about the situation is not helpful. You arrive late at work, your coffee is cold, you now have a caffeine headache, but you do have a lot of brochures and web links on how to improve your nutritional life. Hopefully time will tell and everyone will settle into and sort out the new system for themselves and their clients and maybe one day, even have time to dive into all those fancy glossy ‘nutritional brochures’ and improve their lives?
There is no doubt that there should be one seamless mls system for all of Ontario. It has been talked about, debated, discussed, for the past 25 years, and defeated by Boards and Associations being too territorial.