I recently returned from the NAR Issues Conference in Miami, which focuses every year on the legislative challenges to our industry. Along with discussions on economics and politics, you could hear a growing dialogue regarding the value of listing data, and an increased focus on the syndication, aggregation and redistribution of that data, both authorized and unauthorized. As a wholly owned subsidiary corporation of the National Association of REALTORS®, RPR is designed to offer a member benefit to all 1,000,000+ REALTORS®, delivering an advanced data platform designed to reinforce the core competence of its members. As RPR enters its second year of providing this valuable service to members, and given the national discussion taking place on the value and use of property data, it seems appropriate for RPR to participate in that discussion by outlining in simple terms, what RPR is, and is not.
What RPR is:
- NAR’s technology arm of the Second Century Initiatives – Approved by the NAR Board of Directors in 2008, RPR was launched in September 2010 and is currently partnered with over 375 MLSs, representing over 610,000 REALTORS®.
- A trusted and secure steward for your licensed listing data – RPR recently hired a respected third party to conduct an internal security audit using a template designed by the Department of Defense. No unauthorized or public access means that the REALTOR® is in control of the delivery of RPR reports to the consumer at all levels.
- Owned by REALTORS®, created by REALTORS®, for REALTORS® - Through its Boards, Councils, Task Forces and Work Groups, RPR works daily with over 100 REALTOR® volunteers on current and future features and functionality, policies, and business rules, in order to provide the highest value to NAR’s members.
- Developing products and features for all NAR industry segments
- Agent Tools - Property, listing, foreclosure, and ownership data, search, reports, investment tools, trends and market statistics, schools, and neighborhood information, all in one place.
- Broker Tools – Company branding, support for Affiliated Services, data analysis and charting tool, custom-defined market statistics providing agent, office and company level metrics.
- Commercial Application – Business opportunity analysis, site selection tools, market potential search, consumer trends, and demographic data, with dynamic reporting – Beta testing Q2 2012.
- Appraiser Tools – Advanced comps selection and adjustment, forms-based analysis, assignment management, and specialized tools for creating and producing neighborhood statistics and commentary.
- MLS Tools – Deep linking, single sign-on, co-branding, free Public Records API, and integrated rules and policies for reciprocal subscriber agreements.
- Association Dashboard – Market, county, region or state level access to sales trends, graphs and statistics to create leadership communications and media tools.
What RPR isn’t:
- A listing syndicator - RPR is not a platform for MLSs or their participant brokers to choose where and how to send their data on the Internet.
- A public facing Web site – RPR provides no consumer access, no public Web site, no reverse prospecting, and no push notifications sent to consumers. The only access is for REALTORS®. The only way a consumer can receive information from RPR is from a REALTOR® who prints or e-mails a report to a client or customer.
- An MLS – RPR contracts with MLSs to allow the use of their active and historical data to integrate for the benefit of their REALTOR® subscribers and other REALTORS® who are authorized users. RPR’s contract with MLSs is non-exclusive, and contains a non-compete clause, which prohibits RPR from offering MLS services.
- A competitor to MLSs, Associations, or Broker-provided services or technologies – RPR products and features are built in cooperation with the members they designed to serve. RPR offers technology features that complement and extend existing systems, including deep-linking, single sign-on and cobranding.
In 2012, RPR will strive to create communication tools and strategies to deliver RPR to all REALTORS®, regardless of MLS affiliation, by creating opportunities with local Associations. For more information on RPR, go to blog.narrpr.com.
Sincerely,
Dale L. Ross
CEO, Realtors Property Resource
The need for technology in Real Estate is critical. Consumers have come to expect to find anything and everything on the Internet. But they are overwhelmed the difficulty of finding information critical to a buying decision, few realtor websites have the data they want and those that do the data is often outdated and there is no local information. Consumers have never before need information to make an informed decision more that today. Unique, real time information brings real value. This application will add to our value and brand equity.
We are a multifazed company including sales rentals and property management