RPR™ Demo: Mona Steen
Jan 26, 2010 
43 Comments
43 Responses to “RPR™ Demo: Mona Steen”
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Jan 07, 2010
[...] I’ll be doing a session at the REBarcamp on Tuesday and sitting on a panel on Thursday. Importantly, we’ll be discussing the RPR – the Realtors Property Resource, which is a product which should give Realtors far more information on properties – which will be available only to Realtors – and will offer (hopefully) the most comprehensive information all in one place. If you’re interested, check out the demo at the RPR blog. [...]
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Jan 08, 2010
[...] If you haven’t seen the RPR™ demo yet, go grab a cup of coffee and take a look. At 30 minute…, and I’m sure there is other stuff for us to discover. Features are nice: Market stats, the ability to keep private and public property notes online, the ability to add layers of information- like a sidewiki- about property, neighborhoods, etc. It’s rich with data, and invites sharing more data and information with other professionals, as well as with our clients. That’s powerful, and empowering if you stop to think about it. All this real estate information that we compile in our heads could be shared with each other online. [...]
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Jan 08, 2010
[...] Pre Recorded Demo: Many of you may not need a live product demonstration and will enjoy a prerecorded version. Start with this video lead by Mona Steen, Senior Vice-President of Industry Relations, as she takes you on a walkthrough of RPR. [...]
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Jan 08, 2010
[...] If you haven’t seen the RPR™ demo yet, go grab a cup of coffee and take a look. At 30 mi…, and I’m sure there is other stuff for us to discover. Features are nice: Market stats, the ability to keep private and public property notes online, the ability to add layers of information- like a sidewiki- about property, neighborhoods, etc. It’s rich with data, and invites sharing more data and information with other professionals, as well as with our clients. That’s powerful, and empowering if you stop to think about it. All this real estate information that we compile in our heads could be shared with each other online. [...]
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Feb 27, 2010
[...] http://blog.narrpr.com/product/rpr-demo-ms [...]
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Mar 04, 2010
[...] product hasn’t even been released. It is also a sad thing, because the basic idea, and its early manifestation, is so [...]
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Jun 08, 2010
[...] many of you are likely familiar with. If not, it is well worth your time to take a look at the RPR demo [...]
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Jul 27, 2010
[...] many of you are likely familiar with. If not, it is well worth your time to take a look at the RPR demo [...]
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This is really cool stuff. This may turn out to be the best thing NAR has done since MLS was invented. I think the concern about RPR is a lot like the concerns that would happen if MLS’s never existed and we were trying to invent it in 2010. Can you imagine the angst if we were trying to do that today? Once people accept that their cheese is going to move anyway, they will realize this is a really great thing.
FLAG
Great job on the design and usability! Looks like this new database will replace all of the tools that I was using from many different sources.
FLAG
Wow! I’m VERY impressed! This is probably the best resource I’ve ever seen on the web for Realtors!
FLAG
The design and usability is excellent. It will help realtors and will minimize the use of the MLS and other resources…
FLAG
Thanks Rajeev! Many thanks to our wonderful Art Director Neil Pinchin or @pinchin on Twitter. He’s created an amazing UI.
FLAG
Now I *finally* understand what RPR is all about. I would really really love it if only it were not affiliated with and exclusively obtainable through NAR. Look forward to discussing this during the Inman Real Estate Connect conference next week.
P.S. Am I the only person mildly alarmed at the need to sign off on “Terms of Use” to comment on RPR’s blog?
FLAG
Hi Kathleen,
Thanks for your comments. I happy to hear you gain a deeper understanding of RPR. Don’t be alarmed at the comment policy. We really just wanted to be upfront about our policy for comments and blog use.
FLAG
Excellent tool for the Real Estate professional.
FLAG
Hi Reggie! Are we going to get notified as MLS’s feed the RPR? All I hear in Houston (small REALTOR Assn. in TX) is crickets…
FLAG
@Thomas – Yes, great question. The Industry Relations team will be getting the word out.
FLAG
Wow. I imagine there is no “midnight oil” left, your team has used it all in amazing fashion.
Wondering if Google Street view is coming soon?
Wondering if you’ll have some Augmented Reality apps for the iPhone and such, I’d be super cool.
LIke Kathleen, I naturally cringe at having to click the Terms of Use every time, I haven’t read far enough along to read them, I guess I better. On the bright side of concern, if an agent posts public (for subscribers) comments that are un-positive and perhaps not factual, but an opinion, and the opinion taints the perceived value of the property, are they liable, could the property owner sue? What are the property owners rights, having someone comment on MY property, without my permission sounds wrong. Suppose I was showing the property or listing the property, as an agent would I be irresponsible if I didn’t follow up to confirm that the opinion was wrong or in fact, the opinion was factual. What’s my duty?
I’m not a big fan of the program spitting out an exact price. Why? Because once the price is set in the mind, only lots of things can happen, most are bad. 1. Offers come in for less, the seller thinks you over priced, over promised or you didn’t know the market. 2. It sells for recommended price fast, the seller things you screwed them and under priced it. 3. You have to ask for a price reduction, the seller thinks you didn’t now what your were talking about. 4. One good thing can happen, the property sells for the price recommended, in a time frame the seller wanted. I’d love to see a range that maybe indicated historical Days On Market and velocity in the area. Also an option for display by Price Per Square foot.
Everything looks amazing, I guess one thing I’m not a fan of is every REALTOR in America will have the same looking report as I do, except my pictures and small tweaks, but generally speaking the report will look similar, which means I’ll look similar or average or like everyone else?
Other than that, it looks very cool. I guess in individual markets, it depends on how the local Boards and MLS Respond.
All and all, exciting times. Cheers.
FLAG
Ken thanks for your great feedback! About your concerns for the property annotations on RPR. We are still working closely on this topic with the RPR advisory council. We see great value in the wisdom of the crowds, but also understand that it can’t expose agents and brokers to a new risk. Initially, the RPR will not include the option to share annotations and comments with other RPR members.
FLAG
I also have concerns for liability issues.
You have raised some very good questions.
We have to keep in mind that we do not hold
an appraisal licenses.
FLAG
A couple of things from my take on the demo video.
1. This is amazing. The aggregation of data that is going on here is awesome.
2. I hate to be the skeptic here, but does anyone else cringe at this? I work with about 800 agents and some are great, some are good, some way below par. Taking this into consideration, doesn’t this actually level the playing field between good agents and bad?
Think about it – this system actually provides crappy agents with the ability to “front” as knowledgeable agents in a particular area. Much like my dislike of agents using 1) paid blog services on topics they don’t know anything about to 2) being able to throw an Altos widget on their page and “brand” themselves as a market expert – this tool is going to allow sub-par and part-time agents to “appear” to the consumer as if they really know what the hell they’re talking about!
Don’t get me wrong – I think that this is going to be amazing for the good/great agents that take their jobs seriously and really know their stuff – but no one is really talking about this flip side.
What this is going to force agents to do is truly work on the “delivery” or explaining the data. Your job as an agents is going to be to take this “data” and reissue it as “information” to your clients and local area. With the release of RPR those that have used “data and stats” as their killer app are going to be a dime a dozen as this levels the playing field, and I think that’s scary.
So if i had any advice to give agents out there “as a coach” I would suggest you spend the next 6 months of roll out really 1) learning what these numbers mean 2) learning how to use this system to the 9’s and 3) learning how to articulate it to your clients.
Matt Dollinger
http://www.TheYouFactor.com
FLAG
Wow. The RPR offers a TON of information and seems to be a terrific resource for agents. Moreover, the RPR will allow the RE Agent to service their clients with scads of data, stats and figures. FOr Reggie: My questions ar:
1. The terms of use: what exactly are Realtors agreeing to when the utilize the site and the information?
2. Is the RPR only for agent use, or is NAR going to open up this data and information to other entities like the mortgage industry?
3. How does a RE Broker help train and educate their agents onthis terrific tool?
FLAG
Sorry about the misspellings… Only on my first cup of coffee this morning…
FLAG
Amit- How are you? It’s been a while. Are you referring to the terms of use on the RPR site or our blog in the comments. As for the use of RPR, yes it’s an exclusive member benefit.
In regards to training the RPR application will contain contextual help and tips for users…plus live support between 8am and 8pm Eastern time.
FLAG
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in our local markets. Our MLS has most of these bells and whistles and only a few use them now. So the worry over similar competition may not be warranted.
I don’t like AVM’s now and think RVM’s will also just be a tool for lenders to skate around ordering appraisals.
If I can use the data in my appraisal reports (a copy & paste feature or something) that would be awesome!
FLAG
The first thing that strikes me is how much information this provides – awesome. The next thing is how slanted the whole design is towards suburbia. How is this going to work in my extremely urban market? You talk about heat maps, driving directions, exterior conditions, lot size, and lots of other factors that are of relevance to single family homes. What about the existence or lack of a parking garage, walk-ups vs. elevators, balconies & terraces or shared or deeded yards, building fitness centers, local bus and subway stops, whether there is commercial space in the building and all the things that matter to urban dwellers? How will that be addressed?
FLAG
Very cool. Cant wait to get my hands on it!
FLAG
Will the NPR listing comments/remarks be pulled from the “agent/private” remarks field in the MLS or will it be the same public remarks showing on realtor.com?
FLAG
WOW….I thought I would watch a few minutes and log off, totally captivating.
Let’s hope some NAR members shut up about the dues now.
This totally ROCKS!! Can’t wait for out board to give you its feed.
Only one concern, many Realtors give out the lockbox codes to people. If a Realtor gives out their RPR logon, then that consumer would have access to all the showing instructions.
I would strongly encourage you all not to imput the showing instructions.
But, other than that…..WOW
FLAG
This is pretty cool – and we may be able to do away with the costly and clunky tax record program we currently subscribe to in order to obtain tax records from our computers (which does not include mortgage info!)…this is great. I just wish I wasn’t nagged by a skeptical feeling of…this is going to cost us a lot of money down the road…
FLAG
I’m curious – will we be able to select parcels of property and create mailing labels from them?
FLAG
Reggie,
From the demo this looks like a system that every Realtor would want. But I have a few questions:
1. How will RPR deal with local associations that have sold their MLS to third parties. Will those third parties have access to the system. If not what is their Quid pro quo for allowing their data to be fed into the system. And in a related matter will affiliated members of local associations have access to any part of the system ?
2. How is the mortgage information kept up to date particulaly with a view to use with Short Sales, Foreclosures and BPO’s
3. If this system achieves the status of a near universal tool what arguments can NAR make against an Anti-Trust claim by the parasites in Washington.
FLAG
Hi Peter – Great questions! Let me do my best to answer them. MLS members who are not REALTORS will only see off market and active listing information contained within their own MLS system, which they already have access to. They will not see the RVM calculations, schools, demographics, public record and tax assessment info, etc. Now as for any client application of an MLS, they may receive RPR’s API to integrate; however, this access is conditioned on the requirement that the data not be resold to NAR’s members in any way, and that the data not be included in any consumer application.
Our partnership with LPS gives us insight into NOD and Notice of Sale events. These will be searchable as “distressed properties” on the site. Sales/Mortgage details and history are also available on property details. This will include sales type (ex. Short Sale). Its a little early to speak of the update cycle, but I do know LPS sends data updates to us daily. As we head into our update cycles…I’ll report back. This would make a great blog post.
The anti-trust concerns are not valid in this case because the RPR data is equally available for use to the same extent and in the same way by all REALTORS®.
FLAG
Amazing. I have been working in RE for 30 years in Hawaii and the technology is always getting better. One other comment: I’ve noticed that realtor.com sometimes gives erroneous information that is taken from the local MLS input. Hopefully RPR won’t be doing the same that realtor.com does. In any case thank you and I can’t wait to start using RPR. Aloha.
FLAG
I enjoyed listening to this..
FLAG
This is an exciting product that will change the way we market our services to our clients! i am excited about getting started using this
Mike
FLAG
Wow – this is great. I hope we see it in Oregon soon. Realtor.com has an app for the Iphone users. RPR or at least parts of it like the property valuations area would be cool.
FLAG
Not sure why we need this. I only need info for where I do business and it is readily available. Sounds like NAR and RPR are just looking for a way to make more money on the backs of agents hard work. Sorry, not convince this is a good thing.
FLAG
Sandra, Thanks for sharing your concern. RPR is an NAR member benefit and will not require members to pay for access or special features.
FLAG
It is interesting that you used San Jose CA. for your Demo. California is under prop 13 which only allows the assessor to raise the taxes by no more than 2% per year from the base year (usually the last sale of the property) therefore the assessed value is only reasonably accurate the in the year of sale. After that it is based on the maximum of 2% increase (in a declining market it is different but we wont go into that here) not the actual market value. Therefore tracking the assessed value is of little to no value in determining the value of a California home.
As an Appraiser I have not seen anything that would help me in my work in the RPR. Granted we are in a more rural area without larger tracts and most of our communities are very mixed in home size, age, quality and design/appeal as well as the parcel size, view and amenities so most automated systems do not work. Some features may be of more value to agents (I am a licensed broker but not practicing sales for the last 10+ years, only appraising).
Data accuracy is always a problem and after a while we have learned which sources are usually most reliable for each item and when there is a significant difference what to do. We would still need the multiple sources to do this and I don’t see RPR adding anything to this. As it is now we use the MLS, CoreLodgic-Realist, DataEexpress and the assessor web site and some times a call to the assessor.
Will California Association of Realtors new system be a part of this or will it compete? I as yet do not see any advantage in there system for my area either (I was on our association’s board of directors for 19 years and have been through at least 4 changes of MLS venders and dread the though of it). We already have a regional MLS with about all the bells and whistles you need.
FLAG
Realtors, gather your checkbooks. While the original premise is this won’t up your dues or create additional fees, you can imagine what advertising opportunities will cost on this thing. Realtor.com has more than quadrupled its ad costs over the years. This will be monetized to the hilt, count on it.
Also, there are several serious problems with this technology. First, the “Heat Map” will be used quietly be lenders to redline areas they do and don’t want to lend in and the use of the map opens the door to the discussion of what’s a “good” neighborhood or not. Also, the demographic information gathered and made available lets Realtors know a great deal about the folks who live in the neighborhood, like who’s a Democrat or Republican. How about ethnic mix? How about number of children in the family? Oops, Fair Housing violation for even asking.
You’re basically giving a Nintendo game to a Realtor with this technology. Press a few buttons and you have a value of a property. This is great news for the person who just graduated from the one week real estate course and passed their test. Now they’re an expert appraiser before they even sell a home! Might be a temptation to manipulate the price to get that first sale or, worse, over estmate the value of a home and crash a sale that otherwise would have come together. By offering this “quick fix” for property valuation you cheapen the value of a Realtors services by homogenizing experience, the Great Differentiator.
Reggie indicates the anti-trust issue is “not valid in this case because data is equally available for use to the same extent and in the same way by all Realtors” Simply not true, with all due respect. I live in a non-disclosure state so the data used to create home values will not be available to you or I and therefore I won’t have full use of the system. Also, the antitrust issue raised by the Department of Justice was based on CONSUMERS ACCESS to our MLS data, not Realtor to Realtor access. The consumer will eventually have our information in full and then the profession will go the way of the blacksmith. Remember, Realtors, all that glitters is not gold. I’m a great advocate of technology, but this is a serious threat to your profession and mine. Also, I’d like to see the contract that says the system can never be sold to a third party OR MORE IMPORTANTLY that the folks who create this prototype cannot quit and start their own copy of this or head a corporation that competes with this. I’m tired of the Realtor organization training their competitors at our expense. Sorry.
FLAG
Very interesting. This keeps us ahead of the curve!
FLAG