Matt Cohen has a great (if not wonkish) post about the ListHub / NAMLS kerfufel. With input from Luke Glass, from ListHub and Kipp Cooper from North Alabama MLS (NAMLS) Matt does a good job of getting down to the nitty gritty of things. Good read for anyone wanting a better understanding of the situation.
Methods of Real Estate Listing Syndication: Point – Counterpoint
After reading the post I came away with feeling that the issues that NAMLS has don’t really warrant creating something new from scratch. While Kipp has some genuine concerns I would think to work within the system, instead of outside, would be a better tactic. My guess is that he has some brokers/agent that have never understood how ListHub works, and that lack of understanding leads to fear.
That being said you have to look at this as a wakeup call for ListHub. Luke calls the 4 main concerns about ListHub “myths”. Telling someone they are wrong is not a good way to start a conversation.
NALMLS and BIG have an interesting thing brewing. Interested to see how it develops. Surprised to hear you and Matt say it’s not a good idea. What’s the downside?
I’m not saying it’s a bad idea, Paul. I think it’s too early to see how it will all work out. I think Kipp made a business decision that he had to leave ListHub to get what he wanted. There are pros and cons though – that’s all I wanted to see come out, with differing perspectives about different aspects of the discussion, in one place side by side. Now, it could be that ListHub takes steps so that others don’t follow in Kipp’s footsteps – or not. We’ll see.
The interesting play would be Bridge Interactive Group (BIG) getting some traction with other MLS providers. If the dominoes start falling BIG could be a target for acquisition from either Trulia or Zillow down the line. Or at the very least they could foster some support to an alternative to ListHub.
Syndication has been a problem forever in our industry. Having only one or two providers for so many years has caused headaches and bottlenecks. They don’t have much incentive to address concerns or innovate when they are the only game in town.
Greg, your initial post would be like saying a few years ago that there is no reason for an MLS or agents to utilize a third party CMA tool when the MLS vendor provides one that is sufficient and everyone should work within the system!
Competition and alternative choices are good for everyone…well, almost everyone!
Touché Pace.
Greg, the real issue is that working within the system (ListHub) would never have gotten my members the very strong agreements that we now have with the largest and most used real estate advertising sites. I really like Luke and many of the things he is doing with ListHub and I have told him this, but the needs and positioning of my members and their MLS come first.