You gotta wonder what SoCalMLS thinks of all the hubbub brewing with the calREDD and MRMLS “merger”.
Does SoCalMLS even care? Do they think it’s a good idea? Do they think it’s a bad idea?
If so, what are they going to do about it?
If they think it’s a good idea will they want join up?
If they think it’s a bad idea do they make a truce or declare war?
So many questions. I think we might have some answers next week.
Council of MLS (CMLS) launches a new website. W&R Studios worked with Jim Marks at Virtual Results to create a great new website for CMLS.
If you are not a member of CMLS you should be. CMLS holds the best MLS Conference in the industry and through this new website is going to start to expand its reach with guest bloggers, research papers, and webinars through the site.
This year’s conference is going to be held in Chicago, hosted by MRED, LLC. Join us!
No use crying over spilt milk.
We’ve been getting a lot of good comments, tons of traffic, and I’ve been also receiving a few e-mails too. More and more information is coming out.
If you are interested check out: New CALMLS Business Proposal, the CALMLS Merger FAQ, and this handy dandy comparison NEW CALMLS Vs. OLD check list: CALMLS and MRMLS Joint Initiative Proposed.
It’s still not clear whether or not the C.A.R. board of directors has approved the “merger” and the $750,000 extension is cash (calREDD had already blown through 2.5M of the 3M they originally asked for) but I think we can assume it will be approved, nobody will lose their job (calREDD, as predicted threw their MLS Vendor under the bus) and new CALMLS is ready to roll.
So taking a fresh perspective what do we have here. As I’ve mentioned before Art Carter has done an excellent job at MRMLS. He was also instrumental in the formation of CARETS. His organization is everything the old calREDD was not: professional leadership, a proven MLS Vendor, plus they are now open to multiple MLS systems, and most of all a proven data sharing platform CARETS. So we should be willing to give this new CALMLS a shot.
I stand by my earlier prediction that Art will have a tough time signing up any MLS providers beyond Southern California but as I hinted before that doesn’t mean CARETS can’t flourish. And what’s really wrong with that anyway? Why the need for one statewide MLS system? Why not just one statewide database? eNeighborhoods essentially pulled this off for a brief time a few years back with MLS Alliance.
So let C.A.R. revise history all they want (we all know the Emperor has no clothes). Sure the CALMLS board will be stacked (what board isn’t?). But a one database solution is really compelling, and maybe, just maybe C.A.R. will finally come to the same conclusion.
Besides the whole calREDD drama was getting kind of well…boring. Looking forward to seeing what CALMLS can pull off. Onward and forward.
If you look up Fiasco in Wikipedia you get this result:
“In English the word fiasco means an absolute, abject or utterly humiliating failure”
Anyway you slice it calREDD was a true fiasco. But you just know that the California Association of REALTORS (C.A.R.) is going to spin this whole mess in to “this was our plan all along.” So put on your tin foil hats to protect yourselves from the C.A.R. reality distortion field.
Here’s some questions I’d like answered.
1. Where’s the 3 million dollars? I bet you its almost all been spent. And how many agents did they get to sign up? Maybe 1,000. Do the math.
2. Which begs another question. How much more money are they going to ask for? Remember the saying “fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.” Shame on you C.A.R. board of directors if you give these clowns any more money.
3. Who responsible for this mess? Is somebody going to get fired? They should. Or are they gonna to throw their vendor under the bus? My guess is these C.A.R. douche bags are so chicken-shit that their MLS vendor will get the blame and everyone else gets to keep their job.
4. Who is going to control this new calREDD/MRMLS entity? I’m curious how many seats does the 1,000 calREDD users equate to? Waaaaaaay too many is my guess.
The man who would be king.
In the King Arthur legend a young boy pulled a sword out of a stone and the village knew that he was the true king. In our story Art Carter aka, “King Arthur” is going to have to pull a rabbit out of a hat to make this new combined entity (calREDD/MRMLS) a success.
I’ve seen Art do some magic before. He just has to make sure this time that the rabbit doesn’t eat all his “CARETS“. If you get my meaning.
Prediction:
A good friend once told me that the only reason California is one state (instead of Northern Callifornia and Southern California) is water rights. So here’s my prediction.
The “merger” will go down as expected, C.A.R. will spin some story to save face. King Arthur will go after SoCalMLS, and possibly a few others in Southern California and have some success. But the state-wide MLS train will stop there. Beyond any existing contracts, no significant Northern California MLS providers will sign up for this new entity (maybe a few tiny associations looking for a subsidy). One off-shoot is that CARETS may expand, which would be good for C.A.R. members. That’s it. Fin.
Now, if I close my eyes and don’t make a sound, I can hear Russ laughing all the way from Chicago. : )
So good luck King Arthur. And stay classy C.A.R., stay classy.
UPDATE:
Check out this FAQ. It confirms calREDD has blown through 2.5M and wants 750K more. Classic!
The conference is over, and its time to summarize the experience. Below I cover the predictions I got right, the ones I got wrong, predictions for 2011 and coverage of amazing technology, giveaways, food and more. This post is full of pictures and links.
