From Black Knight Financial Services:
California Regional MLS Adds Black Knight’s Paragon Platform Allowing Brokers and Agents Front-End MLS System of Choice.

““It is time to break through the barrier of being limited to one MLS platform,” said CRMLS CEO Art Carter. “We have wanted to do this for some time, and we are pleased to form this partnership with the Black Knight Paragon team. Our industry is constantly evolving, and we need to be more responsive to agents, brokers and consumers who are redefining the way they work. The result of this project will give our members better choices as the vendors vie for user selection.”

Very interesting news from CRMLS. A few initial thoughts…

1. There’s a bit of wordplay in the headline. This isn’t a “front end” per se, but a full blown MLS system. So effectively CRMLS will have two MLS systems running in parallel, Paragon and Matrix. In a previous post Rapattoni announced they were working towards separating the front end from the back end. Black Knight isn’t saying that here.

2. What Art Carter, CRMLS CEO, is doing by this move is effectively taking the “MLS conversion” question off the table. Keep in mind CRMLS’ mission is a statewide MLS.

“Are you on Matrix? No problem!” or “Are you on Paragon? No problem!”

To his south is San Diego (SANDICOR MLS) which is on Paragon. Check. To the north is Silicon Valley, MLS Listings which is on Matrix. Check. 3 other large associations in the Bay Area (CCAOR, Bay East, EBRDI) are on Paragon. Check. That’s the vast a majority of the agents in California. Checkmate? It’s still too early to say, but a super smart move by CRMLS.

3. Don’t forget about San Francisco AOR and MetroList Services (Sacramento, CA). Both are on Rapattoni’s MLS platform. MetroList Services is the largest MLS by geography in California (Sacramento and Central Valley). SFAR is rumored to be working on their own alternative MLS system as well.

4. You gotta give it up for Rich Lull and the team at Black Knight, super big win for them.

As an MLS geek I’m just super excited to see how all these moves play out. Some exciting times ahead!