homework--eeek!

I read through the first 42 pages of the white paper at open house--wind kept blowing the signs over, so I finally left. This is going to be a long process! There is so much material to critique because the white paper is really just a PR piece for that particular statewide MLS.

I also looked at a map of Connecticut. Pretty small spaces and only 11,000+ users for the entire state. The regional MLS I served as chair and sys ad for during 2001-2005 had a third of that number among 6 MLSs in a very rural area spanning two coastal counties. The size factor again--does size matter? It had better not if all 50 states decide to go statewide, as the author suggests they should.

Before I launch into the review of this white paper, you should go take a look at their public portal and home page. Marketlinx MLXchange Version 4.0 is the MLS vendor application. May look familiar to some. It's typical of MLS applications that provide services to medium and larger MLSs. There are other interesting documents accessible to non-members (click the Logo at the lower left to link to a page with a RESOURCES tab), including the white paper itself. Browse around and get a feel for their organizational culture, before you read the white paper (at least the first 42 pages--maybe go do an open house?).

If you've read earlier blogs you know that I'm not impressed with the relevance of most MLS applications to agents or the public. Too much data that is rarely viewed (by either group) and not nearly enough information about factors that almost always determine the buyer's final choice. Present systems are still throwbacks to the mimeographed MLS sheets of the 70's and the primitive books I started with in the mid 80's. That perspective will weigh heavily in my review.

Do your homework (LOL) and we'll get started in the next blog post.