time after time

I promise this will go quicker than the accuracy treatment--that got a little involved, a real challenge for an industry that likes a straight path to a commission check with no detours, complications or delays. Hence the point of sale doctrine that's the tail wagging a whole kennel of frisky dogs in the state and national association's back yards.

This post asks the burning question: does statewide MLS consolidation produce more timely (ie less stale) data? Apparently it does in Connecticut. How?

There is typically a time frame requirement for data and change submissions to the MLS--48 hours is the usual figure. That's for documented changes--new listing expiration, new price, new listing etc. In theory if listing files were audited the changes would occur within 48 hours of receipt of document (whenever that might be). With email of scanned docs it's easy to tell. Snail mail is another matter. Signed on the 5th, mailed on the 6th, arrived on the 9th. When does the clock start and stop?

As the listing is input, the application requires a date certain for when the change became effective. There is a measure of fuzziness about that date and because files are seldom audited the amount of fuzziness is uncertain. Some agents, I suspect, put down a date within 48 hours prior to posting the change, just to avoid the appearance of a violation and the slim chance they'd need to provide a complicated explanation.

Other changes--for example if the seller asks for new pictures or fresh copy--are not effectively governed by a time window. There's no paper trail with a timeline.

The mechanics of the process are simple--agent inputs the change and it is available in the database. Aside from cache issues on individual computers, the change is nearly instantaneous regardless of how big the MLS is. It might take a few fraction of a second longer with a big database or a slow ISP, but there's not a wide variation in timing.

For aggregation based regionals there could be a slight delay, depending on refresh frequency

So where would the contrast arise between a Statewide MLS and smaller MLSs? Perhaps Connecticut has a shorter time requirement than 48 hours? If they do, how do they enforce it?

As was the case with accuracy, there doesn't seem to be any inherent difference in timeliness associated with whether an MLS database is statewide or smaller.

Next up: More Comprehensive Data (we're going to be in Wikipedia again on that one)