MRIS is among the few multiple listing services in the country that manage their own listing input system. Keystone, developed, owned and operated by MRIS, gives MRIS the ability to respond directly to subscriber needs for innovative listing management tools. Often, third party vendors have a difficult time responding to local market needs, in particular when it comes to listing input solutions. Based on market research, MRIS has been, and continues to, progressively update and enhance Keystone using a phased approach.
Keystone provides an easy to use intuitive user experience to input and maintain listing data and facilitates the easy upload of high definition photos (2048 x 1536 pixels) resulting in a noticeable reduction in the amount of time to enter a listing.
Some of the most innovative enhancements include the ability to schedule when listings or edits will be submitted to the MLS system. Agents that use the scheduling feature can do everything ranging from simply reducing the price to adding a full new listing at a future date. Agents can do their work as time permits, and then schedule the changes to be submitted to the MLS system when they want updated information to publish to the market.
Recently, the ability to enter listings into the MLS for subscriber use has become a hot topic. These Coming Soon listings are a recent evolution in listing management. It has evolved in part by the needs of brokers to manage pre-MLS listings. Based on the feedback from their broker subscribers, MRIS is evaluating such innovative features as implementing a staging area for the Coming Soon listings that can be viewed by MRIS Agents and their clients.
When you look at MLS rules and regulations, you learn that there is a requirement that brokers publish listings into the MLS typically within 48 to 72 hours from the time the listing agreement was signed. That being said, some properties are not ready for the public to see within this timeframe. However, agents still want to begin the marketing resulting in the need for a new listing category, Coming Soon. Consequently, MRIS is evaluating solutions to help agents with sellers that want to generate interest in a property that is not yet ready to be marketed to the public or may have confidentiality concerns. WAV Group partner Victor Lund moderated a panel at the CMLS annual meetings this year that looked at ways to do this.
Building on the concepts discussed during Mr. Lund’s panel, MRIS joins other MLSs like San Jose based MLSListings, Inc, and Cleveland based NORMLS looking at options to address this issue. Analyzing and implementing innovative MLS data management services that respond to market demands, such as Coming Soon, maintains the MLS’s position of relevance as the center of cooperation among participating brokers.
In addition to finalizing its strategy on Coming Soon listings, early next year MRIS will be releasing features designed to empower their mobile agents to be “on top of their listings” in the field as they are in the office. In addition, agents will be able to collaborate between their team and the seller to ensure the property information is as fresh and accurate as possible. We’ll definitely be following the forward-thinking technology MRIS delivers into the future.
