One of the great consolidation efforts in America is the Western New York Alliance of MLSs. This group of independent MLSs operates across Western New York. Ithaca, home to Cornell University (Marilyn Wilson’s alma mater) and Ithaca College, is a region located directly south of the NYS Alliance roughly halfway between Rochester and Syracuse. Ithaca joins Erie, PA as a hold out to joining the mega WNY MLS.
This is an area of the county that WAV Group keeps an eye on. The NYS Alliance has a compelling business model for participants and Associations. The participants own the MLS, but it is operated by the local REALTOR® Associations so they are compensated for operational efforts. This model results in a wonderful situation that meets the needs of the participants in the MLS and benefits from the service delivery excellence from the Associations. Each time Erie, Ithaca, or other neighbors to NYS Alliance consider their MLS vendor contract renewal, we watch with curiosity to see if the Association owned MLS will join the consolidation. In this case, Ithaca is replacing the CoreLogic’s Innovia “small MLS” solution. CoreLogic is sun setting the Innovia product and encouraging customers to transition to Matrix.
Rapattoni President Ralph Hoover pointed to the Rappattoni mapping system with custom map layers and AVM overlays as a key feature that tipped the scales for Ithaca. Norma Jayne, CEO of the IBR (Ithaca Board of REALTORS®) was delighted with Rappattoni’s implementation team and trainers.
The Rapattoni installation includes a number of more modern features like Single Sign-On with CRS Data and Sentrilock as well as integrated property marketing of listings to Facebook and Twitter. IBR also launched the Rapattoni mobile app for iOS and Android in parallel with the system launch, providing members with a rich experience in accessing the MLS online.
Congratulations to IBR and to Rapattoni on their new relationship.
