For many years there has been an on-going debate about whether MLS consumer websites were supportive of REALTORS® or competitive with them. A comprehensive study of using the Houston Association of REALTORS® consumer website was conducted to address this issue. This report will demonstrate conclusive evidence that an MLS consumer website is one of the most valuable tools an MLS can offer its members.  The MLS has technical expertise and advantages to support their members to compete collectively effectively for traffic against even the most well-funded listing portals on the Internet today. This report is unique in that it provides [...]

A factor that tends to be considered when choosing an MLS service provider is how many customers they have won or lost recently - particularly when some of those customer losses are large, costly, and well-publicized. And if that is not a formal consideration, when an MLS vendor looses a major customer, it is often on the mind of sourcing MLS organizations. In fact many companies that I have spoken with over the past 12 months have actively excluded some MLS vendors from their short list due to rumors or reports of customers lost. These types of metrics tend to [...]