For years I’ve heard how our industry is not set up to support technology innovation. I get it, now.

To make progress, software product companies spend tons of money and time on relationship building with local MLS leadership. Dinners, booths, sponsorships, hallway lurking at conventions, etc. may get an audience with some folks who might be able to evaluate a product offering.

I’m guilty of being the skeptical recipient of product pitches. I can recall three times when an individual asked me for test data to research if an idea could be transformed into a valuable, viable, usable, and feasible product. One was a trusted business associate and friend; the other two were broker customers.

I wonder how many hundreds of other product developers had to jump through hoops and know the right person to just test an idea.

The Vendor Perspective

 
In 2024, Realtracs started down the path of becoming more than an MLS – we began to offer workflow solutions directly to brokers and agents. Our solution works in conjunction with their data stored in the local MLS and relies on participation in that MLS.

For the first time, I’m seeing things from a vendor’s perspective. Our solution appeals to a subset of agents and brokers in any given market. Realtracs and all new software vendors need to secure a licensed data feed from the MLS in each market to test the viability of any broker and agent products. Licensing is totally reasonable, but current implementations create tremendous barriers that stifle innovation.

Most MLSs require a broker to request a data feed for vendors they’re interested in working with. So, a vendor must find and sell a broker on an idea to test whether the product would be useful and valuable to that broker and their agents. Brokers are busy people. Along with their daily work, they’re getting flooded with requests from all kinds of vendors looking to solve various problems that may or may not exist.

Startups often go one of two directions with their approach:

1. Get the help of companies that already have aggregated the data and buy it from them.
2. Pay a real estate company licensed in all states to submit a “broker request” to the MLSs for data feeds.

Both approaches circumvent the illogical bureaucracy of our industry, and it adds another layer of cost before any product can be tested. Realtracs works directly with area MLSs to minimize the potential for bad data.

If a vendor can obtain a data feed to map and test, then the licensing processes with the MLS gets exponentially more difficult: each broker approves a data feed license for their company, each agent signs off on data licensing themselves (not always, but most of the time), interested agents seek broker approval for their license, and finally the MLS staff must approve each of those data licenses.

An Opportunity

 
Our industry is not set up for vendors to offer solutions directly to those who would benefit the most. There is too much friction to enable brokers and agents to validate if a new product is worth their time and consideration. And in the end, it’s the brokers and agents that pay for this barrier to innovation.

Wouldn’t it be great (logical) if a potential software solution could be developed with real MLS data in each market easily? Then the value could be tested with and demonstrated to the actual potential customers. It can be done.

In other industries, software providers expose a sandbox for partners/customers/vendors to test data and integrations and set reasonable time frames for testing. Additionally, any licensing processes are designed to benefit the customer, not serve as a gatekeeping mechanism. Once a vendor product passes muster, it’s unlikely they're denied the ability to operate for additional users (as long as they’re playing by the rules).

Becoming a vendor in our industry changed my perspective completely. The shoe is on the other foot: I see so many opportunities for improvement. The current path to offering a new solution to one agent at a time is painful. And the friction isn’t helping our industry or serving our customers in the best way possible. Now that I “get it,” I’m ready to find ways to help.

Stuart White is the CEO of Realtracs and leads the company’s vision for partnering with brokers and agents to drive their business forward.