Key Takeaways:
· Through its partnership with REdistribute, REcolorado is taking steps to maximize the value of your data through proper licensing and enforcement.
· REdistribute creates transparency so you know who is using your data and for what purpose.
· Aggregate information from REdistribute is licensed to institutions related to the housing industry such as financial institutions, insurance, and data analytics organizations.
REcolorado announced a strategic partnership with REdistribute that will help preserve one of your most valuable assets: your MLS data. Not only does this help you, but it also has the potential to transform the entire real estate industry’s relationship with data. REcolorado President and CEO Gene Millman spoke on a panel hosted by MLS Matters, a Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) forum, which delved into how REdistribute works and why it is so important to the future of your MLS data.
REdistribute is changing the game by creating transparency and guidelines that ensure organizations are properly licensing MLS data and using it for the permitted uses defined in the license agreements. By bringing more transparency to the licensing process, REdistribute can help maximize the value of the MLS’s greatest asset while also protecting it from unauthorized or unlicensed use.
To paint the picture, we need to look back at when MLS data first became digitized over 20 years ago. At that time, MLS data was brand new, hadn’t been proven yet, and did not have rigorous safeguards in place for licensing and distribution. As a result, it wasn’t always clear if licensed information was being re-sold or sub-licensed to companies that do not have the licensing rights to have it or use it. Demand for MLS data has created a robust “grey market” of real estate data, to the extent that MLSs and their members no longer have a clear picture of where and how MLS data is being used.
REdistribute has the ability to maximize the value of our data while still ensuring that the data licenses are closely monitored for compliance with the permitted use. The goal isn’t to hoard data and keep it from the public – in fact, MLSs want their data to be used because it creates a more robust real estate marketplace.
“We want to let our customers know how much we value them by being good stewards of the data they work so hard to provide,” said Gene Millman. “Our partnership with REdistribute is one of the many steps we’re taking to make sure subscriber data is handled in the most secure way possible.”
Like any other piece of intellectual property, it’s important for the original content creators to get the benefits of the information they share. REdistribute has systems in place to ensure listing information is only going to people who are licensed to use it. Any profits returned to the MLS will ultimately benefit you, our customers. At the end of the day, it’s all about prudent management of MLS data and fixing a broken distribution system that’s been in place for far too long.
In addition to creating more transparency about your data and how it’s being used, REdistribute also licenses that data to government entities, financial institutions, and other housing-related industries that use it to understand the local and national real estate market, make decisions when working with consumers, and implement services or products that help communities.
To learn more about REdistribute, visit REdistribute.com or read our REcolorado Professionals Blog Post, REcolorado and REdistribute: Powering Housing Data Research.
