Realtracs opens MLS service nationally
The Tennessee-based MLS announced it would expand its service across the U.S., following in the footsteps of Chicago’s MRED.
Another multiple listing service has expanded its service nationwide.
A growing trend: Realtracs, the largest MLS in Tennessee, will now open its services to real estate professionals across the country as MLSs increasingly look to adapt to a changing listing landscape.
The news follows the announcement last week that MRED, a large Chicago-based MLS, would expand its services to all U.S. agents, with Compass International Holdings the first firm to feed its full listing inventory to MRED.
Two brokerages partner with Realtracs at launch: Compass International Holdings has also committed to contributing its listings to Realtracs — as has United Real Estate — and other brokerage firms have expressed interest in the platform as well, according to a press release.
"We support broker, agent and client choice," Realtracs President and CEO Stuart White said in a statement. "Our role is not to dictate a single model. It is to provide the infrastructure that allows those strategies to coexist within one connected system, without breaking cooperation or limiting opportunity."
In addition to providing Realtracs with a data feed of all its active listings, Compass will subsidize membership costs for Compass agents who opt to join Realtracs as full members — the same pledge it made when announcing its MRED partnership — the news release noted.
An agent-focused move: A representative for Realtracs said that although it found MRED's recent expansion "intriguing," the Nashville-based MLS was not necessarily inspired by it. Rather, Realtracs said the move "naturally aligns with our long-term goals" and the MLS's desire to protect agents against "listing bans affecting sellers/clients."
The spokesperson also said Realtracs' infrastructure is set up to handle additional subscribers, and it welcomed the opportunity to scale. But as it grows, the MLS's focus would remain on upholding its high standards, they added.
A plug for increased cooperation: Prior to today's announcement, Realtracs supported about 19,000 subscribers across six states: Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
The MLS said the expansion will bring about a "broader, more comprehensive" pool of listings to the platform, which will also bring together brokerages across the country and "encourage cooperation."
The move follows Realtracs' announcement earlier this month that it was replacing its Participation Agreement with a Brokerage Services Agreement that emphasizes broker ownership of listings — a "structural change," White noted at the time, that "gives brokers and agents a foundation to enforce their rights around copyright infringement and unauthorized use, no longer devaluing their role in the marketplace."