What brokers want MLSs to build for real estate's next era 

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The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

I was recently invited to speak to a National Association of Realtors work group examining the future of MLS policies, including IDX and VOW. I appreciated the opportunity, because I believe the perspective of residential real estate brokers deserves a meaningful place in the conversation about where MLS policy goes next.

In preparing for the presentation, I talked with technology and marketing leaders within The Realty Alliance, a network of North American brokerage firms that represent some of the most sophisticated technology and data-management operations in residential real estate. These are people who deal with MLS data every day, see both the opportunities and frustrations created by current policies and — importantly — are constantly looking for new and more efficient ways to serve agents and consumers.

What I heard from them was not a call to dismantle the MLS system or abandon broker reciprocity. Quite the opposite. They continue to believe that cooperation among brokers is one of the industry's greatest accomplishments because it allows companies of every size to share inventory and provide consumers with a more comprehensive view of the market. But the digital environment in which that bargain was created has changed dramatically.

That led me to suggest to the NAR work group that we might be asking the wrong questions. Rather than asking how we should modernize IDX and VOW, perhaps we should ask: "What do brokers need to do with MLS data to compete successfully in a modern marketplace?"

The broker perspective as a starting point

Discussions about MLS modernization should begin with what brokers need to do with the data, rather than with the technology used to deliver it. That is a fundamentally different approach. 

A broker might need to display listings publicly, provide more detailed information to clients, create a CMA, generate alerts, offer valuation tools, conduct analytics or enable an AI-powered search experience. Those uses may be different, but they do not necessarily require separate data architectures and separate policy regimes.

In practical terms, our technology leaders would like to see MLS policy move toward a more standardized, RESO-based data-access framework in which permissions govern what brokers, vendors and applications may do with the data. 

That could eventually replace much of today's distinction among IDX, VOW and other legacy feed categories with a simpler architecture and premise: The broker has rights to use certain data for certain purposes, with clearly defined boundaries.

Listing control in the AI era and beyond

The second major issue when thinking about modernization is control. 

Once listing data leaves the MLS, it can be copied, indexed, aggregated, analyzed, incorporated into applications and, increasingly, processed by artificial intelligence. Yet the listing broker remains responsible for the accuracy of the information and maintains the relationship with the seller. Brokers therefore want greater visibility into where their data goes, what fields are being provided, what downstream uses are permitted and whether another company is sending the data elsewhere.

That becomes especially important as AI changes the meaning of "display." If a consumer asks an AI assistant to find three houses and prompts it with certain features and limitations, has the AI "displayed" the listings? Has it created a derivative product? Has it performed a search? 

Today's terminology may not matter nearly as much as establishing the underlying rights and responsibilities. MLS policy should be durable enough to accommodate technologies we haven't invented yet rather than requiring another policy rewrite every time the consumer interface changes.

Meeting consumer needs and avoiding friction

We also need to modernize the consumer experience. VOW rules were developed for an earlier version of the internet, while today's consumers expect mobile applications, conversational search, instant information and increasingly AI-assisted experiences. 

Protecting consumers is important, but we should be careful not to create rules that make the brokerage experience unnecessarily cumbersome while national portals and emerging technology companies offer frictionless alternatives.

There are related questions about attribution, lead routing, seller choices, data replication and national consistency. Brokers should be able to give consumers options for marketing their homes, while the cooperative system should protect the legitimate interests of the listing broker. And if a portal or technology company can receive data or provide a meaningful consumer-facing capability, the participating broker who contributes the inventory should not be placed at a technical or data-access disadvantage.

Taking the next steps

With only 10 minutes allotted to me, my comments to the NAR work group were intentionally conceptual, but my organization intends to follow up with specific technical recommendations.

Given more time, I would have also called for a comprehensive reevaluation of how "participant" is defined, suggesting that MLS policy should be written in terms of categories or roles that would dictate different levels of access, rights and fees along with varying eligibility for rebates and revenue sharing.

I am optimistic about continuing this conversation because the ideas are sound, and NAR is listening. I also expect CMLS to lean into the task of helping shape the next generation of MLS policy. Brokers are asking for an MLS framework that recognizes the realities of modern technology and allows them to compete and innovate on behalf of consumers.

The objective should not be to tweak IDX or VOW policy or to create new types of feeds. It should be to renew the industry's cooperative bargain for the digital age: protect the consumer, protect legitimate data rights, maintain accuracy and security, enforce misuse — and then give brokers enough freedom to build whatever consumer experience the marketplace demands next. 

If we get that right, we won't have simply modernized policy. We will have created an MLS framework capable of adapting to whatever comes next, and I believe that is what brokers are asking NAR and the MLS community to build.

Craig Cheatham is a longtime broker advocate and spokesperson who currently serves as president and CEO of The Realty Alliance and CEO of Broker Resource Network.