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"Beyond the Listings" Survey
March 15, 2010
By Clareity Consulting
www.CallClareity.com
Introduction
Various organizations have recently been approaching MLS operators offering to combine or integrate MLS data with other content. Some, such as RPR and Move.com have asked for MLS data to use in contexts outside of the MLS system. Others, such as eNeighborhoods, Onboard Informatics, and various providers of statistical reports have offered to license their data and analysis so that it can be combined with MLS data inside the MLS itself. All the recent interest in content "beyond the listings" made Clareity Consulting wonder:
- How many MLS subscribers already have access to this type of content?
- How important is it to MLS subscribers that the MLS license it and integrate it inside the MLS?
- How happy are MLS subscribers with some of the current offerings?
Clareity prepared a short online survey and sent it to a few dozen MLS executives to pass on to their subscribers. Over a two week period, the survey received 9,247 responses – yielding a margin of error on a national population of 1.2 million MLS subscribers of +/- 1.02% with a 95% certainty. The results were as follows:
Survey Results
Content Importance
The following table shows the results of the question, "How important is it for your MLS to provide you with [different types of content] integrated into reports?"
| Very Important | Important | Somewhat Important | Not Important | |
| Foreclosures/REO | 70% | 19% | 8% | 3% |
| School Information | 56% | 27% | 12% | 5% |
| Demographics | 41% | 32% | 20% | 7% |
| AVM | 45% | 25% | 17% | 14% |
| Crime Information | 40% | 28% | 21% | 12% |
| Point of Interest | 35% | 30% | 23% | 11% |
| Map Overlays (i.e. Public Transportation, Flight Paths) | 35% | 27% | 25% | 14% |
As one can see, integrated Foreclosure/REO content topped the list, followed by School Information, Demographics, AVM, Crime Information, Points of Interest, and Map Overlays. The first two elements had a majority of respondents rate them as ‘Very Important' but even the lowest rated item was rated ‘Very Important' or ‘Important' by the majority of respondents. What Clareity could not ascertain for certain in this survey was the distinction between integration with MLS data and integration inside the MLS system itself, which is an area for further research.
Clareity did ask respondents whether they already had a reliable source for content that is not commonly available, and asked whether they wanted the MLS to provide each type of content. Following are those results:
Demographic Information
| Do you currently have a reliable source of Demographic Information for the geographic area you serve? | |
| Total Responses - 9087 | 98.27% |
| Yes - 3901 |
 42.93%
|
| No - 5186 |
57.07%
|
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Demographic Information integrated into reports? | |
| Total Responses - 9122 | 98.65% |
| Very important - 3743 |
41.03%
|
| Important - 2901 |
31.80%
|
| Somewhat Important - 1828 |
20.04%
|
| Not Important - 650 |
7.13%
|
School Information
| Do you currently have a reliable source of School Information for the geographic area you serve? | |
| Total Responses - 9133 | 98.77% |
| Yes - 4761 |
52.13%
|
| No - 4372 |
47.87%
|
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with School Information integrated into reports? | |
| Total Responses - 9156 | 99.02% |
| Very important - 5152 |
56.27%
|
| Important - 2456 |
26.82%
|
| Somewhat Important - 1119 |
12.22%
|
| Not Important - 429 |
4.69%
|
Crime Information
| Do you currently have a reliable source of Crime Information for the geographic area you serve? | |
| Total Responses - 9081 | 98.20% |
| Yes - 2532 |
27.88%
|
| No - 6549 |
72.12%
|
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Crime Information integrated into reports? | |
| Total Responses - 9128 | 98.71% |
| Very important - 3616 |
39.61%
|
| Important - 2515 |
27.55%
|
| Somewhat Important - 1937 |
21.22%
|
| Not Important - 1060 |
11.61%
|
Point of Interest
| Do you currently have a reliable source of Point of Interest (local businesses, places of worship, parks) Information for the geographic area you serve? | |
| Total Responses - 9072 | 98.11% |
| Yes - 3580 |
39.46%
|
| No - 5492 |
60.54%
|
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Point of Interest information integrated into reports? | |
| Total Responses - 9096 | 98.37% |
| Very important - 3216 |
35.36%
|
| Important - 2749 |
30.22%
|
| Somewhat Important - 2131 |
23.43%
|
| Not Important - 1000 |
10.99%
|
Foreclosures & REO
| How important is it to be able to search specifically for Distressed Properties (Foreclosures and REO)? | |
| Total Responses - 9096 | 98.37% |
| Very important - 6350 |
69.81%
|
| Important - 1787 |
19.65%
|
| Somewhat Important - 725 |
7.97%
|
| Not Important - 234 |
2.57%
|
Map Overlays
| How important is it for you to have reports including Map Overlays like Public Transportation and Airplane Flight Paths? | |
| Total Responses - 9130 | 98.73% |
| Very important - 3178 |
34.81%
|
| Important - 2440 |
26.73%
|
| Somewhat Important - 2243 |
24.57%
|
| Not Important - 1269 |
13.90%
|
AVM
| How important is it to have Automated Appraisals or Valuations (AVM) built into the MLS? | |
| Total Responses - 9117 | 98.59% |
| Very important - 4101 |
44.98%
|
| Important - 2247 |
24.65%
|
| Somewhat Important - 1526 |
16.74%
|
| Not Important - 1243 |
13.63%
|
Where Clareity asked both whether the respondent already had a reliable source for content and how important MLS integration was to them, we were surprised to see that even when they already had a source, they still want the integration. The following cross-tab analyses illustrate that clearly:
|
Do you currently have a reliable source of |
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| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Demographic Information integrated into reports? |
|
The School Information cross-tab shows the least correlation of the four but still shows the same preference for integration.
|
Do you currently have a reliable source of |
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| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with School Information integrated into reports? |
|
|
Do you currently have a reliable source of |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Crime Information integrated into reports? |
|
|
Do you currently have a reliable source of |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| How important is it for your MLS to provide you with Point of Interest information integrated into reports? |
|
Satisfaction with Current Offerings
Clareity also asked how satisfied MLS subscribers were with the current statistics and public records offerings. The following were the results:
| How satisfied are you with the Statistical Reports available on your MLS system? | |
| Total Responses - 9175 | 99.22% |
| Very Satisfied - 1131 |
12.33%
|
| Satisfied - 5431 |
59.19%
|
| Not Very Satisfied - 1611 |
17.56%
|
| Not Satisfied - 372 |
4.05%
|
| Not Sure / Do Not Know - 630 |
6.87%
|
| How satisfied are you with the quality of the Public (tax) Records available on your MLS system? | |
| Total Responses - 9193 | 99.42% |
| Very Satisfied - 1712 |
18.62%
|
| Satisfied - 5131 |
55.81%
|
| Not Very Satisfied - 1674 |
18.21%
|
| Not Satisfied - 455 |
4.95%
|
| Not Sure / Do Not Know - 221 |
2.40%
|
Conclusion
An overwhelming majority of real estate practitioners simply want more content available in their MLS system regardless where they do business. That content ranked in the following order of importance:
- Foreclosures / REO
- School Information
- Demographics
- AVM
- Crime Information
- Point of Interest
- Map Overlays (i.e. Public Transportation, Flight Paths)
An interesting and somewhat surprising finding was that responses regarding what content was important were similar nationwide and did not vary significantly by region.
This study and the results above clearly validate the assumption that RPR and other content providers have that agents want this type of information. All of this information, well integrated with listing data in one place is the Holy Grail for real estate professionals. It is also obviously the most convenient way, and knowing the average agent, perhaps the only way, that they will find the information and utilize it.
Today's MLS operators should make an effort to improve the total content available to subscribers by sourcing the additional information themselves and including it in the MLS, partnering with RPR, or both.
About Clareity Consulting
Founded in 1996, Clareity continually strives to provide our clients an independent and unique perspective. Due to our extensive involvement and interaction across the entire Real Estate industry, we have a finger on the pulse of the industry. Clareity has successfully executed a vast array of consulting projects for our clients, related to:
- Development and analysis of RFPs for MLS systems, public records, broker systems and transaction management systems
- Public speaking and presentations
- Strategic planning
- Information security and business risk management assessments
- VOW Audits
- Regionalization and data share consulting
- Mergers and acquisitions and strategic alliances
- New product marketing and business plans
- Product integration specifications
- Conference planning and content development
- Competitive analysis
- Contract negotiation
- Executive recruitment
- Project management and implementation assistance
- Market research including agent, broker, and staff surveys as well as onsite focus groups
For more information please contact:
| Gregg Larson Clareity Consulting Scottsdale 480-368-8100 |
Matt Cohen Clareity Consulting Minneapolis 612-331-1788 |
Or visit http://www.CallClareity.com
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