How Is RESO Helping Brokers Get Ahead of What's Next in Real Estate?

Long-time RESO member and Chair of the Research and Development Workgroup, Greg Moore is a 16-year veteran at RMLS and is currently VP of Technical Systems. He's been in the real estate technology industry for more than three decades.

Greg began his real estate technology career in 1986 at the Santa Barbara Board of REALTORS®. There he installed and managed its in-house MLS system. His career includes a two-year stint at HomeSeekers.com, where he developed and deployed one of the first Internet-based MLS systems.

Portland-based RMLS is the Northwest's largest REALTOR®-owned Multiple Listing Service. It serves some 10,000 real estate professionals in more than 2,200 offices licensed throughout Oregon and Washington.

RMLS has been a stalwart supporter of RESO, having been the first MLS in the nation to only offer IDX data feeds based upon the RESO Data Dictionary. At RMLS, Greg facilitates the technical requirements for data processing, hardware services, network communications, and management information services.

In this video interview, Greg discusses the importance of RESO Data Standards, and specifically, how real estate brokerages benefit from all the work that RESO is doing and the importance – and value – when brokers become highly involved.

RESO Data Dictionary "Guidebook"

Greg first discusses the progression of data standards and the recent advent of the RESO Data Dictionary Wiki. Calling it a "guidebook," he points out, "Now we have somewhere to go with a great knowledge base...with hundreds of MLSs and a million Realtors out there consuming data, it's really given us a crystal ball of what other folks are doing."

For the R&D Workgroup, the DD Wiki has also been delivered additional insight, Greg says. "It does give us a window to see all of the different business rules and lots of the innovation and different services that get offered."

Data Is for the Broker

Greg states candidly, upfront, the real reason standards exit: "They help the broker," he says emphatically. "That's why we all do what we do: help the industry by helping the broker be more efficient."

Greg defends the broker's position, saying, "Their ability to work across borders, ability to work across MLSs – we (MLSs) shouldn't be narrow and think we're the only ones in the world. (Brokers) are trying to make a living often in markets across the country. Standards and standard data images really make their business run more efficiently. And it really should help our business at least be a better service organization to our core constituency."

Moving from RETS to the RESO Web API

Greg also pokes a bit of fun at the idea of firms sticking with RETS. "In the 1960s, there wasn't a reason to turn in your old (VW) Beetle, but at some point, they didn't make it anymore. It got slow and clunky, and it wasn't as safe as the newer (cars). Evolution – change – is inevitable. Are we really in the business or just stuck on (something) that sooner or later is going to go away?"

The truth is, Greg says, RETS 1x is "over." And while he notes many firms will continue to support it "for years," the technology itself is still "old, it's slow, and it doesn't serve well – it's heavy for both ends, for the receiving end and the sending end." He insists everyone "will find a much better level of service if they move to the API."

Value of RESO Membership

Finally, Greg touts the importance of becoming a RESO member. "There are a hundred reasons," he says with a laugh, then states it really comes down to three things: "it's the innovation, and the technology, and the sharing."

Being a member of RESO, he notes, opens up access to emerging technologies, like machine learning, early on. "It makes you look like you're really on your game," Greg says because you often have the first insight into what's coming next.

Most importantly, RESO membership means grabbing a seat at the table and sharing your voice. Brokerages small, medium or large should join, Greg says. "Everyone should have a voice at this table. It's a big table, it's a very round table...we're all together, and we're working together. We're sharing the fruit that is coming out of this organization, and it is really bountiful right now."

Greg notes that he believes the period we are in now is just the beginning. If you're not a RESO member, you're in danger of missing out, he warns. "There's so much more innovation going on out there, and if you're not here (in RESO), you're going to miss out on something and possibly lose your competitive edge."

Greg says RESO is where you can come to "futureproof" your company. "I know it helps RMLS to see what's coming and what people want."

For more information, RESO membership, go online to https://www.reso.org/membership-benefits/