Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

The Wolf of Rodeo Drive

Annie Ives, CEO of CLAW/The MLS
Annie Ives, CEO of TheMLS/CLAW
A lot of people in the industry were surprised when TheMLS/CLAW made the decision to put a 48 hour hold on listings appearing on third party portal data sites such as Trulia, Zillow and REALTOR.com. I wasn’t. Some are even calling this “indecision”, due to the fact that CLAW is not pulling out of syndication all together. Not so. I think delaying the feed by 48 hours is a brilliant move. Plus CLAW has made it clear, numerous times, that it will analyze the situation and make adjustments when necessary.

Is the issue complicated? Sure. Does that mean to sit still and do nothing. That doesn’t sound like Annie to me. She runs a huge MLS (that is growing) in the middle of the largest MLS provider in the country (CRMLS). She developed and maintains her own MLS system (THEMLSPRO). And her members happen to represent some of the hottest real estate in the country, if not the world. And she’s been successful doing this for close to 20 years.

And now there’s this latest development. TheMLS/CLAW sent out a communication to its members.

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My advice is not to underestimate. It looks like CLAW’s claws are starting to show.

  2. Brad Blumberg

    I thought TheMLS/CLAW’s 48 hour rule was a great idea. If I owned a brokerage (which my family did for many years), I see many benefits that my personal site has the most accurate data in the marketplace. Plus, that TheMLS/CLAW lets any broker opt to have their listings sent without the delay, would seem to be the letting brokers make their own decisions. Maybe Zillow can be like Netflix who now pays Comcast for faster access on their network. Zillow can pay brokers (who pay for getting the listings in the first place) for faster access to their listings, or be relegated to the slow lane. Zillow, Trulia and yes even NAR baby Realtor.com is at a scale where it’s no longer fair for brokers to subsidize their growth.

  5. Scott Carmody

    I fully support Annie.

    We need to protect the accuracy of our listings and the information in the MLS, not sell it to the highest bidder for their own use.

    Our primary task is to protect our clients and selling their info to outside vendors does not protect them.

  6. David Englin

    Interesting, with out a data share agreement, MLS/CLAW agents won’t have access to CRMLS’s 70,000 agents data.

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