In the real estate industry, the collection and distribution of real estate listing data has been a hot issue for many years, and The Great Lakes Repository (GLR) has made tremendous headway toward solving those data issues. The GLR is comprised of a group of MLSs and REALTOR® Associations (participants) in Michigan that have agreed to share listing data with other participants using a repository method of sharing. Under this method of sharing data, all participants of the GLR run their own MLSs; enforce their own set of rules; manage their own membership; control their own MLS products, but cooperate by sharing listing data in one central location.The sharing of listing data benefits all GLR Members and the consumer by providing all the listings data to all GLR Members, and at the same time eliminating the need for a REALTOR® to belong to more than one MLS, i.e.: offering MLS of choice. Over the last seven and a half years, the GLR has grown from zero to 11 Members all sharing data in their home database.
The GLR recently finalized agreements with the eight (8) REALTOR® Associations that are Shareholders of Realcomp II Ltd., an MLS in Farmington Hills, MI. “We are excited to welcome these new Members to the GLR, giving the GLR a total of nineteen (19) Members representing twelve (12) MLSs sharing data,” said Dave DeRees, President of The Great Lakes Repository.
Currently, the data is being mapped and is scheduled to go live on March 1, 2016. Once the new data is live, the GLR will be estimated to have over 55,000 active listings in the state, and is also estimated to have 67% of the REALTORS® in Michigan and 66% of all active and historical listings in the state.
Powered by CURE Solutions Group, an MRIS subsidiary, the GLR is able to overcome the technical barriers associated with sharing MLS content through multiple geographic areas. This makes the GLR an indispensable resource for brokers and agents in the Great Lakes area.
“The sharing of data fields alone does not make for successful data sharing,” said DeRees “The GLR shares offers of cooperation and compensation.” It also allows for sharing of IDX information, shared data on public-facing MLS websites and apps (subject to opt-outs), and the use of the shared data in third-party programs such as CMA and statistical software. The goal of the GLR is to one day have a statewide database with MLS of choice for real estate professionals.
