According to the 2025 WAV Group Association Governance Effectiveness Study, fewer than 40% of Associations include specific action plans or key performance indicators in their strategy. More than half say their strategic plan does not help the organization evolve or succeed long-term.
In the 20+ years WAV Group has been fielding MLS Customer Satisfaction Surveys we have noticed one indisputable FACT. The MLSs with CEOs that lead with their heart and demonstrate empathy and passion for their subscribers are the ones that have earned the most customer loyalty.
Most MLSs and Associations have small staffs and lean operations. They do a lot with very little. With small teams, tight budgets, and a focus on member service, it’s easy to feel pressure to assign someone internal to “handle HR.” But here's the reality: Most real estate organizations do not need a dedicated internal HR staff member until they hit at least 50 employees.
There’s a growing movement across the country - REALTOR® Associations and MLSs are pursuing formal valuations of their organizations.
The Open MLS movement isn’t slowing down—it’s accelerating. As of this month, MLSs representing over 941,000 REALTORS® now offer Open MLS subscriptions, up from 888,000 just last month. This rapid growth signals a powerful shift in the real estate landscape and possibly a wake-up call top MLSs still operating under restrictive access policies.
You can’t run a forward-thinking organization if you cannot attract the right people with vision, passion, and a selfless commitment to leadership. linked According to the 2025 WAV Group Association Governance Effectiveness Study, more than one third of Associations say it’s very or extremely difficult to recruit qualified leaders to serve on the Board of Directors. And if you dig into the reasons why, it’s easy to see this isn’t a pipeline problem – it’s a governance design problem.
Congrats to Dave Howe and the team at MetroList, Northern California’s largest MLS, for investing in making it easier for agents to work with the MLS. Lundy, the latest addition to the Metrolist suite of technologies, allows agents to create and update listings directly from the property site using just their voice. With the removal of Compensation as a core benefit, smart MLSs are finding other ways to earn their monthly subscriptions and tap into the capabilities of AI to deliver increased value.
For decades, REALTORS® have relied on traditional 9-to-5 office support from their associations. But the modern real estate professional no longer works on a banker’s schedule. They need answers fast, whenever and wherever their business takes them. That’s why the Greater Rochester Association of REALTORS® (GRAR) turned to artificial intelligence.
Every agent wants a faster and better way to enter listings accurately and ways to maximize the engagement and marketability of their listings. Agents are busy and do not always take the time to be sure they have done everything to put the property’s best foot forward. In their haste to get the listing live, they sometimes makes mistakes which reduces the quality of the data for the MLS database.
A second consumer-centric MLS has joined New Mexico MLS in requiring floor plans for all of their listings.
A decline in Association membership is one of the main fears about opening up MLSs to licensees that are not members of the National Association of REALTORS®. There are MLSs representing hundreds of thousands of agents that have been offering Open MLS subscriptions since the 90’s.
While understanding your organization's value is essential, making a well thought out decision to sell is far more complex. The smartest MLS leaders are preparing now—before an unsolicited offer lands on their desk.
