[What follows is my somewhat stream of consciousness take on today's events. This post is a beast. Interested in your thoughts. And please point out where you think I've missed the mark. More will follow.]
The NAR has taken over certain technology assets of Cyberhomes from LPS (formerly known as FNRES) in order to bring its RPR (Realtors Property Resource) project, as well as its consumer-facing play, HouseLogic, to market. To do this, they have created Realtors Property Resource, LLC – a wholly owned subsidiary of the NAR.
Certain LPS executives, including Cyberhomes GM Marty Frame, will be making the transition over to NAR/RPR. Frame will serve as the President of the new entity. Dale Ross, who was co-founder of MRIS, the nation’s largest MLS, will be CEO. LPS will also provide call center support and other services as part of the deal.
The RPR database will contain parcel information on nearly 150 million properties through a data license from LPS, which (along with First American) is one of the two major sources of public property data.
This is interesting news, but let’s back up a minute for those of you who have more well rounded lives than I (my fellow online RE junkies can skip down to my take on what this deal means).
- The RPR is the national property database initiative that the NAR has been quietly working on for some time. It has gone by a number of names over the past couple years, including ”Gateway,” “The Real Estate Channel,” and the “Library/Archive.” It will aggregate tons of property data, including public records, in one place. This will be a Realtor-only database. The idea is to keep agents and brokers competitive amidst widespread data diffusion and other challenges.
- HouseLogic.com is a NAR-owned public destination site that will be unveiled next week at the NAR EXPO. The site is part of the NAR’s long-term strategy to engage consumers on behalf of its members.
- RIN is the “Realtors Information Network,” a for-profit arm of the NAR from which the RPR sprung. It was conceived for the purpose of creating an ill-fated online real estate service nearly 15 years ago. It was proprietary, something like a Prodigy or early AOL-type service. It blew up, costing the NAR millions. It was from that failure that the present-day Realtor.com was born, in 1996.
- The contract for developing the RPR was originally given to Move, Inc. back in late 2008. That obviously did not go so well.
- LPS is a new company created last summer at the tail end of a complicated corporate genealogy driven by Bill Foley, the visionary chairman of Fidelity National Financial. LPS was formerly known as FNRES and in June, 2009 announced a subsidiary, LPS Real Estate Group, to handle its real estate products: Paragon (MLS software), rDesk (agent and broker technology) and CyberHomes.
- Cyberhomes.com is a domain with a storied history in online real estate. It was launched by Moore Data, an MLS provider, back in the mid nineties and competed with Homeseekers.com, Microsoft HomeAdvisor and Homes.com. Moore sold the site (among other things) to VistaInfo in 1999, which in turn merged with Fidelity National Financial to create Fidelity National Information solutions (FNIS) in 2001. The cyberhomes.com domain ended up with Microsoft, which eventually shut down HomeAdvisor and relegated real estate to MSN Real Estate. FNRES, predecessor to LPS and spawn of FNF, took it from there and launched the new Cyberhomes in November of 2007.
And that’s just the quick and dirty. I’ve left out enough details to fill a McMansion. I’m not kidding.
A first take
The RPR is impressive. Enough data to choke a horse and a UI that is very well done. Foreclosure data. Default stats. Interactive charts. Even sliders for users to adjust the market conditions as they see them. On top of that, there is a basic community/social function. It’s extremely robust, perhaps to a fault.
An interesting facet to this is something the NAR/RPR team is calling the RVM – the “Realtor Valuation Model,” which they hope will become the “Gold Standard” (their words) for establishing a property’s fair market value.
What is not there now is MLS data, the hyperlocal secret sauce that will make the data array more than just a national-level combination of things already available somewhere else. The MLS goods are also key to making the RVM hit that Gold Standard.
Thumbs up or thumbs down?
For the NAR
Putting aside the question of whether or not the NAR should build a national property site (more on that below), this seems like a win for them. They get a talented team, a ton of data, and an infusion of tech mojo. Surely, there will be political blowback from within the ranks and the hand-to-hand combat involved in selling this to 900 MLSs (or – who knows – just going over their heads directly to brokers) will be bloody. But what has been done here is unprecedented: A serious move to lift property information above the broad plain of local silos.
Ultimately, I still think this is a defensive, almost quixotic move by the NAR, which seems to be wishing, once again, that Realtor value can be secured behind barricades and that a million + Realtors is a good thing.
But that’s just me. This is going to rattle a lot of cages. And that is good.
So thumbs up for the NAR.
For LPS
Cyberhomes has a lot going for it. A mainline to property data, some truly interesting products, and a number of initiatives that seemed to me to be at least directionally correct. But since the shift from FNRES to LPS, the energy just wasn’t there for a consumer-facing property. Bill Foley, the genius at the top, cut his last ties to the company in March. LPS is a B2B play, and a very good one at that. Cyberhomes was the fun guy that shows up to the board meeting in flip-flops. Whatever the terms of this deal, LPS has just unloaded what had become a somewhat incongruous part of its portfolio.
Oh, and they get a nice chunk of money from the NAR.
Thumbs up for LPS.
For brokers and agents
Brokers have been nudged out of pole position in the race for consumer engagement by a host of online players over the course of the past fifteen years. One more consumer destination, powered by their own trade association, isn’t going to hurt at this point. And to the extent that the RPR actually delivers on its promise to put unmatched property data at the fingertips of practitioners, this will be good thing … if it’s free.
Thumbs up for brokers and agents.
For Move
If I’m Move, I am thinking that I just saw my partner leverage one of my competitors (albeit a minor one) to go out and build a national destination site, part of which will be consumer facing. While the Realtor.com operating agreement remains intact, I cannot see how watching your biggest partner go the DIY route on something close to your goods is a positive thing.
Perhaps Move can partner with First American, the other (and actually more comprehensive) source of property data. Now that would be interesting.
Thumbs down for MOVE.
For MLSs
This is where it gets really thorny. As Brian Larson pointed out in his excellent post examining the potential business models for the RPR, there are lots of potential overlaps between a national property data site and what Realtors already get from their MLS. Some MLS operators think the NAR has no business doing this and perceive it as the precursor to a national MLS – a cataclysmic prospect from their perspective. Others – usually those who are relatively innovative and thus less insecure about their own value proposition – welcome the potential disruption.
Some will be convinced much as they were during the days of Homestore options and Gold Alliance dollars by the prospect of some upside. Others will be won over by NAR/RPRs insistence that there will be no offer of compensation in the RPR.
Whose ox gets gored, who benefits, and where the money flows is anybody’s guess at this point. But what I can safely say is that this is a significant shock to a system that needs it.
Will MLSs play ball? As with most things in this space, the outlook is unclear.
For online real estate
This jiggles the landscape a little. While this is largely a Realtor family matter, one must immediately think of the impact on Zillow. On the face of it, this seems like a move onto their turf. But it’s worth bearing in mind that Zillow’s (and indeed most of the major online players’) pitch to the industry is about delivering exposure. The RPR is about giving them data they can use in their business, and the public HomeLogic site … well, even though it’s looking very good, it’s going to be really hard for NAR/RPR, even with new talent, to be competitive with a Trulia or Zillow on things like SEO and PR. These guys have this stuff down; they get consumer experience. They have brains galore. It will be tough for NAR/RPR to be competitive.
HouseLogic will not compete with the big players for ad dollars – from either big consumer brands or agents and brokers. A “Find a Realtor” function will direct users to the agent directory that currently sits on Realtor.com. That’s it.
I do, however, see some fallout in the technology vendor community. The RPR has an immense amount of data and analytics – tables, charts, maps and more – some of which will be portable. Realtors can generate a variety of reports and print or email them. Some content from HouseLogic will be available to Realtors to use on their Websites, blogs and newsletters.
And having an industry foil to play against may actually help the online players.
Thumbs up for online real estate
For consumers
A site with lots of free property information? Realtors who have a more sophisticated set of tools at their disposal? These cannot be a bad things. But I am just a little uneasy when it comes to the potential revenue this project will derive from slicing and dicing the data in RPR and licensing it outside the industry. That’s a juicy opportunity. But without getting into the old debate about who owns a listing, I think it seems a little off that I can pay a Realtor 6% to sell my house then have that Realtor’s trade association make money off information about my transaction.
I think that’s best kept on the DL on the consumer side.
See you in San Diego
I can’t believe I just wrote 1,800 words. Thanks for hanging in there with me. There are many more angles on this, and they will no doubt be explored with great enthusiasm in San Diego next week. I’m looking forward to many interesting conversations.
It’s full steam ahead. To where only time will tell.
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[...] is the the RPR? Brian Boero from 1000Watt Blog sums it up nicely. The NAR has taken over certain technology assets of Cyberhomes from LPS [...]
[...] NPR Madness! NAR Unleashes national property database with Cyberhomes (Brian Boero, 1000 Watt) [...]
Well, this is certainly a lot to take in. My mind spiders out……..so many trails to follow and question.
For Realtors real estate is local. A national MLS system really doesn’t benefit local business for us.
Realtor.com has left a bad taste in the mouth of many practitioners, beginning free then charging absurd amounts of money for the service. They are most certainly hurting as most will no longer pay for this service.
A national consumer facing MLS database? Sounds like realtor.com to me. A replacement with perks?
What about the leads? Where will the leads from the consumer facing national MLS go? At what price? Are we going to have to buy our leads back from this new kid on the block? This is what happened with realtor.com. Take the MLS info, generate leads, sell back to the very people who generated the leads.
Its all about the listings folks! It has always been all about the listings. Realtors generate the listings and everybody else dreams up ways of scalping profits.
Sounds like a master plan to me.
Always a cynic………..
It’s all about control. Everyone wants more.
I have spent the last 5 years perplexed by local MLS rules that are provincial and self-serving; and not designed to help Realtors be more productive, save money or serve consumers better.
Now NAR comes-out with another GRAND PLAN, which on one-hand seems to overcome local MLS quality issues, but raises the specter of the great national big-brother taking control — and even selling terabytes of personal home-owner information to our government agencies and setting up control of this information for Realtors. Whew! A national real estate association controlling all that data. What about the consumers? What about transparency?
There is already a great deal of chatter about this and will be considerably more. I can’t wait to see how this all plays-out.
Control. Power. Money. Personal Freedom. That is what the world has always been about and always will. The winners will write the history.
[...] kids on the block. Will it work? Maybe. Who does it benefit? See this awesome article on 1000 Watt Consulting for an in-depth [...]
In my opinion, this will be the biggest thing to hit the real estate industry in the last 25 years. There are so many unanswered questions that lead to speculative answers:
1. Will this lead to a national MLS? NAR says ‘No’ but it sure looks like one. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. The only missing piece at this point is an offer of compensation. My take – within five years it will be a national MLS.
2. What will happen to all the local MLS’s? Hmmm. It seems to me that they will have to either re-invent themselves or perish. The charts, graphs, tools that I viewed in NAR’s presentation are stunning. No local MLS will be able to compete with it. My take – MLS’s will become data depositories only. No more CMA’s. No more reports. MLS’s will be used only for entering and revising listing data so that RPR can use it. Local MLS fees will plummet which in turn will affect local association’s revenue streams. If MLS’s see this the same way I do, will they play ball with NAR’s RPR and risk going the way of the DoDo bird or will they put up a fight? This is only Round 1 of a 15 rounder.
3. Who’s paying for all this? In the short term – NAR. Over time – that’s anyone’s guess. It’s being SOLD to agents that this will be a FREE service of NAR membership, but will there be different levels of RPR. In other words, you get basic RPR for free; the super version for $XXX; the elite version for $YYY. I do see the financial services industry, the government and assorted other entities (both public and private) who will be willing to pay to get this info. But how much will they pay? NAR is betting a lot.
4. If RPR fails, what will happen to NAR? This would be a public relations nightmare. It seems to me that NAR is putting all their chips on the table for a winner take all poker hand. If it succeeds, they will be THE FORCE in real estate. If it fails, irrelevance is sure to follow.
My mind is still swimming with various scenarios. By the way, just like MLS data, all opinions contained in this post are deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Great post, good conversations.
Personally I don’t get it and or see what it’s so game changing or ground breaking.
I assume Trulia and Zillow will still be there. Google is going to keep creeping in as far as they can.
Realtor.com stays or morphs into something new with “more charts, statistics and records.” Yawn.
I don’t see the actual MLS data being any closer to going anywhere else.
If anyone thinks that the local MLSs are going to just roll over when/if their incredible cash flow models are breached, get real!
That kind or battle could go on for 20 years in individual courtrooms spread across hundreds of cities in America.
So, personally, IMHO, I just don’t see the big sea change here.
Just one more lame site for “consumers” that nobody really uses.
Rob – The one thing that I think you’re missing is that RPR is not a “consumer” site. It is for REALTORS only. If I’m a REALTOR (which I am) and I’m getting rich, property information from within my county and surrounding areas from a national site (which I can’t right now unless I belong to several MLS’s) I’m going to ask the question, “Why am I paying all these MLS fees?”
You are right on the mark by saying that MLS’s will not just roll over and give up their cash rich models to NAR. The threat to MLS’s will come from their clients (i.e. REALTORS) who will look at the two products (RPR vs. Local MLS) and decide for themselves which one is superior. I’m guessing once they see the RPR product (I watched REALTOR.org’s webcast for a preview) they’ll be swayed in a big way.
I’m at REBarCamp #REBCSD and just listened to a session with the RPR gentlemen. Lots of questions about whether or not the data can be make public or agent/only. Many in audience think Big Brokers won’t like it and will lose agents because they will lose the value-added of their current . Seems that so far agents want the information to belong only to membership so that public will get proper interpretation.
Tomorrow, 11-13-09 the RPR booth will be giving demos and I’ve been told I’m about to be blown away…
@SedonaKathy aka Kathy Howe
[...] NAR/RPR that was first reported last Friday by Brian Boero of 1000watt titled: RPR Madness: NAR unleashes national property database with Cyberhomes that paints us a very insightful, unbiased and logical picture of what’s happening and what [...]
Tom:
Sorry it took me so long to get back. Been doing the ole client thing. lol.
Thanks for the clarification on the RPR.
While on the topic of things I don’t get, who is using all this “rich content?”
Personally, I log into my local FMLS system ONLY when I need to do some serious house hunting, like to find all properties for sale in a given neighborhood.
I use it to run a CMA or research expires, solds, etc. All they data they own and protect.
I don’t go there for ANY other content, ever.
So to me, offering anything above that is not useful to me and I suspect this is the feeling from a large % of users that fit this common usage model.
I also like the way the ACTUAL MLS data is only for Realtors. The public, Trulia, Zillow, Google – can all have the moldy data.
I know this sounds bad, but hey, you’ve got to be a legit tire dealership to sell Michelins, a legit MB Dealership to sell new Mercedes, on and on. There are real legit reasons for this and real legit reasons to make trained Realtors the gatekeepers of the real MLS data.
If the MLS puts the systems together, collects all the data, makes everyone abide by all the laws in every state, then this is their value.
Ok, I’m rambling.
[...] As Brian Boero points out, there are so many layers to this that, if it were an onion, it would be the size of Rush Limbaugh’s head, but one thing was obvious this weekend in San Diego and it was the extra padding that some of the MLS people had in their pants from the diaper they had to wear to prevent their loosened bowels from embarrassing them at the Reba concert. [...]
[...] Other Commentary: A simple, positive and non-committal outlook: http://www.1000wattconsulting.com/blog/2009/11/rpr-madness-nar-unleashes-national-property-database-... [...]
[...] And I am not talking about the weather. Increasingly, information about US homes lives in the cloud, served up over high speed internet connections. For example, the National Association of Realtors is rolling out its own real estate database (directory) called Residential Property Resource–its goal is to provide comprehensive data on 150 million homes in the United States. (For a description and first take to the recent announcement, click here.) [...]
[...] of most interesting (if misguided) things about the RPR project is the drive to create an online property valuation “Gold Standard.” The RPR team intends to do [...]
[...] Cyberhomes (which makes me wonder what’s going to happen to all of these API partners in light of recent developments) and Eppraisal. Many of the estimates on the random sampling of properties I viewed varied by [...]
Great post, good conversations.
Thanks for the clarification on the RPR.For Realtors real estate is loca and a national MLS system really doesn’t benefit local business for us. I don’t see the actual MLS data being any closer to going anywhere else.
[...] Hahn predicts death reinvention. Brian Boero of 1000watt Consulting thinks there will be some wins and some losses to go around in the post-RPR [...]
[...] been two months since the RPR was announced. It’s about time for the other shoe – or deal – to drop. I’m not talking about the [...]
Sounds to me like yet another large corporate project that’s going to put 150,000 +/- people out of business (Appraisers). But I guess that’s ok as long as the corporations (NAR, banks, etc.) profit…..I mean, as long as you’re not the appraiser, his wife, or his three young kids going homeless and hungry.
When is enough enough with this corporatism? What amount of profits will make the heads of these businesses happy? (obvoiusly I know the answer to that….All OF IT!!) This has nothing to do with helping the end client (buyers and sellers) and has everything to do with lining the pockets of the NAR, big banks, and other various big businesses. No wonder our country is in the mess it’s in. Luckily the poor have one thing left on their side…..numbers. Hopefully it doesn’t come to a point where we have to use that though.
[...] too many questions about what the RPR could mean to the industry… Brian Boero wrote a great post back in November that sheds some great light on the topic. I am hoping that ICNY will do a good job [...]
[...] too many questions about what the RPR could mean to the industry… Brian Boero wrote a great post back in November that sheds some great light on the topic. I am hoping that ICNY will do a good job [...]
Real estate is not LOCAL, it’s GLOBAL – sure buying the right home is LOCAL, working with a great agent is LOCAL, all the transaction logistics are LOCAL – searching and/or researching a home is decidedly GLOBAL – the consumer tools for home buying are light years ahead of the Realtor tools for helping them – The MLS system needs a technological enema STAT! It’s not pleasant or desired but exactly what the doctor ordered (years ago by the way)
If you’re a Realtor and your not anything but enthusiastic about internet technology you are dead in this biz – might no know it yet but you are, sorry about that!
[...] What will this mean for real estate agents? What will this mean for consumers? What will this mean for real estate entrepreneurs like myself? Fortunately, many of my RPR questions are answered by Brian Boero’s insightful article. [...]
Interesting subject that has been simmering for a decade. BTW great 1800 words Mr. Boero. I can see how the thousands I spend every year in fees to our MLS and local Associations. We have a split in Silicon Valley. All because of attitudes..for another time. My money will be where? back in my pocket? RPR? Hmm? I do like the idea that a Realtor who made a killing in the 90′s won’t be able to leverage their money, on SEO and such, against my skills, since I won’t have to pay for widgety services to get in front. Do I have that right? Oh Poor Me! or poor who? Hopefully the crummy blackhats.
signed white hat
[...] Word on the Street RPR Madness! NAR Unleashes National Property Database with Cyberhomes [...]
[...] similar lines, my first reaction was to try and think how the RPR – which sits behind a digital moat – and this site, which is public, are meaningfully [...]
Very informative post. I’ve found your blog via Bing and I’m really glad about the information you provide in your posts.