The central inquiry of our recently launched future of the CREB® MLS® System survey calls for your help defining ‘best in MLS®.’ We're seeking input from every member and their unlicensed assistants who use the MLS® System to delineate the essential features of this crucial business tool.

Over the last couple of years, we have heard a lot that members want to understand why something is happening, and the following CREB®️Chat will help with that.

We've got a big question on our hands, and it allows us to check in with our members on how we are set up to deliver one of your core business tools. This survey is kickstarting this conversation. We’ve heard you! Members want more input on what we are working on, and we want you to shape what we deliver to you. This kind of engagement is how we create long-term and sustainable value for CREB® members.

Based on your feedback, one of the high-value opportunities identified in our strategic plan is ensuring you have the best MLS® solution and access to data. The board of directors set this goal for the organization, and to help support successful delivery, we need to make sure that the vision for “Best” is clear. Your participation will help shape what “best” means so we can build future plans together.

Passions run deep in the MLS®️ System, as they should; after all, this is your not-so-secret weapon in your value offering to real estate consumers. For some of you, this has been an ongoing conversation between us. For me, it was one of my motivations in 2011 to end my beloved career as a REALTOR®️. I was frustrated with an outdated system, processes that didn’t involve enough innovation and came with inadequate change management practices. We were losing ground partly because we were not structured well in a partnership with three other real estate boards.

We ended a shared database with the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton (RAE) in 2014 and went on our own to select a different MLS® System provider (Matrix™). This decision came after extensive member engagement, including a faceoff presentation where nearly 50 members sat through the presentations by the three finalist firms and gave us their clear feedback.

Later, in 2014, we initiated events and engaged members on the need for database integrity. This resulted in new initiatives that improved our data immensely and created improved functionality. As with all things in life, we navigated other changes, such as gaps in enforcement with the launch of the RMS and being drawn into the pull of consolidation that swept across the US and Canada.

We went into creating Pillar 9™️ unabashedly positioning CREB®️ people and systems to drive this new venture and give our members comfort that their world wouldn’t change much. Unfortunately, it did. The merging of nine data systems into one was achieved by settling down to the lowest common denominator, and we heard you loud and clear. We have done all we can to champion your concerns and suggestions and manage this partnership to your benefit—and now it is time to check-in.

The challenge of merging nine databases into one was a Herculean task by Pillar 9™️ CEO Shane Griffin and his team to make this historic data merger from most of the province happen. The problem for us was the RAE’s last-minute exit from the partnership, which meant the influence of two large boards slipped back to CREB®️ being alone in navigating these issues with our other partners.

I’ve often been asked if CREB® should have left the partnership after the RAE pulled out at the last second. The answer is no; we were convinced they would come around. A few months later, when I was asked that question on stage at the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board’s (TRREB) REALTOR®️ Quest, my reply was that come hell or high water (yeah, I couldn’t resist using the Calgary Stampede post-flood slogan) CREB®️ would work hard to wrangle our colleagues at the RAE. We were committed to a provincial database, but in my personal opinion, this is unlikely to happen.

Interestingly, we see endless improvements in data science, with new ways of collecting, curating, and repackaging data being achieved. Is it time to consider new pathways to providing Alberta REALTORS®️ with access to province-wide data? You tell us.

Our world may be expanding, but the local board is responsible for your experience with the MLS®️ System. This survey seeks your feedback on who should be accountable for that experience. This is why the survey matters so much. Some significant advancements in technology are opening minds and doors.

In Ontario, a larger version of Pillar 9™️ called Information Technology Systems Ontario (ITSO) is used in managing different challenges. Members in their partnership must also belong to TRREB to access their MLS® System to achieve broad market exposure. This has increased costs and created problems with TRREB members, who are seemingly unconcerned about local market exposure by taking listings that do not appear in the local ITSO database.

Note above that the TRREB name includes the word ‘Regional’ – a change that happened just a few years ago. The game plan is apparently to expand the TRREB reach. If you follow industry news from credible sources such as REM, you would know that many boards near Toronto have delegated their MLS®️ System delivery to TRREB over the last several months. Some have merged entirely into TRREB.

In the past few weeks, the Ottawa and London boards have agreed to have TRREB, via the TRREB subsidiary PropTx Innovations Inc., to deliver the MLS®️ System. Some members of these boards are enraged and demanding the decision be reversed. The value of local board agility and responsiveness became abundantly clear; would this also stand true for CREB® members? Please tell us!

This conversation matters, so let’s get into it. The future of the CREB® MLS® System survey landed in your inbox this morning, and we need a massive response. Pour a coffee, set aside some time, and tell us what you think, want and need.

Please. Take what I shared above at face value. This is only intended to explain why we want you to help us define what Best In MLS®️ looks like. Down the road, you will be a part of the solutions discussion. It may be that the status quo is good enough. But it is our responsibility to ask if ‘good enough’ is really good enough for our members.

We are excited to evaluate the survey results and continue discussions about the future of the CREB® MLS® System. Let’s be professionals working in an environment that operates best when we listen and acknowledge where we have consensus and where we don’t.

Over the last couple of years, we have heard that members want to understand why something is happening, and I hope this CREB®️Chat has helped with that. Perhaps there's a need for additional follow-up articles. Feel free to share your topic suggestions via post or message me directly. We want to encourage a two-way conversation.

As I said at the start of this, we know you want to understand why something is happening, and I hope this CREB®️Chat has helped with that.

Alan Tennant, CREB® President & CEO

403-461-2987 | Alan.tennant@creb.ca