To date, I’ve not paid a lot of attention to RPR™, the REALTORS Property ResourceTM, because so far it’s just a big roll-out hoo-ha PR wingding, which I try to ignore, so the pros and cons and discussions about this being a game changer or not and how are brokers and local MLS going to respond, are online, you can read those yourself.
If you haven’t seen the RPR™ demo yet, go grab a cup of coffee and take a look. At 30 minutes, it’s a nice overview of some of the best features the RPR™ has to offer, and I’m sure there is other stuff for us to discover. Features are nice: Market stats, the ability to keep private and public property notes online, the ability to add layers of information- like a sidewiki- about property, neighborhoods, etc. It’s rich with data, and invites sharing more data and information with other professionals, as well as with our clients. That’s powerful, and empowering if you stop to think about it. All this real estate information that we compile in our heads could be shared with each other online.
But, I’m a simple girl with simple needs. What I want to know right now is this: Does RPR™ offer anything of value for me to share with clients? And the short answer is, yes, it does appear that way. You’ve been doing this for awhile- researching information, compiling that information, presenting that information, and what RPR™ does it make it super simple to research, gather, present, and share property, neighborhood, and market information with our clients, in a very professional, complete, concise manner. In a matter of moments I can compile a professional report to either email or pdf for my clients that includes market stats, neighborhood info, property info, a glossary… Informed clients make the best clients. This is good for consumers.
I know, I know, the path ahead is rife with uncertainty. All that transparency is both liberating and chafing at the same time. Should the NAR mess with this at all? Are there turf wars involved? Why is this information still behind a wall? I’ll leave those discussions to bigger brains. Here’s what I see impacting us grunts right now: Consumers are going to demand this type of indepth information and educational tool from here on out. We can only go forward. Realtors are going to have to cough up facts and information like never before, if not through RPR™, then through the next mash-up of real estate information, and I, yes even I, have to applaud the NAR for trying to make this process as complete and simple as possible.
Ken brand says:
Nice. a candid take from feet on the street. For the seasoned vet, over time, to have all your previous annotations on all the properties you’ve sold and listed, or in your farm, or listings you lost, expireds, etc. That’d be handy and helpful.
Like all the new and more importantly useful offerings, the key will be knows how to point, shoot, share and monazite them.
I’m with you, who knows what pitfalls and unintended consequences loom….one thing for sure, if we ignore instead of explore, we’ll soon be history.
Thanks for your 2cents. I’m gonna study up. Cheers.
January 8, 2010 — 10:56 am
Michelle DeRepentigny says:
I think the resource is going to be good, however I shudder at the thought of all this data in the same hands of the leadership that floated us down the river by selling R.com a few years ago.
January 8, 2010 — 1:08 pm
Teri Lussier says:
>I shudder at the thought of all this data in the same hands of the leadership that floated us down the river by selling R.com a few years ago.
I agree, but I believe the good from this- Realtors who typically wouldn’t do so, can now share information that might not otherwise get shared with clients – is going to be a shift to the positive for this industry.
Consumers are ahead of us, and while the method and control and ownership issues are still there, for the common man Realtor, to have this as a resource is a big step in the right direction.
Someone else will come along with a new improved way to get this information into the public’s hands, and probably sooner than we think, but for now it’s going to shift the thinking of many agents.
January 8, 2010 — 1:42 pm
Cheryl Johnson says:
Teri asked the first obvious question: “Does this offer anything of value to me?”.
So I’ll ask the second obvious question: “Whatzzit gonna cost me?”
Poking around the RPR blog, I finally find this: “Access to the RPR is free for NAR members, and the company will not provide it to any entities which wish to resell it to NAR’s members.”
Free? Huh?
I notice in the demo that while RPR’s maps offer several options, I didn’t see a street view option; street view being something I find more useful everyday.
I wonder if that indicates unsuccessful negotiations with Google, or an oversight.
January 9, 2010 — 5:13 am
Teri Lussier says:
>I notice in the demo that while RPR’s maps offer several options, I didn’t see a street view option; street view being something I find more useful everyday.
Cheryl,
There is a disconnect between what you do and what many Realtors do. I see it, I’m sure I’m not the only one- it’s that We Are Bloodhounds kind of thing. So the tools that you use regularly are not the same tools that other agents use. I know agents who do not give their clients all the information that client should have to make the wisest decision possible.
When I was watching this demo, I kept thinking about those agents and how the RPR is going to change the way they do business. I don’t think this is for Bloodhounds, readers, re.netter-types. I doubt we ever entered into the conversation at all. This is for the agents who were taught to keep information from their clients, and also those agents who do not know how to share, or believe compiling all the info is a bother.
This will help their clients. And that will help all of us. And that, to me, is the real beauty of this.
January 9, 2010 — 9:17 am
Joe Spake says:
>I don’t think this is for Bloodhounds, readers, re.netter-types. I doubt we ever entered into the conversation at all.
Teri, are you implying that RPR is going to be the great playing field leveler for Web 2.0+ agents and Web <1.0 agents? A leveler between transparency and opacity?
January 9, 2010 — 7:51 pm
Teri Lussier says:
>Teri, are you implying that RPR is going to be the great playing field leveler for Web 2.0+ agents and Web <1.0 agents? A leveler between transparency and opacity?
Hi Joe-
No, not a leveler, just a step in that direction. It's a start. People who don't want to share information still aren't going to use it much, and people who love to share- you and me, Joe- are going to find ways to add, expand, personalize all this information in new ways- as we always have.
This isn't the be-all end-all, but for the vast majority of agents who fall in between the extremes, this is a way to help them do a better job. I think this tool is designed for the majority, and that's okay. It's not dumbed down, it's sophisticated and all the other questions and discussions aside, it should be useful and helpful to the industry.
I do think it's going to force more transparency, eventually, but not just yet.
What do you think?
January 9, 2010 — 8:11 pm
Joe Spake says:
Teri, I have no argument that RPR will be good for you and me. And the status quo crowd will adopt to the extent that they are able to handle it,which will benefit their customers too. It is going to be interesting to see how many MLS’s buy into this. I would think that some of them will be highly resistant. The legacy companies may still control the NAR, but the toothpaste is out of the tube, and the huge juggernaught is beginning to change course.
I predict the WE will be spending more time empowering customers, while THEY continue to exert their energies trying to round about-ly control consumers.
January 9, 2010 — 8:54 pm
ReggieRPR says:
Hi Cheryl – you asked the question above about mapping. Going with Microsoft (Bing) maps was a strategic decision. Microsoft offers a current 3d like view called pictometry, which offers a view of homes at a 40 degree angle–or birds eye view. Also important to note is that Microsoft has released a beta version of streetview called streetside. This will be included in a future version of RPR.
January 11, 2010 — 7:56 pm
Chip Lamason says:
This is a very powerful tool for agents but it continues the tradition of keeping a wall up between property information and consumers. Again, information is filtered through an agent to a consumer. I don’t believe this model for the industry is viable in the long term. I question whether a site which purportedly substantiates the value of the agent to the consumer will be sufficient to offset the growing access of information to consumers via the internet.
Am I correct in understanding that NAR will access listings from non-NAR MLSs (for example my local Northwest MLS? How is that working out?
Am I correct in understanding that NAR will be accessing financial information of owners of properties that are not currently on the market? That seems to be a significant privacy issue.
Am I correct in understanding that agents can post anything they want in the comment boxes? How does NAR intend to prevent slanderous comments? How will NAR police the validity of these comments? I can foresee the comments feature being used to manipulate valuations for properties.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. I am sure the release of this PR piece is intended to gather this kind of feedback.
January 13, 2010 — 12:43 pm