No tax credit? No problem! - Columbus Board of Realtors

What is NAR’s RPR (REALTORS® Property Resource)?
A national database of every property in the United States
This spring/early summer, NAR will roll
out its newest member benefit – the REAL-
TORS® Property Resource (RPR) – a
national data base of public and private
information on every single property in the
United States pulled together into a single
product.
This $25 million dollar initiative is currently
being beta tested across the country
by 20 MLSs, ranging in size from 800 to
30,000 members. The overall feedback has
been positive and expectations are high that
the RPR could be one of the most important
real estate resources to come along in
a decade.
Here are some of the highlights:
• There will be no public access to the
RPR, and the database and its data
cannot be shared through consumer Web
sites.
• Provide unmatched access to a singlesource
data base of tax assessments and
comparable data, liens, zoning, permits,
environment and neighborhoods, school
districts, community demographics and
psychographic information; maps, trends
and reports exclusive to NAR members.
• Members will register with their NRDS
ID and have access to non-proprietary,
non-MLS/CIE sourced data; only MLS/
CIE subscribers/participants will be able
to view MLS/CIE sourced information.
• With this new technology acquisition
and data licensing, RPR will provide
tax and assessment data coverage in 92
percent of the U.S. counties and has an
aggressive plan to provide coverage for
as close to 100 percent of the country as
possible within two years.
• The RPR’s national demographic
information, along with enhanced search
capabilities, will allow a REALTOR®
anywhere in the country to provide
more information to their clients. The
enhanced search features will allow
nationwide depth of property searches, as
well as market-to-market comparisons;
advanced user profile features and social
networking components will help REAL-
TORS® create referral communities with
REALTORS® across the U.S.
• The RPR system will include online
training and contextual help, along with
support through e-mail, online chat and
toll-free telephone.
The RPR is designed to integrate with
the Multiple Listing Services, but will not
take the place of the MLS. Each of the 900
or so MLSs in the country can enter an
agreement with RPR and provide access
to integrate their data. If a MLS declines to
participate, their members will still have access
to RPR data through RPR’s Web
site (narrpr.com), but the preferred method
of delivery is through the MLS.
Money Maker
NAR plans to sell two small pieces of information
– the value of a portfolio of properties
(using the RPR) and, whether or
not individual properties are on the market
(using the MLS data) – to lenders and other
institutions that own mortgages directly or
through mortgage-backed securities and
anticipates making a profit of $40 million
per year.
Concerns
As noted above, beta-testers and those who
have seen demonstrations of the product
see it as a valuable tool, but do have some
concerns with how the data it provides
would be used, limiting the use of that data,
and that there are no provisions to share
potential revenues with the MLSs.
In response to these concerns, NAR and
RPR recently announced the following
changes to the contract:
• Safeguards will be put in place to protect
the listing data from unauthorized use;
• MLSs will be allowed to restrict the use
of their content;
• MLSs and REALTORS® will never have
their own content sold back to them; and
• when RPR becomes profitable, the
possibility of profit sharing with MLSs
will be discussed.
Rollout
Beta testing is ongoing and once concluded
(late spring/early summer) and changes
implemented, members of the MLSs that
beta tested the program will be the first to
get access. As other MLSs come onboard,
their data will be integrated with the system
and made available to their members
once the integration process is complete.
RPR’s standalone interface (i.e., the one
not integrated with MLSs) will be rolled
out region-by-region for members whose
MLSs haven’t signed access agreements
during the third quarter this year.
NAR anticipates that the RPR will
empower REALTORS® as the go-to source
for trusted, complete and reliable data about
real estate and homeownership. For more
information on the RPR, call (888) 914-
7771 or visit Realtor.org/About_NAR/Realtors_property_resource.
Where is CBR?
The RPR is a somewhat controversial
topic. Our own Board of Directors will
need to decide, after evaluating pros, cons
and competing requests from other entities,
whether or not CBR will be providing our
MLS data to the RPR and whether or not
that will be on an exclusive basis.
A task force of AEs from around the state
attended a meeting, arranged by OAR
President Doug McCloud, held earlier this
year to see demonstrations of the RPR and
the competitive First American resource.
At the request of that task force, the Ohio
Association of REALTORS® has arranged
for a repeat of those demos during the
upcoming OAR Spring Meeting, where the
leadership of more boards around Ohio and
their members will be able to learn, first
hand, more information about the RPR.
www.ColumbusRealtors.com • In Contract Magazine • May/June 2010 • 23