By Kathy Bevan
The Association of Saskatchewan Realtors (ASR) has joined with Point2 Technologies to establish the first national real estate listing syndication program to be set up in Canada by a regional organized real estate association.
The syndication service plans to complement CREA’s national Realtor.ca listing website, by offering Saskatchewan brokers and salespeople the option of having their listings posted at no charge on Point2’s network of third-party websites and search engines, including Google, HouseHunting.ca, The RealEstateChannel.ca, TheRealEstateBook.com, HomesZ.com, eBay, Craigslist, Oodle.com and Zoocasa.com. Any brokers or salespeople who do not want to have their listing data syndicated by Point2 can opt out of the listings feed, which will be provided to Point2 by the Saskatoon Region Association of Realtors (SRAR), where most Saskatchewan real estate listing data is
hosted and processed.
SRAR led the initiative, a collaborative effort among eight Saskatchewan industry organizations, including the Prince Albert and District Association of Realtors, the Moose Jaw Real Estate Board, the Council of Battleford Realtors, the Swift Current and Region Council of Realtors, the Melfort Real Estate Council and the Southeast Saskatchewan Council of Realtors.
Some concerns have been expressed about allowing Saskatchewan listing data to be shared with large Internet sites that have been regarded as a potential threat to organized real estate, by taking the Realtor out of the equation. Harry Janzen, SRAR’s executive officer, says that, as all the data will come from the associations, boards and councils, with brokers and salespeople having the ability to opt out of the process, the integrity of the data and the Realtor’s role is not at risk.
Janzen also says that Saskatchewan has a stringent data access sharing agreement in place with Point2. “We could cut off the flow of MLS data literally by the flick of a switch, if anything was found to be in violation,” he says.
One of the province’s larger franchises, Century 21 Connexus, has decided to opt out of the new program and will not allow its listings to be syndicated through Point2. Other industry members are only too happy to have the new syndication program in place. Dale Ripplinger, broker/owner of Realty Executives Dale Ripplinger & Associates in
Regina and current president of CREA, has been using Point2’s syndication service for the past six months.
“I think it’s great. As a Realtor, anything that facilitates me exposing my client’s product to the widest possible market is good for me and it’s good for my client. And having the association do it just makes it easier for me as a Realtor to get it done.”
Having authorized listing information fed directly to Point2 by the Saskatoon Association of Realtors means brokers and salespeople who already use Point2’s services will no longer have to do double entry work, or constantly update the Point2 site whenever any listing information changes. Janzen estimates that, in Saskatoon alone, this affects approximately 275 Realtors who were already using Point2’s services.
“For those who are opting into our new syndication program, it relieves them of the responsibility of managing their Point2 website,” says Janzen. “They know that, because of our feed, if the listing expires tonight, it’s coming off both the MLS system and the Point2 syndication.”
Realtors don’t need a Point2 website to opt into the new syndication service, but they can buy into additional “premium” services from Point2, including websites, if they wish.
The company, headquartered in Saskatoon, was better known for its software solutions for Realtors until about 20 months ago, when it began working directly with MLS services in the U.S., offering to syndicate their listings through wider Internet distribution. The firm now has syndication agreements in place with more than 70 MLS
organizations south of the border.
Saul Klein, CEO of Point2 Technologies, acknowledges that it has been a more difficult proposition trying to persuade organized real estate in Canada about the benefits of using a third-party syndication network to broaden exposure of MLS listings.
“It’s kind of a foreign idea in Canada – or more foreign than it is in the U.S. – to widely distribute listings across the web so it’s easier for consumers to find them,” says Klein. “It’s just that the Internet continues to move forward and as the Internet moves forward, there are more opportunities to take advantage of the technology and the reach.”
Klein says, “I tell people, there’s a buyer for every property somewhere – you just have to find them. And when people go to search for real estate on the Internet, we’d like to believe they all go to one spot. But the fact is, people will search for real estate in a number of different ways.”