Mike Sparr

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Peter, the problem lies in accountability and data quality. The Internet and open source is great - I myself am a contributor to many initiatives across the globe. We have all, however, seen how poor many open data initiatives have been due to lack of governance. There must be accountability and infrastructure to ensure the quality of the data or it is of no value to anyone, especially the consumer. One may argue this is the responsibility of the brokers but they are already too busy trying to grow/run their businesses. If there are no checks/balances, the consumer ultimately loses despite the seeming pros of an open source model. You will see the same trend in many other verticals where open source is failing given no governance. We as consumers have become spoiled this past decade by venture-backed Internet technology firms with little pressure to actually make money and become profitable to fund their infrastructure. Instead, they pour tens to hundreds of millions of dollars into gaining eyeballs (clicks/views) and then try to offload those eyeballs onto another company that cannot convert it into a profitable business. This leads to major issues but the original investors made a boatload and again, no accountability to those millions of consumers who now rely on "free" services. Look at Skype's mult-billion dollar exit at the expense of Ebay. Great for Skype and their investors (I know some of them), bad for Ebay and this service could eventually go away because it doesn't produce revenue to support itself. You'll see many "free" services go away as new VC capital is drying up and remaining "dry powder" will be allocated to "rescue" the best existing portfolio companies. Given this, plus stock prices about 1/3 what they were earlier in the year, the big bets based on an anticipated Yahoo!, Google or Ebay acquisition will flop and the consumers they attracted will ultimately be the losers (besides their investors). The companies that will remain are those that can reach profitability and stand on their own. They must solve real problems and do it better than any other - the MLS are poised to do this better than any other and once the "protectionism" subsides and more cooperative relationships emerge, you'll see the true value. The key is to stick to business fundamentals - all of us. Identify your core services and do them better than any other. Then seek opportunities to add value beyond those core services to remain competitive and focus on quality, accuracy and accountability.

Dave, solid predictions. The industry is moving towards data standardization with RETS and most MLS are identifying value-add they can offer to members. Many multi-regionals offer even more economy of scale benefit in reducing multi-MLS memberships for agents (via data share like CARETS), larger online search portals (like MRIS homesdatabase.com V2) able to divert traffic to members and purchasing power to offer the best prices on technology tools. Provided they do not abuse their near-monopoly, they'll remain an essential piece of the real estate value chain. Keep leading the way! -- Mike Sparr Goomzee.com "Connecting buyers and sellers"

Check out Goomzee mobile white paper. Agreed Joe! Faster, more focused, quicker and get on with your life is the way to go from a buyer experience perspective. http://www.goomzee.com/wp-real-estate-mobile.htm (2.6MB paper) -- Mike Sparr Goomzee.com "Connecting buyers and sellers"