How much will it cost an MLS to implement the standard on its system?

The exact cost for particular installations will be specific to each individual MLS and its technology provider. It will depend on many variables such as the age, configuration and capabilities of the present host computer; the current telecommunications infrastructure; the size and design of the listing database; the complexity and uniqueness of the governing business rules; and the contractual relationship between the parties.

NAR has secured commitments from major MLS vendors that they will begin to incorporate the standards into future releases of their software. While NAR does not expect software companies to implement the standard at a loss, neither does it expect vendors to make windfall profits on the implementation.

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Will my local MLS lose control of the data if we adopt the standard?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! All access to an MLS system will still be password-protected and subject to all of the security settings and business rules in place today. Because the log-in process identifies the application being used as well as the individual using it, an MLS will be able to allow some compliant client products to access the server while refusing others for whatever technical or business reasons it deems appropriate. There is NOTHING in the standard that either recommends or obligates a host system to circumvent any current security settings or business rules.

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Why believe this standard will succeed when DxM failed?

There are a number of key differences between the currently proposed standards and DxM. Most significantly, RETS is built on readily available, well-defined and well-accepted Internet standards, affording a high degree of confidence in its fundamental soundness and making implementation much simpler. DxM was developed before these technologies were available and required additional software tools to operate.

Secondly, RETS separates the communications and data exchange components of the standard from the data content covered by the XML DTD. The DTD itself covers only the most common fields that account for the overwhelming majority of data requests. DxM, by contrast, focused on the data elements themselves and attempted to provide a comprehensive dictionary of real estate information, resulting in an unwieldy data set with some 2,500 data elements that combined into over 50,000 data items.

Finally, RETS is truly an open standard using well-known technology and committed to industry guidance through a public process. DxM was created using proprietary technology, an approach that runs contrary to the fundamental objectives of a standard.

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Do I need to understand all the technical mumbo-jumbo in these documents?

The only people who really need to delve into the details of RETS are folks like developers, consultants and computer professionals whose jobs involve technical analysis. MLS executives and brokers probably need to know enough to talk intelligently to their technology partners and to ask for assistance in understanding how the standard can benefit their own operations. Agents should at least be aware that this initiative is underway as part of the larger shift in real estate practice and those who are so inclined may want to consider its implications for how they manage their personal business technology.

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What steps do I need to take if I'm interested?

To determine the best way to proceed with RETS, local real estate leadership needs to consider their current technology level as well as ways the standard could help them reach both technical and business goals. For MLS or association executives, that means opening a dialogue with technology partners such as computer staff, consultants, advisors and vendors. Make sure they have copies of the full detailed standard and ask them to evaluate the potential of RETS as a strategic tool. Many of the more technology advanced brokerage firms will have valuable insights as to what the standards can accomplish.

In many areas, the MLS system is the most likely starting point for the standard. Local leadership should ask the MLS vendor to provide a position statement on RETS and a projected implementation schedule. Even if a price quote would be premature, request a scope analysis to look at some of the factors that will bear on the eventual cost. If it appears the current system might not be a good candidate to implement RETS, talk to the vendor about whether an alternative solution such as a parallel system would be feasible.

Along with the technical and cost considerations, defining a business purpose for the standard is a vital step. RETS is enabling technology that will provide the greatest value to those who understand how they want to use it. This is an opportune time to open or expand discussions within an organization or company about the types of benefits that RETS could bring to that particular entity, to the local real estate community and to the industry at large.

Gathering information on the probable timing and technical scope of implementation, the likely cost and the potential benefits will identify critical factors for a decision. Even at that point, it will often come down to a choice between calculated risks of going ahead without assurances or of lagging back and being left behind. The future of RETS may well depend on whether industry consensus resolves those doubts in its favor.

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