The coming Realtor Property Resource (RPR™ ) will provide “nationwide access to public record information such as tax and assessment data, liens, zoning, permits, environmental information, and information on neighborhoods, school district and community demographics….” (Source: NAR Press Release November 9, 2009).
This aggregation of data will make Realtors a valuable resource to consumers:
Realtors® are the first, best source for real estate information, and the RPR™ is another emphatic feature to that resource. RPR™ will give Realtors® nationwide data on all properties at their fingertips so they can respond quickly to consumers interested in residential and commercial real estate. This is exciting news and a terrific NAR member benefit. NAR is committed to keep Realtors® central to the transaction and to the buying and selling experience with their clients and customers,” said NAR President Charles McMillan, broker with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate in Dallas-Fort Worth. (emphasis added)
…NAR CEO Dale Stinton said, “These acquisitions will allow Realtor® interests to control the program and the content.
(emphasis added)
Source: Press Release (November 9, 2009)
But….who gets to see this data?
It will be exclusive to members of NAR who can share its information with its clients. (emphasis added) Source: RPR Fact Sheet)
OK, sharing this information with clients is good.
But HOW can this valuable information, in the exclusive hands of Realtors, be shared with consumers?
There was a prohibition against sharing the data in “listing presentations”. After pointing this out in a soupy RPR post, the prohibition on listing presentations was removed “as a mistake”. But still, how do consumers get this information from Realtors, who have the access?
According to the NAR:
There will be no public access to the RPR® and the database and its data cannot be shared through consumer websites. (emphasis added).
Hmm…. if the Realtor Property Resource database of valuable aggregated public information on homes across the country can be shared in listing presentations or when a consumer comes into a real estate office, but NOT shared on Realtor websites or blogs, because they are consumer websites, it may look to consumers like a return to the old days when they had to visit a broker’s office to peek through the pages of the top secret MLS books.
Is RPR going to be the Digital MLS Book? Tell me it ain’t so. If it can’t be shared on brokers’ blogs or websites, I think TruZillas will throw a party. And other upstarts will be encouraged to join the party.
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