Dwiggins appeared on stage with Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales and Canopy MLS CEO Anne Marie DeCatseye to discuss private listings, consolidation and more.
Who can manage listings?
That was the question that dominated the conversation at Inman Connect New York last month. The conversation also included NextHome CEO James Dwiggins, Realtor.com CEO Damian Eales, and Canopy MLS CEO Anne Marie DeCatseye. In his comments, Dwiggins defended the existing multiple list service system.
“The biggest goal of MLS is to make sure we don’t go back to where we were 40 years ago, when we had no idea what was for sale,” Dwiggins said.
At another point, Eales said his company “chose to lean toward MLS.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it would be foolish to diminish the ultimate value of this great cooperative that makes America’s real estate system so great,” Eales said. “And the fragmentation that can exist if people get what they want is a real problem.”
In Dekatsai’s case, she said some degree of consolidation might be good, and floated the idea of creating about 25 MLSs in the United States, but did not support having one national MLS. She also argued that real estate agent associations should not use the MLS as a value proposition.
“MLS should not be in the interest of the association,” Dekatzai argued. “Unfortunately, too many real estate agent associations rely on the MLS for funding. Plain and simple, that’s it.”
Watch the entire video above.
