The National Association of REALTORS® has acquired technology, licensed data and secured data aggregation services from LPS Real Estate Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS) and a leader in real estate technology, to create a database of all properties in the U.S. so REALTORS® can better assist consumers in a high-tech, fast-paced business world.
The acquisition includes technology assets for NAR’s own use to develop the Realtors Property Resource™, a parcel-centric information database covering all of the more than 147 million property parcels in the country as a resource for NAR members. NAR is planning to launch RPR™ in the first quarter 2010.
“REALTORS® are the 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.
Dale Stinton, NAR CEO, said, “These acquisitions will allow REALTOR® interests to control the program and the content. REALTORS® need to respond quickly to today’s tech-savvy consumers, and the RPR™ provides a means for multiple listing services (MLS), commercial information exchanges (CIEs) and real estate brokerage business models to support the REALTOR® community, rather than requiring REALTORS® to purchase data aggregated by third parties.”
RPR™ is not a national MLS, and will carry no offers of cooperation and compensation, Stinton added. “It is a private, members-only benefit of belonging to NAR. The assets acquired by NAR will be directed through a wholly owned subsidiary corporation, Realtors Property Resource, LLC. The management team of RPR™ includes, CEO-Dale Ross, who was a co-founder of the Metropolitan Regional Information System, (MRIS) the country’s largest regional MLS, President-Marty Frame, former General Manager of Cyberhomes, Senior Vice-President of Industry Relations-Mona Steen, former SVP with Cyberhomes, and Jeff Young, NAR’s Director of the Realtors Property Resource™ and 2008 President of the Michigan Association of REALTORS®,” he said.
RPR™ will provide nationwide access to public record information such as tax and assessment data, liens, zoning, permits, environmental information, neighborhoods, school district and community demographics, along with advanced search features for property searchers, as well as market-to-market comparisons and referral opportunities not currently available, McMillan said.
“We’re honored to have been selected by the National Association of REALTORS® to provide technology, data and other services for the RPR™,” said Jay Gaskill, President, LPS Real Estate Group. “Being involved with such a transformational industry initiative serves as an endorsement for our company and the premier products and services we provide to MLS and Associations, Brokers, Franchisors and Sales Associates.”
RPR™ will develop business strategies to make it affordable and feasible to NAR members, and will complement, not compete with, MLSs and CIEs. While many MLS and CIE systems provide a range of services, no two are alike. Brokers are looking for tools that support their agents across multiple markets with similar service levels and access to robust and valuable data. RPR™ is designed to support local MLS and CIE models to create a common experience for agents and brokerages. RPR™ will have many partners, including the California Association of REALTORS® and the Florida Association of REALTORS®, offering a number of technology applications which will be incorporated within the RPR™.
“The California Association of REALTORS® believes the RPR™ project provides the significant opportunities of scale and reach necessary to serve our members future needs for many years to come. We are already working closely with the RPR™ team to incorporate additional functionality directly into the RPR™ system using REALTOR® -owned zipLogix electronic forms as well as Relay transaction management and risk reduction software for members nationwide.” Said, Joel Singer-CEO of the California Association of REALTORS®.
“Florida REALTORS® and its 122,000 members are excited about the launch of Realtors Property Resource™ which we will believe will be a valuable addition to the toolkit for REALTOR® business success. Florida Realtors® and its business subsidiary also look forward to discussing potential partnerships to further enhance the value of RPR™ to REALTORS® nationwide.” Said John Fridlington EVP, Florida Realtors.
For more information on the Realtors Property Resource™, go to www.realtor.org/about_nar/realtors_property_resource.
The National Association of REALTORS® “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.2 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
About Lender Processing Services
LPS is a leading provider of integrated technology and services to the mortgage and real estate industries. LPS offers solutions that span the mortgage continuum, including lead generation, origination, servicing, workflow automation (Desktop) portfolio retention and default, augmented by the company’s award-winning customer support and professional services. Approximately 50 percent of all U.S. mortgages by volume are serviced using LPS’ Mortgage Servicing Package (MSP). In fact, many of the nation's top servicers rely on MSP, including eight of the top 10 and 14 of the top 20. LPS also offers proprietary mortgage and real estate data and analytics for the mortgage and capital markets industries. For more information about LPS, please visit www.lpsvcs.com.
LPS Real Estate Group provides market-leading MLS Systems, Broker and Agent technology and software service solutions, public record data, data aggregation services, and content relevant to real estate professional services. Through relationships with hundreds of MLS, Association and Broker organizations, LPS Real Estate Group’s tools are used by over 350,000 real estate Agents in the United States. For more information about LPS Real Estate Group, please visit www.lpsreg.com.