Monday, December 9, 2013

DENVER MLS CHAOS

We all know that good technology can be an accelerator, that it can increase the speed at which things happen and improve the productivity and profitability of users. 

But can bad technology do the opposite?

Unfortunately, we’re about to find out here in Denver.

On November 21, the Denver MLS went through a “hard” conversion from our previous system, Prime Access, to a new system called Matrix.  The early returns make Healthcare.gov look like it was put together by Google.

The main criticism of Prime Access was that it was “too basic”.  That it was easy to use, but perhaps not evolving fast enough to match the other technological advances taking place in our business.

Matrix, on other hand, sits at the far end of the spectrum of advanced technologies.  It includes dozens of new fields (some relevant, some not) like HERS Ratings, WalkScores, Energy Star Qualifications, Ceiling Height, Carport Square Footage, Distance to Light Rail, Amperage, Latitude and Longitude, and Solar Panel Kilowatts (to name a few) that have made entering a new listing a weeklong ordeal.

Also, the printouts we share with buyers have gone from easy to read one-page summaries of basic, relevant information to the Cliffs Note version of War and Peace, with tiny 6-point font covering multiple pages of data (such as "NAHB/ICC-700 Year Certified") for each and every property, with most fields currently left blank by agents who couldn't calculate a HERS Rating if their life depended on it.

But do you want a simple map, to show you where the property is?  Sorry, not included.  Want sales history for the thousands of homes that sold prior to the launch of Matrix?  It's gone.  

There’s a right way and a wrong way to do this type of data conversion.  The absolute worst way is to implement a “hard” cutoff, with one system shutting down in entirety the day a new system goes live.

Congratulations, Denver MLS.  You just put half of your constituents out of business.

I’m not understating the problems here.  Agents (even the smart ones) are having terrible problems searching for homes, loading data and navigating the new fields.  I believe this is already resulting in agents simply throwing their hands up and checking out for the rest of the year, while other agents who are still listing homes are seeing those properties significantly under-marketed due to the failures of the new system.

In short, everyone is angry.  And they should be.

This is a serious problem, because all 19,000 agents in the metro area have one source for real estate data, and it’s the new Matrix system. 

Now, in fairness, I don’t doubt that a few months from now, we’ll all have it figured out and most agents will be skillfully navigating the new system.  But you simply can’t do it the way it was just done – with an overnight shut down of the primary marketing systems for 10,000 homes currently on the market.

I pay fat memberships dues to NAR and the Denver Metro Association of Realtors plus sizable monthly access fees for the MLS.  We’re talking over $1,000 per year.  For that money to result in this kind of bungled rollout is cause for serious concern, and it undermines the credibility (and ability to make a living) of the real estate community.

Significantly, it also effects our clients, and that's even more important.  

Meantime, MLS “outsiders” like Zillow and Trulia are delivering quality (if not always current) data to consumers that it is getting better by the day. 

Unlike many agents, I am not “checking out” for the rest of the year, but I am "working angry".  I hope other boards and associations in other cities that are thinking about “upgrading” their MLS technology look to Denver and learn what not to do when it comes to shifting technology platforms.