We surveyed local agents to learn what they think about MRED: what they like, what they dislike, and what features they think the system is missing. Here is a sampling of the anonymous responses:
And here are some thoughts our respondents shared about the MLS:
•“For attached homes that are in a subdivision, it should be mandatory that it is in the MLS to find comps easier.”
•“Better description categories. I’m a Chicago agent, and there are a lot of condo features that are not included when putting together the listing.”
•“Easier to set up a default search, more in tune with our preferences.”
•“I would upgrade the buyer consumer experience on the MLS. Most of my buyers do not like to use it, and prefer Zillow, realtor.com, Redfin, etc. better than the MLS.”
•“Detailed information about appliances, including year, make, model, and energy efficiency.”
•“Easier-to-find rules and regulations. Online easy-to-use manuals for everything.”
•“Be able to add a picture of neighborhood amenities, so if a property is directly across from Oak Street Beach, being able to add a photo of Oak Street Beach. Many buyers are from out of town and rely on photos. Pictures of the Red Line, the Brown Line, or whatever line is close to the property. A picture is worth 1,000 words.”
•“Keep working to weed out lazy brokers by making more fields required. I think MRED is awesome. It is very agent centric, intuitive, and content rich.”
•“I wish there was a way to report how many showings a listing gets – then, you could compare your traffic with the comps and see if you need to reduce price.”
•“Real-time updates to clients – Redfin is faster. Why do we have fixed times? And why are they limited? Should be real-time 24/7 push technology.”
•“Better fully functioning mobile ability. If I’m away from my computer for the day and need to make a price change, or revise a comment, or an open house update, I’d like the ease of doing it on my phone. Also, the ability to provide my clients with a one-stop mobile app for all their real estate searches.”
•“I’m very pleased with the MLS. Sometimes I get requests for one-bedroom plus den, which is hard to search for. I can add search criteria for den, but not everyone includes the same verbiage for a den.”
•“Enable searches by keyword: handyman special, estate sale, etc.”
•“Have a true CRM system, considering we already house our active clients there.”
•“I think we have the best MLS in the country, but if I could improve one thing it would be mobile experience.”