Learning to Share

Learning to Share

Real estate trends by Mark Gordon | Managing Editor

A retired fire-chief-turned-Realtor is trying to change the way his field shares data. Turns out it's a hot issue.

Realtors by nature are a competitive bunch. Sharing leads and listings up and down the Gulf Coast isn't normally a top priority.

But for Bill Dryburgh, a recently retired fire chief and a new Realtor in Charlotte County, the lone wolf approach was an inefficient way of selling properties. He thought that politics and personalities were preventing agents from doing their jobs well, and ultimately, negatively impacting buyers and sellers. It was also a culture shift compared to fire departments helping other departments in different areas during emergencies.

Dryburgh set about changing the system 10 months ago when he took over as president of the Multiple Listing Service of the Punta Gorda-Port Charlotte-North Port Association of Realtors. The result is the Florida Gulf Coast Alliance, which counts eight Realtors' associations as members so far, including most of the groups between Sarasota and Naples. Those agencies represent about 42,000 Realtors.

Dryburgh, acting as chief salesman/spokesman of the service, says he's spoken with groups north of Sarasota that have also expressed interest in signing on with the program, which began operating in mid-October.

Dryburgh says he can't see why they wouldn't, especially coming from working as fire chief, where he says cooperating with other departments was essential.

"I couldn't understand why there wasn't any data sharing here," says Dryburgh, who sells homes with Punta Gorda-based Berson Realty Group. The presidents of the Naples and Sarasota Realtor organizations agree, praising the Gulf Coast Alliance as the most comprehensive and technologically sound of any of the previous sharing systems used in Florida.

Still, despite all the positive and cheery chatter among some of the Gulf Coast's leading Realtors, there are some holdouts. Richard Taylor, president of the Manatee Association of Realtors, says his group is considering signing on, going to the point where it's having lawyers look over the documents.

But there is some hesitation. Taylor says a better option could be to join the MLS Advantage, a statewide sharing program run by the Florida Association of Realtors. That group is bigger, covering 17 counties and about 55,000 agents, according to a FAR spokesperson. What's more, says Taylor, the costs of joining the MLS Advantage would be covered by already being members of the statewide group; costs of the Gulf Coast Alliance would are determined by each participating agency, Dryburgh says.

And while the statewide program has had some software glitches in the past, Taylor concedes, he says FAR has been more committed lately both technologically and financially. Also, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties are part of the MLS Advantage, Taylor says, which would be a boost for Manatee County Realtors working in the northern part of the county.

Taylor says he hasn't ruled out signing up the Manatee association for both programs.

The Gulf Coast Alliance, using software from Boca Raton-based eNeighborhoods Inc., is available for Realtors in all eight associations that have signed on. Those agencies cover territories in Cape Coral, Naples, Bonita Springs, Fort Myers, Venice, Englewood, Sarasota, Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte and North Port.

It works by using the eNeighborhoods software as a larger MLS. It has regularly updated data for searches, so each Realtor or agent logging on can do a full comparison of any home, condo, piece of land, business or property in the included areas, says Andy Woolley, an eNeighborhoods spokesman. It helps with commercial listings, too, Dryburgh says, as it gives agents a chance to see what other properties are selling for when determining a selling price.

The eNeighborhoods service is currently being used for MLS alliances in Central Ohio, as well as regions in Northern and Southern California, Woolley says, adding that the Gulf Coast program is the first to utilize new technology making it more affordable.

Jo Carter, president of the Naples Area Board of Realtors, says agents in her area have been asking for a service like the Gulf Coast Alliance for several years, especially during the residential boom, as buyers and sellers looked to see what they can get for the money in other coastal areas. "Realtors aren't competitive with information," says Carter. "We want to be able to share data."

Carter's counterpart in Sarasota, Felix Power, says the Gulf Coast Alliance is a byproduct of having more educated buyers and sellers. Says Power: "Our agents are often asked to compare prices to other areas."

Commercial realtors share, too

Realtors focusing on commercial properties have long understood the need to have access to information and data outside their local area. Information like that, especially in detail, has never been a forte of the Multiple Listing Service. In response, some competitors of the MLS have entered the commercial realty marketplace recently, bringing new products and technology along. Services gaining popularity recently include:

• LoopNet - The service has been popular in hot commercial states, such as Florida and Arizona. A broker can list a property for free to LoopNet's 70,000 premium members; users have to pay if they want to reach all 1.2 million members;

• CoStar Group - One of the most information and data-heavy services available. The company has 1,000 researchers investigating office, industrial, retail and commercial properties in each of its markets. The service recently expanded into Naples, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Cape Coral;

• CCIMNet.com - Web site that creates and monitors databases over the Internet, although it does not always have full prices of the properties. Its Catylist Network is currently supporting several regional databases, including ones in Tampa and Sarasota.

One veteran Sarasota-area commercial Realtor isn't picky about picking a service. "If you've got a listing, you use all three," says Lee DeLieto of the Commercial Group at Michael Saunders & Co. "Some users only favor one or the other, so you need put it in front of all of them."

-Mark Gordon