An MLS is on the list of objectives of those seeking to form a Manhattan NAR chapter, as covered on GlobeSt.com (http://www.globest.com/RMI4ANZAIKC.html). Potential Manhattan NAR members have expressed an interest in the service currently employed by NAR, Realtor.com as well.
"I would like to see a real MLS in Manhattan," says Cornelia A. Netter, president of Netter Real Estate and vice president of the Manhattan Association of Realtors. "Also, I'd like to see our listings on REALTOR.com now that we've started our chapter of NAR, and I get the sense, from talking to other members, that everyone wants an MLS among our member firms, but the board has to vote on it when we have our first meeting."
In reaction to this group's efforts, another group, made up of Douglas Elliman, the Corcoran Group and Brown Harris Stevens, has been holding secret meetings to form a listing service, but not an MLS. "What we're now talking about is forming an advanced listing service and a web site, not an MLS," according to Corcoran CEO Pamela Liebman.
"The idea is to get it going among the three of us and open it up to other firms to find out what they want out of it," Liebman adds. "Actually, I have a meeting on Monday with several smaller firms to introduce the idea and get their take on it."
Despite the efforts of this group, many insiders don't expect that anything will come of their initiative to create a listing exchange service, especially being that the firms have already agreed to share their listings on a site driven by The New York Times. In the meantime, REBNY is working on perfecting LEX, the organization's existing listing exchange, and resurrecting the dead public portal at nyhomesearch.com.
"The public portal is shut down now, but there is a determination to re-group in the Fall and start it up again," according Deborah Beck, executive vice president of REBNY. "At the present, LEX is still in operation, and serving as an effective listing exchange. We see LEX as being what we always intended it to be, and now we have to work to get to the next stage."
One group that has come forward with concrete plans to form an MLS and not just a listing exchange is the Downtown Brokers Association. The members of this group are very upset that the local MLS effort died and are determined to create an MLS to service this area.
In the midst of all this positioning to change the scope of how business is done here are a group of brokerages that haven't yet decided which side to be on. "I worked very hard to make the preceding MLS happen, but unfortunately it fell through," relates Marilyn Harra Kaye, president of MLBKaye International Realty.
"What we're seeing now," Kaye adds, "with the formation of various groups to create an MLS or just a listing service, is a battle over assets, with the listings being the asset that everyone wants to control. Personally, I'm open to joining all four groups in the end, if they all survive the battle."
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