It’s My Business Gets More Press As Marin/North Bay AORs Join Movement

New agreements between CRMLS and the Marin and North Bay Associations of REALTORS® have caught the public eye and refocused attention on It’s My Business, the movement for statewide MLS listing access. Under the agreements, the Marin and North Bay AORs will now offer CRMLS as an alternative MLS service to their combined 4,500 members.

These new deals with two Associations in the San Francisco Bay area are indicative of the significant northward progress of the campaign to consolidate MLS listings throughout California. The announcement garnered the attention of popular real estate news website Inman.com, who sat down last week with CRMLS CEO Art Carter, one of the primary architects of the new accords, and the driving force behind It’s My Business.

In his interview, Carter was enthusiastic about the opportunity to offer new choices to the members of North Bay and Marin AORs, and to welcome them into the CRMLS community.

When asked about the progress of the It’s My Business initiative, Carter pointed to politics as an obstacle: “For every positive movement towards consolidation and being better able to service the brokers’ needs with a consolidated database there are pressures that get placed upon leadership in local marketplaces that slow that process down,” he said.

Carter also addressed one of the most frequently-voiced fears of Association and MLS leadership about eliminating borders; that some agents may begin trying to sell in unfamiliar marketplaces, making business harder for local agents. In response, Carter cited Article 11-1 of the NAR Code of Ethics which states, “When Realtors prepare opinions of real property value or price they must…be familiar with the area where the subject property is located,” unless their lack of familiarity is disclosed in advance.

The full Inman.com article can be viewed HERE (you must be an Inman.com member to access).

Despite the politics involved, the movement for statewide MLS listing access is making waves, now in all areas of California. Every day more brokers and agents are throwing their weight behind It’s My Business. When you consider that North Bay and Marin AOR’s members can now subscribe to an MLS with a database of over 100,000 listings, plus the support of a team that services over 80,000 real estate professionals statewide, it’s hard not to see the benefits.