IRES proposing expanded data-sharing with REcolorado

LOVELAND — Multiple listing service firm Information Real Estate Services Inc., which earlier this month declined an unsolicited offer to be acquired by REcolorado, an MLS located in Greenwood Village, on Friday said it will propose an expanded data-sharing plan between the two organizations.

An MLS is a service used by a group of real estate brokers that creates a system allowing each broker to see all other property listings for sale in a given geographic area. Colorado has 15 separate MLS operations.

IRES and REcolorado in 2015 were embroiled in a spat over data that was supposed to be shared between the two MLSs.

SPONSORED CONTENT

The many benefits of simple, coordinated healthcare

Kaiser Permanente combines health care and coverage in one connected system to maximize employee health and minimize employer costs.

After the offer presented in December was declined, REcolorado proposed that data-sharing between the two MLSs be eliminated.

Lauren Hansen, IRES’ chief executive, said on Friday in a phone interview that the acquisition offer was “less than $10 million but more than $2 million,” and that REcolorado wanted IRES customers to migrate to its system. “That was a pain point for our users,” Hansen said. “Our system was built from the ground up and has more features.”

In a statement posted Friday on the organization’s website, Hansen said she had received feedback from “hundreds” of IRES’ customers by phone, email and social media, and that they wanted the data-sharing between the MLSs.

“We hope REColorado will promptly reciprocate since this will empower our customers to have more information from the most reliable source — their home MLS,” she wrote.

Hansen said REcolorado gave IRES a notice that the current data-sharing would end March 2. Hansen said a revised agreement is being crafted that will be sent to REcolorado based on what brokers and appraisers need to professionally serve clients and consumers.

“We are proposing REColorado and IRES expand data-sharing, effective immediately, to include two years of sold data,” she said.

IRES was founded in 1996 by five boards and associations of Realtors in Boulder, Fort Collins, Greeley, Longmont and Loveland/Berthoud, IRES is the MLS provider for those boards and associations, as well as Estes Park and Logan County.