Realtors Share Resources Areas Industry Cooperation Unprecedented

The line between Benton and Washington counties is disappearing in the real estate business.

In what has always been a very territorial business in Northwest Arkansas, real estate agencies in the two counties are working together in an unprecedented way. The three Board of Realtors that represent the agencies formed a committee in May to consider combining their multiple listing service, the book that lists property for sale by area real estate agencies.

“This is a big deal,” says Larry Kelly, owner and president of The Kelly Group Inc. of Bentonville and chairman of the committee. “We are a regional market and we’ve realized that.”

Currently, there are two MLS books for the area. The Metro Area Board of Realtors, which represents agents in Fayetteville and Springdale, has one book and the Rogers Board of Realtors has another book that includes listings in Bentonville and Bella Vista. The boards are considering a single book for all the listings.

“The cooperation would give us an economy of scale we have never had before,” says Kelly, who also is president of the Bentonville/Bella Vista Board of Realtors. “Independently, we don’t have a very big voice. Collectively, we do. We are just waking up to that.”

By combining the books, the boards can contract with a larger vendor, which would reduce the cost of the books while increasing the level of service. The combined membership of the three boards equals 1,150 members, one of the largest such organizations in the state.

“A 250-member board can’t attract a major vendor, but a 1,150-member board can,” Kelly says. “We can cooperate and still maintain our independence.”

Earlier, smaller attempts at cooperation among the boards have been successful, Kelly says. The boards have combined resources recently to sponsor training sessions and charity events.

“There aren’t any hard walls at the county line,” Kelly says.

Several factors are contributing to the need to cooperate. The influx of people to the area from all parts of the country are erasing the prejudices that have existed among the cities. The new residents, many of whom are accustomed to commuting to work, consider Northwest Arkansas a region and are willing to look at housing in any of the cities.

Advances in technology are making the sharing of information easier. Many MLS vendors offer computer access, making the printed books less important. The computer listings can include information in both counties without costing the subscribers more money.

Also, many of the agents selling real estate in the area have come from other parts of the country. Those agents don’t share the territorial attitude of agents who have been here longer and often sell property in both counties. They also have brought new ideas into the business.

Although combining the MLS must be approved by local brokers, the idea seems to have support of the three boards.

“It’s something we need to do,” says Sandy Widdicombe, president of the 250-member Rogers Board of Realtors. “The borders aren’t as distinct anymore. Those barriers are breaking down. Northwest Arkansas has grown and we have to change with it.”

Widdicombe says the Rogers board has discussed the MLS proposal many times and members seem to be receptive.

“It’s all been very positive,” she says. “I see it as an opening of new possibilities.”

Some agents, mostly ones who have worked in the area a long time, feel threatened by the change, she says. Much of that can be attributed to a natural resistance to doing things differently, she says.

Doyle Yates, president of the Metro Area Board of Realtors, agrees.

“The walls have slowly disappeared,” Yates says. “We want to truly make this a one-market area.”

Yates says he believes the area’s brokers will approve the proposal to combine the MLS when it is presented to them later this month. The brokers know the new system will be cheaper and more efficient, he says.

“It makes more sense to do this collectively,” he says.

The committee considered proposals from about six companies that are interested in providing the MLS. The three leading candidates are Interealty Co. of Vienna, Va., Moore Data Systems Inc. of Minneapolis, Minn., and Cooperative Arkansas Realtors Multiple Listing Services Inc. of Little Rock.

The committee selected one of the three vendors in a meeting Jan. 6 but members declined to disclose which one they are recommending to the brokers.

The current provider is Financial Business Systems Inc. of Fargo, N.D. The company has been providing the MLS to Northwest Arkansas for past 10 years. It provides MLS to more than 80 clients in 37 states.

FBS wasn’t asked to make a presentation to the committee and isn’t being considered as one of the options. The local contracts with the company expire in May.

Many of the brokers and agents are dissatisfied with the service of FBS, Kelly says. The company doesn’t have the latest computer technology and hasn’t been responsive to suggestions from local real estate agencies, he says.

The committee will meet with about 120 area brokers later this month to present the recommendation. The brokers will vote on which of the vendors they favor.

Other areas of the state are watching the cooperation, Kelly says. If the three boards in Northwest Arkansas successfully combine resources for a regional MLS, smaller boards in other areas may combine with their neighboring towns, he says.

Could the cooperation be the first step in creating a regional Board of Realtors? It has happened before.

Fayetteville and Springdale joined their MLS several years ago. In July 1996, the 350-member Fayetteville Board of Realtors merged with the 150-member Springdale Board of Realtors to create the Metro Area Board of Realtors. The new organization is the second-largest in the state. Only the Little Rock Realtors Association is larger.

Initially, there was some concern among the Springdale members that the larger Fayetteville board would dominate the new organization. That didn’t happen, says Mark Risk, owner and president of The Real Estate Consultants in Fayetteville and past president of the Metro Area Board of Realtors.

To help ensure equal representation, the directors of the board are split evenly between Fayetteville and Springdale. And, there have been very few problems since the merger, Risk says.

The larger size of the combined membership has benefited agents in both cities, he says. The increased resources help the board get national speakers and training programs that neither board could afford before. The board also has more influence with the Arkansas Realtors Association Inc. in Little Rock, he says.

The biggest problem the combined board has found involves community service projects. Members have to ensure that they support projects in both cities equally, Yates says.

Opinions vary about whether the consolidation will be extended throughout the two counties.

Widdicombe says such consolidations are a national trend and could happen in Northwest Arkansas. However, she says she doesn’t expect it to happen soon.

“It has been brought up,” says Widdicombe. “I can see that, down the road, something like that could happen.”

Even if the boards aren’t combined, there will be more cooperation among them, she says.

Risk says combining the boards is a possibility but isn’t necessary. For now, the boards only need to share information. As the Fayetteville and Springdale boards learned when they combined, there are logistic problems with supporting community and charity projects, he says.

“There is no desire or need, yet,” Risk says. “You lose some of your local touch.”

Yates shares that opinion. He says he doesn’t expect the cooperation on the MLS to lead to a combined board. The merger worked for Fayetteville and Springdale because they already were one market, he says.

When the brokers from both counties meet later this month, they will be asked to vote on several issues. They will consider approving the combined listings, terminating the contract with FBS and hiring one of the other vendors. n