This month, your REALTOR Board (Led by Corey Bishop) and MLS Board (Led by Dani Giulian) kept to their monthly schedule of discussing real estate industry business – but they did it floating on a pontoon boat! (Thanks to Past President Andy Perenick for hosting 3 years in a row!)  Braving yellow skies and whitecaps, they discussed emerging technology, MLS issues, member services, compliance, and commercial opportunities.  Finding clam waters, several themes clearly emerged this month:

• Listing transparency is the biggest issue facing MLSs, brokerages and portals.
• MLS is more than a trusted data source for members but moving into AI, to give brokers greater marketing flexibility.
• Federal advocacy has expanded beyond housing legislation to include AI regulation, cybersecurity, copyright and data privacy.
• Litigation remains active, but current legal developments have largely shifted from commission rules toward listing access, competition and data governance.

AI and the Future of the MLS

We are exploring secure ways for members to connect AI assistants to live MLS information, allowing real-time market analysis, listing searches, and productivity tools while maintaining member authentication and MLS control over access.

As with any new technology, important questions remain. How should AI be used? What safeguards are appropriate? What happens when access is revoked? How do we balance innovation with data security and professionalism?

Rather than rushing forward, our approach is to test new capabilities with a small group of experienced users, learn from real-world use, and develop thoughtful policies before broader implementation.  Stay tuned, we are working hard on this now!

Security  is a big deal

From Zoom and land scams to huge new hacker attempts to infiltrate the national membership systems, contract platforms and the US MLS systems – it is a wild environment for us to serve you, while keeping your data and our systems safe.  This isn’t about the MLS data, per se, but guess who has access to the MLS data besides your eagle-eyed staff? You do. And your admins do. And your overseas call centers do.  And your online admin service providers do.  Same with membership records, and by extension, forms systems.

If hackers can’t get to our data legally, they go around… grab your name, your intel and directly reach out “on your behalf”. Sigh. And don’t even get us started on the deepfakes that can sound like and look just like you. So yes, new policies, and please offer grace for us when you change your data or navigate a forgotten password as we need to make sure you are YOU!

FYI – Did you know that the entire FlexMLS system (150 MLSs) was almost breached this year because someone got a hold of OUR member’s login? Alarms sounded, emergency procedures went into high alert, hackers were defeated, but we got the call… one of our members almost took down the FBS system. Sheesh.

Protecting the Value of the MLS

Protection isn’t just about hacking, it’s about sustainability. The MLS is much more than a listing database. It is a trusted source of accurate, verified real estate information.  We were proud to discuss the national headlines that announced emerging changes being made across the county to find that we had adopted and moved past many of these issues years ago.

• • 4 Listing Statuses to give sellers every opportunity to list their property with our members, CHECK.
  • Coming soon policies to ensure accurate representation. CHECK.
  • Clear Guidance on Office Exclusives, CHECK.
  • Seller control, listing-by-listing, on how and where they market their property for sale CHECK.

Leaders continue to evaluate new tools that strengthen data licensing, improve transparency, protect listing content, and ensure brokerage attribution remains visible when listings are shared online. These efforts support both consumers and members while helping preserve the integrity of the marketplace.

To keep ahead of the curve, we are looking at giving more options for sellers to suppress certain pieces of data online in addition to their ability to keep a listing off the internet entirely. We are also looking at DOM calculations and display, new field options to really share important property characteristics, and enforcement of current data standards. Yep, we’re talking hidden trackers in our data and on our photos so we can hunt down those not following the rules. Savvy!

Keeping Pace with Advertising Requirements

As marketing continues to evolve, so do compliance challenges. Wow, there is frustration with some of the blind ads on social media… so much so we are rolling out a ‘tip line’ where you can send us a screenshot of a property ad / post that doesn’t show the listing brokerage name so we can follow up.  Or wrong stats. Or whatever else you see.  We are NOT the police of this – we gladly respond to complaints, but are not in the business of hunting down problems.   Especially since we don’t have access to most member feeds and are super busy answering your calls and emails and not social scrolling at work!

Feel free to share an issue with the new board cell phone 413-884-7350, or always, support@berkshirerealtors.org. And you’re welcome to continue to send an error report in Flex for us and the member to respond to if it’s a disclosure issue.  Also,  don’t panic if you get a text from that number; we are trying a low-cost way to send reminders via text on that devise as well.

Expanding Commercial Member Services

Commercial real estate continues to be an area of opportunity.  Discussions this month focused on expanding education, networking opportunities, marketing resources, and partnerships that better serve commercial practitioners and investment specialists throughout Berkshire County.

A dedicated group of volunteers will begin exploring several recommendations that could enhance commercial member benefits in the months ahead. Interested?  Please reach out!

Growing Our Affiliate Community

One of our biggest success stories this year has been the continued growth and engagement of our Affiliate members. From lenders and attorneys to inspectors, cleaners, junk removal companies, contractors, photographers, and other industry professionals, Affiliate members strengthen the REALTOR® community by providing valuable expertise and connections.

Our upcoming Member & Affiliate Open House will continue that momentum by bringing members together in a relaxed networking environment while welcoming prospective Affiliate partners to learn more about the association.  We hope you can take the time to stop in, see the space, meet the new faces, connect with old friends, have a bev and snack and enjoy a short and easy get together..

Leadership Focused on the Future

One theme continues to surface in nearly every discussion: thoughtful preparation.  Our focus remains on making proactive decisions that position Berkshire REALTORS® and the Berkshire MLS for long-term success.

The real estate industry continues to evolve rapidly. Your volunteer leaders and professional staff remain committed to staying ahead of those changes—carefully evaluating new ideas, listening to member feedback, and working to ensure our organization continues delivering value to both members and the consumers they serve. And even get work done in a boat. In a fire cloud. On a windy day.   We found the calm.