Regional MLS listings readied

The combination of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service efforts in Reno and Carson City reflects an economy that increasingly is regional rather than local.

The combination of MLS programs, an effort under development for well over a year, made its modest debut at the start of this year when real estate agents in the two regions started using the same lockbox system to show homes.

In coming weeks, the Reno-Sparks Association of Realtors and the Carson City-based Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors will combine their MLS listings in a magazine that shows buyers the properties on the market.

The final step and the biggest will come on March 24, when the databases used by real estate agents will be combined.

When the MLS databases are combined, agents will be able to see property listings from Douglas County north through Reno and eastward into Storey and Lyon counties.

Even though the Multiple Listing Service programs of the two Realtor associations will merge, the associations themselves will maintain their separate identifies.

Merry Jo Cowen, the chief operations officer of the newly created Northern Nevada Regional MLS, said last week that the MLS merger long has been discussed in the profession.

"As the market has grown over the years, there's been a lot of cross-over," she said.

A property in Washoe Valley between Carson City and Reno, for instance, might have been listed in MLS systems in both cities and had a lockbox from each association hanging from the porch.

The combination also begins to make sense of some of the geographical boundaries that divided the two MLS systems.

Properties in Fernley, for instance, were listed in the Reno MLS system, while properties in Fallon were listed in the Sierra Nevada Association of Realtors system.

Although the combined MLS system long has been desired, Cowen said practical impediments stood in the way.

For instance, data-processing contracts for the two associations expired on different dates.

That made it difficult to identify a date when the combination was possible.

The difficulties were all the worse because the two realty groups operated their MLS systems on software provided by different vendors.

The logjam was broken, however, when the vendor that provided MLS software in Carson City acquired the outfit that served the Reno-Sparks association.

That means, however, that Reno and Sparks Realtors in March will be learning an entirely new MLS system.

Their compatriots in Carson City will encounter only an upgraded version of the MLS system they're already using.

The database contains listings for 4,000 to 5,000 active listings at any time, along with extensive historic data on sales prices.

Software, Cowen said, was only part of the challenge.

The leaders of the two Realtor associations committed themselves to overcoming organizational difficulties.

"When you have progressive leaders who aren't afraid of change, things happen," Cowen said.

The big change in March will be accompanied by extensive training, Cowen said.

The changeover was scheduled early in the year because that's typically a relatively slow time for Realtors who get busy in the spring and summer.

The effect of the combination on consumers, Cowen said, is easy to see: For home sellers, the newly combined MLS system will expose their properties to a wider group of agents and a wider group of buyers.

For buyers, meanwhile, an MLS system will give them a chance to shop for properties through a wider geographic area.

"It will open a whole new world of possibilities for buyers," Cowen said.