Groundbreaking MLS software draws interest across nation

Software developed by the Northern Nevada Regional MLS to help its Realtor members close short-sale residential transactions is getting a close look by realty groups across the country.

The multiple-listing service, which counts some 3,100 real estate agents and brokers among its members, was the first in the nation to develop software that allows its members to tap into a help desk launched by Fannie Mae.

Now, nearly a year after the Northern Nevada Regional MLS program was introduced, three other multiple-listing services across the nation have contracted to acquire the software developed in Reno.

And several more MLS organizations are looking closely at the software, says Shelley Specchio, chief executive officer of the Northern Nevada Regional MLS.

The software was developed by Sean Murphy, vice president of technology at the MLS organization that serves Washoe, Douglas, Lyon, Storey and Churchill counties and Carson City.

Specchio explains the software allows MLS members in the region to contact Fannie Mae the big buyer of mortgages in the secondary market to push through the roadblocks that have slowed completion of short sales.

"When communication breaks down, this gets communication open again," Specchio says.

Fannie Mae's short sale assistance desk staff will handle cases involving properties with a first-lien owned by Fannie Mae, and the bank that's servicing the loan must have a valid offer for the property in hand.

MLS organizations participating in the program also provide Fannie Mae with data to improve property valuations.

Specchio says the Northern Nevada Regional MLS was among the first in the nation invited to participate in the program last May, in part because of the number of short-sale transactions in northern Nevada. She says the group's board moved quickly to get it into place.

Realtors from northern Nevada have used the Fannie Mae help desk about three dozen times in the past year, she says.

Damian Janssen, an agent with Keller Williams Group One in Sparks, turned to the help desk after both he and the seller whose property he had listed hit a dead end with a short-sale transaction.

"We were at the point where we could not even get through on the phone and were about to give up hope," Janssen says.

After he contacted the Fannie Mae help desk, a short sale was approved within 27 days.

Specchio says she expects that use of the program may grow as more agents and brokers become educated about the program.