Introducing Upstream

Author: Steve Baird, President & CEO, Baird & Warner There are many questions about the National Association of REALTORS®-backed Upstream. Steve Baird is a member of Upstream’s Board of Managers. He breaks down Upstream for us: what it is, and why REALTORS® should be excited about this new technology platform. As brokers became increasingly frustrated with how inefficiently they leveraged one of their greatest assets – data –  the question arose: “If we could start over today with a clean slate, how would we manage the data differently?” They needed to focus on the delivery of rich, relevant information to consumers, and to be successful in this, they needed to expand upon the types of data managed and have complete control of distribution. Enter Upstream, a project conceived, owned and managed by brokers.

What Is It?

Every day, brokers enter data more than one time into different MLSes, portals, real estate tools, back office accounting systems and various other platforms. Upstream creates a single entry point for all real estate data and eliminates duplicative data entry costs by cross-referencing many types of real estate data beyond a listing data set. Upstream gives brokers full control so they can distribute their data simply and efficiently to a variety of targets. Upstream helps brokers manage their costs and frees up precious resources that are better used in serving clients and growing their business. Upstream incorporates the RESO data standard, providing a single data format for listings and acting as the model for new, related data standards to be established. A single data format eliminates the hidden cost of normalization and allows both internal and external developers to innovate and meet consumer needs instead of focusing on data transformation and forcing “square pegs into round holes.”

Who Can Access the Data?

Brokers want to leverage their data for the benefit of their agents and the consumers they serve.  Now, they can distribute all or partial data sets as it best suits their business practices and strategies. Only the broker can determine who receives their data and no one, including Upstream, Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) or NAR can access a broker’s data without express permission. Upstream’s monitoring technology can be especially beneficial to brokers and local multiple listing services who struggle to enforce compliance with national vendors. The platform will uniquely “tag” each distribution enabling brokers to enforce their firm’s copyright ownership better and facilitate optimal “exchange rates” when negotiating use of their data. Additionally, the data is protected from hacking, physical theft and natural disaster because it resides on a platform that is secure, highly available and highly redundant. This is a great value to many who do not have the resources or expertise to maintain an enterprise-class ecosystem.

Upstream’s Relationship with Local Multiple Listing Services

Upstream’s founders are united in the belief that the company will not become, nor ever compete with, an MLS, and we have embedded those beliefs into our agreements. Upstream will be working closely with every MLS to ensure their business rules are accurately implemented and maintained, ensure data errors are corrected promptly, and ensure agent rosters are accurately maintained in compliance with local and state regulations.

Upstream’s Partners

RPR® was chosen to be the technology vendor after reviewing the RFP responses. The first consideration was RPR®’s platform, which proved to be comprehensive, reliable and sophisticated. Second, RPR® understands the industry and the needs of each stakeholder. Lastly, NAR saw the vision and embraced the benefit for the industry, as demonstrated by funding RPR’s development and launch activities through 2017. It is neither a loan nor an investment and does not require repayment. Upstream will eventually begin to pay RPR® for ongoing operations and support in 2018. Brokers, franchise systems and referral networks who embrace Upstream’s vision continue to generously fund all other operations. Upstream was originally envisioned as a cooperative where all members shared based upon their participation and contribution.  It is governed by a tiered board of managers, requiring leadership from brokerages of all sizes. Each broker is only allowed one unit of membership. The cost of each unit is 100 dollars so as to not create any barriers to entry, and so that no single member gains an advantage. Upstream’s Operating Agreement mandates it to be capital-efficient, run at a break-even and provide services at the lowest possible cost. The Board of Managers is never compensated, and there will never be an expectation of distributions or exit (IPO, sale, etcetera).  Any changes to Upstream’s charter require a full board vote, and a quorum requires a majority with representation from each broker sub-class.

In Conclusion

Upstream: conceived, owned and managed by brokers. You could not ask for a better example of cooperative spirit than this diverse group of often competitive stakeholders collaborating to improve an industry. – Steve Baird, President & CEO, Baird & Warner