A case for open APIs in the real estate industry

As a real estate brokerage and an agent, you rely heavily on technology—maybe even more than you realize.

How’s this for a quick list? You rely on your MLS and all of its technology vendors to house your data and feed your listings to hundreds of websites to get to consumers’ eyeballs. You store and manage your customers in a CRM. You enter your contracts and lead data into a transaction management system. Then there’s the eSignature platform and the accounting software—and last (at least for now), you probably have a single sign-on to combine all these platforms into one pretty package. Phew. That’s a lot of tech!

All of this technology is completely dependent on data management. The easier it is to get your data where you want it and how you want it, the easier it is to run your business.

Let’s be very clear here. This is your data. These are your customers. You have spent hundreds—if not thousands of dollars—and years to nurture and serve these clients. When your data goes into a system, it’s still your data, right? Shouldn’t you have access to that data when you want, where you want and at any time you want?

The answer is a profound yes.

These are your clients, and this is your data. Don’t let any technology vendor tell you differently.

Most technology vendors are getting paid by you to help you with your data flow and solve a problem in your business. Maybe you want to tie in a print campaign, a closing gift subscription or a utility concierge service. All of those vendors need your data to automate the experience.

To make this more efficient for you and a more seamless experience for your clients, the industry must embrace open APIs. When you want your data, it should be there. You should be able to innovate how you see fit.

MooveGuru is a technology vendor that provides 1,000 brokerages and 60,000 REALTORS® with moving concierge technology. We work with innovative real estate technology favorites like Dotloop, DocuSign, SkySlope, BackAgent, MoxiWorks, appFiles, Profit Power and 40-plus others. All have open integrations with MooveGuru. Why? So, together, we can support your brokerage and agents to innovate and acquire more business.

We support 90 percent of all brokerages in the U.S.

For the remaining 10 percent, well, the truth is, there are some technology vendors that still hold your data captive. These companies make choices for your business without your interests in mind. They make data integrations cumbersome based on relationships they have formed to profit on your data.

Trust me, we see it all the time. More than 100 brokerages that want to work with MooveGuru have to curb their progress because they’re waiting on integrations from existing vendors who are hoarding their data.

So the question I have for the industry is: Why doesn’t every real estate technology vendor have an open API so the brokerage and its REALTORS® are empowered to make decisions to best run their businesses?

As a veteran to the real estate industry, and the founder of several real estate technology companies, this is a question and subject I’m passionate about. I’d love to hear your perspective. Reach me directly at soakley@mooveguru.com.

Scott Oakley is founder and CEO of MooveGuru. For more information, please visit www.mooveguru.com.