Recently, MARIS president Tim Dain participated in a homesnap blog series called 'Ask the MLS'.
Homesnap: What is the biggest factor affecting the MARIS market today?
Tim: Like many areas, inventory shortage is impacting the MARIS marketplace.
There are many side effects caused by inventory shortages.
"Agents deal with multiple offers, escalating accusations of unethical practices, pocket listings and off-MLS inventory.
It might seem like a hot market is simply another first-world problem, but the side effects tend to inspire an individualistic mentality opposed to cooperative. The correlating destabilization creates opportunities for disruptive technologies to gain a deeper foothold into traditional real estate.
That could eventually be a good thing, but currently the market is moving too fast to read the tea leaves floating down the Mississippi.
Homesnap: You came to St. Louis from Austin. What are some differences you’ve noticed between the two markets in terms of agents, clients and how they work together?
Tim: Agents from the Austin market are fiercely independent, bold and passionate about their state, city, fellow Texans and real estate. The culture is amazing and Austin itself is a beautiful, booming city with some of the best technology and civil mindedness in the country.
"In Missouri and Illinois, the agents have a calm Midwestern mentality that quietly places value on performance, relationships, modest integrity, and a get-your-hands-dirty approach to real estate.
You’re less likely to have an impassioned debate about how to be the next big industry disruptor and more likely to enjoy a cup of coffee and a friendly down-to-earth conversation. Perhaps the difference stems from the culture, which partially accepts that “crazy ideas” start on the coast and work their way inland.
Both markets have outstanding real estate communities, which make me proud to be in the industry at such an exciting time.
Homesnap: How do you see MARIS evolving over the next few years?
Tim: We’re choosing to focus more on member centricity – enabling our members with business solutions and empowering them with education and information to help them succeed.
"We feel that it’s time to keep it simple and refocus on enriching our members experience and needs.
MARIS is currently invested in a series of business improvement efforts to help us serve our market more efficiently and effectively. We are essentially rebuilding our service foundations – improving how we manage member data, communicate and educate an adult population that’s always on the move.
We’re changing our CRM and phone system, building a new website, doing journey marketing and focusing on integrations that make sense from a service perspective. We’ve added staff to develop our marketing, communications, education and broker engagement capabilities.
I’m excited about how we discuss our future internally – if it’s anything like our whiteboards, it will be amazing!
Homesnap: What is keeping you up at night?
"Nothing, I keep other people awake at night.