RI Association of Realtors (RIAR) and Statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) adopt a new Commercial Real Estate Information Exchange Service (CIE)

Warwick , RI – Both Boards of Directors of  and Statewide Multiple Listing Service (MLS) have voted unanimously to adopt a new Commercial Real Estate Information Exchange Service (CIE) as an alternative to the  outmoded service MLS has provided for commercial and investment properties, and the costly service offered by 3^rd party vendors such as Loopnet and CoStar, which have recently merged. Many brokers complain about have their data being taken, packaged, and sold back to them a huge markup.

This has been a collaborative effort with RI Commercial & Appraisal Board of Realtors (RICABOR), who developed a CIE Task Group, Chaired by Michael Alves, which included Jeff Butler (2012 Treasurer RICABOR & MLS) , Richard Berlinski, Richard Carruba, and Greg Skoutas (2012 Vice Pres. RICABOR), as well as input from Peter Scotti (2012 RICABOR President) and Michele Caprio, Executive Director .

Jeff Butler was charged with bringing it forward to the MLS and RIAR Board approval process. Butler commented “This will change the way we do business in RI commercial real estate, and is long overdue.  MLS does a fantastic job with residential real estate and services to that sector, evidenced by the huge success of www.RILiving.com which is the most trafficked real estate website in RI. Our new CIE’s “public face” will have a prominent position on RILiving , so that commercial buyers, tenants, investors or virtually anyone connected to commercial or investment properties can view the largest database of RI properties with “state of the art” tools . After careful research by MLS Staff and Executive Board it was a clear choice as to who the “best in class” was for our new CIE. The new CIE will be powered by Catylist, the industry’s leading CIE vendor. Special thanks to Mike Letendre,  Chief Information Officer of MLS, a valuable behind- the-scenes team player who without his decades of knowledge we would still probably be scratching our heads .“

Richard Maxson, Senior Vice President offered this view of his company:  “ We are very excited about bringing Catylist to RI, it fits well for SO many reasons. We build technology for commercial real estate professionals that includes tools for searching, marketing, researching, and sharing. Founded in 2001, we’re currently the #1 provider of Commercial Information Exchanges for real estate associations nationwide. Our CIE platform is being used to search and market commercial property in dozens of markets around the country. We also provide site selection technology for economic development groups, and offer a number of other tools for commercial real estate professionals.

What makes us different?

• We believe that when commercial real estate communities come together to share information, everyone benefits. We export your listings to major search engines, databases, classifieds, and commercial MLS’s.
• We’ve been helping groups break their dependence on high-priced national services for over a decade, or upgrade obsolete CIE or MLS systems.
• We’re one of the few companies in the industry that really understands both technology and commercial real estate
• We’re passionate about customer service and deliver what we promise.
• We’re the #1 provider of Commercial Information Exchanges for real estate associations nationwide. This includes groups from all of the New England states, who can now share data amongst themselves and across the country.

for Agents & Brokers – Thousands of brokers around the country use our CIEs and marketing tools to grow their business.

For Economic DevelopMENT – We provide site selection tools to dozens of economic development groups, helping them bring businesses to their communities.

For Tenants & Investors – Our national database of commercial property for sale or lease is aggregated from Commercial MLS systems and major brokerage firms all over the country.

According to Butler “Work has begun on the implementation of Catylist and its public-facing website. We plan on launching this fall,  and it will be free to use for all MLS Members for the first six months of operation. All existing MLS commercial listings will be initially loaded into the CIE for the six-month introductory period. Catylist will be operated in parallel with MLXchange’s & RILiving’s commercial property types for the foreseeable future, allowing those MLS Members working with commercial properties to choose which platform(s) they wish to use. Significant efforts will also be made to align the CIE with state and local economic development entities, chambers of commerce as well as grow participation by all of the commercial brokerages in our market area”.

He added “RICABOR is the unified voice of RI Commercial Realtors and Appraisers, and as such will continue to play a leadership role in the successful launch and implementation of the new RI Commercial and Investment CIE, and other initiatives that improve our profession”.

“Our clients are increasingly tech-savvy and want information as widely promoted and accessible as possible.  Catylist and the new RI CIE will be the quickest, easiest, and most economical way to get maximum exposure for your clients commercial listings, and THE preeminent source for maximum commercial and investment real estate content! Stay tuned !”

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