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Recently, we had the opportunity to get an update from Reggie Nicolay (@ReggieRPR) regarding the progress being made with regard to the National Association of Realtors’ new Realtors Property Resource (RPR) project

We originally interviewed Reggie seven months ago; you can listen to that archived show here.  And wow, has he been busy!

For those not familiar, Reggie is the Director of Social Media Operations for RPR.

And for those not already familiar with RPR, here is a video you can watch to get up to speed:

Here are some key takeaways from our interview:

1. In one year, RPR has:
   • Enrolled 272,000 Realtors to use RPR
   • Officially launched 132,000+ Realtors in 35 MLSs (with the balance of enrolled Realtors to be launched by the end of 2010)
   • Signed 124 MLSs to use RPR
   • Collected more foreclosure data than leading foreclosure data company
   • Collected 95% coverage of United States county tax assessor’s data
2. When RPR coverage straddles adjacent MLSs, it will become the bridge between those MLSs.  For agents who work in areas that cover two unique and inconsistent MLSs (as we do in Plymouth, MI, where we work in both the Ann Arbor and Metro Detroit markets, which have separate MLSs that do almost everything differently), this will be an enormous benefit and advantage. Agents will be able to log into one site and get the information from both MLSs in a single format, which will result in less frustration among consumers created by differing property reports.
3. RPR offers a single sign-on option for MLSs.  This means that an agent can sign into their MLS and be linked directly into the data that RPR offers.
4. RPR provides a comprehensive property history, including tax records, public records and MLS listing histories.
5. The “resistance” to RPR perceived by some is in many cases simply attributable to existing contracts some MLSs have in place that preclude those MLSs from doing anything until those contracts. Other MLSs are taking a “wait-and-see” approach about the ability for RPR to do what is promising.  So far, RPR is delivering.
6. Another benefit of RPR is something called Realtor Valuation Model, or  “RVM.” RVM leverages assessor records and MLS data to power a property valuation system for Realtors. RPR believes this is a “a better snapshot” of the market value on a given home than currently available from other, similar sources.
7. RPR uses Microsoft’s “Silverlight” mapping API. In simple terms, this allows agents to create sophisticated “heat maps” that reveal pricing trends in a selected target area via the use of color-coded data. Agents can, for example, select a neighborhood and see the 12-month pricing trends within that neighborhood via the overlaying of the applicable data.
8. Consumers are doing more due diligence before contacting an agent.  RPR empowers agents by giving them one “go-to” source to access property information and share with their clients.

As with any conversation with Reggie, he brought his passion for technology and real estate.

We’ve met Reggie personally, and he is absolutely one of our favorite people in the real estate/social media space.

And, as we said the first time we talked with Reggie about RPR, we are huge believers in and supporters of RPR (and of Reggie!).

To hear the interview in its entirety, you can listen to the archived episode on BlogTalkRadio.