The real estate marketplace is changing quickly. New listing strategies, artificial intelligence and evolving consumer expectations are causing MLSs to rethink how they serve brokers, agents and consumers. For Shelley Specchio, CEO of the Metropolitan Indianapolis Board of REALTORS® (MIBOR) and Broker Listing Cooperative, the answer isn’t choosing between innovation and cooperation; it’s finding ways to strengthen both.
In the latest episode of the “REALTOR® News Change Agents” podcast, Specchio discusses why broad listing exposure, informed consumer choice and collaborative marketplaces remain essential, even as technology reshapes the industry.
“Consumer choice is very important,” Specchio says. “But I think informed choice is even more important.”
That philosophy guides how MIBOR approaches everything from listing statuses to AI. The goal isn’t simply to keep pace with change but to ensure agents have the tools they need to focus on what matters most: helping buyers and sellers achieve their goals.
Put the Consumer First
Specchio says one of the most important moments in any transaction happens long before a listing goes live.
“That moment when our members are at the kitchen table is where they are in their element doing what it is they love the most,” she says. At that table, she doesn’t want agents worrying about MLS rules or submission deadlines.
“I want them to be talking with their sellers about how best to meet their goals, how best to get the price that they’re looking for, how best to sell it in the number of days that they needed to sell for.”
That philosophy also shapes how MIBOR thinks about marketplace exposure. While sellers ultimately decide how they want to market their homes, Specchio believes they deserve to understand the benefits of reaching the broadest possible audience.
“We think exposure creates opportunity,” she says. “We think competition creates value.”
Those conversations extend beyond sellers. Specchio says buyers can be overlooked when discussions center only on listing strategies. Fragmenting inventory across multiple private channels may create new challenges for consumers trying to find homes.
“If we can’t find the listings, agents will find them,” she says. “Agents are uniquely entrepreneurial and hardworking and very creative.”
But making agents work harder isn’t the goal. “It shouldn’t come down to who you know to find out what houses are available,” she says.
Instead, Specchio believes MLSs should continue functioning as cooperative marketplaces where information is broadly available and transactions benefit from collaboration between brokers representing both sides.
“We think that there are some real fair housing issues with fragmenting the marketplace,” she says.
Helping Agents Navigate Change
While transparency remains central to the MLS, Specchio also sees technology creating new opportunities for agents.
Artificial intelligence is already helping agents improve listing descriptions, streamline data entry and deliver more personalized property recommendations. And behind the scenes, AI is also helping MIBOR answer member questions faster while allowing staff to step in whenever more complex support is needed.
“We’re thinking about AI in three buckets,” she says: member productivity, data intelligence and helping staff better serve members.
Just as important as adopting new technology, she says, is helping agents understand how to use it. “I think the MLS can be the trusted guide for members to understand the tools that then can help create the value, but not just create noise.”
That role also influences how MIBOR approaches change itself. Rather than introducing sweeping overhauls, the organization favors continuous improvement, making smaller updates over time to minimize disruption for members.
“We don’t need our members to be thinking about the MLS and us as a problem,” Specchio says. “We’re like the electricity. They should just turn on the lights and we’re there backing them up so they can do the real job, which is working with their clients.”
Looking ahead, she expects MLSs to evolve beyond being viewed simply as listing databases.
“I think MLSs are going to be viewed less as a place just where listings are stored, and more as a trusted infrastructure that powers an efficient marketplace,” she says.
Even as technology advances, she believes the mission won’t change.
“It’s just really important,” she says, “that we focus all of our attention on that efficient marketplace that is trusted and will serve our members as they serve their clients.”