No. ROAM does require that its Participants and Subscribers hold REALTOR® Membeship somewhere, but you may choose to receive your REALTOR® associaiton services from anywhere.
Yes, a public-facing consumer directed website is one of the basic services available from ROAM. Consistent with the Fair Display Guidelines, all leads are directed back to the listing broker free of charge. Lead routing toold integrated into the site then allow brokers to determine internally how they wish those interenet leads to be routed for their firm.
Yes, there is a common set of MLS Rules and Regulations. Rules enforcement is the joint responsiblity of ROAM and its participaing AOR’s. Because ROAM is REALTOR®-Association owned you can also be assured that these rules and regulations will be in compliances with NAR’s Model Rules and Regulations. MLS’s that are not REALTOR® Association owned are not bound to those same standards.
Yes. It is possible to subscribe to ROAM MLS services, without having to join another association.
You can subscribe to ROAM MLS Services, through any of the following organizations. While each organization is responsible for setting their own pricing, unlike in the past, subscribing to ROAM MLS services through any one of these entities will give you access to listings from all of the areas.
Currently, the subscriber base of the 4 merging MLS’s represent nearly 12,000 unique users — or about 80% of all REALTORS® in Louisiana.
You’re not alone. The vast majority of REALTORS® in Louisiana do not work across multiple markets. Article 11 of the REALTOR® Code of Ethics also compels REALTORS® not to work in areas outside their specialization. For these users, ROAM offers significant benefits:
- Nearly 10,000 of the 12,000 subscribers of ROAM will not be forced into changing their current software installation. You can continue to utilize the same product you logged into before and continue your business practice without disruption. Those users that do change, will gain access to more services than they currenlty have access to.
- If you don’t work outside uyour local market and are in the practice of making out-of-market referrals, having access to the broader listing inventory gives you the ability to initially respond to a customers inquiry in a much more professional manner helping maintain your relationship with your client as a trusted resource before making that referral.
Lockboxes and Lockbox Key services are not initially a basic service of ROAM. This means they will be continued to be offered and supported through your local associaition. ROAM MLS software however, will provide integration points for both SUPRA and SentriLock lockbox systems to support either of those existing lockbox platforms.
Freedom. Freedom from the artificial borders of previous MLS’s. Freedom for your listing to “roam” be exposed to 12,000 of the 15,000 REALTORS in Louisiana. Freedom from multiple MLS memberships, bills, data feeds, rules. Freedom to choose software you want to use. Freedom to not be forced to join something else, pay something else, or change your business practices to take advantage of these benefits.
ROAM is governed by a Board of Managers made up of brokers and agents and it is managed by a Louisiana-based professional staff with over 100 years of combined experience in managing and running Multiple Listing Services.
ROAM, LLC is jointly owned by 4 Local REALTOR® Associations in Louisiana:
- New Orleans Metropolitan Associaiton of REALTORS®
- Greater Baton Rouge Associaiton of REALTORS®
- Greater Central Louisiana Association of REALTORS®
- Bayou Board of REALTORS®
The associaiton from which you subscribed to ROAM MLS will continue to be the first point-of-contact for training and support. They will be backed by a network of specialized product trainers equipped to help answer questions not only about products, but rules and compliance as well.