INMAN: An MLS is Making it Easier to Find ADA-Compliant Properties
A multiple listing service in the Pacific Northwest has rolled out a new system that makes it easier to list and search for properties that have features catering to disabled homebuyers.
The new accessibility system will be part of the broker-owned Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which operates primarily in western and central Washington. It’ll work by presenting agents and brokers with 12 different checkboxes when they go to list a property. The checkboxes cover categories such as “accessible approach,” “accessible entrance,” “modification for hearing/vision” and “accessible elevator or lift installed.”
Brokers on the other end who are trying to find properties for their clients can then filter their search results according to those categories.
Northwest MLS Wins Northwest Access Fund “Best Practices Award”!
“Everyone should have the same opportunity to find a home that fits their needs.”
KIRKLAND, Washington (November 7, 2018) -Two brokers who shared that belief approached Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) two years ago in hopes of finding ways to better identify properties in the database that fit the needs of people with physical limitations. That undertaking just earned a “Best Practices Award” from Northwest Access Fund, a nonprofit organization serving individuals with disabilities.
Until now, brokers who are part of Northwest MLS had a single, vague way of identifying properties with accessibility features, a checkbox labeled “Disabled Access.” Now, the broker-owned MLS is rolling out a comprehensive system – believed to be the first in the country – for highlighting and searching accessibility features throughout a home.
The new accessibility features in the multiple listing service (MLS) database culminates the two-year effort led by brokers Barry Long of Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty in Woodinville and Tom Minty of John L. Scott’s office in Issaquah.
Listing input options include 12 sections with checkboxes covering various areas of a property from accessible approaches and entrances to utility rooms.
Northwest MLS has also created an “Accessibility Information Supplement” with 48 definitions and delineations of the various features within each checkbox. Additionally, Long and Minty are offering educational training programs to familiarize members with the new system, and the MLS has added explanatory material to its forms manual and Listing Input class to demonstrate ways to filter searches and highlight features.
Long said some brokers have been hesitant to even mention disabled access, in part because it might conjure images of “ugly grab bars and a make-shift ramp that someone’s uncle built.” Now, he says brokers can highlight special features, assistive devices and other appealing universal design principles that add value to a listing.
“This more robust way of showcasing accessible properties means brokers and their clients can search and filter listings based on wide-ranging criteria,” said Jason Wall, chairman of Northwest MLS and president of Lake & Company. Wall said people with disabilities, veterans who have suffered service-related injuries, and even seniors looking to age in place are among the populations who could benefit from the new disclosures.
Both Long and Minty have developed expertise on accessible living needs, age-in-place housing, ADA-compliant designs, and universal design environments.
Minty credits a friend with multiple sclerosis with sparking his interest in serving house-hunters with different abilities or special needs. That evolved into his forming ABLE Environments in 2004, a full-service organization focused on accessible living. Minty, who has a Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation from the National Association of Realtors, has a background in construction, is a long-time member of the Northwest Universal Design Council, and is a member of the Seattle-King County Advisory Council for Aging & Disability Services.
In addition to his real estate practice (Barry Long Homes), Long is a motivational speaker, delivering presentations on overcoming adversity, stepping up to the next level, goal setting and other themes. His perspectives on accessibility features and overcoming obstacles are based in part on his personal experiences since becoming a paraplegic from a near-fatal motorcycle crash in 1992. Calling that accident a “bad choice,” he is known for his “live life to the fullest” personality and belief that “the only real choice that matters is how you choose to respond to the things that happen in your life.”
Northwest Multiple Listing Service will be among honorees at the Northwest Access Fund awards dinner and benefit on November 15 in Seattle. The “Best Practices Award” recognizes efforts to include people with disabilities in various business practices, such as service methods, awareness efforts, customization, or targeted outreach. In announcing the award, Northwest Access Fund praised Northwest MLS for enabling brokers and buyers alike to search and filter for accessibility features, adding this MLS “is setting the standard for other regional listing services to follow.”
Northwest Access Fund (formerly known as Washington Assistive Technology Foundation) is a nonprofit organization serving people with disabilities in Washington and Oregon. It is the first certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) to be run by and for people with disabilities.
Northwest Multiple Listing Service, owned by its member real estate firms, is the largest full-service MLS in the Northwest. Its membership of around 2,200 member offices includes more than 29,000 real estate professionals. The organization, based in Kirkland, Wash., currently serves 23 counties in the state.
Northwest MLS Announces Expanded Accessibility Search Features for Residential Listings
BELLEVUE, Wash. (Nov. 7, 2018) – The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (Northwest MLS) has implemented changes that make it easier for brokers in the Pacific Northwest to identify and search for homes with accessibility features. This update is a result of the collaboration between two Woodinville-based brokers, John L. Scott’s Tom Minty, and Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty’s Barry Long.
Real estate brokers use the Northwest MLS to upload and view current residential real estate listings in the Pacific Northwest. While the directory has long had a check box that brokers can select to designate a property as having “Disabled Access,” brokers will now have the ability to notate and search for specific accessibility criteria and more detailed descriptions to assist their clients and buyers who are listing or searching for homes with specific accessibility features.
The new searchable accessibility features section includes information for the following areas: accessible approach, entrance, central living/common area, bedroom, bath, kitchen, utility, modifications for hearing/vision, accessible elevator/lift installed, ceiling track and smart technology. To provide further information, brokers selecting any of the boxes under the accessibility features section will also submit a straightforward supplemental document to provide a more granular description of the specific accessibility features of a home.
The impetus for these changes came about when Barry Long, a motivational speaker and disability advocate, was approached by Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty. They saw a need to change the current system used for selling and buying homes with accessibility features and asked Long to become a residential real estate broker with a focus on accessible real estate.
After running into issues trying to connect the dots for buyers looking for accessible homes in 2016, one of his contacts recommended Long reach out to Tom Minty, a Residential Specialist with John L. Scott, who had been working on expanding accessibility designations for years. Luck had it that they were not only located in the same area of the same country, but the same city of Woodinville, Washington. For the last two years, the pair has worked together to improve database options surrounding accessibility.
“Soon after I entered the real estate industry in Washington, I realized we had major strides to make in accessibility,” said Long, Broker at Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty. “As a wheelchair user myself, I understand the importance of having an accurate representation of a home’s accessibility. I’ve enjoyed collaborating with Tom to make these improvements to the Northwest MLS.”
For Minty, working collaboratively with Long was a perfect opportunity for him to make great strides in his passion project for years – helping those wanting to age in place find appropriate homes.
“We’re so pleased that we now have a better framework for designating homes as accessible in the Pacific Northwest,” said Minty. “Our work is far from over, but we are looking forward to what’s next to make accessibility features relevant so those who need accessible homes are able to find them.”
The changes Long and Minty worked on have implications outside of just the Northwest MLS – the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), which owns the universal directory of fields used by multiple listing services across the country, has decided to adopt these fields nationally. Moving forward, other multiple listing services can duplicate what was started with the Northwest MLS by this duo from John L. Scott and Marketplace Sotheby’s.
About John L. Scott Real Estate
John L. Scott Real Estate, led by third-generation Chairman and CEO J. Lennox Scott, has been helping buyers and sellers realize their homeownership dreams since 1931. JLS has over 100 offices with more than 3,000 brokers in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and California. JLS is recognized as one of the top 20 residential real estate brands in the nation. Annually, John L. Scott closes more than 30,000 transactions totaling more than 13 billion dollars in sales volume. In support of the company’s core value, Living Life as a Contribution™, the John L. Scott Foundation helped sponsored over 30 events for 20 children’s hospitals in 2017, which will help raise over $15 million for children’s healthcare.
About Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty
With over 270 years of world class business acumen and marketing prowess, the Sotheby's International Realty® Real Estate network is synonymous with outstanding quality and service. In 2017, the company closed $108 billion in sales volume. Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty, founded four years ago, has opened three local offices with nearly 100 affiliates and generating over $500 million in annual sales volume. Its brokers pride themselves in delivering unparalleled levels of personalized service and local expertise, combined with cutting-edge technology. Marketplace Sotheby’s Realty is passionate about giving back, and as such founded the Marketplace Children’s Foundation, helping children across our counties thrive, with a focus on supporting kids’ extra-curricular activities, especially in higher education.
SEATTLE CURBED: NWMLS Update Allows Brokers to Zero in on Accessibility Features
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) announced updates today that let brokers and buyers zero in on accommodations for people with disabilities.
For those unfamiliar with multiple listing service (MLS) databases like the NWMLS: They’re tools that real estate brokers use to share sales and listing information. The typical non real estate professional probably interacts with an MLS largely through aggregation services like Redfin, Zillow, or Estately. The NWMLS serves most of western Washington, including Seattle.
With an MLS, brokers have a central database for a variety of home features, like year built, number of bedrooms, listing price, or square footage. But as far as disability accommodations go, most fall short. A spokesperson for the NWMLS said the service believes this is the first feature of its kind in the country.
What was formerly just a “disabled access” checkbox—which doesn’t tell anyone very much, and doesn’t speak to what a home does or doesn’t have—has now expanded to 12 different options speaking to the breadth of accessibility and type of accomodation. The vagueness can also turn off buyers who don’t need accomodations, said Barry Long of Marketplace Sotheby’s International Realty, because it can bring up images of “ugly grab bars and a makeshift ramp that someone’s uncle built.”
GO SKAGIT: Service Makes Finding Accessible Homes Easier
“Accessibility is relative; there’s a range there of what criteria people need. What these updates have done is make those criteria searchable.”
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service recently added features to its property database that aim to make it easier to find accessible homes for sale or rent.
Until now, finding a home with accessibility features such as a wheelchair ramp or wide doorways was “virtually impossible,” said Barry Long, who championed the changes along with fellow real estate broker Tom Minty.
“There was no way for me to search and find a home with accessibility features,” said Long, who is paraplegic and uses a wheelchair.
Now, accessibility features covering various areas of a property — from entrances to utility rooms — can be added to listings on the service, according to a service news release.
These criteria will allow potential buyers to search homes by the accessibility features they need, Long said. “Accessibility is relative; there’s a range there of what criteria people need,” he said. “What these updates have done is make those criteria searchable.”
This is the first time a listing service has made these features available, Long said.