While the Triangle MLS TEMPO system is obviously antiquated, we have been given some hope for 2008.

What I want from an MLS solution is easy access to current and historical data, and a platform to organize data, store it, and ship it to my clients and prospects.

We will be upgraded from TEMPO version T3 to versionT5.  I'm not sure precisely what that means, but it seems to me to be a later version, and I am quite optimistic that that alone is an improvement.  Our T3 version shows a 1997 copyright.  Ouch!  In "MLS Years" that is about as old as Methusalah.

Currently, the input of streets and subdivisions is a mish-mash of variation and errors.  We have been able to just type in whatever we thought was a good description.  One example that ilustrates this is the NINE (9) various ways one Wake County subdivision is listed. 

The TMLS folks recently ran a quiz.

"Which name below is the proper name for the subdivision?

a.  Oakwood Dev
b.  Rogerson
c.  Oakwood subd/Glen L
d.  Rogerson Drive Dev
e.  Rogerson Drive Dev.
f.   Oakwood Estates
g.  Rogerson-Oakwood
h.  Rogerson Oakwood
i.   Oakwood/Glen Lennox
j.   Oakwood / Glen Lennox

Answer:  Oakwood Estates"

How confusing for consumers and for agents!  Imagine trying to put together a search and hoping to find all the listings in that Oakwood Estates neighborhood!  Impossible!

I live in a neighborhood called "Giverny" in Cary, NC.  We have to drive through an adjacent neighborhood, Gralyn, which is part of MacArthur Park.  But we are not associated in any other way with Gralyn or MacArthur Park.  Since MacArthur Park is well-known, agents often list homes in the neighborhood as "MacArthur Park," or "MacArthur Park/Giverny."  Neither is accurate, and homes do not show up properly in searches that are properly labeled as "Giverny."

Currently, we are being asked to submit street and subdivision names.  TEMPO T5 will require selection of names from the updated and corrected list we are helping to build and map, instead of allowing creation of something out of the blue.  That will help.  And it will make us more valuable to our clients, as we are able to process information more accurately and efficiently.

I'm hoping the good folks at Triangle MLS will keep us updated on other T5 improvements, and I'm anticipating a training class on the new system.