It's been several weeks since most of you have made the transition to Bright MLS. We know that there is a steep learning curve. As your association, we represent your interests and have been actively monitoring the changes brought on by this conversion. We're committed to working with you and Bright so that our members can benefit from the advantages we believe this regional MLS offers.

The NVAR Board of Directors recently met with the CEO of Bright MLS, Tom Phillips, and conveyed many of your questions and concerns. This discussion addressed issues including status definitions, days on market methodology, subdivision data entry, required fields (e.g., flood insurance disclosure, transaction brokerage and sub-agency), reporting results, and customer service support.

Based on your input, and our feedback working closely with our neighboring associations, Bright MLS is aware of the challenges. This just-released Bright update addresses photo imports, the flood zone field and certain compensation fields.

NVAR’s Board of Directors, volunteer leaders and staff will continue to monitor this transition, provide updates as they are released, and take any steps necessary to promote your best interests.

NVAR is hosting four Bright MLS hands-on clinics: on January 17 at our Fairfax office and on January 22 at the Herndon office. To accommodate more members, we will be offering live-streaming or a live webinar of the classes and are working with Bright to provide additional sessions. 

Please continue to visit nvar.com and brightmls.com for additional upcoming classes, instructional videos and best practices so you can take advantage of the available new features.

This is an ongoing process, so please continue to provide your input. While we may not be able to resolve each concern, we can reinforce with Bright MLS the trends and issues that may be impeding your progress. If you have positive feedback, we'd love to hear that, too!

While change is often challenging, it can also be the path towards great improvement. And that has always been the goal with this transition to Bright. We continue to feel confident that Bright MLS can take your business further.

Sincerely,

Lorraine Arora

2018 NVAR President

Ryan Conrad, CAE, RCE, CIPS

NVAR CEO