In an article produced by the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), UtahRealEstate.com is recognized for its leading role in ushering in new real estate technology for its in-house technology system for Web API and Data Dictionary.

UtahRealEstate.com is among first few real estate companies to have adopted the newly unified standards in the Data Dictionary 1.7. The goal with these new standards are for structuring information in a common language and Web API Core 1.0.2 to set a consistent set of rules for better data sharing.

“Our organization is committed to adapting the latest RESO standards,” said Ryan Kirkham, Chair of UtahRealEstate.com, “in order to promote technology innovation in real estate that benefits our broker and agent communities.”

In late 2019, UtahRealEstate.com’s API was finalized by its technical team and the entire MLS database became fully distributable to any vendor or broker that meets URE’s licensing agreement terms.

In July of 2020, URE notified all of its vendors (from small local website companies to the largest national vendors) that January of 2021 would be the sunset of all data distribution methods, except for the new API. After that notification, more than 30% of URE’s vendors have converted to the new API, and feeds of every type and kind are flowing through the new technology.

Using easy to follow documentation and standardized technology configuration, any licensed vendor can now enter the Utah real estate market and receive a feed of MLS data that is easy to work with, allowing for accelerated innovation in real estate services and tools.

Brad Bjelke, CEO of UtahRealEstate.com comments, “By requiring all of our data licensees to use our RESO-compliant API, we believe that we are revolutionizing the data distribution process with a keen focus on efficiency, security and data accuracy.”

Move, Inc, Black Knight, Inc. Perchwell, and Hawaii Information Service (MLS Hawaii), all named in RESO’s article, have all made similar steps with their own systems to upgrade to a new Web API and be consistent with the Data Dictionary.

About RESO

RESO is a real estate organization with a vision of streamlining the real estate technology industry, providing standard that real estate technology companies can adopt to foster better communication and data transfer in the industry.

Of the 556 Multiple Listing Services in the nation, UtahRealEstate.com has been ranked as the 21^st largest in 2020 by T3 Sixty in its Organized Real Estate 200 (ORE200).

Categorized as a “Mega MLS,” UtahRealEstate.com currently has over 18,000 members and is one of the few MLSs in the United States that provides listing data for nearly the entire state of Utah, currently servicing about 96% of all real estate professionals in that area.

Over 50,000 homes are sold each year on UtahRealEstate.com, which not only offers data to real estate agents to share with their clients, but also has one of the top real estate public-facing websites in the country, offering the most up-to-date property listings that are actively for sale.

“We are proud of the company’s growth over the last several years,” said Brad Bjelke, CEO of UtahRealEstate.com. “We have expanded to the boundaries of our state and have now pushed into both Idaho and Nevada with our service offerings.”

About T360

T3 Sixty is a company of real estate industry strategists, mentors and consultants that actively analyze the industry and provide powerful insights to brokerages, association and multiple listing services.

The Organized Real Estate 200 (ORE200) is part of T3 Sixty’s Real Estate Almanac, a list of all U.S. state and local MLSs and REALTOR® associations ranked by their membership size. The figures and counts in this report are as of December 31, 2020.

RISMedia has named CEO of UtahRealEstate.com, Brad Bjelke, as a 2021 Real Estate Newsmaker. Bjelke was named as a “Futurist” for being one of the leading forward thinkers in the real estate industry.

Known for his progressive approach to MLS technology, Bjelke is one of the founding members of MLS Aligned, a rapidly growing group of forward-thinking MLSs working together to bring better products and data distribution services to MLSs nationwide.

Bjelke hosted the 2019 Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) Conference in Salt Lake City, UT, and was the 2020 CMLS Chair. He currently serves on various committees and boards, most notably the National Association of REALTORS® MLS Executive Advisory Board and the CMLS Board of Directors.

Bjelke runs one of the largest MLS organizations in the country, serving 18,000+ subscribers consisting of 94% of Utah’s REALTORS® and places the highest priority on fostering great relationships between the MLS and the brokerage community, helping to ensure his in-house development team is meeting broker needs and developing best-in-class software for the future.

Individuals for the 2021 Real Estate Newsmaker awards were nominated by RISMedia readers and editors. Those nominees that are chosen are divided into eight categories: Influencers, Trailblazers, Futurists, Achievers, Crusaders, Inspirations, Luminaries, and Trendsetters.

Bjelke was also named a RISMedia Newsmaker in 2020 as an “Influencer,” and is also currently on the 2021 Swanepoel Power 200 list, demonstrating his powerful influence on the real estate industry.

September 25, 2020 – Industries often resist change until disruption mandates it. In Utah, however, Brad Bjelke, the CEO of UtahRealEstate.com (“URE”), refuses to wait and see what may happen, and instead believes with passion that multiple listing services must innovate now.

Leading the largest multiple listing service in the state of Utah (and one of the largest in the country) with over 17,400 real estate professionals as members, Bjelke is carving a path of technology advancement to give his members the tools and services they need to excel in the practice of real estate.

When Bjelke took over nearly six years ago, he assembled a strong technology team and a plan to completely rewrite the company’s MLS software and data distribution methodology. In addition, the URE Board of Directors supported the new development tactics as well as the push to lead the country in data distribution. As a result, in less than 2 years, URE became the first organization to be RESO Data Dictionary Platinum Certified, it became one of the first MLSs to launch the RESO Web API, and in 2021, URE will be the first organization in the country to have all of their nearly 200 data vendors using an API for every data feed available (including Internet Data Exchange feeds, Virtual Office Website feeds, broker back office feeds, and any other custom feed that can be imagined or needed).

In late 2019, URE’s API was finalized by its technical team and the entire MLS database became fully distributable to any vendor or broker that meets URE’s licensing agreement terms. In July of 2020, URE notified all of its vendors (from small local website companies to the largest national vendors) that January of 2021 would be the sunset of all data distribution methods, except for the new API. After that notification, more than 30% of URE’s vendors have converted to the new API, and feeds of every type and kind are flowing through the new technology. Using easy to follow documentation and standardized technology configuration, any licensed vendor can now enter the Utah real estate market and receive a feed of MLS data that is easy to work with, allowing for accelerated innovation in real estate services and tools.

Constellation Web Services, one of the largest consumers of real estate data in the nation, was one of the first vendors to utilize URE’s API, and said, “The transition from the old Real Estate Transaction Standard (“RETS”) to URE’s modern API has been extremely easy, and it has made the data we receive much easier to work with. Updates are simple, efficient, and quick, and we are so happy that URE is leading the API movement.”

Greg Robertson, co-founder of W&R Studios (the creator of CloudCMA, Cloud Streams and Cloud MLX), said, “The path toward adopting new standards is never easy, but we’re happy to partner with UtahRealEstate.com to move the needle forward.”

According to Sam Debord, CEO of the Real Estate Standards Organization, “We are so proud of member organizations like UtahRealEstate.com taking the initiative to push RESO standards into the vendor community and to drive adoption of the API. Many of our RESO members are starting the process of converting vendors to the API, but URE is the first to set deadlines and commit to converting all of their vendors and all of their data feeds. This type of leadership is what moves the real estate data industry forward and helps agents and consumers get the best data and innovation possible.”

Bjelke believes that the API is just the initial step in a wide range of innovations that will arise in the coming years, and he is excited to adopt new technologies to continue moving URE forward and leading the MLS industry. “URE is an MLS that leads not just by words, but by example. We will continue that mission going forward, and our members will see those technology benefits day-in and day-out for many years to come.”

About UtahRealEstate.com

Founded in 1994, UtahRealEstate.com is the leading provider of real estate technology in Utah and one of the largest Multiple Listing Services in the United States. The company provides one of the top-ranked real estate websites in the state and serves over 17,000 real estate professionals (approximately 94% of all REALTORS® in the state of Utah) and over 6 million consumers each year.

See the map of all 2019 listings that were available on UtahRealEstate.com in our video below.

Click Here to Start Your Home Search