During the last four decades, Financial Business Solutions (FBS) has established itself as the go-to authority in serving Multiple Listing Service (MLS) clients. They’ve achieved this with a sharp focus on helping the MLS deliver its value proposition of Making the Market Work®, demonstrating an unrivaled understanding of the real estate ecosystem.
Recent shockwaves from the National Association of REALTORS®’(NAR) commission lawsuit settlement and its mandate to remove offers of agent compensation from the MLS are still reverberating. MLSs, real estate brokerages, agents and consumers are navigating new, uncertain territory against a broader backdrop of slowing home sales, high home prices and still-elevated mortgage rates. Meanwhile, MLSs are facing new compliance and legal landmines while adjusting their business practices. It takes experience and vision to emerge upright amidst what feels like a season of incredibly stormy weather. Fortunately, FBS brings those—and more—to the MLS community.
The latest industry shifts and enhanced scrutiny on MLS compliance provide FBS with a runway for strategic collaboration with MLSs, helping them define, design and navigate their future. “In times like this, where the industry is changing a lot, having our customers’ needs as a North Star is critical because it helps us stay focused while also responding rapidly when their needs change,” FBS President and CEO Michael Wurzer says. “I think our focus on customer needs is the primary differentiator for us. A lot of companies talk about customers, but truly hearing them has to be ingrained deep within your company, or you end up either overwhelmed by information or you miss what’s truly going to make a difference. Every team at FBS has people and processes fine-tuned to listen and find the most important needs. This allows us to simultaneously stay focused on long-term goals while being responsive to changing circumstances like we have today in the industry.”
That focus helped propel North Dakota-based FBS to the status of an intrepid visionary and leader within the industry. While others have come and gone, the company, serving 320,000-plus real estate professionals nationwide, has achieved the kind of long-term staying power that other firms can only dream about.
Becoming the MLS authority
FBS has become the authority in their space through taking bold action and delivering results for their customers—for decades. From creating the first Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) guidelines-based API and the first native mobile app to Wurzer’s tireless leadership and advocacy for MLS standardization, FBS has a proven track record of leading from out in front, establishing a number of groundbreaking industry firsts that have paved the way for others to follow. The knowledge gained from breaking ground and tilling early soil provides the FBS team with breadth and depth of technical and solutions-based understanding that’s hard to find yet vital to envisioning new paths forward. Consecutive years of industry recognition are validating, including the 2023 T360 MLS Platform Study where FBS came out on top with high marks for customer service, support and product ratings. Also notable, beyond the industry, FBS won the 2019 Forbes Small Giants Award for its people-and-purpose-first approach to success and growth.
“The magic of FBS lies within its people and a people-first focus extending outward from FBS employee-owners to clients and the industry on-whole,” says FBS EVP & Head of Marketing Kim Prior. “Software and systems are developed and run by people. Experience and deep knowledge are critical. Caring deeply about people and being unified in the desire to see customers win is a difference maker. That’s what ownership culture at FBS is all about.”
As a 100% employee-owned company, FBS has already achieved four-plus consecutive decades of business, service and product excellence. In fact, the company boasts the highest retention rates in the industry, renewing a remarkable 100% of its customer contracts most years, while continuously growing in software users and new accounts. “When we talk to our customers about this, they gush about the personal and respectful service we provide in every interaction,” Wurzer says. “We know that’s directly attributable to the fact that every employee has an ownership stake in FBS. Simply put, owners deliver results.”
A proven leader in real estate technology
Another FBS competitive advantage is its unmatched ability to provide accurate, real-time listing data. Having access to robust, real-time data enables real estate agents to shine with homebuyers and sellers. MLS organizations have worked hard to make more real estate data available online.
“We help our MLS customers make that possible,” Wurzer says. “Within seconds of a listing being entered in the MLS, it is distributed to IDX and VOW websites, consumer portals, mobile apps and others so consumers can act quickly. And all of this happens at no extra cost to the agents, brokers or consumers, which is a super sharp contrast to how it works in other countries.”
The company’s two primary MLS solutions—Flexmls® and Spark®—form the foundation of FBS’ core tech offerings. The Flexmls Platform is built on national data standards and provides a level of local flexibility not possible through any other MLS System. The Flexmls Platform ingests and integrates data from a variety of sources (varying locally by MLS), surfacing that data to Flexmls subscribers and distributing it to MLS-approved data-licensees and third-party applications. It connects practitioners to information, products and tools that they need, and to their buyers and sellers (consumers) with the most accurate, timely and comprehensive property data.
Then there’s Spark API and Datamart, which, together, standardize MLS data delivery while streamlining and automating the data licensing process for the MLS, enabling web developers to build best-of-class apps and websites for brokers and agents.
With real-time data being critical for MLS success, FBS is helping MLS clients meet their goals to reduce pain points from overlapping markets and enable MLSs to redefine the markets they serve with a variety of solutions, such as real-time front-end-of-choice solutions, single point of entry and a variety of data-sharing initiatives.
“FBS has been a leader in bringing real-time replication to market by being one of the first to implement a RESO standard in our partnership with Rental Beast,” says Wurzer. “We’ve also implemented real-time updates in work we’ve done with Northstar MLS, and we’ll soon be launching real-time updates from Flexmls for two key front-end-of-choice initiatives we’re implementing for customers.”
Wurzer points to another recent innovative offering—FBS’ Data and Media Provider program that provides 3D tours—as an example of the company’s proactive approach.
Here’s how it works: The program’s first participants, Matterport and Planitar, are using machine learning and other advanced techniques to extract data from 3D models, including floor plans and room dimensions. This helps agents more accurately and consistently collect data about MLS listings to share with their clients.
“Our Data and Media Provider program makes it super easy for agents to auto-populate this data and media into their listings,” Wurzer says. “That saves them time and improves the accuracy and depth of data in the MLS compilation, which is a real win-win.”
It’s this kind of innovative thinking and offering that helped FBS firmly plant its stake in the ground as a pioneer in MLS software development.
Prioritizing customers’ needs first
At each customer touchpoint with an FBS expert, Wurzer underscores a common guiding principle: understanding customer goals and pain points. That begins at the visioning stage. FBS collaborates with MLS clients to understand their goals and desired outcomes before getting into solutions.
“Technical solutions need to be driven by the goals rather than the other way around,” Wurzer points out. “This ensures that MLSs solve the actual problems they need to solve and realize a strong return on their investment,” he adds.
Dionna Hall, CEO of Broward, Palm Beaches and St. Lucie REALTORS® and BeachesMLS, and Council of MLS (CMLS) 2024 Chairwoman with 43,000 MLS subscribers in South Florida, says that FBS has been an “amazing partner” in ensuring a seamless data flow and user
experience.
“FBS has consistently anticipated the direction of our industry and taken proactive steps to lead the way,” Hall says. “Whether that’s MLS data, forms, tax data or upcoming AI integrations, FBS has been able to tackle and successfully bring together several ecosystems into one user-friendly platform.”
Greg Manship, SVP of MLS and Data Integrations at BeachesMLS, has seen the benefits of partnering with FBS for the agents and their clients who depend on accurate property data.
“Partnering with FBS has helped us reduce errors, enforce rules and boost trust in our MLS,” Manship says. “The integrations from Flexmls bring innovative tools like mobile apps, interactive maps and customizable client portals allowing real-time interaction with listings. This enhances communication, speeds up decision-making and leads to more successful transactions.”
Manship adds that Flexmls also enables agents to tailor property searches, alerts and reports, providing a more personalized experience that strengthens client relationships and satisfaction.
“Working with FBS has been a collaborative process in which the company tailors their software to local market needs while actively listening to and incorporating feedback from MLS leaders and subscribers,” Hall says.
Matt Fowler is another happy FBS customer. Fowler is the executive director of Doorify MLS (formerly Triangle MLS), serving 14,300 subscribers throughout North Carolina. He recently won the prestigious CMLS Shuttleworth MLS Executive Award for 2024. Although FBS’ robust back-end technology initially drew Fowler in, he says he stayed a satisfied customer because of the support and care he’s received from FBS staff.
“When you call and you talk to an engineer or sales, they’re all owners, so they treat you differently,” Fowler says. “We’re part of changing some important things in the industry, and FBS is helping us do that.”
Fowler notes that FBS’ agility and responsiveness are crucial “because the future, as we can see, is not predictable,” he says.
Looking to the future
The aftermath of the NAR settlement leaves the MLS with new challenges. With agent compensation offers strictly banned from being displayed on the platforms, MLSs now have an added layer of scrutiny and compliance to manage in the immediate future.
“With offers of compensation no longer part of the MLS, doubling down on data is a must for MLSs to enable their members to compete in the market,” Wurzer says. “That’s where FBS is focused, too.
“However, many policymakers and regulators don’t grasp that cooperation and competition are both necessary so MLSs can work effectively for consumers,” says Wurzer. “After all, the American real estate system is the envy of the world, and international entities are right now working hard to replicate our standards-system to provide a more transparent and open real estate marketplace.
“Cooperation is how MLSs aggregate the data, and that data is necessary for competitive markets,” Wurzer points out. “We need regulators and litigators to understand that the MLS data doesn’t just create itself; it requires the cooperation created by MLSs. Without that, the data will be fragmented, harming competition. So, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
“At the same time, brokerage leaders and others in the industry have to understand that their local MLS doesn’t exist to protect them from competition, but rather, to make competition possible,” says Wurzer.
“Creating long-term strategies and policies is challenging in this industry because of the tension between these two, but it’s literally what makes the market work,” Wurzer says. “FBS is focused on ensuring that MLSs continue to source the most complete and accurate data for their markets.”
As FBS’ employee-owners chart a path for the future, their mission has never been clearer or more critical. Wurzer says MLSs are here to stay, mostly operating in the background.
“It’s hard and important—critically important—work that is best done by MLSs that understand the local and regional markets,” he says. “As a technology company serving MLSs, we understand that our role is to create technical innovations, but we also know that we have a responsibility to partner with our customers to continue to prove our value to the industry as well.
“Doing that is not just about the next shiny feature, but about helping the world understand what we’re doing and why it’s important.”
For more information, visit https://wearefbs.com.
