There’s a massive issue that’s happening behind the scenes right now in real estate and that is that “The MLS is Down“. Now, for you that might sound a lot like “Facebook is down” and so instead of scrolling we switch our screen time to TikTok, or YouTube or whatever grabs you. It’ll come back up soon enough.
That isn’t the same for a professional real estate agent. The MLS is much more than a place where your home is listed. It’s the communication network that makes the industry happen. To make matters worse, it’s not just been down for an hour or a day, it’s been down since August 8th!
THE PROBLEM
Not to get too deep, but the data that powers our local MLS is actually handled by a national company. That company is called Rapattoni and they don’t just handle the massive amount of data for us in Fresno, they power many of the MLS companies in the country!
The problem is that they have been hit by a ransomware attack that has encrypted (locked up) virtually every piece of data that they were managing.
Ransomware is a form of malware designed to deny an organization access to files. By encrypting these files and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key, cyber attackers place organizations in a position where paying the ransom might be the only way to regain access to their files.
WHY THIS IS A PROBLEM
It’s not just the pretty pictures of homes on the market. The agents use the MLS to add new listings, give showing instructions to buyer’s agents, denote that a property is under contract or sold or even price reduced, and so much more. Right now, NONE of that can happen!
WHAT FRESYES IS DOING
As service to you, to other agents, to the industry as a whole, we have offered to publish a very simplified list of new listings. We’re hoping that will go out on Thursday and it will have all the information you need. Make sure you are subscribed to our newsletters and check it out!
It’s been reported that ransomware attackers will have extorted around $449.1 million by June of this year. Four Hundred, Forty Nine Million Dollars!
IF YOU ARE A LOCAL AGENT
And want to get your listing into our published list, send an email to mike@fresyes.com and he’ll get you going!
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