by G. Sax, Director of Growth Management, RESO
Welcome to “Three Questions,” an interview series that introduces you to real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards with a goal of humanizing the tech side of the industry, fun included.
This week’s interview is with Gayle Ludemann, the MLS Director at the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® (SABOR). Gayle has amassed 26 years of real estate experience, starting her career as a Construction Escrow Coordinator for First American Title Insurance Company, gathering county records for title searches and approving construction escrow accounts and disbursements for large sums of money before honing in on the MLS side of the industry for nearly 20 years at Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED). As of this writing, she is approaching her third complete year at SABOR. Gayle was the first ever person to receive RESO’s RED-B designation for completing the Working with Real Estate Data (WWRED) course. | LEARN MORE ABOUT WWRED
Q1: This question has been and will continue to be asked of others to obtain a larger sample size and because it remains a curiosity of what makes real estate “local.”
You have worked in multiple MLS markets. In your experience, does geography matter in MLS data, or is a house a house, a condo a condo and land land no matter where you are?
Gayle: There are differences. The biggest difference I see is that state law differences matter. States with non-disclosure, like Texas, means that the sale price is not disclosed to or recorded with the government as a matter of public record.
I came from Illinois, which is a disclosure state. Going from a disclosure to a non-disclosure state significantly affects an agent’s willingness to disclose information prior to or during a sale.
What that means in terms of MLS is that there’s a difference in how data is viewed and how it should be shared with other MLS participants. It also affects how it should be dealt with regarding vendors and syndicators, and it changes agent viewpoints on how to effectuate their fiduciary duties to their clients.
Personally, making that migration required me to adjust my perspective on the role of the MLS in terms of guarding and protecting the data. Payloads and permissions play a much bigger role in my view now.
Q2: You are a regular contributor to RESO’s Data Dictionary Workgroup and a driver of the Data Dictionary’s evolution. Why is this important to you?
Gayle: Efficiency matters. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true.
There’s nothing that irritates me more than doing the same work three or four times over. If I’m doing that, I’m looking for ways to streamline or automate.
RESO’s Data Dictionary creates opportunities for us to collaborate on solutions to the great real estate inefficiency problem. I can either be a part of the solution or part of the problem. I choose to be part of the solution.
Q3: You moved from Chicago to San Antonio. Do you now own a pair of cowboy boots or other typical Texan accessory and have you worn this accessory in public?
Gayle: (Points down.)
