Early in 2012, representatives from the RI Commercial and Appraisal Board of REALTORS met with the RI State-Wide Multiple Listing Service staff and board members to examine the data services presently offered to their constituents. From this meeting, it was acknowledged that in order to effectively work in the commercial real estate market, our commercial practitioners require a different set of tools than what is traditionally offered by a multiple listing service. In addition, it was established that these 3rd-party tools are becoming increasingly expensive for brokers and their sales force.
After careful consideration and months of planning, State-Wide MLS has addressed these issues by releasing The Rhode Island Commercial Information Exchange (RICIE) on April 10.
The Exchange will allow practitioners to gather, manipulate and disseminate commercial real estate information according to their specific needs.
State-Wide MLS has employed the services of a market-leading on-line property information system to manage property content. Working with Catylist Real Estate Software, Inc., the nation's largest provider of CIE services, RICIE subscribers will have access to the "Catylist" system, providing users with features like:
* A Property-Centric Research Database - Catylist includes active property listings, sale/lease transactions, property records for each building in the market and demographics. This data is then tied to the underlying parcel records, allowing subscribers to generate useful market statistics and trends.
* A Powerful Marketing Engine - Single data entry allows subscribers to build amazing listing presentations (both online and in print), then distribute them for exposure to a wide network of industry websites, search engines and even their own company websites.
* A Social Networking Platform - Users will have full access to a number of communication tools, including email lists, a discussion forum, a detailed, customizable membership directory, support for blogs, and integration with leading social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
* A Web Presence For Our Market - Catylist is also a content management system used to post news, events, member/leadership lists, etc. RICIE will be a professional, search engine-optimized hub for commercial real estate in our market.
* A Commercial Property Search Engine - RICIE subscribers will have access to the most advanced search engine in the industry, allowing them to search property by any number of criteria in real time.

What are the subscription fees and how do I join?

The subscription fees are based on the level of access a user requires. Further, existing RIAR/State-Wide MLS members get preferred subscription rates, with the Basic CIE service being offered at no charge! Finally, all new CIE subscribers will get access to the Catylist system for free for the first 30 days!


Gregory Skoutas, CCIM is the president of the Rhode Island Commercial and Appraisal Board of Realtors, Providence, R.I.