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PropTechBuzz recently hosted an exclusive episode with Grant Moon on their popular podcast. Grant is the Managing Partner at Home Data Solutions, bringing over 15 years of experience in mortgage lending and real estate technology.
In this episode, Grant shares his expertise on the challenges of real estate brokerage licensing, the complexities of MLS data access, and how Home Data Solutions is helping companies create compliant, seamless home search experiences across the United States.
About Home Data Solutions
Home Data Solutions is redefining the residential real estate experience by simplifying the real estate brokerage licensing landscape. Real estate licensing regulations are complex and vary by state, making compliance a significant hurdle for any company looking to enable home search experiences or monetize residential real estate transactions. Understanding and aligning with these regulations is essential for a compliant and scalable platform.
Summary
How to Navigate Real Estate Licensing and Build Seamless Home Search Experiences for Your Clients
Licensing in the United States is governed by a patchwork of state regulators, local association boards, and MLS associations, with constantly evolving regulations. This fragmentation often stalls innovation in the industry. Home Data Solutions addresses this challenge by maintaining licenses in all 50 states, enabling clients to operate and monetize real estate transactions while providing robust home search capabilities.
Securing a real estate brokerage license is a foundational step for any company aiming to operate in the U.S. real estate market, whether the goal is to build a national property portal or facilitate buying, selling, or renting activities. This requirement is separate from the licensing of individual agents and must be completed before any data access is possible.
Grant Moon explains, The U.S. market is incredibly fragmented, with over 700 independent MLSs. Simply having a brokerage license isn’t enough; you must also navigate the specific requirements of each MLS to aggregate property listings nationwide.
The process of gaining access to MLS data involves meeting the unique requirements of each MLS, making nationwide data aggregation a complex and resource-intensive undertaking.
Drawing from his experience scaling and selling Home Captain, Grant highlights that merely obtaining MLS data does not guarantee a compliant home search experience. The true challenge lies in building the necessary legal and operational infrastructure to meet intricate compliance regulations. Companies that attempt to bypass these requirements risk significant fines and even business shutdowns by state regulatory bodies, which can severely undermine investor confidence and threaten the viability of the business.
Home Data Solutions specializes in helping proptech firms, property management companies, financial institutions, and investors establish their own licensed real estate brokerages. Their services include setting up legal entities in each state, appointing qualified managing brokers, handling all application procedures with state Departments of Real Estate, and managing MLS membership applications. The company also takes care of all compliance work and regulatory filings.
With 51 brokerage licenses, including Washington D.C., and a team of licensed brokers, Home Data Solutions can establish a compliant, nationwide real estate brokerage infrastructure for clients in about four months. This is a significant time saving compared to the years it would take most companies to achieve this independently.
Once MLS data access is secured, another major challenge is data normalization. Each MLS uses its data format, requiring significant technical investment to standardize this information into a unified format for a seamless national home search interface. Middleware solutions are often necessary to ensure a smooth consumer experience. Normalized MLS data can also be leveraged for lead generation, property valuation tools, and other advanced applications.
The need for compliant licensing and MLS access spans several industry sectors. Proptech companies building home search platforms, mortgage banks integrating home search as a lead generation tool, hedge funds and private equity firms conducting transactions across multiple states, and property management companies engaging with renters all require proper licensing. According to Grant, “Whenever you are engaging with customers for purposes of buying and selling real estate will need a license. Even if you’re just a tech company, even if you’re just giving those customers an experience for them to be able to search and it goes to you know a different real estate agent.” In specific cases, such as DSCR loans in California, a real estate brokerage license is required even if a mortgage broker license is not.
Grant Moon’s advice to founders in regulated industries is straightforward: there are no shortcuts when it comes to regulatory compliance. Building a solid, compliant foundation from the outset not only saves time and resources but also creates a strong barrier to entry for competitors. In today’s increasingly litigious real estate environment, operating with full compliance is essential for sustained growth and long-term stability.
Home Data Solutions offers tailored consultations to help companies understand their business needs and market strategies. Their expertise includes brokerage management, MLS data integration, and real estate market consultation, ensuring clients can scale efficiently and compliantly.
By bridging the licensing gap and simplifying the complexities of MLS data access, Home Data Solutions empowers clients to focus on innovation and user experience. Their nationwide reach, industry expertise, and commitment to compliance make them a trusted partner for companies aiming to build the next generation of real estate technology.Â
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By Proptechbuzz
By Ravi Kumar
