What You Need To Know About Project Upstream

Project Upstream is the middle man for real estate data. It’s a backend database that provides a central point for data entry. Project Upstream was unveiled in mid-2015 when the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced they were forming a partnership to the tune of $12 million.

So how does this help the real estate industry? The most obvious is streamlining and centralizing the data entry for listings. Instead of having to input the same entry multiple times into different sites, users only have to enter the information in once. From there, Project Upstream can distribute the information across multiple sites including local MLSs or marketing platforms.

Project Upstream is phenomenal. It’s going to put the power in the broker’s and agent’s hands so they can control the distribution of their data.

This is a huge innovation and it’s going to take some time to complete and refine. Obviously, technology doesn’t happen overnight but this is a move in the right direction.

However, it’s not without controversy. Project Upstream is going to raise a lot of eyebrows for big companies like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com, etc. because they make their business from agents who pay for leads. Now the person associated with the listing will be the main point of contact.

My company, Skyslope, provides a backend solution to real estate transaction management. One of our features is streamlining the data entry process so that our clients don’t have to enter dual information. We are not a public facing service and yet, we have two dedicated employees whose main job is to get access to local MLS feeds. It’s an incredible amount of work that we have to do on behalf of our clients who already have access to their local MLS!

I am absolutely pro Upstream and I want to do whatever I can to help push Project Upstream in the right direction. Selfishly, it helps me out but more importantly, it helps the people that I work for, agents and brokers, get back the power they deserve.

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