The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-06-15
.STARKE REVIEWS
 REALTY MEETING
Discussion Of New List ing Feature At Wash
 ington, He Says

IlOH Ol the NdCOual 1tcAI .GSIdCc dSSO- citation, held in Washington June 3-6, at which the Birmingham Real Estate board made such handsome showing, Executive Secretary s.. c. Starke made the following observations Saturday.:
 Tt is entirely out of the range of possibility for one man to attend all of the general meetings and all of the discussions in the numerous meetings of the seven great divisions into which the national association is divided. It therefore becomes necessary for each del egate to choose just those meetings that he is most interested, in and that do not conflict in point of time of. meet ing. Thus it is readily seen how made quate must be any one report of one delegate as to what he saw and learned. There was one dinner that I attended as the only representative of Birming- ham present and during which much profitable discussion was ipdulged in without any formality. The dinner was given at the Racket club and the ap- proximately 20 men present were at the table for more than two hours, finger ing long after the excellent dinner had been despatched.
 "A large portion of the time was given to asking and answering ques- tions M regard to. the comparatively new system of selling real estate, known as the multiple listing system, by which listing of property for sale given ex. clusively to one member is broadcasted to the other members. Nearly all. of the secretaries present at the dinner were from cities where this system is in force, and the few secretaries whose cities have not installed the multiple listing system were afforded an oppor- tunity to learn about the working of the plan in other cities. The following cities having this system were repre- sented at the table: Chicago, Omaha, Reading, New Orleans, Birmingham, To- ledo, Louisville, Milwaukee, Allentown, Atlantic City, Camden, Trenton, Win nipeg, Charleston, Canton, Akron and Duluth. Of course there are many times this number of cities in the Unit ed states that have in actual operation this modern and efficient method of selling real estate which has made it far easier to secure from property own CTS an exclusive listing and at the same time offer them the advantage of hay ing their property in the files of every member office.
 Not a single secretary at the table, coming from multiple listing city, showed any disposition to have the board in his city go back to the old plan of listing properties. Mir. Don ner of the New Orleans board, where multiple listing has scored such re- markable success, was kept at the table so long to tell all about the machinery nf kha cfavfp in that he was very late for another en- gagement, which by the way was none other than to be present. and deliver a lecture while a film was being run to show the operation of the, system in his city. Finally he simply had to leave us and the discussion went on. <
 Multiple listing has received the sanction of the national sassociation, and it must be admitted that in theory at least it is ideal for residence prop erty. Like everything else, it., cannot be absolutely perfect in practice. Its greatest drawbacks are due,i not to the system. itself, but to human weakness and misunderstanding. These can only be overcome with the lapse of time and the exercise of patience. The real tors that are members of the. system must cooperate with. each other and render the service in showing the fellow agents listing, which contemplated service made possible the securing of the exclusive listing for the system. It is too short-sighted a policy to limit one's self to ones own listngss and again such a policy hurts the system. Ten, too, a realtor must be strong enough to decline to. list property at a wholly unreasonable price, thus pre- venting disappointment and dissatis- faction on the part of the property owner. On the other hand, the property owner himself must be fair-minded. He must realize that multiple listing can not guarantee anything; it can only offer modern and enlarged facilities for the sale of real estate. He only lays a fine predicate for his own dissatis- faction and disappointment when he lists unstable property or property rendered unstable by virtue of an un- reasonable price. His failure then to move his property tempts him to blame the system and demand that his prop erty be released from duly signed contract.
 Both Responsible
 ''Thus it is seen that both the realtor and the property owner have a very real responsibility Tn the success or multiple listing, and the result of the failure of either one to measure up to this responsibility is likely, to be charged against the system. And yet, one may well ask the most dissatisfied property owner where he may turn to find a better chance of selling his prop erty than he finds in putting it, on the multiple listing system, where listing it multiple listing system, where listing it with all the members. Can anybody claim that this does not offer better chance of, selling than listing the prop erty exclusively with just one office or listing it with a dozen or so offices on an open listing that may receive but scant attention from anybody? |
 ''The proof of the pudding is in the eating" Once let the members of null tiple listing realize and live up to their responsibility, and let the property own CTS do the same, and multiple listing will demonstrate it's remarkable efficiency If either side fails to do this, the theory of multiple listing is not to be blamed.
 Multiple listing has now been in use in Birmingham for just about a year, and up. to April 1, 1924, approximately $730,000 of property had changed hands 1 on this plan and nearly all of it was