Sam DeBord, CEO of the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), will deliver a keynote at the 4th International MLS Forum, taking place November 16-17, 2026, at Raffles Istanbul in Istanbul, Türkiye. His address will focus on the more than $1 trillion in real estate purchased annually by buyers who do not live in the country where they are buying, and he will challenge MLSs, brokers, and technology providers to define their role in that market.
DeBord highlights a persistent problem: listing information for cross-border purchases is scattered. While U.S. buyers can view nearly every home for sale on a single portal, buyers in many other countries must ask one broker after another what is available. “The inventory exists, but access to it is very fragmented from an information perspective,” DeBord says. “Creating a more factual, comprehensive picture of what international investment looks like can help the professionals represent buyers better.”
The keynote will center on a strategic decision for MLS organizations: whether to share listings across borders. “Knowing that this trillion-dollar marketplace exists, what’s your role in it?” DeBord asks. He suggests that organizations with valuable marketplace data can act as data providers to a network or as partners empowering brokers and consumers with a more transparent and trustworthy experience. RESO, he adds, supports data partners’ ability to use standards and create an efficient, interoperable information marketplace, with the goal of enabling buyers, sellers, and investors to access more accurate, transparent, and efficient transactions across borders.
For local MLSs and agents, DeBord acknowledges that many U.S. organizations see themselves as local, and that is acceptable. “Probably not everyone in Atlanta is interested in buying a second home in Italy, but some people in Atlanta are,” he says. First MLS, which serves the Atlanta area, has already connected with an MLS in Italy. Such connections can help three groups of clients: people moving abroad, buyers relocating to the U.S. who want to see local listings before they arrive, and local clients seeking a second home or investment property overseas. DeBord notes that cross-border access also gives agents listings their clients may not find on the sites they already use. “It’s a new reason for a consumer to reach out and talk to you, and something exciting and different to add to your set of tools,” he says.
The implications of DeBord’s keynote extend beyond individual transactions. As cross-border investment continues to grow, the ability of MLSs and technology providers to standardize and share data across borders could determine whether the market remains fragmented or becomes more transparent and efficient. The forum, which brings together MLS executives, brokers, and technology providers from a few dozen countries, offers a venue for those discussions. Tickets are available now for MLS leaders deciding where their organizations fit in cross-border real estate.
