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Minnesota-based NorthstarMLS has chosen multiple listing service veteran Tim Dain as its new CEO.
Dain’s first day as CEO is Monday, Sept. 19, and his first priority is to “ensure that we maintain a high level of service to our members and partners at NorthstarMLS,” he told Inman via email.
Tim Dain
Dain previously served as vice president and general manager of MLS at real estate tech firm Remine for about a year-and-a-half before leaving the company in May, according to his LinkedIn profile. Remine, which was acquired by four MLSs in October 2021, announced that it had hired a new CEO Frederick Townes in April.
“After the Remine acquisition and the arrival of the new Remine CEO they decided to eliminate my role at the company,” Dain said.
Before his stint at Remine, Dain had been an MLS executive for a decade. He was executive director of Illinois-based SIR/MLS Inc. for nearly six years starting in January 2010, then MLS director at the Austin Board of Realtors for two years. He was president and CEO of Missouri-based MLS MARIS for three years before joining Remine in November 2020. Prior to becoming an MLS executive, Dain was an agent and a broker-owner, according to a press release.
“Tim has the knowledge, experience and leadership acumen needed to maintain NorthstarMLS’ momentum and direction in serving its Realtor users’ new and evolving needs,” said Brian Rossow, NorthstarMLS’s board chairman, in a statement.
Dain will replace John Mosey, who will be retiring after 47 years in the real estate industry. In his 20 years at Northstar, Mosey grew the MLS from about 7,500 subscribers in 2002 to 22,600 now. NorthstarMLS facilitated 104,631 real estate transactions in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin in 2021 valued at $35.5 billion, the MLS said.
John Mosey
“Just as I stepped into this organization 20 years ago and helped NorthstarMLS evolve and grow, Tim is the ideal steward who can help the organization continue to deliver top value for our Realtor subscribers now and into the future,” Mosey said in a statement.
Asked about his future plans, Mosey answered in his characteristic colorful yet straightforward manner.
“I see being Tim’s ‘gofer’ in my future, probably at minimum wage,” Mosey told Inman via email.
“I’m here to the end of the year to help with the transition and bringing some projects to their conclusion. The plan is to turn over the reins as soon as Tim feels comfortable in his understanding of our people, our initiatives and aspirations.”
In his new role, Dain will oversee the MLS’s daily operations and lead new business development efforts including the continued expansion of NorthstarMLS’s Common Data Platform (CDP), the MLS said.
Mosey’s brainchild, the CDP is a shared database and listing input system compatible with all major MLS interfaces which allows MLSs who join to keep their own identity, their own rules and their own administration.
Nearly all Minnesota Realtors, 96.3 percent, have access to shared listing data through the platform without having to pay for numerous MLS subscriptions. NorthstarMLS licenses the use of the CDP to MLSs in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri and Illinois. The platform will expand to North Dakota in first-quarter 2023.
“It is a tremendous honor for me to be chosen to succeed John and lead an organization that I hold in such high regard,” Dain said in a statement.
“I’m looking forward to stepping into an organization that has established a national reputation for commitment to leadership, quality and customer service. In this era of MLS cooperation and evolution, it is my goal to continue the progress made by John and the NorthstarMLS leadership team toward a more efficient Midwest marketplace.”
Asked why he decided to return to serving as an MLS executive, Dain told Inman, “I have a passion for MLS and its role in service to real estate professionals. I also have viewed Mosey as a mentor for me within the real estate industry and I’m excited to follow in his footsteps.”
