Did IDX Kill Buyer Agency?
If you wind back the clock, the greatest value of working with an agent as a home buyer was access to inventory – the MLS and "coming soon" listings. There was no internet, and consumers could not reasonably find all of the homes in a market on their own. They were limited to newspapers and magazines. Back then, buyers highly appreciated the service of a buyer's agent to find listings, schedule showings, craft buyer CMAs, offer submission and negotiation, and closing management. IDX allowed the consumer to find listings without an agent, and in some ways, schedule showings. But the rest of the work has remained the domain of the buyer's agent. I am a strong supporter of buyer agency and understand the value of IDX to serve the home buying consumer and their agent; but, I believe that IDX is a child of the offer of compensation. If the listing broker is offering buyer-broker compensation, then it strategically aligns to support programs – like IDX – that allow buyer agents to advertise their services to consumers with home search. Now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued an opinion in the Nosalek case which points the industry toward eliminating any offer of compensation to the buyer agent from the seller/listing firm. The DOJ does not condemn buyer agency; they condemn the relationship of competitors working together with the seller and buyer to determine commissions. They want a clean cut. The seller hires their agent, and pays them. Same is true of the buyer's agent — they get paid by the buyer. The listing broker is no longer incentivized to support the buyer agent lead generation on IDX websites if the offer of compensation is not part of the MLS. Given this new construct, it seems like the best way that MLSs can support buyer's agents is by eliminating IDX. If consumers no longer have access to every listing on the 500,000+ websites, it would increase the need to work with a buyer's agent. The online landscape of property search would dramatically change if IDX was terminated. The only property search solution remaining for consumers would be VOW. VOW requires home buyers to register and hire a buyer's agent to search for property. If you want to see a model property search solution on a broker website without IDX, search homes in Cleveland using HowardHanna.com. Howard Hanna Real Estate Services opted out of IDX, so they only display their own listings to consumers who are unregistered on their site. When you register and agree to use a Howard Hanna agent to buy your home, you see all of the competitor listings. I have long believed that the buyer's agent often does a lot more work to earn a commission than the listing agent, even in today's condition of limited inventory. I want to see the buyer agency survive these class action lawsuits. The best idea that gets my vote is the cancellation of IDX. The one segment of the industry that would be most damaged by the loss of IDX are paper brokers. Those are brokers in license who only use their license to gain data access and do not endeavor to represent home buyers or sellers. I have not conjured up a fix for those companies in the absence of IDX. I guess that they would need to go back to being advertising websites, and advertising in magazines and newspapers may have a comeback. Additionally, ListHub or similar services would presumably have a comeback. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Howard Hanna Opts Out of IDX and Tests VOW
Howard Hanna is the largest privately held real estate company in America, closing 113,853 transactions in 2022 – resulting in more than $36 billion in closed sale volume – ranking the firm No. 5 in the nation among all brokerages. HowardHanna.com is also among the most visited websites among all brokerages in America. Also, in the 13-state footprint of the firm, they experience consumer visits that compete head-to-head with many of the top national portals, often exceeding Redfin, Homes.com, and others in core markets. In northern Ohio, the firm has opted out of the IDX program in MLS Now. When consumers search the site HowardHanna.com in those markets on their broker website, they only see Howard Hanna listings unless they are logged in and assigned to a Howard Hanna agent. Users that are logged in see all MLS listings. That is how a VOW website works. VOW pumps up registrations and highlights company listings As you might imagine, consumers do not really understand IDX vs. VOW websites. Howard Hanna has turned this into a lead generation tool. I did a search for Rocky River, Ohio as an unregistered user and the following interstitial appears: "...Our company has 63 listings that match your search criteria out of 105 listings on the market. To view more, click here." Clicking takes the consumer to a registration page. In deploying a VOW, Howard Hanna is also promoting their listings in the market front-and-center. Many visitors to broker websites are drawn there from a yard sign or the firm's reputation. Placing their inventory first makes a lot of sense, especially when you have more than 60% of the listings in a community. For visitors looking for a Howard Hanna listing, they are more easily accessed without sorting through hundreds of listings of other firms. For buyers who want to see all homes that match their search criteria, they create an account. Howard Hanna agent websites were also converted to VOW. They operate just like HowardHanna.com, displaying company listings to unregistered users and all MLS listings to VOW consumers. Howard Hanna continues to advertise listings on Zillow.com One element of the Howard Hanna strategy is the company's commitment to advertising listings on Zillow.com. Although Zillow is a participating broker of MLS Now, the company is also an advertising platform for real estate listings. Howard Hanna maintains an advertising relationship with Zillow, local newspapers, real estate magazines, and other popular real estate advertising firms to widely market listings for sale. Worth noting, Redfin.com is also a VOW real estate website. When Redfin refreshed their feed from MLS Now, the Howard Hanna listings were not displayed unless users register to the website. Howard Hanna listings are in the MLS This should almost go without saying, but Howard Hanna listings are in MLS Now. All agents working with homebuyers can use the CoreLogic OneHome client portal and set up listing alerts. None of the MLS tools or services for agents have been impacted by the selection not to participate in IDX. If you search a Howard Hanna listing by property address, it is interesting to note how many websites are out of compliance with the refresh rules of the MLS. There are numerous sites that have not taken down the listings to unregistered users. I doubt that this is intentional, but merely a result of poor IDX data handling systems. What should other brokers and agents do? All brokers and agents in the market have the option to upgrade their website to a VOW website. Today, HowardHanna.com has a competitive advantage. Given that Howard Hanna is the leading firm in the market, consumers will quickly realize that they are not seeing all the listings from IDX only sites. They are more likely to start using HowardHanna.com. It is important that agents set up searches for their clients in the MLS to view all listings. Brokers should also look into converting their websites to a VOW site. Want to learn more about VOW? WAV Group wrote a series of articles about VOW websites: What Is a VOW and How Can It Help You Grow Your Business? How to Use Your VOW Website for New Customer Acquisition How to Use Your VOW Website to Communicate with Buyers Sell Homes Quickly with a VOW Website How to Use Your VOW Website to Retain Clients for Life In closing, it is exciting to see innovative brokers like Howard Hanna testing strategies to drive more opportunities to their real estate agents. Here are a few other link examples to tests and innovations that we have covered by Howard Hanna: Howard Hanna Syndication Announcement 'Coming Soon' Programs from Compass and Howard Hanna: Find Out How HH Sold 55 Homes in One Month with Find It First Hanna Financial Driving Real Estate Transactions with Buy Before You Sell Program In review of our posts mentioning Howard Hanna, we actually foreshadowed this strategy back in 2012. To view the original article, visit the WAV Group blog.

Markt Position on Attribution in IDX and VOW
Markt has been made aware of a potential revision to the currently proposed amendments to Policy Statement 7.58 that would change broker attribution to agent attribution in IDX and VOW. Markt opposes revisions to national policy that expand the privileges granted to MLS participants to their affiliated subscribers. Markt submits the following for consideration by the industry. As an organization of multiple MLSs representing our local markets and the value of the multiple listing service, we believe that additional research and understanding of the proposed amendments is necessary before any action is taken. A statement of the problem, solutions, and prevalence has not been provided and there is little awareness that a change has been proposed. Agent Attribution Undermines the Intent of IDX According to NAR, "Internet Data Exchange (IDX), also referred to as 'Broker Reciprocity,' is the next stage in the evolution of MLS as the primary means of enhancing cooperation between REALTORS® to facilitate the purchase and sale of real property." Reciprocity is created by and between MLS participants, not their affiliated subscribers. While advancements in technology and consumer choice must continue, erasing the competitive opportunity of broker firms by national mandate does not move our industry forward nor improve consumer experience. Since the inception of IDX, cooperating brokers have allowed their listings to be displayed by their competitors with the knowledge that they could compete and generate leads with their own sites. After many have invested significant time and expense in their IDX technology as a lead generation and firm differentiator, requiring agent contact information to be listed stifles competition and innovation in broker sites. Listing Ownership and Advertising Rights Belong to the Participant Beyond lead generation and business concerns is the interest of the consumer. Listing agent contact information does not provide further transparency to the consumer as the listing agent is not the owner of the listing. The requirements of each state and their license laws regarding advertising vary but recognize that advertising and promotion of listings is a function of the listing firm. Consumer transparency is best served by directing consumers to the owner of the listing, the brokerage, to manage inquiries as they see fit within the bounds of their existing legal and ethical duties. Requiring Listing Agent Contact in IDX Display Circumvents the MLS Participant Relationship IDX is a Participant-to-Participant agreement that extends permissions for the display of another broker's listings. Further expanding this agreement to listing agents fundamentally changes the meaning of MLS participation. Listing agents, as subscribers, receive their access and privileges within the MLS system under their broker, the participant. If national policy were to mandate display and contact information of subscribers, it would interfere with the independent business decisions of the participant in the management of their intellectual property. Recommendations Markt recommends that this proposal does not advance without further research and understanding to identify what this policy recommendation is trying to accomplish in order to understand the best approach. We are strongly opposed to any modifications to IDX policy that include agent attribution and contact. Markt is a multi-MLS service organization focused on pooling resources and expertise to serve brokers/agents better wherever they may be. Serving ARMLS, Metro MLS, realMLS and other MLSs, Markt supports noncontiguous markets with customer support, marketing, technical resources and services of their choosing.

Brokers Need to Revisit VOW Websites
From 2009 to 2013, WAV Group spent a significant portion of our brokerage consulting on explaining what a Virtual Office Website (VOW) is and how it is different from an Internet Data Exchange (IDX) website. Now VOW websites are being discussed again in brokerage meetings and for good reason. Digital paper only brokers have been able to build spectacularly successful businesses that leverage IDX to develop referrals that take a 30% bite out of agent commissions. Brokers who care about the income of their agents should review this carefully. Our recent analysis of brokerage P&L reports from 2020 demonstrates a remarkable increase in the referral commissions paid out to digital paper only brokers – some growing by more than 2000%. WAV Group is forecasting that agent commissions will dip over 10% in 2021 as a result of payouts on referrals by digital paper only brokers. If brokers do not react to this sea change, we believe that agents could see a 17% dip in commissions by 2023.

Out of Area Real Estate Buyers are Gold Nuggets
Does it get tiring trying to get real estate buyers when they're talking to their family, friends, and they even have a relative in the business? You're competing with your expertise against their relationship, and most often you lose. Contrast local buyers with hundreds of relationships that connect to real estate agents or brokerages with out of area buyers moving into the area for employment or vacation properties. While vacation and resort markets are the most productive, most areas have some businesses or industry that has turnover or growth that brings new people to the area.

Help Me, Don't Sell Me: The Future of IDX
One of my favorite pastimes is to read the reviews that consumers leave for Homesnap, the technology partner of the Broker Public Portal. As a consultant to the Broker Public Portal, reading the reviews informs my awareness of the best and worst features of the app. The funny part is that even the complaints are positive. The favorite feature of the app is that consumers are connected directly with the listing agent.

RESO Announces 'Broker Breakthrough' with New IDX Data Standards
The Real Estate Standards Organization's (RESO) newest update to its RESO Data Dictionary – version 1.7 – will add vital updates, including a new IDX (Internet Data Exchange) requirement and Spanish-language capabilities. The RESO Data Dictionary is known as the real estate industry's "Rosetta Stone" as it establishes a common language, allowing real estate information to be understood and translated between systems. The new Data Dictionary 1.7 update includes an IDX data standard for Broker Reciprocity that has 219 fields related to the property. This new standard allows the same MLS property listing information from different MLSs to be delivered to brokers. IDX is an essential tool for brokers as it enables them the right to display each other's listings on websites and mobile apps. This move solves a common problem that occurs when brokers are members of more than one MLS. Because the IDX information that brokers currently receive is not standardized, brokers must spend time and resources to "normalize" the property information they collect from different MLSs before using it. The new requirement is expected to be applauded by the brokerage industry, which has pushed for IDX standardization. "IDX standardization is now a reality," said Art Carter, chair of the RESO board and CEO of California Regional MLS (CRMLS). "This has been a top priority for our Broker Advisory Group and we are pleased to deliver a solution that the broker community has wanted to serve consumers better." David Gumpper, who chairs the RESO Broker Advisory Group, said, "This is exceptionally good news for brokers and for every IDX technology firm. It means quicker time to market and that brokers will be able to expand into new markets faster. If all MLSs follow NAR mandates, we will have the highest quality and consistency of IDX data going out across all markets. This gives consumers access consistently to the best information. Agents and brokers look better when the information we give consumers is better. We've been lobbying for an IDX standard for years and now RESO is delivering a major breakthrough for brokers." Also, for the first time, the RESO Data Dictionary 1.7 update mandates that MLS organizations must implement the RESO Data Dictionary on the RESO Web API to obtain certification for the new version. This certification combines the validation of a company's system to structure real estate information to RESO standards and the ability to communicate the information to others through an Application Programming Interface (API). "The RESO Web API is the future for standardizing real estate data," said Carter. "This will allow us to award MLSs RESO Data Dictionary and RESO Web API certifications instantly when the Data Dictionary is implemented on a certified RESO Web API platform." Carter notes the RESO Data Dictionary is available to more than 1.3 million members of Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) nationwide – predominately real estate agents and brokers – mostly through a communication standard called RETS. Carter explains that RESO wants to see full MLS migration from RETS – a technology created in 1999 – to modernize how real estate information is communicated through current robust and responsive web API technology. In layman terms, the transition to APIs will mean that more real estate agents and brokers will gain access to the most current and accurate data available, thus delivering the right information to their consumers. The interest in RESO standards continues to grow globally. Firms in Canada and India are now using RESO standards and interest is on the rise among international software development companies. The RESO Data Dictionary, which now includes Spanish-language fields, will serve Spanish-speaking countries. Including Spanish also responds to requests from brokers and agents to better serve their sellers and buyers in the U.S. Fifty-two million people comprise the U.S. Hispanic and Latino population alone, according to the U.S. Census, and it's growing at four times the rate of the nation's total population. Other updates for Data Dictionary 1.7 include the addition of hundreds of new data fields to provide for information on real estate agent teams, open houses, social media sites, roster information, property history, saved searches and showing events and hundreds of pick list items related to property, members and offices. Data Dictionary 1.7 also includes new fields for the RESO Organization Unique Identifier (OUID), a common method to give firms an identification number in the RESO ecosystem, as well as additional fields to track web user activity across the internet. "The latest version of the RESO Data Dictionary will deliver huge benefits to both real estate professionals and consumers," said Rob Larson, chair of the RESO Data Dictionary Workgroup and CIO of CRMLS. An original pioneer of the Data Dictionary, which traces its roots to 2011, Larson added, "The dictionary is a living document and will continue to grow, but it's exciting to reach this milestone. It's taken the help of a lot of dedicated folks to get to where we are. But the implementation of this version by MLSs, brokerages and software technology firms will lead to the improvement of websites, mobile apps and other technologies, and we believe it will drive more innovation." RESO's commitment to evolve its Data Dictionary and real estate standards is shown by its dedication to hold conferences, which hosts its in-person workshop meetings. Both Larson and Carter encourage brokers, MLSs and technology firms to join them at the upcoming RESO Conference in Boise, Idaho, April 29-May 2, 2019. More improvements to the Data Dictionary and other RESO standards are part of the agenda. Details about the RESO 2019 Spring Technology Summit can be found online at https://www.reso.org/spring-mtg.    

How RESO Helped a Tech Firm Find the 'Cool Kids,' Launch Instant IDX Websites
Troy McCasland is the CEO of San Diego-based AgentSquared, a real estate tech firm that builds Instant IDX websites using RESO compliant Web APIs. Launched initially with FBS, the creators of Flexmls, AgentSquared is rapidly expanding, coming soon to both CoreLogic Trestle and Paragon through their API solutions. For McCasland, one of the best values RESO offers comes from attending its conferences. "This is the best conference for me," he says in this video interview emphatically, explaining, "It's the only conference where decision-makers and key influencers are easily accessible." "There's nothing else out there that offers this kind of intimacy," he says.

Data Talk and the Consumer Experience
For the last month, a lot of people have been talking about data. Inman Disconnect crafted a data statement as one of its Parker Principles, RESO's spring 2018 conference was all about data, and the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) held a panel to discuss how real estate can be more competitive with technology, which included data as a component of its theme. Here are some thoughts on the good, bad and ugly uses of data.

A Brokerage IT Leader's View on MLS Consolidation
Consolidation of associations and/or MLSs at any level has its pros and cons. Consolidation can tip the scale in the way that it improves the business, the industry and, most importantly, how it impacts all the stakeholders. This, of course, includes the consumer who is at the top of pyramid! Before we get into the consolidation, my views are from over 14 years as an IT leader in a brokerage. I have experienced the outcomes of several MLSs' provider changes and consolidation of associations and MLSs.

MLSs Working Hard to Make Broker IDX Feeds Work Harder
Key Takeaways 1. The move for MLSs to transition to ONLY RESO-compliant IDX feeds is not that difficult Moving to offer only a RESO-compliant IDX feed is not that difficult. RMLS™, one of the first MLSs in the country to distribute only RESO-compliant IDX feeds, made the move in just FOUR weeks. They launched a campaign to their IDX providers that showed them the fields that needed to be transitioned to be RESO-compliant and requiring them to transition completely ONLY to a RESO-compliant IDX feed. 2. Promotion is key According to RMLS™, to make the move, MLSs will need an effective promotional campaign to be sure each of your technology companies is aware of the reasons for the change and knows exactly what they need to do to make the transition successfully. 3. Set a deadline Be sure to set a deadline with a reasonable timeframe to allow each of your IDX providers to meet the deadline. Since many of the largest IDX providers have already made the transition in RMLS™, it should make it easier for them.

How to Create Custom IDX Searches for More Targeted Web Leads
Chances are good that the real estate technology products you use offer neat features that you don't even know about. Today, we're launching an article series in support of our newly released 2017-18 Technology Guide that highlights unique tricks and productivity hacks that you can accomplish with the tools you already use. We're kicking off our series with step-by-step instructions for creating custom IDX search URLs on WolfNet's Reponsive IDX Platform. Brokers can use this feature to create links to property searches with predetermined search criteria, such as condos under $200k, or homes with pools. You can use this to create detailed neighborhood pages on your brokerage's website, as we'll see in a moment.

The New, Tech-Savvy Real Estate Pro
Real estate agents are no longer the single, solitary gatekeepers of real estate information. Technological developments that empower buyers and sellers have forced significant changes on the industry. The agents and brokerages who adapt to this new, technology-rich paradigm will thrive and continue to continue to see success. Real Estate Technology for Homebuyers and Agents 15 years ago, the real estate market was a different place. If a homebuyer wanted information on a home, an agent would have to dig it out of their files and walk them through the listing. Now, things have changed. Buyers can find detailed real estate information with a quick search on their smartphones. Large, consumer portals like Zillow opened this door. They provided information and data comparisons for anyone to see, empowering consumers and changing the way real estate transactions happened. The simple ability to search for homes at their leisure gave homebuyers more freedom and control than they'd previously had. And with that newfound freedom, buyers and sellers developed an expectation for this level of convenience and independence. Technology has changed for agents and brokers, too. Now that homebuyers do much of the early explorations on their own, modern agents have found other ways to provide value. It involves using technology to connect with potential buyers, automatically nurture their leads, and build effective relationships.

Hyperlocal Marketing for Real Estate
Hyperlocal marketing may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, but it's one of the best growth and expansion tactics for real estate brokers and agents. By default, real estate professional jobs are locally based and focused, so you may already be doing hyperlocal marketing and don't even know it! Marketing based around your specific geographic area is more than just letting people know about the upcoming city-wide event, the Thanksgiving parade, etc. Everyone already knows this! Finding Your Focus Hyperlocal marketing needs to focus on what makes your specific geographic area unique and what it can provide to potential home buyers over other locations. Help prospective buyers envision what their life could be like within your area, what their neighbors are like, and what type of homes are available. I'll share five easy tactics to help refine your hyperlocal marketing initiatives and help build your local real estate brand. Create Local Area Pages: One of the biggest hyperlocal marketing activities you can do is create web pages specific to the neighborhoods you service. Any IDX system worth its salt will allow you to create specific pages built around location-based criteria. Talk about schools in the area, points of interest and anything else based on your local expertise. You can go one step further and create automated email alerts for people looking for properties in a specific area, as well. Interview Neighbors: It's a proven fact that new buyers value the opinions of your previous clients. What better way to show off your specific neighborhood or market than by interviewing people that currently live there? This establishes immediate credibility and lets the people that matter the most sell your business.

Retention Strategies for Real Estate Brokers
The longer a sales agents remain with a brokerage, the less that brokerage has to spend on recruitment and training. Longevity also contributes to higher rates of homebuyer satisfaction, which leads to a higher rate of referrals. Retaining your agents is a strategy for growth, and it help will build a better environment for mentorship, learning, and better referrals. Finding the right talent that fits well with the company culture can be a huge investment of time and money, which makes retention all the more important. When you do it right, you can keep your top talent and see even better returns. Retention Starts When You're Recruiting You will have a much better shot at keeping your talent when you know what kind of talent you are bringing in. Recruiting sales agents is a careful process that should take some thought, planning, and strategizing. You don't want to take everyone who submits a resume. You don't even want to take everyone with a massive track record of sales. You need someone who fits with your company culture, who is looking for opportunities to grow in their profession, and who will take ownership of their role within the brokerage. As you start the recruiting process, focus on those who you know will positively impact your business.

Does Your IDX Website Give Consumers What They Want?
Last month, we talked about how having a mobile app isn't enough to make your business mobile friendly. Having a website that's viewable on all mobile devices ("responsive" web design) is necessary to capture the full range of consumers that search for homes online. It's just the first step, however. To encourage repeat visits (and conversions!), your website needs to be "sticky" and offer consumers tools and features that they can't get elsewhere. First things first, though. Your website may be responsive, but is your IDX property search? Fortunately for most companies that offer responsive websites with IDX built-in, the answer is yes. But if you've built your own website, you may be using a separate IDX solution that "plugs in" to your site. In order to make your site fully responsive--crucial to raking well in Google--your IDX solution needs to be responsive, as well. After all, consumers spend most of their time on real estate websites searching for property. If your IDX doesn't offer property search options that work well on all devices, consumers will move on to a site that does. What Makes a Site Valuable to Consumers? So what makes home buyers return to your site again and again? To find out, let's look at the most successful property search sites available today--portals like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. Consumers love them because they're designed with the user experience in mind. Home searchers can save properties that they're interested in for future reference, view recently sold homes, learn about individual agents, and more (all in a mobile-friendly framework, of course).

Predicting Future Travel Times with the Google Maps APIs
Google announced a new feature in the Google Maps API, the ability for developers to compute travel distance and time between a number of points. This is an interesting feature which can be directly applied to the real estate industry. Their launch partner is Redfin (note: Redfin is a current client of Onboard). "Taking the guesswork out of knowing how long it will take to drive between homes will help us provide a better customer experience to our users" – Curtis Howell, Product Manager Customer Engagement, Redfin The Good: Duration and Distance – Estimate travel time and distance based on a recommended route. Travel Modes – You can specify the mode of transport to use when calculating distance and travel time. Driving – Indicates distance calculation using the road network. Walking – Requests distance calculation for walking via pedestrian paths and sidewalks (where available). Bicycling – Requests distance calculation for bicycling via bicycle paths and preferred streets (where available). Transit – Requests distance calculation via public transit routes (where available). One or more transit modes can be specified: Bus, Subway, Train, Tram and/or Rail. Traffic – Request using Best guess, Optimistic or Pessimistic calculations based both historical traffic conditions and live traffic. Optionally you can specify either a departure_time or an arrival_time.

1000watt Nails Large Broker IDX Strategy
1000watt Consulting wrote a post this week that is a must read. View it here. Brian Boero's point is clear: "If you are a large firm with more than 10% market share – ditch IDX." Reasons to Act This Way Compromised presentation of properties Raft of local competitors drafting on your listings Paper brokers leverage your data with impunity Relatively small number of leads that agents will probably drop the ball on. I am not going to recant the entire article. Please go and read it. But I do want to reinforce one point and add another. Reinforcement – We studied response time to IDX leads. Fifty percent of inquiries get no response, and those that do respond usually do a bad job. Here is a whole white paper on the research. It's real. New Point – Consider an IDX/VOW combination website. When a broker opts out of IDX, they cannot display other broker listings except when the consumer registers! Once a consumer registers, your broker website becomes more of a buyer client servicing platform. Not only can you display all of the IDX listings, but you can display 100 percent of all information in the MLS other than confidential fields like commission and agent-to-agent comments.

[Infographic] The Benefits of IDX for Today’s Home Buying Market
Today's homebuying process is a lot different than it was even just a few years ago. Now, the majority of buyers use the internet in some way throughout the buying process, whether they're just checking some listings or looking for an agent who really knows the local area. Real estate professionals need to fit into this new paradigm, and Internet Data Exchange (IDX) is making it possible. An IDX system offers several benefits for agents and brokerages. By implementing these systems, even smaller brokers can compete with larger websites and deliver a wide range of relevant listings. This will also improve the overall customer experience across home computers as well as mobile devices. On top of that, agents have a better opportunity to engage with customers on a deeper level and even establish a position online to get more exposure for their listings. The real estate market can be a real challenge, but with the right tools in place, you can fit into the current buying process and start reaching more local buyers. To view the full infographic, click through to the next page. Feel free to share it with your agents and office staff!

The 2015 NAR MLS Policy Change Checklist for Brokers
Since its announcement, we have heard a lot of exciting feedback around the NAR MLS policy changes. For those who don't know, in November the board of directors of the National Association of Realtors passed policy changes aimed at making broker listings websites more consumer-friendly. The policies included the wide spread adoption of the RESO Data Dictionary by January 2016 and compliance with the RESO Web API by June 2016. These changes will make real estate more industry-friendly, consumer-focused, and competitive against third-party portals. This is exciting for any broker with a listing website. How can you leverage these changes to make the most of your online presence? The Onboard team put together a complete guide on understanding each policy and how it will affect your website specifically. This is a great guide to see how you can utilize these changes in your future planning. The guide includes an overview of each policy passed, their implications, and a checklist that guides you through potential changes or improvements you could make to your site in 2015 and beyond. Click through to the next page to view the full guide.

Cut the Middle Man Out
Guest contributor Graham Wood of REALTOR®Mag says: It may seem like a forgone conclusion that you should have your listings displayed front and center on your website, but some real estate practitioners are finding less value in it these days. While many choose to pay a third-party IDX provider to set up a searchable MLS feed on their sites, others say the cost isn't worth it, instead turning to other platforms that they say offer more exposure and a better return on their investment. MLS migration is a common solution for getting listings to display on a personal website, most often involving an IDX company storing MLS data on its servers and migrating that data onto an agent or broker's website. The agent or broker pays a monthly fee for this feed, which is automatically updated regularly. But one major drawback to using some IDX platforms is that they don't give the agent website any of the search engine optimization value of the MLS data, says Carolyn Bickerton, a former practitioner who now works for real estate web development company Realtyna Inc. "The framed IDX provider is a middle man," Bickerton explains. "It gives you the data to display listings on your site. The framed IDX provider has all of the real raw pages from the MLS on its server, which means it keeps all of the IP addresses, so it gets most of the SEO value. Agents are actually paying framed IDX providers to rob them of SEO value."

New IDX Rule for Sign Riders
Brokers and MLSs are discussing the modification to the IDX rules and regulations that would extend the ability of a buyer's agent to advertise on a listing broker's sign. The idea came out of a think tank of agent representatives who did fewer than one transaction in the last 12-month period of time. This new initiative will allow agents doing less than one transaction per year to get free leads to generate opportunities to grow their business. Are you kidding me? Yes! It is not uncommon or unusual for industries to have policies that represent a slippery slope of strategy. IDX is a policy of cooperation among real estate participants (brokers) that allows the reciprocal display of listings on broker websites. IDX slipped a little too far away from the MLS participant sharing principles a few years ago when the NAR allowed for franchise IDX. Most participating firms did not pay attention when the issue was running through the MLS policy committee, so there was no objection to the rule until after it was passed. Once brokers learned that franchise organizations (non MLS participants) were now being provided access to the data, they got busy and reversed the policy. The idea of IDX was to share listings with other MLS participants. Now listings are being shared everywhere. Whenever I want to have a conversation about radical real estate ideas, I call the ever-jovial fellow consultant Ken Jenny. "Would a BMW dealer ever advertise for Mercedes Benz?" he asks. "Then why would Coldwell Banker advertise RE/MAX?" he asks.

IDX Search Page - Not a Destination, But a Guidepost
Before you object, we agree that the destination of a majority of your site visitors will be your IDX search page. That's where they want to be, so it's their destination. Only you can make it a guidepost or waypoint on the way to your destination, a transaction and commission. You can't do this with just any IDX solution though. There are some features you'll need in order to move an IDX search page visitor to a relationship and two-way communication. Contact Information Capture A comprehensive IDX solution will offer several ways in which to entice a search visitor to give you their contact information, name and email at a minimum. Of course, there's the "required registration" approach. It's considered by many to turn away visitors if you require registration simply to do any searches. However, if you offer other incentives, such as the ability to create a custom saved search, and to get email alerts about new listings and information changes for listings matching the search, it's going to be received well. When a visitor likes your IDX search area, they'll be likely to register to save their favorite listings. The best IDX solutions will offer other goodies for registration, such as the ability to share their favorites with their friends. Search Activity Monitoring If you got the first part right, you'll get that name and email address. That's great, but if you sit on that information and do nothing with it, you're wasting a major opportunity. Sure, you can send them some emails, but there is a better way. The right IDX solution will allow you to monitor the search activity of your registered users.

2 Technology Game Changers Hit the Market
There were two announcements made this week that I think will have some pretty significant impacts on real estate. WolfNet announced that they are now fully live on the national IDX data feed for Canada. Moreover, every application that WolfNet offers has now been tailored to the needs of Canadian real estate. WolfNet has long been a leader in property search solutions in America, notably serving search solutions to every Keller Williams agent in addition to many other brands. Now WolfNet's Canadian customers will have access to the same benefits. The second announcement came from W&R Studios, makers of Cloud CMA. Cloud CMA became popular with MLSs who wanted to deliver a CMA solution to subscribers that is fast, easy, and mobile. It has resulted in huge success, reaching over 95,000 users. Now, Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson have focused on another clunky feature of many of today's MLS systems – the automatic notification. They call it Cloud Streams. It allows agents to configure a search for their client(s) that will notify them whenever a new or updated listing matches their search criteria. Like Cloud CMA, it is fast, easy, and mobile.

IDX: Think Outside the Box!
These days IDX plug and play tools are everywhere. The vast majority of real estate websites I come across utilize framed IDX solutions. Sure, they are easy and cheap to install on a site and often times they offer more than just listings data. Some have begun to integrate neighborhood information as a new reason to buy their service. Some offer backend transaction management systems and entire website platforms to go along with their IDX services. Others have fancy map searches or other bells and whistles. All of this may sound great and surely seems like a great deal, especially for a low cost. That is until you understand what you are giving up by thinking inside the box. A framed solution is viewed by Google and other major search engines as a blank box. Because of this, every plug and play tool is viewed in the same way. There are some issues with this. Real estate in the modern world relies on driving traffic to your website. What's more is keeping the users engaged with your site once there. If getting users to your website is the most important metric, than boosting your SEO is the best way to ensure your site will rank higher on major search engines. Unfortunately, since framed solutions are viewed as blank boxes by major search engines, they offer you no SEO benefit at all. Therefore, you might as well not have a plug and play on your website at all because users will not find your website's content while searching for it. So think outside the box! Some large companies have built their own custom Listings Search platforms. However, this typically requires a massive amount of effort, time, and resources. Think about it.

Serving Customers with Radius Searches
What is a "Radius Search?" It's simply a search that yields listings within a certain distance of a specified point. It could be a home address, a hospital, shopping mall, park, or any physical location. It's not the same as using Walk Score, and it can be a better way to provide listings close to locations when it's a rural area or very small town center. Some IDX solutions allow you to build a Radius Search link to produce a search results page. In Diverse Solutions, for example, entering an address and clicking on Lookup will yield the Latitude and Longitude. Then you specify a distance from that center point for listings to appear in the search results. You can also set other criteria like price range, features, etc. Why would a site visitor want to search for listings within a certain distance of a known location? Locate homes for sale near friends or family. Elderly wanting to live close to medical care. Vacation home buyers wanting to be "near the action." Desire to be near a certain town or location, but they want to see if lower prices can be found a bit farther out. Minimize commute time to work. Locate near a landmark, beach, lake, hiking trails, parks, etc.

Top 5 Broker Website Trends for 2014
There is a significant gap in the depth of information found on listing portals vs. broker websites today. Aside from marketing acumen and marketing investment, the quality of the experience is simply better on many portal sites. A few years ago, portals dominated brokerages with map search. As brokers got a handle on that, portals evolved with the single, Googlesque search bar. Most good broker sites have gotten a handle on that now, too. But the bar continues to move in new directions. The biggest gap seems to be the information contained on the listing detail page. I had a chance to review and discuss this gap with some leading brokers this week and take their temperature on how they plan to address the information gap in 2014. The responses were fascinating. To begin with, there is a legacy rule that is lingering in many MLSs regarding commingling MLS data with other data sources. Most of the progressive MLSs have stricken that rule. To all extents and purposes, the rule only limited brokers from being competitive. With that rule out of the way, brokers are free to augment listing data with the data that consumers yearn for. Here is the top 5 countdown of features brokers plan to integrate into search or the listing detail pages in 2014. 5. Drive Time: 21% of brokers plan to Integrate Drive Time Search - A new company called INRIX peeked into real estate this fall, offering drive time data via API. This company collects commute times from cell phone data at a rate of a trillion bits per second, or some crazy number like that. You have experienced this when you map something in your car's GPS, or on your phone, and it estimates drive time and updates for traffic. Using the INRIX API, consumers or their agents can provide property search results on areas according to drive time. In most metropolitan areas, commute time to school and/or work play a significant role in selecting a neighborhood.

Understanding and Interpreting Bounce Rates
Google Analytics is the most popular and one of the most comprehensive website analytical resources out there--not to mention that it's free. Once it's installed and working, there will be a wealth of data available to help you to measure your site's performance. Just a few of dozens of analytical data sets are: Number of unique and returning visitors to the site. Pages the visitors enter in and leave from when visiting. How many pages are viewed in total and average per visitor? Average time on the site for each visitor. Which pages are visited, and even in what order, from one to another. Referring site information telling you where visitors came from via links. Search engine keywords and phrases that brought visitors to your site. ...and much more! One of the data sets you'll be checking is the "Bounce Rate." This is measured differently by some analytics programs, but Google considers a "bounce" as happening when a visitor to your site enters and leaves from the same page. In other words, they only view a single page. It's not about how long they're there, only about their viewing of only a single page.

Pilgrims vs. Portals
History tells many stories of long ago that reflect on the conditions of today. I came across a story about the Pilgrims that made me think that, in some way, it is similar to the real estate industry and portals. In 1630, a Pilgrim court dealt a nasty blow to one of its settlers. They ordered him to be incarcerated, burned his house, confiscated all of his goods, then ultimately exiled him from America. The Pilgrim's name was Thomas Morton, and they said that he was a danger to society. Morton went to England and pleaded with the English court, which was the court of record for Pilgrim society. Morton had found a new way to trade with the Indians for furs. Rather than barter goods, he held parties. He picked a nice spot outside of town, brought some jugs of booze, and invited some of the town's young ladies to join him. The Indians saw that they were having a good time and soon began flocking to his parties bringing furs as a gesture. Morton was getting richer by the day. The English court saw nothing illicit about Morton's ways, and sent him back to America with the court ruling in hand. This is where my real estate industry and portals relationship analogy comes in. When you have a look at the top websites of our era, they are having a great party with listing information that pales to the stoic puritan society of real estate broker websites. They offer information on every home in the area, not just active listings or seven years of recently sold MLS listings. They lift up the skirt of home values and show the legs of when homeowner purchased their home and what they paid. They even invite FSBO girls and Foreclosure girls and offer their frilly information to their guests.

1 plus 1 Equals Video
Doing research like our 2013 Broker Website Effectiveness Study (BWES) helps WAV Group identify and measure a multitude of strategies that brokers may deploy to improve their online performance. One key trend today that is working very well is video. I am not sure how long video will help brokers gain an edge, but today it works. Some of the facts we gathered in the BWES included that Google is the number one search engine by a significant margin, capturing 75% of all search traffic (see image, right). If you combine the predominance Google with an understanding of how search results are displayed, you recognize that for every keyword search, Google attempts to display a video search result above the page on the first page of results (see image, left). This has been a keynote strategy that we have long appreciated with virtual tours. Today, virtual tours by most vendors are automated. They rely on data feeds from the MLS or ListHub to acquire the data ingredients, including photos that are stitched together, price, description, etc. In many ways, the information found on a virtual tour webpage today is a comprehensive IDX display.

Evernote for Content – Content for IDX
Guest contributor Diverse Solutions says: Remember Everything with Evernote Evernote is one really useful tool for the busy real estate professional. In short, Evernote is a memory tool for the Internet, your email, and your business. Using the many ways in which this service allows you to save information, web pages and emails for future reference, the real estate professional can organize their life and business easier than ever before. Now that's fancy! There are far too many features to elaborate on here, but let's look at some of them as an overview: Send web pages or highlighted portions of web pages to a notebook in Evernote with a simple click or two. Use tag words and phrases to make retrieval of information even easier. Share photos directly to your Evernote account from your smart phone. Using add-ons, you can send emails directly to Evernote folders for transactions or clients. Use and sync Evernote on all of your devices, whether PC, Mac, notebook, tablet, Android or iOS. Retrieve information when you need it with a powerful search function. Save searches you want to do over and over for one-click information retrieval.

How Virtual Office Website data makes a difference to consumers
With the evolution of Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and literally millions of real estate websites, the consumer has had access to a significant number of sources of property information. VOWs (Virtual Office Websites) will allow brokers to once again place themselves at the center of the consumer's property search experience. A broker's VOW will offer consumers the most comprehensive, accurate and timely real estate information available. Because of the quality of information offered to consumers through VOWs, customers will be less likely to spend much time on non-broker websites offering less listing information. In mature VOW markets, more than 50% of all transactions were to registered VOW consumers. Both buyers and sellers value the depth of information available to watch market trends and find the right home.

In Search of a Perfect Broker VOW
WAV Group is conducting research to discover if there is any broker in the United States who has pulled out of IDX and only offers a Virtual Office Website to consumers. Presumably, it would be a large enough broker who would display their listings publicly without the need to register to the site. If consumers wanted to see other broker listings, they would need to register. No other broker would be able to display that broker's listings to the public. If you know of such a site here in America, please direct me to it and you will be handsomely rewarded. My loving relationship with Virtual Office Websites (VOW) dates back to about 2005 when MRED was called MLSNI. You see, the Chicago area had a local custom whereby brokers could elect to exclude some other brokers from obtaining and displaying their listings via Broker Reciprocity or IDX. To obtain access to all of the data, consumers would need to register to the brokers VOW. Consumers gladly registered to access all of the listings and get more property information like sold listings. Lead generation rates for that area were far higher than other regions of the county. Around 2005, Listingbook launched their VOW solution in partnership with MLSs. One of the most popular posts ever published on the WAV Group website was titled, "Listingbook is a must have for every MLS." Even today, agents may have access to a VOW solution combined with email marketing, contact management, flyer program and a host of other agent productivity tools for free. Listingbook was one of the early pioneers of Freemium Pricing for MLSs whereby some functionality of the solution is offered free with permission to publish advertising. Premium subscription has more features and removes advertising. VOWs have one thing in common, they allow all non-confidential MLS data to be displayed to the consumer online if they are registered to that agent's website. In a way, I think that Listingbook stalled many technology companies from developing new, innovative VOW solutions for agents. Its hard to compete with a free product offered in partnership with the MLS.

Is the MLS In Danger?
I do not really know Alain Pinel as well as I would like to. He sold the company that bears his name and pursued other interests. He is back now and runs the Luxury division of Intero Real Estate, one of Alain Pinel Real Estate's chief competitors in San Jose, along with Coldwell Banker and others. What I do know of Alain Pinel I like and respect a lot. I have a similar level of respect for the maverick efforts of Intero, who used passion combined with technology (AgentAchieve) to launch a powerful brokerage in a very competitive marketplace. In a blog post today, Alain Pinel asked – Is the MLS in Danger? He says: There are signs suggesting that the MLS is going through some mid-life crisis. [Non MLS transactions are] depriving most local REALTORS® of the ability to objectively judge values and trends. Listing agents who bring only a few of their peers in the loop, can nevertheless achieve the objective: the sale. They may even argue that the fact that they cooperate with only a few creates some urgency among the select group. We must respect the seller's decision to withhold a listing from the MLS. [The MLS] has its own agenda. You may wonder if the tail (the MLS) is not wagging the dog (the Broker). One thing is sure; the tail (The MLS) is now bigger than the dog (the Broker). Many brokers think that the MLS is now eating their soup, somewhat competing with their business, and too zealous regarding new constraining rules. MLSs which offer all their members a vast menu of state-of-the-art apps which compete with similar services that the finest companies created, at great cost, to differentiate themselves from other brokers. More and more syndicated sites and real estate related service providers, which feed off of the MLS, progressively divert the consumer from our sites to theirs and capture value-pieces of our business.

What is a participant?
NAR published revised guidelines this year that outline the definition of a Participant in the MLS. It is a long description, so I will put it at the end. One key element is that the mere possession of a broker's license is not sufficient, the broker must actively endeavor to make or accept offers of cooperation and compensation with respect to properties of the type that are listed on the MLS. If you are an NAR affiliated MLS, you probably have already adopted this language and amended your rules and regulations. Some MLSs go further. They require the broker to take training. Some state Associations go even further, like in Arizona. Effective January 1, 2013, all designated brokers, self-employed brokers and associate brokers who have been delegated authority (in writing) to review contracts and similar instruments on behalf of the designated broker will be required to take a nine-hour broker management clinic (BMC). If you are within your two-year renewal period (meaning you must renew before August 2014), you are eligible to fulfill your BMC requirement by taking a three-hour clinic through December 2012. Definition of MLS Participant (Policy Statement 7.9) Where the term "REALTOR®" is used in this explanation of policy in connection with the word "member" or the word "participant," it shall be construed to mean the REALTOR® principal or principals, of this or any other association, or a firm comprised of REALTOR® principals participating in a multiple listing service owned and operated by the board. Participatory rights shall be held by an individual principal broker unless determined by the association or MLS to be held by a firm. It shall not be construed to include individuals other than a principal or principals who are REALTOR® members of this or any other association, or who are legally entitled to participate without association membership.

Defense of Commissions
American business is founded on the principle that pricing for a product or service is based upon what a willing seller will accept, and what a willing buyer will pay. This happens on an individual basis with each transaction, and price fixing is not allowed. Recently, Casey William Hyland, who purchased a home from a Home Services of America brokerage--Semonin REALTORS®, brought a suit challenging the 6% commission rates on real estate transactions. His claim indicated that the 6% rate was price fixing and is a Sherman Anti Trust Act Violation. When there are multiple transactions of commerce, pricing patterns emerge. Consider the grocery store shelf. Within a given product category of similar items, pricing becomes normalized around a price point, plus or minus 20%. This trend happens everywhere, in every industry, and well beyond the grocery isle. The Plaintiffs claims were articulated as follows:

IDX makes sense for brokers, even those who won't syndicate
Rob Hahn has said there is no meaningful difference between IDX and syndication and that he thinks brokers pulling out of syndication are a harbinger of IDX's demise, but I think he's dead wrong. I'll try to make my point here in a post considerably shorter than one of Rob's Notoriously long ones. ;-) You can see Rob's post claiming (erroneously, I think) the equivalence of IDX to syndication here; regarding the Austin "kerfuffle" as evidence of the impending demise of IDX here; and offering further comments about Austin and IDX here. IDX is a critical service for brokers, and it's likely to remain one for at least the next couple of years, for at least four reasons. First, IDX offers listing brokers a different exchange of values than syndication. Second, brokers who want to have viable consumer-facing listings sites need IDX, because VOWs are not a viable option at present from the consumer's standpoint. Third, the listing broker gains absolutely nothing from withdrawing listings from IDX. And, finally, if listing brokers withdraw from IDX, the only possible winners will be the very syndicators with whom some listing brokers are unhappy. Listing brokers get something from IDX they don't get from syndication—other brokers' listings. A broker deciding whether to send her listings to Zillow or Trulia is considering an exchange, which in highly simplified form sounds like this: "Should I allow Zillow to use my listings to attract consumers to its site in return for the exposure my listings will get there?" With IDX, the equation is different: "Should I allow other brokers to use my listings to attract consumers to their sites in return for the exposure my listings will get there and in return for the right to display their listings on my site?"

4 Content Ideas for An Effective Real Estate Email Autoresponder
This article comes to us from Ricardo Bueno of Diverse Solutions. The benefit of having an email autoresponder for your real estate blog is that it provides you a quick and easy way to follow up with your prospects – automatically. When someone registers to use your IDX map search, they’ve essentially expressed interest in buying a home. You might follow up with them right away, you might not. But by having an email autoresponder in place, you can guarantee that a series of follow-up messages are properly sent out to them over a pre-determined period of time. This makes it easy for you to go about your day-to-day tasks and still market to new leads. The trick is providing a ton of useful information to pique their interest and develop trust. Otherwise, if you’re too self-promotional, you’ll lose their attention right away. Here are some ideas for autoresponders that you can create for your real estate blog.

10 Ways To Drive More Traffic To Your IDX Listings
Guest contributor Ricardo Bueno from Diverse Solutions brings us this blog. So you’ve installed an IDX search product on your website. But now what? How do you work on driving more traffic to your individual IDX listings to get more people interested in properties that are for sale? After all, searching homes for sale is one of the primary reasons people are coming to your website. But they gotta know they can easily search new homes for sale once they’re there or you risk losing them to your competition. So, how do you drive more traffic to your IDX search page? And more specifically, to your individual IDX listings? Here’s a few ideas… 10 Ways To Drive More Traffic To Your IDX Listings:

Product Review: iHomefinder iSearch Optima IDX
Upon news of iHomefinder's recent release of their search engine-friendly iSearch Optima IDX solution, we were inspired to take a closer look. You can take a peek for yourself with their demo site at www.anyhomesrealty.com.

Product Review: Immobel’s Multi-Language Website IDX and REAL-Buzz
Although we set out to write a review of Immobel’s Multi-Language IDX Translation, a look at REAL-Buzz was inevitable. Thus, our review covers both. Many REALTORS® who invest in IDX translation to market to global buyers will also choose to participate in the (free) REAL-Buzz.com portal.

Useful Listing Syndication Terms Learned at Mid-Year
Today I was present in various meetings (before the fire in my hotel, of course) and one takeaway I thought would be useful to others was information from the CMLS Workshop on listing data syndication. There are often terms out there that people don’t know exactly what they mean, so I thought it might help to get these written down in the blogosphere for others. Consider it my listing syndication dictionary thanks to CMLS and volunteers to helped pull the first “Brings It To The Table” meeting together. A special thanks goes out to the organizers for a provocative discussion.

Are Your Listing Descriptions Designed to Capture?
We’re living in an industry where indexable MLS listings – those that are visible to the search engines – are becoming frequently more common. So I feel that it’s important to bring up the value of optimizing personal listings to maximize on this opportunity. I was recently looking at the details of a real estate agent's personal listing and noticed the description contained a lot of abbreviations and agent jargon and thought that it was a shame that she had not written a better description for the prospective homebuyer and the search engines. The description listed the bedrooms in an abbreviated format and ran abbreviations together so it wasn’t easy to read, and even though the search engines are very good at picking up on words, the details were pretty much an undecipherable jumble. Maybe agents don’t realize the value of an indexable IDX or how using a technology that allows listings to be indexed can bring search engine traffic… and, therefore, transactions! Even if you don’t use an indexable real estate technology as an individual, writing a meticulous detail page will help you to market your clients’ homes to the utmost advantage on the Internet.  

Why Should I Use IDX?
If you have been around awhile, you may know that the internet has not. In fact, it was not until the 1990s that agents began posting listing information online. However, once started, it never stopped. It is among the key ways that agents get new business. Many people think that displaying property online is done by every real estate agent, broker, and MLS – but this is not true. In a recent review of four MLS market places, we learned that only about 20% of MLS subscribers have property search websites. Initially, the internet became an efficient way for agents to show customers information about listings without jumping in the car and driving all around town. Home buyers loved it. Eventually, home sellers realized that it was a good way to market homes too. Today, agents have the opportunity to provide direct access to every MLS listing through a product that is called IDX. IDX stands for "Internet Data Exchange" and is also called Broker Reciprocity. The idea was that brokers reciprocated in allowing each other to display their listings on their websites. Over time, the reciprocal right was extended to agents.

Have You Thought About a VOW/IDX Combination Website?
Have you thought about a VOW/IDX combination website. In other words, a website that allows unregistered users to look at property on you website without registering, but once they register, they get access to deeper levels of property data that will help them in their home buying and selling process. With IDX/VOW combo website, the agent may use their website to service every client, in every phase of the relationship.

The Value of Indexing for Real Estate Industry Websites
WAV Group is proud to release this property indexing white paper to explain NAR’s policy on indexing listings. The paper provides an overview of indexing, the process used by search engines to catalog information on the Internet. In order for MLSs to enforce IDX rules and regulations, they must understand indexing. Furthermore, anyone operating an IDX website needs to understand indexing and the advantages that it offers to search engine optimization (SEO) and online competition. Non-IDX property search websites like Trulia, Realtor.com and others have been indexing listings for years, and as a result - they have a significant advantage over brokers in online search results. The typical broker website may only have a few hundred pages of content if the listings are not indexed. In a major MLS market, that same broker may have 100,000 of pages of content if the IDX listings on their website are indexed.  

dsSearchAgent IDX
dsSearchAgent is designed around Web 2.0 features that make connections and engagement between the consumer and the agent seamless. This product is built from the ground up to be a map-based search solution. Sliders and features that allow the consumer to narrow their search criteria are dressed along the left side of the map for ease of use. This design is not only very functional, but it allows the consumer to view more property information without scrolling down the page. Like most IDX solutions, dsSearchAgent has many features that encourage consumers to register to the website to access helpful property search tools. For example, customers can save a search and get listing alerts. dsSearchAgent goes even further by allowing the consumer to get the information in the form of an RSS Feed as well as email. Customers can also register to add their own notes to property. The agent back office control panel allows for easy access to customer searches, favorites, and viewing patterns. There are also some nice features that allow agents to organize leads.

Birdview IDX
Birdview offers a full-featured IDX service to real estate agents and is available in most markets across the nation. With Birdview IDX, all of the local IDX/MLS listings can be displayed on a real estate agent website for consumers to browse. Birdview offers the ability to search multiple counties and cities at one time and offers many lead generating tools like save a search, listing notification, schedule a showing, and save listings to favorites. Birdview updates the listings on each website as often as every 15 minutes in most MLS markets through the use of the RETS or Real Estate Transaction Standard.