What
is IDX/Broker Reciprocity?
IDX
or Internet Data Display, is a program initiated by the National
Association of Realtors which went into effect on January 1st
of 2002. The IDX concept allows the members of an MLS system
to display publicly, on their company or personal web site,
all of the currently available properties for sale within that
MLS system. There are options for some properties to be withheld
from display but this is very rare in most MLS systems.
The
purpose of Broker Reciprocity is to empower REALTORS®
to deal with the real estate consumer of the future. Among
the objectives are:
-
Permitting brokers to fully market their services on
the Internet.
-
Permitting
the brokerage community to take advantage of the data
brokers have contributed to the system.
-
Permitting
brokers to obtain and maintain first contact with the
consumer in the real estate transaction.
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What
MLS systems do you cover ?
Click
Here to view our current list of MLS coverage areas.
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Why
would I want to display some other broker's listings?
Visitors
to your web site are usually buyers, and as buyers
they have one reason for being there, they want
to see everything for sale in their price range
and area of interest. The inclusion of our IDX
search program in your web site allows visitors
to search for all available properties from all
brokers, not just your company listings.
Most
companies have only a small portion of the listings
in an MLS system. Even if your company has 20
to 25% of all listings in your MLS, this still
means you don't have the other 75 to 80%. Visitors
to your site who use our IDX programs can now
see everything for sale in one spot. There is
no longer any reason for them to go from your
site to a competitor's site, and another and another.
As
long as they stay in your site they will be exposed
to your contact information and if they do a search
and find a property they like, we include an email
response box attached to each IDX property listing,
this response box includes the address and MLS
number of the listing in question and this box
is returned directly to you.
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What
other IDX-based programs can you provide?
The
other main program that goes with the IDX
search is an email update program based
on IDX data. This program allows a visitor
to your site to register for all future
listing to be sent to them via email as
soon as they become available. When the
visitor signs up for email updates he or
she must register with their name and contact
information, information which our system
retains for you. When the visitor begins
to get email updates you can choose to get
"cc"s of these. What once were
carbon copies are now email copies and you
can see exactly what your clients are seeing.
We
also provide a client organizer, a file
where your visitor can save the properties
they find through your system. This is a
tool which allows buyers to save the properties
they have any interest in and at a later
date they can go back and sort out the ones
they would like to see.
We
also post your company or personal listing
to your web site directly from your MLS
system. No longer to you have to post to
MLS and then also post to your web site.
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Can
I get these tools directly from my MLS?
Members
of an MLS system may, in some cases,
get a raw data feed directly from their
MLS. This data feed is data with out
any programming so someone will have
to create a program to make use of this
data. In some cases your MLS system
may provide a simple "frameable"
search program with minimal "branding"
to your site. These systems do not provide
any lead capture tools and often display
the listing agent and broker contact
information prominently. Few MLS systems
provide an email update program that
can be used in your web site to capture
leads.
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It
depends upon your own MLS system.
Some systems allow both Brokers
and agents to have IDX programs,
and some only allow Brokers. You
may contact us to find out whether
your MLS system provides IDX for
you. If we do not currently support
your MLS system and their rules
allow you to have it, we may be
able to add it for you.
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Do
I have to be a member of
the local MLS to get data?
Yes,
our agreements with the
various MLS systems requires
that we only provide our
IDX based programs to members
of that MLS. As a member
of a local Board or Association
of Realtors you may join
multiple MLS systems without
rejoining a local board
or association.
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Where
do you get the data?
We
get the data from
the MLS system on
a daily basis, usually
in the early morning.
Because of this,
our data is always
less than 24 hours
old. Photos usually
take a few day longer
for the board to
make available,
and will be automatically
added to the listings
when they are available.
We
are required to
sign an agreement
to abide by all
the rules and regulations
of the various MLS
systems whose data
we provide.
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What
is the connectivity
and reliability
of your servers?
We
are committed
to providing 99.9%
uptime. Our dedicated
servers are managed
and monitored
24 hours a day,
7 days a week
by a national
hosting company
with a 99.999%
Network Uptime
Guarantee. We
have connectivity
through multiple
Tier 1 providers
(including AT&T,
Level 3, Qwest,
UUNET & Verio)
using OC48 - 192
backbones. The
server facility
is manned with
24/7 security
personnel with
badge/photo ID
access screening
as well as multiple
biometric access
screening points
and continuously
monitored video
cameras. There
is dual power
availability from
independent power
distribution units
(PDUs). Power
is provided by
a redundant Need+1
(N+1) design of
uninterruptible
power supplies
utilizing two
separate commercial
power feeds from
two separate power
grids. Five redundant
standby generators
guarantee consistent
operation in the
event of a power
failure from commercial
power. These generators
are equipped with
72 hours of diesel
fuel on site,
and two contractors
are on call to
refuel the storage
tanks.
We
also ensure high-availability
using a geographically
distributed DNS
fail-over system
with independent
backup servers
at two additional
facilities. In
the event of a
server failure,
the DNS monitoring
service automatically
redirects the
DNS records to
the next available
server.
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