04.01.07
How to put real estate MLS listing feeds into your web site
Real estate is once again a hot market - for web developers. Why? Because the real estate market has softened in 2007, and this means that real estate companies finally need to market once again - at least here in the Mid Atlantic region.
The purpose of this article is to explain what is involved in showing real estate listings dynamically in your real estate web site, whether you are an agent or a real estate broker. I’ll explain how it works, what you will need, what is new in 2007, and what the costs are.
1. Understand Broker Reciprocity (BR)
Before you get real estate listings in your web site, you need to understand what broker reciprocity is. First off, Realtors don’t own the listings that are assigned to them - their broker does. This is why Realtors must work for a broker, and why brokers have to start off working as a Realtor for another Broker for a number of years. It is almost like an apprenticeship.
OK, so the broker owns the listings. The broker also has an account with the local MLS system, where they upload the listing data. This is usually done by an office manager or data entry person at the brokerage. In the past, these listings were all that a broker could pull from the area MLS system for their web site. So just a few years ago, you would visit a local broker’s web site and only see their listings. When the market picked-up, it became nearly impossible for brokers to keep a listing inventory populated - enter broker reciprocity.
Broker reciprocity is a database of listings where brokers agree to sell and post each other’s listings. If your broker isn’t participating in broker reciprocity, then you are missing out because your listings aren’t being shown on all of the other sites that are also participating. You might be saying “but what about Realtor.com?”, and my answer is “what about it?”. Realtor.com IS the National Association of Realtors, so they obviously have special access to data. Their site is also hard to use and randomized to keep listings fair to all participants. This provides a great opportunity for brokers to build their own web site and shine much brighter in local search engine search results.
So before you can put listings from the MLS into your web site, you should check with your broker to make sure they already have their broker reciprocity agreements setup.
2. Understand that Broker Reciprocity feeds are tied to a domain name
This throws a lot of people, and I am really not sure why. I’ll do my best to explain it simply. When you get a listing feed, it is tied to one domain name. That domain name either belongs to the broker, or the agent. It IS possible for multiple agents to have web sites using one feed if the domain is the same.
There are three types of web sites for broker reciprocity:
- The brokerage web site
Imagine for a moment that your broker’s domain name is www.somebrokerage.com. Imagine also that the broker has a licensed feed from the local MLS provider(s), which is tied to that domain name. The broker can now have a site for the brokerage, where all of the local MLS listings are shown, as long as the broker of record for each of those listings is also participating with broker reciprocity. So far, so good. Your agency has a fully-functional web site with MLS listings in it. - The shared agent site
What about the agents that want their own site, but who don’t want to purchase their own feeds? It is possible, with a little domain name trickery. Assuming the brokerage has a fully-functioning site with BR listings in it, agents can have a site under what I call a sub-domain, which looks like this: http://joeagent.somebrokerage.com. Here you see that the domain name is technically still that of the brokerage, so the agent is still using the listing feed in an authorized way. By changing the “www” to the agent’s name, a separate site can be setup for that agent. There are MANY real estate web design companies now selling templates to real estate agencies that give individual agents this type of site, but this is how it is done. Most of these templates are not very impressive, but it is a way for an agent to get started quickly. - The individual agent site
The real estate agents that I meet that are really serious about leveraging the web for marketing all use this approach. They buy their own domain name, and then they buy their OWN listing feed from the local MLS service. The cost for the feed alone is typically around $350 per year, which is nothing if you are a successful agent. Agents that balk at this fee that say that they are serious about search engine results and online marketing are kidding themselves. After the feed is purchased, the agents also needs to purchase web site design. If the design company (like Delaware.Net) has already integrated feeds into MANY web sites, then it should be easy to choose between a turn-key templated design, or one that is more custom-built.
Since real estate listing feeds are tied to your domain name, and they are essentially a legal agreement, you can use them with any web design firm. My advice is to go with a firm that has been around for over five years, and that has a lot of experience with hosting and managing MLS listings. I know of several small shops that try to accomplish managing their feeds on their own, with a lot of issues (some legal). Currently, Delaware.Net manages the importing of over 70,000 listings per day from only two area MLS services. This gives us coverage over Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey. Delaware is the only state in that list in which we have 100% coverage, but our MLS integration keeps growing.
Delaware.Net’s RealMLS Broker Reciprocity Application has the following features:
- All TrendMLS listings
- All Offutt listings (both services combined into one search)
- Virtual Tours
- Search Engine Optimization for Realtors
- Google Maps for both city searches and for directions to listings
- New Construction Management (models, features, plot plans, much more)
- Open houses module
- Farm & land search and listing management
- Commercial search and listing management
- Manually add any listing (including rentals) to your site’s search
- Featured Listings (choose which listings show up on your home page)
- Multiple offices
- Dynamic agent roster
- Realtor CRM system with lead tracking (optional)
- Company Intranet (optional)
- Much more!
Contact Greg Austin for more information at 888-432-7965
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