January 29th, 2010

Real Estate Webmasters Introduces REW IDX 3.0

By Jackie Berg, Marketing Specialist

We often get questions from individual agents looking to utilize our products to differentiate their websites in their respective marketplaces. Since our traditional solutions aren’t designed for individual agents, we decided to fill this need by launching our Value Added Reseller program to give agents the benefit of our content in various flavors. We package our neighborhood and home information for web developers who use their design and programming expertise to mold the data into innovative implementations that enhance user experience.

Real Estate Webmasters is a partner that does just that. REW takes our data and adds design, programming, and SEO expertise to deliver customized, cutting edge real estate websites. They allow their agents to sell based on clients’ lifestyle needs as well as extremely high-quality listing content (from both informational and visual standpoints). The neighborhood plugins REW mixes in to their offerings allows agents to display the same leading content used by the nation’s top brokerages.

The latest buzz at REW and in the agent community is about the new REW IDX 3.0 product. (See a live demo here.) This iFrameable IDX solution works with any website. It includes full lead management and IDX builder technology for customization.

REW IDX 3.0 is in beta and there are still a few more days to be a part of the testing group. Anyone (on an REW-approved MLS board) who signs up in January will have access to the product for 3 months. Those who are part of this group will save on a setup fee (normally $499) and will only have to pay for monthly features.

Real Estate Webmasters' new IDX solution allows users to draw their own neighborhood boundaries during home search.

Morgan Carey’s REW blog walks you through features to pay attention to. Here are a couple of the things that make 3.0 unique in this space:

• Polygonal parameter searches: so the user can draw their own ideal neighborhood
• Spherical/dragable radius searches
• Custom IDX search builder
• Schools and amenities overlay
• Streetview
• New map search results pagination

The REW team believes that agents are experts in his or her markets, thus giving them back-end controls to customize their display.

You can see the full integration of Onboard’s content in the map-based amenities data as well as the “get local” tab for detailed listings.)

For any agents out there who are looking to be a part of this testing group, click here to get in before the month ends.

Tags: agent websites, IDX search, IDX solutions, neighborhood search, Real Estate Webmasters, real estate websites, search polygons.

September 23rd, 2009

RE Webmasters Introduces New IDX Search Plugin

By Jackie Berg, Marketing Specialist

Yesterday Morgan Carey of Real Estate Webmasters received an astounding response following the release of REW’s Demographics for IDX Listings plugin using Onboard Informatics community, school, and amenities data. This demographic and neighborhood content accompanies each listing to give brokers and agents powerful local market expertise though REW’s optimized websites.

To accompany the release, REW is offering major production and site enhancement discounts for the first 100 subscribers to get their hands on the plugin. For those who have not yet implemented IDX and REW site design, they are also providing discounted installation packages along with the plugin.

Morgan explains the feature’s potential for site owners:

“If it isn’t obvious I am really excited about this new feature, and more importantly all the possibilities that now have opened up through our relationship with our various data vendors, in this case Onboard – now that we have this data licensed and available in raw form, this application is just the tip of the ice burg.”

Let’s take a look at an implementation on REW client Marc Rasmussen’s site. A simple IDX search led me to this luxury property in Sarasota:

When a client wants to see what surrounds the house, they can look at Local Neighborhood Info, as displayed below:

As a potential buyer (err…someone who enjoys pretending they can afford beautiful waterfront houses), I discover via Google mashup the property’s proximity to a farmer’s market, chapel, dogsitter, diamond store (perfectly suited for my imaginary lifestyle), and a bakery among local schools and other amenities. I can also infer this is a tight-knit community based on its stable population and lower turnover rates. The characteristics of my neighbors, typical temperatures, and proximity to colleges and sporting events are listed clearly for me.

Real Estate Webmasters is an Onboard value added reseller partner equipped with real estate’s most trusted local content to enhance their programming capabilities, as they have already done for Marc Rasmussen of Michael Saunders and Company. REW’s design expertise is transforming home search with the power of showcasing the look and feel of a community.

We won’t get ahead of ourselves, but there are a ton of exciting features in the works for REW customers.  Stay tuned on Morgan’s blog for details and updates.

Tags: home search, IDX search, local content, optimized websites, Real Estate Webmasters, REW, VAR.