February 23rd, 2010

Z57 Inc. Reports New Client Acquisition Based on Industry-Leading IDX Solutions from Onboard Informatics

By Stacey Ret, Director of Marketing

Z57 Inc., a leading provider of real estate online marketing services, announced the company has transitioned thousands of their clients to the Onboard Informatics’ Listings Web Service platform, their Internet Data Exchange (IDX) solution. With the 2009 integration of Onboard Informatics’ state-of-the-art IDX solution, Z57 REALTORS® websites deliver timely, accurate and useful consumer listing information.

These newly integrated services combined with the historically available products from Onboard Informatics, such as home sale values, comparative values, local information on schools, community, businesses and more, have led to an industry-leading complete solution for both REALTORS® and consumers. This product provides MLS-approved Z57 clients and their site visitors the ability to search for home information based on a variety of parameters including, but not limited to: address; zip code; and local community — with filters for distance, time periods, price range, and property types with relevant localized content.

Z57 recognized the need for REALTORS® websites to meet the changing times and demands of buyers and sellers. With the addition of these data-rich tools, Z57 clients now have a competitive advantage throughout the real estate cycle.

Some of the key benefits of Onboard’s Listing Web Service platform include:

* Fully integrated branding, to convey a consistent message, look and feel.
* Administrative tools are easily accessed in the host’s Marketing Control Center (MCC).
* Visually compelling search forms invite visitor interactions.
* Property search results are integrated with Google maps.
* Comprehensive IDX statistics track results for valuable feedback.

“Over five years ago Z57 identified in Onboard Informatics a technology partner we could grow with — one that provided enterprise-class data gathering, processing and distribution,” said Ryan Whitlock, Z57 COO. “In 2010 we anticipate the expansion of our long-term partnership with Onboard based on new client acquisition from the superior functionality of their IDX solution.”

“Since 1998, Z57 has proven that stamina and technological innovation in the business of real estate website marketing is a winning combination,” stated Marc Siden, Onboard Informatics CEO. “Our strategic partnership with Z57 further supports their commitment to providing their clients with industry-leading content through powerful end-to-end solutions, helping them gain strong advantages in a highly competitive marketplace.”

About Z57 Inc.
San Diego-based Z57 Inc. is a personal Web marketing company for thousands of real estate professionals. Founded in 1998, the company specializes in feature-rich designed websites, with content, listings, lead capture and conversion tools, buyer/seller traffic generation through effective online marketing plans, listing syndication, Search Engine Optimization, drip e-mail marketing and a highly trained and responsive customer service team. Z57 provides clients nationwide with proven real estate solutions matched with personal service from more than 150 dedicated employees. The Southern California Internet marketing firm was recognized as an Inc. 5000 company and San Diego’s No. 1 Web Development and Design Company. For more information, call (800) 899-8148 or visit http://www.Z57.com.

About Onboard Informatics
Since 2001, Onboard Informatics has provided comprehensive local, regional and national real estate data solutions, powerful Web tools and Web services to some of the most innovative companies in the real estate, publishing, and technology. Onboard delivers seamless integration of property listings, community, school, neighborhood, geographic and demographic information to support clients in achieving business objectives on Web and mobile platforms. Privately held since its founding, Onboard is located in the heart of the world’s financial center in the Wall Street area of New York City. For more information about Onboard Informatics, visit http://www.onboardinformatics.com.

Media Contact:
Sue Almon-Pesch
For Z57, Inc.
Phone: 858-205-0516
E-mail: sue@speschialpr.com

Tags: IDX, listings, Listings Web Service, Onboard Informatics Listings Web Service, Z57.

September 2nd, 2009

FAQ: The Industry’s Only Property Listings IDX Delivered Through A Web Service

By Scott Petronis, Senior Director of Product Management

We have been receiving a lot of questions regarding our new Listings Web Service and are excited to answer.  I’ve put together the following FAQ but please don’t hesitate to reach out to me or our sales team if you have further questions.

What is Onboard’s Listings/IDX offering?
Onboard provides access to listings (IDX content) via a  Listings Search Web Service for use by agents and brokers who participate in and have credentials for the respective MLS they are accessing.  This is NOT an offering to allow those without MLS approval to access listings content.  Clients must still have appropriate MLS credentials and must still follow all MLS compliance rules in order to access, use and display the respective MLS content.

What does Onboard’s Listings/IDX product currently do?
Onboard Informatics builds direct relationships with each MLS to gain access to IDX data on behalf of our clients. We organize and clean the data and enhance it with various standardized search parameters, tagged with Onboard content and make it available for searching on our customers’ websites while ensuring compliance with MLS rules and regulations.

Why should I use Onboard’s Listings/IDX (Internet Data Exchange) solution?
• Quality. Dependability. Support. And the simplicity of accessing the data from a single interface no matter how many feeds needed
• Integration of Onboard’s additional product offerings
• Minimize technology & licensing costs
• No hidden fees for photos and other services
• Minimize internal maintenance costs
• The benefit of additional features to the product, as they are developed

How is Onboard’s Listings/IDX product offered?
There are two ways a client may access this content:

1) We provide a web service that allows search across all MLS feeds through one consistent interface.
2) We provide individual bulk data feeds that allow clients who are MLS approved participants, to load the data into their own databases for search and other purposes. Clients can choose what works best for them.

Who are the target clients for Onboard’s Listings/IDX offering?
There are two main audiences that will benefit from Onboard’s offering:

1) Real estate brokerages that provide services in multiple geographies (typically regional or national brands)
2) Real estate application developers who build websites, CRM solutions and other systems for agents and brokers that require IDX content

What makes Onboard’s offering unique?
There are three primary differentiators of Onboard’s offering:

1) Onboard is the only company that provides access to IDX listings via a web service
2) We undergo a rigorous process to ensure the data associtate with these listings, is cleansed and mormalized to ensure it is consistent, acurate, and searchable.
3) We optomize the listings with our own content to enable unique search based on parameters that are currently not offered in the marketplace.

How long will it take to implement Onboard’s Listings/IDX offering?
Once approval from the MLS to use IDX on a client’s website is completed, which can take several days, the technical integration of the search web service can be accomplished in a few weeks time, depending on the technical abilities of the development team. If a client chooses bulk feeds, the integration to the client’s database may be completed in even less time.

What is the pricing model for Onboard’s Listings/IDX offering?
There are pricing models designed to fit both the needs of value-added reseller partners and direct clients. We also offer discounts for current customers and multi-year commitments.

For more information on our Listings Web Service or for how our solutions can best fit your needs contact us at 646.747.3899 or info@onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: IDX, listings, Real Estate, web service.

September 2nd, 2009

Real Estate’s Newest Listings Web Service

By Megan Murphy, Marketing Manager

Businesses across all industries have been working feverishly to keep up with the economy. Are we still in a recession? Are we on our way out? Do I invest now to be ahead when it’s over? Do I cut back to stay above water until it’s over?

These are the questions business owners are asking themselves and have led many to a major crossroad in evaluating the consequences of how they answer the questions that impact the success and life of their business.  

We are no different.

Since we launched the first version of our property listing product at Inman in January of 2009 we too have been working diligently to keep up with our clients and the market’s demands.  While it hasn’t been the easiest road we are extremely confident in the decisions we’ve made to invest and work harder and smarter to be more efficient in meeting demands to stay on top through these tough times.

Last week was very exciting for us. We announced our new partnership with LPS Real Estate Group, formerly known as Cyberhomes, to easily deliver property listings to MLS approved participants and provide the ability to integrate them into their consumer facing websites.   This partnership has significant impact on real estate technology as well as what we are able to offer our clients. 

The listings we are now able to provide our clients, undergo a rigorous process to ensure the data associated with these listings, is cleansed and normalized to ensure it is consistent, accurate, and searchable. The property search results are delivered as an XML to enable website developers to display the results (on consumer facing websites) in an approved manner based on the requirements of each individual MLS.

So taking a step back to see the big picture and recognize the most significant result from all this hard work over the past 8 months…

We’ve not only been able to increase our ability to quickly answer our client’s and the market’s need for a one source,  one-stop-shop for real estate content through partnering with the leading data aggregation company, but we’ve developed a way to deliver listings through our Listings Web Service, a single standardized manner, which adhere to individual MLS requirements. In addition to the standard search features, the Listings Web Service offers various search filters including beds, baths, price, and many other relevant preferences as set forth by each individual MLS rules and regulations.

There may be other providers of listings through IDX products or web services but there is no other provider of a single interface listings IDX solution delivered through a web service .  Not only can our clients and partners have access to listings through our web services, but they have the freedom and flexibility to build out and customize their listings with all our other local content.

What’s the value?

One Source for all your real estate information needs

• Property Listings & Photos
• Community Demographics
• School Profiles
• Property Values
• Nearby Establishments
• Lower internal maintenance costs
• Lower technology and licensing costs
• More time to focus on core business needs
• Up-to-date information via feeds and web service
• Accurate information through rigorous quality control processing
• Expert support to guide you through the development process

The hard work is paying off.

We’re excited about where we are today in rolling out our listings platform and are eager for all the new developments to come and to see how our clients take advantage of this new and cutting edge technology. 

We have been receiving a lot of questions around the new Listings Web Service. Scott Petronis, our Senior Director of Product Management, has put together a detailed FAQ list for our listings platform.

For more information on our Listings Web Service and how our solutions can best fit your needs contact us at 646.747.3899 or info@onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: IDX, Listings API, LPS Real Estate Group, MLS, Onboard Informatics, property listings, real estate search.

March 27th, 2009

8 Crucial Factors for Home Buyers

By Scott Petronis, Senior Director of Product Management

I know what drove my last two home buying decisions.  And I’ve asked everyone I’ve met for the past few months about what’s driving their decisions. But I wanted to get a broader perspective. So I went out and ordered the National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers 2008.  It was well worth the price.  I have to say, NAR has some great researchers!  I’d highly recommend getting a copy of this if you want to understand who’s buying and what motivates them.

I’d like to share some excerpts from the research and give some examples of how Onboard Informatics’ Lifestyle Listings Engine can be put into action.

I’m going to pause one more time to note that this research was conducted by the National Association of Realtors Research Division.  I’ve tried not to misrepresent the information, misconstrue the results or take credit in any way for their fine work.

Facts and Findings

According to the report, 62% of all home buyers indicated that “quality of the neighborhood” was an important factor in their purchase decision.  There are obviously many factors that influence “quality” including both physical characteristics and overall reputation.  I’d like to dig a bit deeper into people’s heads to turn up how they define “quality.”  I imagine it means a lot of things to a lot of people.  But I am pretty certain that there are lots of variables involved in coming up with the quality judgement.

Sure enough, the NAR research team do drill into many angles and show that criteria vary by age group (young, first-time buyer vs. older, repeat buyer), location type (suburban vs. rural vs. urban), household composition (married couple vs. single female vs. unmarried couple) and other characteristics.  We all know that one “size” does not fit all but this report shows the extent to which that statement is true.

Included here are a swath of factors that influence the purchase decision, in rank order.  I haven’t included all of them in here, just the one that our Lifestyle Listings Engine helps to address (currently).  But trust me when I say that this report goes into MUCH greater detail.

Survey says…

1. “Convenient to job” was ranked as important by just over half of respondents overall, and nearly 2/3 in urban areas. With Lifestyle Listings Engine, a search can be conducted based on an address (i.e., work address) and a distance (i.e., 30 miles). Coming in the next release will be the ability to enter a desired commute time (i.e. 45 minutes or less) or drive distance (i.e., <30 miles).  When gas prices hit $5+ per gallon again, we’ll see just HOW important this one is.  Oh, and sorry to all my friends around the world who already pay nearly double that
2. “Convenient to family and friends” was ranked important by over 1/3 of overall respondents and two in five in small towns.  Similar to above, an address or set of addresses may be entered to determine nearby properties.  I also know from personally talking to many retirees that this one ranks very high on their list.
3. “Convenient to shopping” is important to just over 1/4 of respondents while this inches a bit higher in urban areas. So one of the new capabilities we’ve put into the Lifestyle Listings Engine is the ability to search for listings based on the distance to shopping.  For example, I only want places within 5 miles of a supermarket or pharmacy.
4. “Quality of the school district” is, no surprise, a crucial factor for over 1/4 of buyers and nearly 1/3 for those looking in the suburbs.  This is directly in line with the fact that roughly 38% of all home buyers have 1 or more child under the age of 18 in the household according to NAR.  So we’ve introduced the ability to search based on school performance using ratings from GreatSchools.  “Find me homes where there’s a GreatSchools rating of 7 or better.”
5. “Convenient to schools” was important to just over 20% of home buyers.  So just like convenient to shopping, a search can be conducted to find listings within a desired distance to a school.
6. “Convenient to entertainment/leisure activities” and “convenient to parks/recreational facilities” rank high. Nearly 1/5 of buyers overall want entertainment nearby while this number jumps to 29% in urban areas and over 1/3 in resort areas.  While nearly 1/5 care about parks, especially in urban and resort areas.  So we’ve made it possible to search for listings based on such items as golf courses, swimming pools, parks & playgrounds, cafes, bookstores and libraries.  And we’ll continue to add more amenities.
7. “Convenient to health facilities” ranks quite a bit lower overall but is important to 2/5 of those looking in resort areas.  So we’ve enabled search based on distance to hospitals as well.
8. “Convenient to airport” is important to just under 10%, especially in urban areas.  So we’ve also made it possible to find listings within a desired distance to an airport.  For the rest, they can make sure they’re far way from an airport so there’s a double benefit.

There are a number of other crucial factors that go into the search and decision process that we’re working out solutions for.  But I’ll hold off talking about those until the next release.

If you’re interested in the mean time, details about the first two releases of Lifestyle Listings Engine and other posts regarding lifestyle search can be found out Lifestyle Listings Engine and property Search – Related Posts.

We’ve also been doing some of our own research that we’ll begin sharing very soon.  I will say that our direct focus groups mirror what NAR’s research already confirms–there are many factors that influence the home buying decision that have nothing to do with the home itself.  But we’re also taking it a but further to understand how people go about searching.  We got some very interesting insights into how frustrating it is to conduct a home search.  And we can’t wait to share those insights and come up with solutions where we can.

As always, I appreciate your feedback, comments, criticisms and ideas.  Feel free to email me me at spetronis@onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: data, IDX, Lifestyle, Lifestyle Listings Engine, LLE, MLS, NAR Profile of Home Buyers and sellers 2008, Onboard Informatics, property search, Real Estate.

December 19th, 2008

IDX, VOW, WTF? The techno-ninja perspective.

By Liam Dayan, GM Listings Group, CTO

I would have thought by now I’d be starting a blog post with the phrase “I get a lot of questions about VOW feeds”. Um…not so much, and I’m wondering why. I think it must be because folks are still trying figure out exactly what the real world implications of that NAR/DOJ agreement are.

I’m no lawyer (not bragging or anything, just saying), and maybe my good friend Das Hahn (The Hahnster? Robtastic?) will chime in if I say something completely wrong or idiotic (always a possibility), but if anyone’s interested in plowing through some inadvertently alliterative parenthetical prose about what a data-geek who’s been in the RE space for longer than he cares to remember thinks about this, here you go. If you want a much sharper legal mind’s take on this, check out Rob’s post. FYI, if you actually are interested in my thoughts on this, you should consider a hobby–I hear free running is a lot of fun, and great cardio.

So what the deally yo with VOW? Some background for the uninitiated (just skip this whole next paragraph if you’re generally familiar with VOW), and here I’m just going to just quote Brian Larson who knows what we in the business call a “crap-load” more about this than I do:

For purposes of the DOJ/NAR settlement, a VOW is:

A web site, or feature of a web site, operated by a Broker or for a Broker by another Person through which the Broker is capable of providing real estate brokerage services to consumer with whom the Broker has first established a Broker-consumer relationship (as defined by state law) where the consumer has the opportunity to search MLS data, subject to the Broker’s oversight, supervision, and accountability. (See Policy Section I.1.)

So, basically, any broker with an MLS participant relationship can serve up listing data online to someone they’ve got a “Broker-consumer relationship” with (more on that momentarily). Well…so what? Isn’t that just IDX?

Duck!

Nope, and the differences are critical and potentially very useful. It may look like a duck, but it quacks like a Hell’s Angel. IDX, Internet Data Exchange, is an agreement brokered by the MLS among its members to allow the limited display of limited listings data on each others’ sites–a marketing quid pro quo. The biggest of those limitations involve the number of attributes (data-geek-speak for “fields”) of which some MLSs only allow a handful in IDX feeds, the outright elimination of certain record types (e.g. most off-market data), restrictions on the display and enhancement of listing data ranging from the merely problematic to completely draconian, and–only in some cases, admittedly–the ability for brokers to opt-out of the program rendering the data-set incomplete.

This is in stark contrast to VOW feeds, which are meant to replicate the brick-and-mortar experience of eons past when listings books lived in every office and could be given to customer to take home and peruse. No really, actual books that were printed on something they called paper–yeah, I know. Those feeds are complete and whole, i.e. the majority of useful-to-the-consumer info about the listing is still there and (critical!) brokers cannot opt-out.

Additionally, these feeds are relatively unencumbered by a user-experience-destroying and ever-changing display policy. Meaning you can take the Christmas tree that is the listing and hang some truly kick-ass ornamentation on it, like really relevant contextual content, interesting search, maybe some tools to improve lead generation/distribution/management for brokers, etc.–even the potential for re-margining broker business in advantageous ways (hopefully we’ll hear more on that later from our resident broker biz expert, Dave Collins).

Say! I might know some folks who can help you with all that stuff. Sweet! Tree-trimming party at Onboard’s!

Before we start doing tequila shots, though, there are a couple of hiccups–some real, some merely perceived–that we need to address. Remember that “Broker-consumer relationship” thing? That’s the one folks seem most concerned with, including our own inestimable Rob Hahn. He sees a threat to brokers here–the prevailing theory being if you have to make people sign-up you kill a site’s “throughput”, providing an overwhelming competitive advantage to sites that don’t (i.e. Realtor.com, IDX-based sites, etc.). Me? I only see advantage, provided they can either negotiate some of the technical (not legal!) hurdles or partner with someone who can.

Between the time that I left eNeighborhoods and when Marc and Jon came and drafted me back into the fray, I spent two years as CTO of a pure leadgen company outside of RE. Reg-path management is somewhere between a science and an art, and I won’t claim it’s easy, but there are a variety of ways to overcome the objection of consumers to signing up, including some technology-based sleight of hand. Frankly, handled right registration can be converted from being a barrier into being a feature. Think velvet ropes and VIP rooms. Also, that consumer objection to signing up is just generally getting quieter and smaller every day as people’s use of social networking mediums that demand sign-up for participation grows. Add single sign-on mechanisms, either individual or one of the social media platform initiatives like OpenID, etc. and this becomes negligible.

And BTW? There’s nothing in the language of the VOW agreement or any other I know of (big caveat on that one) that precludes a broker from maintaining both of those feeds. That introduces some interesting hybrid UX/reg-path possibilities. This is a very solvable problem.

Another point Rob and I disagree on is whether brokers can be prohibited by their MLS from giving their listings to the Zillow’s of the world–he thinks they can be, I think brokers can do what they please with their listing and tell whoever says otherwise to pound sand. It should be noted that this point is pretty much all legal ground not technical, so Rob’s far more qualified than me to assess it. The only point I’ll make is that from a broker-site functional/operational perspective, I think his point is basically moot (and I want bonus points for using legal terminology!).

Even if his premise is borne out, the only “feature” really compromised is syndication, which was only ever engaged in by brokers out of desperation (though I would contend that more enlightened brokers shouldn’t feel threatened by alternative marketing channels). If brokers can get that traffic back from Zillow, et al, into their site (or potentially some other VOW-enabled broker site for the standard split which defines the central value proposition of the MLS to its members) by creating better destination sites, with SEO-friendly content, a better toolset, etc. as a result of having more robust listing data–that sounds like a win to me.

Good, bad...I'm the guy with the gun.

People in the space–brokers, agents, the MLSs, etc.–are going to make arguments that VOW feeds are good for this, bad for that, whatever. I feel the same way about this as when I hear arguments from developers about which language is “the best” for coding in, or from infrastructure folk debating the virtues of one OS over another. I tend towards the agnostic for abstract mechanisms of any stripe, and save my judgments for how appropriate a specific application of that mechanism is or how well it’s been implemented.

Long story short (too late!), smart management of this newly available mechanism could allow brokers to drive back the interlopers (their word, not mine) who are building businesses on the back of listings that brokers spend time and money farming. And they can do it by using that unshackled listing data to create a far more compelling user experience for the consumer, and ultimately a better buyer/home match and more ideal result all around. The natural traffic generated by (properly deployed and supported) listings comes home like the prodigal son, ready to courted and managed into leads by intelligent brokers, and handed off to caring and knowledgeable agents ready, willing and able to put families in their new homes. Happy brokers, happy agents, happy buyers, happy sellers.

Either way–VOW, IDX…I’m the guy with the listings.

- Liam Dayan

Tags: data, IDX, leadgen, listings, marketing, MLS, NAR/DOJ, Real Estate, techno-ninja, VOW.