February 18th, 2010

New Additions to the Onboard Team

By Jackie Berg, Marketing Specialist

We are pleased to welcome two new additions to the Onboard Informatics team this week: Jacek Rolnik and Toni Brown.

In his words, Jacek is “sort of” new. Jacek previously worked with us as a Relationship Manager, working closely with clients on implementation and product development.  Jacek brings a wealth of client engagement experience to the table with specialties in Web technology, HR, wealth management, and global expansion services. He returns to Onboard as a Relationship Manager after working on the West Coast for awhile. (We suspect the beautiful New York weather lured him back.)

Toni joins Onboard as part of the Support & Administration Group as a Product Support Specialist with a focus on MLS Administration. A graduate of Berkeley College, she has worked with the Red Cross and is a classical singer who also enjoys dance. In her new role, Toni will be primarily working to support Onboard’s MLS Acquisition efforts.

We are excited to have Jacek back and to welcome Toni to the Onboard family.

Tags: new hires, Onboard Informatics.

February 8th, 2010

What is an API?

By James Wilson, VP of Development

First… it is an acronym

API is an acronym which means Application Programming Interface.

What is it?

It is a contract that allows computers to talk to each other. Another name used widely is a protocol which is a set of rules that must be followed to exchange information. By “talk”, I mean the ability to ask a question and get a valuable answer back.

How does it work?

A really smart computer person (a developer) defines and builds a system that accepts questions (request for information). Next, that same developer writes instructions (the contract or protocol) that must be followed in order to properly accept questions so that the valuable answers can be computed and returned. Another developer, somewhere else in the world, reads the fascinating and tantalizing contract documentation. She then sets out to build a unit within her own system to ask questions at the proper time. Her system then uses the subsequent answers to deliver great value to that system’s end users.

What should be in an API’s contract?

1) Location, Name and Protocol

• Mechanism or protocols to be used to establish a connection. These are typically another lower level type of API or contract.
• The address or location of the system that can answer the questions.
• Name of the service.

Let’s give an example of a typical business to business (B2B) scenario. Just below is a URL or web address used to locate a service which finds nearby pizza delivery services.

http://www.pizza-store-locator.com/service/find-the-closest-pizza-delivery

The protocol used is established with the text: “HTTP”. HTTP is another acronym which stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This is another contract which specifically defines how a web browser, like FireFox or IE, can communicate with a web server. Many higher level business services are built on top of this lower level API.

The location of this API is defined as “www.pizza-store-locator.com“. This type of string is typically called a domain in web parlance.  A domain is always associated with an IP address. This is a unique identifier and allows request to be reliably routed to the appropriate web server. An IP address is an acronym meaning “Internet Protocol” address. There is that word, “protocol”, again. The whole WWW, World Wide Web, is just a series of layered protocols that allow everyone to talk to everyone else.

The name of the  service is “service/find-the-closest-pizza-delivery”. This name is mapped to business logic, or a program, on the web server in this case that is responsible for formulating an answer. Just guessing, but this service probably helps find pizza delivery services. It is nice when the name of a service is self describing!! That is the sign of a good API.

2) Input Definition

• What questions can be asked?
  • Is there only one questions or different types of questions?
• What are all the pieces of information that must be included in the question so I can answer it?
  • In the example above, for the pizza delivery service, what information is required to find the closest pizza delivery shop? The contract could specify an address is required like 90 Broad Street, Suite 2002, New York, NY.  But it could also just be a latitude and longitude.
  • Lets keep going… how far away are you interested in searching? 5 Miles, 10 Miles or do you care? No, you don’t because it is not you that must do the driving to the pizza shop so… perhaps you only want a certain number of shop results back like 20 or 5? Perhaps you do need 20 but want to have at least 5 different pizza shop options returned so you can get a good selection.
  • All this stuff needs to be defined by the service creator based upon research by a product manager into how people actually think and what they want.
• How should all of those pieces of information be structured?
  • There are many ways to send information to the service.
    • We can send it as query string parameters.  For example..
      • http://www.pizza-store-locator.com/service/find-the-closest-pizza-delivery?LATITUDE=108&LONGITUDE=-47&number-of-different-types-of-shops=10.
    • We can send it as XML
      • <latitude>108</latitude><longitude>-47</longitude><number-of-different-types-of-shops>10</number-of-different-types-of-shops>

3) Outputs

• A description of the answers that can be returned
• Format of the answers
• Exceptions or errors that can be expected
  • A good API will defined all of the possible bad scenarios that can occur and how it will notify the calling program. This allows the calling program to respond gracefully.
  • Here are some examples to possible bad return results:
    • Not enough information was submitted, and here is specifically what was missing: the latitude.
    • The service is temporarily down.
    • The service is too busy, please try again later.
    • No results were found.
    • Results were found but not as many as you asked for because we only search within a maximum distance of 10 miles
    • This service has moved to a new address…
    • …and so on…
  • Typically each of the possible errant answer is give a unique identifier or code which allow computers to respond easily.

An “out of this world” example…

Do you remember “Close Encounters of a Third Kind” when the scientists first started communicating with the huge alien ship that came over the mountain? Sure you do… who can forget this brilliant movie that is now such a fundamental part of the fabric of our existence. Well… in this movie, the scientist use mathematics manifest through sound and lights to try to establish basic communication with the aliens. Once the alien understood, they repeated back the message to say to the scientists, quite loudly, “Yes, we heard you!” An interface was established, an agreement that if you flash your lights and send over sound waves, we will capture that information, process it, and send you back beeps and blips along with flashing light signals too (and the result of this will be that we land our ship and change the very nature of your lives!).

References

I have listed some common websites to give other definitions of an API; however, they commit some of the cardinal sins when defining a entity.

1.     Wikipedia

1. Sin! - They use the object in the definition itself.

2.     How Stuff Works

1. Sin! - They use the noun in the definition itself.
2. And worse still they limit the definition of API’s to web technologies.  It is important to understand that API’s are EVERYWHERE… for example… inside a computer, API’s are established to allow software to run  successfully on a computer’s hardware which has nothing to do with the web.

Tags: API, Application Programming Interface, James John Wilson, James Wilson PMP, Onboard Informatics, What is?.

November 4th, 2009

Onboard Informatics’ Localized Real Estate Content Makes Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate iPhone Application ‘One-of-a-Kind’

By Stacey Ret, Director of Marketing

Licensing Deal Helps Real Estate Brand to Better Meet Home Buyers’ Needs 

NEW YORK, November 4, 2009 — Onboard Informatics, the premier data services and technology company for top-tier organizations in real estate, media and technology, is the provider of robust community information for a new iPhone application, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Home Selection Assistant.   

Onboard’s unique products and services help strengthen broker and consumer relationships, streamline the information gathering process, and better enable real estate buyers and sellers to make informed decisions.  As with many Onboard clients,  Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is using these highly regarded products to provide home buying consumers and real estate agents with the vital community and school information they desire  all from one source.

This new iPhone application ensures that homebuyers now have on-the-go access to  community populations, average income levels, housing trends, education and school information, crime statistics, localized weather, church locations, recreational amenities, recent home sales, nearby restaurants, and more.  

Now, a buyer can stand on the sidewalk outside of any home and immediately figure out, not only if the schools are within walking distance, but also receive the closest locations of the grocery store, bank and park.    

“Onboard is delighted to bring its services directly to the end consumer through this accessible and useful iPhone application,” said Marc Siden, CEO of Onboard. “Our content has consistently been a natural fit with the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate brand, which is focused on consumers’ lifestyles.  This new application is just one more step in our continuing effort to partner with clients and respond to specific consumer needs through carefully designed and flexible programs.”

The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate iPhone app exemplifies the versatility of Onboard’s products and opens up  new areas of potential growth for both companies.      

“We sought to provide homebuyers across the country with an application that could seamlessly fit into their home buying process and provide them with the tools they need to make the research-to-purchase process simpler,” said Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate. “We are confident Onboard’s exclusive community information will help us to achieve this strategy.”

The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate iPhone application, Home Selection Assistant, is available for free on www.bhgrealestate.com/iphone.

Below are a few screenshots of the iphone app

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, media and technology industries.  Onboard combines its expertise in data aggregation, standardization, and integration with expert consulting, transforming the complexity of data into meaningful solutions to support their clients in achieving business objectives.  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, or to request a demo, visit http://onboardinformatics.com/. 

About Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is a residential real estate company with a growing network of local brokerage offices.  Its real estate agents and brokers offer professional, knowledgeable advice and services for home buyers and sellers.  The company’s Web site offers real estate search, including MLS listings for selected locations.  You can also find in-depth articles about buying, selling and owning real estate at http://www.bhgrealestate.com/.  

Tags: Better Homes and Gardens, community data, iphone, iPhone apps, Onboard Informatics, phone apps, Real Estate, school data.

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.

August 5th, 2009

Onboard Informatics Launches Value Added ReSeller (VAR) Program

By Megan Murphy, Marketing Manager

New York, NY. August 4, 2009 – Onboard Informatics, the premier data services & technology company for top tier organizations in real estate, media and technology, announced their Value Added ReSeller (VAR) program during the 2009 Inman Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco.

The new VAR program provides qualified real estate web developers, brokers, financial institutions and other public sectors with full access to the highest quality data sets and technology on the market. The program is focused on developing viable partnerships, which begins with an assessment of their needs and product offerings in order to develop a custom solutions package with specified training programs.

“The VAR program is a true partnership with minimal investment to get started and is designed to maximize our partners’ value proposition,” said Marc Siden, CEO of Onboard Informatics. “As a qualified Onboard VAR partner, you are free to focus on creativity and development, while we provide easily-integrated content, hands on training and marketing support to increase ROI.”

Premium content available to VAR partners through single interface listings web service, covers up to 8 geographic levels. Over 90% of U.S. household property values are available. Local content services include 400,000 GreatSchool ratings and reviews and over 4 million local amenities listings including Yelp ratings and reviews.

Onboard’s product enhancement tools are designed to boost revenue and provide mutually beneficial growth. Customized solutions packages are supported by flexible development cycles and dedicated resources throughout the lifetime of the partnership. VAR partners benefit from supportive training programs and co-operative marketing opportunities to ensure they obtain the most out of their investment.

“It was more beneficial in every aspect to partner with Onboard,” said Jason Besench, Director of Technology for Real Estate Tomato and ListingPress.com. “With Onboard handling our listings integration, there was no need for multiple outsourced resources, and they saved us years in development time and expenses. This allowed ListingPress.com to concentrate on the front end of our product and easily integrate Onboard’s web service to the backend.”

Onboard Informatics’ existing VAR partners include organizations such as Real Estate Webmasters, ListingPress.com, Z57, and Top Producer among other top companies.

For more information on becoming a VAR partner, contact (646) 747-4273 or sales@onboardinformatics.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 real estate, media, and technology industries.  Onboard combines its expertise in data aggregation, standardization, and integration with expert consulting, transforming the complexity of data into meaningful solutions to support their clients in achieving business objectives.  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, or to request a demo, visit www.onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: Inman Connect, onboard, Onboard Informatics, partner, press release, Real Estate, VAR.

June 23rd, 2009

Seattle East: A Comparison of New York City and Seattle

By John Paul Murphy, Content Services Manager

If you haven’t noticed, there is a new trend in New York and it’s not being set by hipsters. If you’re not too sure what it is, the puddles outside your apartment that have become permanent reservoirs are a dead give away.

However, if you’re still unclear, the new trend is rain. This new trend began to make me wonder: are we becoming Seattle? We have more coffee shops than employed people, I’ve been noticing more flannel then normal, and New Yorkers’ tans have subsided to a fine milky paste (although it seems to still be very sunny in Staten Island).

If we are becoming Seattle East, what are some other similarities we have to our soon-to-be conjoined twin Seattle?

Seattle, Washington

• Area: 83.87
• Population Density:  6,941
• Air Pollution Index: 108
• Violent Crime Index: 130
• Median Home Sale Value, Q1 2009: $359,825
• 2009 Fair Market Rent: $844 (1 bedroom)
• Median Household Income: $54,978
• Cost of Living Index: 104.9

New York City, New York

• Area: 303.31
• Population Density: 27,290
• Air Pollution Index: 112
• Violent Crime Index: 176
• Median Home Sale Value, Q1 2009: $446,808
• 2009 Fair Market Rent: $1,216 (1 bedroom)
• Median Household Income: $47,525
• Cost of Living Index: 149.2

New York, put down the coffee and return the flannel because it’s safe to say that New York is not becoming Seattle East. With their higher income, lower cost of living, better air, and less crowded city, they can only hope to be New York City.  But until summer weather actually decides to descend upon us, chase those rainy blues away with a good ole movie night; I suggest a classic,  ”When Harry Met Sally” cause everyone one knows “Sleepless in Seattle” will not stand the test of time.

Tags: community data, content, data, data comparison, Onboard Informatics.

June 19th, 2009

Most troubled states: where will they be in 2013?

By John Paul Murphy, Content Services Manager

Today on CNNMoney.com an article was released which identified the five states with the highest unemployment rates in the month of May.  Those hardest hit states were Michigan, Oregon, South Carolina, Rhode Island, and California. 

So long as you haven’t been residing in a cave or under a rock somewhere, you know the country is struggling with joblessness; more importantly looking forward, will these states be in shambles in the future? With this thought in mind and out of sheer curiosity, investigating the employment situation in those states seemed like a good idea.

The following data points were cherry picked from the Onboard databases to help paint a picture of the employment situation in 2013:

• 2013 State  Employment projections, highest and lowest within the state
• 2013 County  Employment projections, highest and lowest within the state
• 2013 Place Employment projections, highest and lowest within the state

All projection data is proprietary information from Onboard Informatics.

Michigan

• State 2013 Employment Projection: 4,731,843
• County with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Keweenaw County, 828
• County with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Wayne County, 803,976
• Place with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Vandalia, Mi (Cass County), 24
• Place with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Detroit, Mi (Wayne County), 294,230

Oregon

• State 2013 Employment Projection: 1,950,118
• County with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Wheeler County, 522
• County with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Wayne County, 364,400
• Place with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Greenhorn, Or (Baker County), 24
• Place with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Portland, Or (Clackamas County), 294,230

South Carolina

• State 2013 Employment Projection: 2,148,003
• County with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Allendale County, 3,180
• County with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Greenville County, 221,147
• Place with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Lockhart, SC (Union County), 13
• Place with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Charleston, SC (Berkeley County), 52,164

Rhode Island

• State 2013 Employment Projection: 545,575
• County with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Bristol County, 28,166
• County with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Providence County, 311,167
• Place with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Melville, RI (Newport County), 624
• Place with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Providence, RI (Providence County), 76,423

California

• State 2013 Employment Projection: 18,419,297
• County with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Alpine County, 606
• County with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Los Angeles County, 4,905,858
• Place with the Lowest 2013 Employment Projection: Storrie, Ca (Plumas County), 2
• Place with the Highest 2013 Employment Projection: Los Angeles, Ca (Los Angeles County), 1,866,663

The employment numbers represent the projected number of people working within a specified geography level (state/county/place). It does not reflect the number of people that live and work within the specified geography level (i.e. people living and working in different counties).  If you have any questions, please contact us.

Tags: CNNMoney, community data, community information, content, data, employment, news, onboard, Onboard Informatics, unemployment rate.

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.

March 25th, 2009

Lifestyle Listings Engine Web Service - New Property Search Version 0.9 Delivered

By Megan Murphy, Marketing Manager

 Onboard Informatics launched the second version of Lifestyle Listings Engine - Version 0.9 today.

Lifestyle Listings Engine, the first ever enterprise-class property search based on consumer lifestyle, was first announced earlier this year at Inman News Real Estate Connect in New York.  Since then we have been working diligently to launch the  Listings Web Service enabling consumers to search for a home based on school system ratings, amenities, neighborhoods, commute time, and more all at the same time.

The first Listings Web Service delivery in mid February, Version 0.8, focused on two primary search mechanisms - geographic and parametric. Scott Petronis, our Sr. Dri. Product Management, goes into the specific details of Geographic Search, and Lookup capabilities in the Listings Web Service, in his previous post, Lifestyle Listings Engine Web Serivce - New Property Search Version 0.8 Delivered.

In this release, Version 0.9,  there are three new keycapabilities :

1) Search based on school performance:

One of the most significant search criteria for one of the largest home buyer segments is school performance. To this end, we’re enabling search based on proximity to GreatSchools rated schools of a specific value. For example, “I want to find listings that have 3+ beds and 2+ baths for no more than $500,000 that are near a highly rated school.”

2) Search based on distance to amenities:

The next set of crucial criterion are the local amenities such as parks, restaurants, supermarkets and hospitals. We’re enabling search based on a pretty long list of amenities so a user can ask for “Homes within 5 miles of a golf course,” for example.

3) “Get content”:

Once a search is conducted, the next logical step is for the searcher to want to know more. So we’re introducing new calls to pull back specific content based on a specific listing or the geographic container the listing falls within. The first such call allows a developer to pull back all the amenity details associated to a listing so they may present this, for example, on a listing detail page.

Scott goes into much greater detail regarding Version 0.9 in his post from last week.

A few cool new things we’re just completing put the “lifestyle” in lifestyle search. And believe me, this is just the start. To start we’ve focused on exposing some key new search criteria and also added a new content retrieval concept into the Listings Web Service. The concept is simple: there are criteria people will use to “drive” their search and then there’s additional content one wishes to see to help better educate herself/himself on the area surrounding the listing. So we’re exposing easily understood and highly relevant criteria in the search web service. Then we’re exposing more detailed content that may be pulled for presentation on the listing detail page.

What’s Next?

Lifestyle Listings Version 0.9.1 & Version 0.10 — Currently in development and testing. Targeted for release early/mid-April

• Get School District Content:  This will allow the developer to pull back all the school district content associated with a specific listing. Using this, the developer can fill out additional content pages to go along with the listing details.
• Search by commute time / distance: This will allow a user to input a starting address, such as their work address, and a desired time (i.e., 45 minutes) or distance (i.e., 30 miles). The search will then determine the listings that fall within the drivable area. We’re already looking at ways to get public transit as well as to determine neighborhoods and other geos that fall within the commute time / distance.

Lifestyle Listings Engine  Version 0.11 &  Version 0.12 — Currently in planning and design.

• Lead profiling: We’ll be capturing the various search criteria used in order to enable presentation of search preferences for lead forms, analytics reports, CRM applications or other uses.
• Search by community demographics: We’re working on a set of key demographics including age focus, socioeconomic status and household status.
• Criteria weighting and ranking: Providing the ability to weight the importance of individual criteria in each search to ensure the most appropriate results are returned.
• Additional Get Content calls: Enabling the retrieval of additional content to help provide greater details and insight into the community surrounding a listing.

Lifestyle Listinges Engine Software Development Kit — Currently in planning and design.

• We’ll be providing a set of UI widgets, helper code and documentation to enable developers to more quickly integrate our search into their sites and to do so with much more confidence than writing code from scratch. Our goal is to help developers get these capabilities up and running in days or weeks vs. months.

Please contact our sales support team at 646.747.4273 or info@onboardinformatics.com with any enquires regarding Lifestyle Listings Engine.

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to Onblog to get the latest news and deliveries regarding Lifestyle Listings Engine and Onboard’s other products.

Tags: amenities, data, home sale records, IDX, inman, Inman Connect, Lifestyle, Lifestyle Listings Engine, lifestyle search, listings, LLE, MLS, neighborhoods, Onboard Informatics, Products, property search, Real Estate, schools, SEO.

March 11th, 2009

All the Best Places to Live, Work, Eat, Procreate, and Kiss Life Goodbye

By Megan Murphy, Marketing Manager

I’m a huge believer in quality of life and the idea of ‘work to live’ not ‘live to work’ which is hard to believe considering I live in the roughest city in the U.S. but I guess that would fall under work hard, play hard. 

Anways, I know this is not a new way of thinking and I understand in times like these many don’t have the luxury or time to focus on maintaining a high quality of  life…. but life goes on.  Regardless of the economy people are still having  kids, getting married, relocating for work, moving closer to their elderly parents, etc. and all of them want to find a home that fits their needs and lifestyle. 

Lifestyle, whether you’re a young professional, a mother with three kids, or a retiree, it’s important to find that perfect place to fit that phase and time in your life. 

I don’t know anyone that doesn’t enjoy a “Best Places to…” story, so I’ve taken some of my favorites from this year and last to share a variety of places that one can fulfill a person’s lifestyle and hopefully get us all thinking more about how and where we want to live and not merely survive.

Best Places to Live

CNNMoney.com, Best Places to Live 2008

And the winners are…

Plentiful jobs, excellent schools, affordable housing - America’s best small cities have all that and more. See the top 100 best places to live - including detailed city profiles, homes for sale and million-dollar homes. More

1. Plymouth, MN

2. Fort Collins, CO

3. Naperville, IL

4. Irvine, CA

5. Franklin Township, NJ

• See the top 100

6. Norman, OK

7. Round Rock, TX

8. Columbia/Ellicott City, MD

9. Overland Park, KS

10. Fishers, IN

Best Places to Work

FORTUNE, 100 Best Companies to Work For 2009

And the winners are…

Even in this economy, some companies are going out of their way to please employees. This year, there’s a new no. 1, as Google slips to no. 4. See detailed profiles of the top 100 employers, including interactive maps, key perks, contact information, and more.

• See the top 100

 

Best Places to Eat

Gayot.com, The Restaurant Issue, TOP 40 Restaurants in the U.S.

These restaurants have influenced the dining scene in big cities like New York, Chicago and San Francisco with daring, elegant, exciting and soothe-the-soul concepts. Smaller towns, too, whether on secluded Atlantic shores or California’s golden hills, have benefited by having one of these top-rated restaurants in their midst. The top restaurants not only share their spirit, but ignite our intelligence, imagination, and desire for more truly exceptional dining experiences.

Best Places to Have Kids

BusinessWeek, The Best Place to Raise your Kids 2009

Kid-Friendly and Cost-Friendly

A Chicago suburb beats out thousands of other communities around the U.S. as the best, most affordable place to raise kids

Mount Prospect, Ill., is a quiet Chicago suburb with a population of just over 56,000. It is a tight-knit town where over the past eight years Prospect High School’s football team won three state championships, its Marching Knights picked up their 26th straight grand champion title at the annual state marching band festival, and just last month the school itself ranked 12th among all state high schools. Now the town is also the winner of Businessweek’s second annual roundup of the Best Places in America to Raise Kids.

Best Places to Retire

CNNMoney.com, Best Places to Retire

Beaufort, SC is by far my favorite of this bunch.  I am partial due to my entire upbringing being in South Carolina, from beautiful horse country of Aiken, to the home of the Carolina Gamecocks in Columbia, and my favorite, the beaches of Charleston.  Now living in New York (which I love and while I am mentally ready to retire, I am no where near financially) I can appreciate the slow pace and beauty of the coastline and quaint towns.

 6 Terrific towns, all on the water

Many baby boomers dream of retiring somewhere by the water. These half-dozen places are on a lake, a river or an ocean - yet won’t sink your retirement budget. More

• Dunedin, FL
• Sequim, WA
• St. Joseph, MI
• Beaufort, SC
• Durango, CO
• Marble Falls, TX

Onboard Informatics had the pleasure of working with many media companies to produce data-driven stories such as the ones above.  Of these, Onboard provided the data for CNNMoney’s Best Places to Liveand BusinessWeeks’s Best Places to Raise Kids.

Check out some of our other media client’s lifestyle stories… BusinessWeek’s  Best Affordable Suburbs in the U.S. 2009, Progressive Farmer, Five Safest Places to Live in Rural America and  Best Places to Raise Farm Kids.

For more information on how we partner with media and publishing companies please contact us at 646.747.4273 or info@onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: Best Places to Live, Business Week, CNNMoney, Fortune, Gayot, Lifestyle, Onboard Informatics, Real Estate.