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.

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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 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.

January 14th, 2009

CHANGES to Winter 2009 Community Delivery

By Colleen Staunton, Product Manager

Onboard Informatics Winter 2009 Community Delivery will be released on Monday, February 16, 2009. There are a few important changes that clients should be aware of as they may affect their current implementation.

As we indicated with last year’s delivery, Debt/Net Worth fields are no longer supported with the Winter 2009 release. The fields eliminated are as follows:

FIELD DESCRIPTION

WRHCYMEDHH             Median Household Net Worth

HNWCYLT0                  Net Worth $0 or Less

HNWCY0005                Net Worth $1-$5,000

HNWCY0510                Net Worth $5,000-$10,000

HNWCY1025                Net Worth $10,000-$25,000

HNWCY2550                Net Worth $25,000-$50,000

HNWCY50100              Net Worth $50,000-$100,000

HNWCY10250              Net Worth $100,000-$250,000

HNWCY25500              Net Worth $250,000-$500,000

HNWCYGT500              Net Worth Greater Than $500,000

HMVCYDOTHR              Median Other Debt

HMVCYDANY                 Median Total Debts

Onboard’s data team has included new content with the Winter 2009 delivery – HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) and Smoking Ban data.

1. The Smoking Ban data will have the following fields:

• SMOKEBAN_WORKPLACE
• SMOKEBAN_RESTAURANTS
• SMOKEBAN_BARS

2. The HUD Fair Market Rent will have the following fields:

• STUDIO
• ONE_BED
• TWO_BED
• THREE_BED
• FOUR_BED

Onboard’s data team works diligently to estimate FMRs for our place, zip and county level data (not all counties are identified in HUDs base data). Please note that FMR values typically occur at a county or Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

The definition of FMR from the HUD website states:

“FMRs are gross rent estimates.  They include the shelter rent plus the cost of all tenant-paid utilities, except telephones, cable or satellite television service, and internet service. HUD sets FMRs to assure that a sufficient supply of rental housing is available to program participants.  To accomplish this objective, FMRs must be both high enough to permit a selection of units and neighborhoods and low enough to serve as many low-income families as possible.  The level at which FMRs are set is expressed as a percentile point within the rent distribution of standard-quality rental housing units^[1].  The current definition used is the 40th percentile rent, the dollar amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing units are rented^[2].  The 40th percentile rent is drawn from the distribution of rents of all units occupied by recent movers (renter households who moved to their present residence within the past 15 months).  HUD is required to ensure that FMRs exclude non-market rental housing in their computation.  Therefore, HUD excludes all units falling below a specified rent level determined from public housing rents in HUD’s program databases as likely to be either assisted housing or otherwise at a below-market rent, and units less than two years old.”

Tags: data, onboard, Products.

December 22nd, 2008

Weekly Data Update: 12/15-12/19

By John Paul Murphy, Content Services Manager

At Onboard Informatics it is our goal to provide the most comprehensive and up to date data possible.

Over the course of last week, Onboard Informatics was able to process additional home sale transaction records and add them to our database.

• Number of new records                                    104,962
• Total number of home sale records             39,666,909

Tags: data, Homes Sales, onboard, Real Estate.

December 15th, 2008

New and Exciting Products and Upgrades from Onboard

By Colleen Staunton, Product Manager

EXCITING new things going on at Onboard Informatics!

In addition to a ground breaking new product, the New Year will find some additions to our current product line.  We are excited to introduce a web service interface for our bulk amenities (business listings) content set.  This new service will reduce data management costs for our clients by allowing them to request and retrieve information on over 4 million public and private establishments in real time.  Gone will be the need to download massive flat files to update your data base servers each month.  Instead, Onboard will process updates to our web service infrastructure and your developers can focus on user interfaces and business requirements.

Your end users will still get the same great, detailed amenities information that they received before, PLUS an extra feature that is only available through our Amenities web service:  Yelp reviews and ratings.  With over 3 million Yelp! reviews, end users can find out the real fabric of their prospective community, plan a great lunch after an open house, or find the best neighborhood in town for whatever activities they enjoy.  Weekly updates of Yelp! data ensures that we have the most recent information possible.  Please look for further information at the end of January.

Neighborhood Navigator To Be Updated Again!

Not to be left out, our Neighborhood Navigator product will be enhanced once again!  Over 3 million Yelp! reviews will be added to Navigator’s Nearby Establishments page in order to help users gather more information about the area surrounding each listing.

Having the Yelp! data right on the page will make it easier for the user and cuts down on the number of other sites they have to visit to get local information.  This leaves more time for the consumer to browse your company’s site.

Navigator clients that already receive amenities will automatically be updated with the Yelp! content.  If clients do not wish to display Yelp! content on their site, they should contact our Product Support team at support@onboardinformatics.com.

Tags: amenities, data, neighborhood navigator, onboard.

December 15th, 2008

Humanizing the Real Estate Web

By Marc Siden, CEO

Marc Siden, CEO of Onboard Informatics, raps up a tough 2008 and discusses exciting plans for 2009 to humanize the real estate web.

Tags: humanizing the web, onboard, Onboard Informatics, Real Estate.

October 13th, 2008

Dave Collins, Welcome Onboard!

By Megan Murphy, Marketing Manager

Onboard Informatics is pleased to announce its newest member, Dave Collins, joining as the VP of Strategic Development.

Collins, previously the Vice President of the LendingTree broker network, brings over 20 years of extensive experience in the real estate brokerage, relocation, appraisal and e-commerce industries. While there, he provided strategic leadership driving performance in the areas of sales, conversion and account management.

Prior to his work at LendingTree, Collins provided overall management and leadership as the Senior Vice President for RELO (Leading RE) where he worked with the national network and his team of six regional vice presidents to elevate the performance of the team and successfully obtain significant improvements in the key metrics of referrals, conversion and recruiting.

He also served as the Vice President of Edina Realty Home Services/President of Corporate Services as well as the Director, Network Services for PHH Relocation (aka Homequity, Cendant Mobility).

“Onboard is thrilled to Have Dave as part of the family. He Brings years of industry experience and expertise to our culture that will surely help us achieve our next levels of growth. In tough times and markets, it is people like Dave that will set Onboard apart from the competition,” said Marc Siden, CEO of Onboard.

“I am excited about this new venture and all the opportunity it brings. The move to Onboard will allow me to exercise my metrics and analytics knowledge in conjunction with the great real estate experience I’ve gained throughout the years. I’m thrilled to be joining a team with such a strong reputation for innovation and quality, and look forward to providing the many friends I’ve made in the industry with the distinct marketing advantage Onboard provides for its customers ” said Collins.

Tags: dave collins, onboard, Onboard Informatics.

October 9th, 2008

I Brought you into this World, and I Will Take You Out!!

By Marc Siden, CEO

 That’s what the Housing market is telling us.  The media is starting to ask if housing has hit bottom. “Should we be buying?”  It all depends on if we look at fundamentals or the emotional side of the market. 

As for the fundamental side, just today we saw the highest increase in pending home sales in over a year!!! Could this be the start? Maybe…yet when you look at the emotional side people are still scared.

I asked some of our clients how they were doing right now to gain some clarification on whether the fundamental or emotional state is more reliable. Their response was:
 
“We are actually doing well.  Our agents are working harder, taking on properties that are priced fairly, and investing in getting their jobs done. There are fewer agents and the ones left seem to be really focused on their jobs and love the fact that there is less competition and are getting through this market just fine.”

Let’s face it; real estate has one of the lowest barriers to entry than any other profession.  All the rookies and pretend agents with a great picture have checked out and what remains are the experts making changes where it counts in order to stay ahead.

So whatever the fed does, or the treasury, even the media, as long as we keep hearing things like this and focus on the fundamentals, we can feel some comfort that what started all off this mess, can also be its savior.  In time, In Time…

Tags: housing market, market advive, onboard.

October 6th, 2008

Onboard’s At It Again!

By Colleen Staunton, Product Manager

While the market might be in turmoil and most companies are cutting back, we are stepping forward and taking advantage of the opportunities being created.  Onboard Informatics recently partnered up with GreatSchools and is now the exclusive partner of GreatSchools in the real estate industry.

GreatSchools was founded in 1998 by Bill Jackson, in order to improve education in grades K-12 by inspiring parents to get involved.  They provide parents with school data, expert advice, articles, and community content, invite users to register on their site, so parents can publish, post, and connect with members of their online parent community.

GreatSchools.net profiles more than 90,000 public elementary, middle and high schools in the United States. Charter schools, magnet schools, year-round schools, and some continuation and alternative schools are included as well.

In addition, GreatSchools.net includes basic information on more than 30,000 private schools. This information is limited because private schools are not required to give tests or report results.

GreatSchools Ratings provide an overview of a school’s test performance by comparing the school’s state standardized test results to those of other schools in the state.  Ratings are given for each grade and student category (gender, ethnicity or other student group) for which test results are available, and are updated quarterly.

The ratings are derived by calculating ratings for each grade/subject combination; then averaging those ratings into the By Grade ratings.

The Exclusive Markets we’re now licensed to market, sell, and distribute GS Ratings to are:

• National Real Estate Broker websites – whether they are using the same website or different websites (example: Century 21)
• Regional Broker Websites (example: Prudential Fox and Roach Realtors
• Local Agent Websites (example: http://www.delawareliving.com/)
• Web Development agencies focused exclusively on creating broker/agent websites (example: Z57 Internet Solutions)
• Organizations that provide the regional MLS listings (example: San Francisco Multiple Listing Service)
• Alternative Sellers of residential homes (example: ForSaleByOwner.com)
• Companies whose primary focus is operating real estate only portals (example: HomePages.com)

Our clients will benifit from having comprehensive profiles, that go “beyond the numbers” to include a school’s culture and skill set, state test scores, teacher profiles, and even the physical condition of the school buildings. They will be able share what parents have to say about the school with their clients and give first hand parental testimonies, far better than any statistics.

We’re excited to be partnering with GreatSchools and to continue providing our clients with the information they need to be local experts and compete in their markets.  In a time of crisis and when it’s imperative to be at the top of your game, we hope these kind of partnerships and additions help our clients to overcome the struggles of a down market.

Tags: community information, greatschools, onboard, Real Estate, school ratings, schools.

October 6th, 2008

Data Updates & Add-ins: Week of 9/29/08 – 10/3/08

By John Paul Murphy, Content Services Manager

At Onboard Informatics it is our goal to provide the most comprehensive and up to date data possible.

This month we are pleased to announce that our amenities data set has been “beefed” up! For those of you not familiar with what falls into our amenities coverage here are some quick examples: restaurants, bars, grocery stores, campgrounds, doctors’ offices, and etc.

• Total number of Amenities records:                                                                        4,086,277
• Total number of new Amenities records:                                                                    46,060
• Category with the largest increase of new Amenities records:                Restaurants (4,926)

Our school ratings and reviews data was updated and grew as well.

• Total number of school reviews: 346,026
• Total number of school ratings:    54,892

Tags: amenities, data, data updates, nearby spots, onboard, school ratings, school reviews.