Internet Data Exchange (or IDX) is an agreement among the brokers in each real estate market that allows them to display each other’s listings on their respective web sites without displaying the contact information of other listing brokers or agents. The purpose of this function is to maintain the focus of the consumer on the Broker or Agent’s web site and push listings to more REALTOR web sites. There are two ways to get data for your site:
1) For Brokers and Agents the most common method is to “Frame” the data using LIST-IT Gateway, a simple linking tool that adds live, real-time data to your site. This is the easiest and least expensive way to put MLS data on your web site and it can be done online within the LIST-IT MLS system. If you do not have a website yet, Gateway is automatically added to the Free Web Site that already comes with membership to a LIST-IT MLS installation.
IDX Options Other than Gateway: You should contact the local MLS staff to find out what other vendors are licensed to offer IDX data driven solutions to their members. There are many national web vendors selling real estate web sites and some are likely operating in your area.
2) For Web Developers and Large Brokers: Other methods of integrating data into your web site each involve the downloading of data from the MLS. This is potentially far more flexible as programmers may reformat the data to fit other business requirements or formats. These are however “raw data” feeds which require a web application and database. This involves some relationship with a third party to maintain these data feeds. For more information on this scenario, contact a local MLS staff person in your city. The methods currently supported by Solid Earth for data export are:
LIST-IT Data Shuttle – A nightly download of the raw data which can be used by a programmer to populate a remote database.
LIST-IT RealView - A special view of the database accessible through an Oracle Client service. This is the tightest integration available.
RETS Server – The Real Estate Transaction Standard, or RETS, is a data standard created by the National Association of REALTORS to facilitate the exchange of real estate data among vendors. Not all LIST-IT Systems feature a RETS server, contact the local MLS for availability.
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