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Benefits of MLS Backoffice vs IDX feeds for SFR Funds

What’s the best MLS feed for SFR Investor Funds, backoffice or IDX?

Accurate and complete Real Estate listing data is critical for real estate investors and brokers concerned with underwriting Single Family Rentals (SFR). MLS provides listing data through several different “feeds” (otherwise known as API Feeds).

  • There are 4 different feeds:
  • IDX, VOW, Broker Only and Backoffice
  • There are fundamental differences and benefits to leveraging a Backoffice Feed vs an IDX or VOW feed
  • The differences in feeds include who can view the information, where they can see it, and what information is made available.

A Brief History of MLS

  • According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a private offer of cooperation and compensation by licensed “listing” or “seller” brokers to other real estate brokers on behalf of “buyers”.
  • Historically, real estate brokers would meet and share information regarding properties they were trying to sell. The goal was to receive help in selling their properties.
  • If the selling broker received any assistance, they would compensate the other broker as part of the sale.
  • This was the beginning of the first MLS. The MLS enabled competing brokers to also cooperate with each other to ensure a sale. 
  • MLS systems, which started as MLS books or index cards, enabled that cooperation.

What is an MLS and how does it work?

  • Modern MLSs are basically private databases of real estate listings. Each MLS database is governed and run by a collective of brokers and agents. 
    • The collective is formed by Realtors associations or directly by groups of brokers.
    • Each MLS establishes rules for cooperation in sharing and selling its listings.
    • Each MLS set some of the local rules, while Realtor owned MLS are partially governed by the National Association of Realtors (NAR)
  • Each MLS will provide their own real estate data, specifically real estate listings and other relevant information to MLS members.
    • Brokers in an MLS are called participants, while agents in an MLS are called subscribers. An agent can only join an MLS if their broker has joined.
    • Brokerages that cross over multiple marketplaces can join multiple MLSs as long as they are licensed in the state of that MLS
  • It’s important to note that there isn’t a national MLS – each MLS database covers a specific region. There are 13 NAR regions and over 600 MLS on the market today.

How are listings added to and accessed in an MLS?

  • MLS listings are added to each database by the listing agent. The data is available to any broker or member of that MLS.
  • Sellers can work with their real estate broker or agent to add and remove their properties from an MLS.
  • Buyers work with a broker or agent to view listings contained in the MLS
  • Each MLS typically provides a web MLS portal to view and add listings

How do MLS feeds work?

  • In addition to the MLS portal, MLSs provide different feeds for brokers and agents to view listings
  • The most common use case for a feed is where an agent wants to display their listings on their website. Website feeds are most commonly used through an IDX feed
  • Other use cases include analytics and market analysis that a broker or agent may want to perform on behalf of their clients

The 4 Types of MLS Feeds 

IDX

  • According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Internet Data Exchange (IDX) is a policy that gives MLS members the ability to authorize other participants to electronically display their listings.
  • This agreement was born from the need of  real estate professionals  to display listing information on their websites.
  • Realtors and brokers who have access to an MLS, can use IDX to display MLS property listings on their websites. 
  • IDX functions like a search engine for buyers on your website. Some examples of IDX usage include Zillow and Trulia.

 

How IDX works and its benefits for your website

  • Agents and brokers often add IDX on their real estate websites in order to market homes, attract buyers, and close more sales.
  • IDX can be implemented in different ways.
    • Real Estate Sites can set up an iframe to display listing data on an agent’s website.
    • A Real Estate Transaction Standard (RETS), created by The Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO), can be used as well.
    • Popular content management systems, such as wordpress will have native plugins that can be added
  • The main drawback of using an IDX is that it contains only active listings. You won’t be able to access historical data.

VOW

  • Virtual Office Websites (VOW) feeds are also offered by an MLS. They are similar to IDX feeds, but contain additional information such as historical listings, expired listings, and other additional data points. They are still limited in the scope of data available.

Broker Only

  • This type of MLS feed offers data exclusively to brokers. It typically contains the listings that an individual licensed broker has contributed to a given MLS. 

Backoffice Feed

  • This is the newest MLS feed that has the most comprehensive data. It includes all fields and data points for any listing as well as historical listings. This feed is not allowed to be posted publicly, and is typically shared for search and valuation purposes.

Selecting the Right MLS Feed

  • IDX and VOW feeds are generally the best for real estate agents looking to build stronger relationships with their buyers by displaying listings on their websites. Both feeds offer listing data that most individuals and buyers would need to conduct their home search.
  • Backoffice feed – this feed is the most appropriate for individuals or institutions conducting research and need access to comprehensive data.
  • The Backoffice feed is the best option for the SFR Fund and brokers serving SFR Funds
  • SFR Funds use the backoffice feed for deeper market analysis to build comparables and valuations
  • The backoffice feed contains more than 600 fields on listings, property, member and office data
  • The backoffice feed also gives access to historical data which is necessary for building accurate comparables

The Benefits of Bold Street Backoffice MLS Feed

Comprehensive Backoffice MLS Data Feed 

  • Bold Street AI provides Backoffice MLS Feeds directly to your systems
  • It contains the full set of MLS data in key SFR markets across the US and includes over 600 fields on listing, rooms, members, etc. 
  • It also contains historical data, which is particularly useful for market analysis. 

Near Real-Time Data Updates

  • Bold Street AI has additional features such as near-real-time updates, optimizing the system to each individual MLS and their specific technology platform to gather listings at the fastest rate possible. This ensures that you’re never receiving stale data

Data Correctness

  • Bold Street’s direct partnerships with MLSs enables data audits to ensure MLS data is accurate and correct.
  • Bold Street also uses industry accepted best practices for exposing data, RESO, which improves the data clarity, ease of use, and streamlines integration into back office systems. 
  • Bold Street further provides data mapping from each MLS to present a unified and standardized view of the data across all MLSs. It protects users from MLSs that vary widely.

Intelligence

  • Bold Street provides contextual search on various fields to provide the power of a “Google Search” on the MLS

To learn more about how Bold Street’s Data and Underwriting platform can help you access comprehensive MLS backoffice data with near real-time updates to provide the most accurate listings – speak with an expert.

Elise Parker