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We won't sugar-coat it, our servers were offline for a 48 hour period recently, which was a first in our five years in service. Like all disasters, it wasn't one item in particular but a many factors that lead to the outage.
Regional IDX is committed to providing the best service in real estate web sites and real estate web hosting. We thank you for your patience and understanding while we worked to get this resolved.
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Brokers & agents of REGIONAL MLS (West Palm Beach, FL) used to be able to download data from the FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, also known as FAR.
A recent notice sent out by REGIONAL MLS data department states that "... As of Tuesday November 11th the FAR feed will no longer be available. If you have made the appropriate change, thank you and please disregard this email."
This leaves many agents out in the cold when it comes to listing information for their web sites.
FAR is only one source to receive the information.
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Had an episode recently where a client wanted to transfer some info to a third party. The third party uses MS technology, VBscript and ASP pages to host their sites. So we asked them if they have any sort of API that we could tap into for the client (An API stands for Application Program Interface. Basically, it's a way for outsiders to interact with a web program). They handed back an ASP page with some VBscript in it.
Hmmmm... we don't do MS stuff... including ASP. How are we going to transfer our data?
The answer? XML-RPC! We're familiar with XML as that's how we send thousands of property listings to various sources like TRULIA.COM, ZILLOW.COM, YAHOO.COM, GOOGLE.COM and others on a daily basis (and deep link them back to the client's site). We just never ran into a situation where we had to use XML to perform a single sign on (also known as an SSO or SSI) or interact with another program like this.
XML-RPC can take the info from us generated from a PHP file, transform it to XML, deliver the XML and have the receiving side read the XML, generated from an ASP file. Make sense? That's powerful!
It would look like this:
data -> php -> xml -> transfer xml -> receive xml -> xml -> asp -> data
XML-RPC has been around since the 1990's... That's more than 10 years ago! Since then, developers have discovered that it is lacking in details. So developers have enhanced XML-RPC with extra details (and structure) and re-branded it as SOAP.
SOAP is common and apparently the favored method for YAHOO web applications. The issue with SOAP is that it gives too much detail without easily identifyable structure. So we have no way of knowing what the data is unless we dissect it. This could take time and lots of it.
So a new though process sprung up. What if developers treated interaction just as they treat database interaction? Commonly referred to as CRUD (Create, Replace, Update, Delete). The result became what is known as REST or a RESTful API. A RESTful API gives each one of these processes a different link like so:
-www.whatever.com/api/create
-www.whatever.com/api/replace
-www.whatever.com/api/update
-www.whatever.com/api/delete
Good API's are going to have all of them. Flickr is an example of a well thought out API that offers exactly that: http://www.flickr.com/services/api/
We checked and the third party vendor didn't have either SOAP or REST, so we were stuck with XML-RPC.
The issue we came across was that info concerning XML-RPC is so fragmented and dated that it's hard to know what applies and what doesn't. There are classes and functions all over the place that people use. Do we use something trusted? Do we create our own (ugh)? Are the classes and functions out there still applicable in a PHP5 world?
The goal was simple. Generate an XML, send it, receive a response and display it (or print it or echo it) all with a single PHP5 file.
So without further ado, if you need to send an XML to an API and receive data back from it with PHP5:
//Sending xml line
$xml = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?> \n \t <User Source=\"user_source_var\" Id=\"id_var\"></User>";
$url = "http://whatever.com/services/Login.asp";
$success = '<status>SUCCESS</status>';
$ch = curl_init(); // initialize curl handle
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url); // set url to post to
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1); // return into a variable
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_TIMEOUT, 20); // times out after 20s
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $xml); // add POST fields
$result = curl_exec($ch); //exec curl
//Create a SimpleXML element
$xml = new SimpleXMLElement($result);
//check return from server
//if return contains success redirect to login
if ($pos = strpos($result, $success)) {
list($junk, $id) = split("id={", $result, 2);
list($id, $junk) = split("}", $id, 2);
//This print the whole raw xml:
//echo $result . "<br />";
//This prints the xml as an object:
//print_r($xml);
//This gets the a node & prints it:
$message = (string)$xml->parent_node->child_node;
print_r($message);
} else {
//if error - fail to screen
echo "failed";
}
?>
This info is offered from a personal perspective and offered to help people understand how we think and view situations. We in no way think that we are authoritative on this subject (or any other for that matter!).
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Real estate agents sometimes get excited about social media opportunities or web site opportunities. It usually happens when there's a low understanding of how technology works. There's nothing wrong with that. I don't understand how many things work. I just like the idea that they do.
After talking to a few of these agents and asking the tough questions, I've discovered the underlying cause of this. The general fallacy goes something like this:
- I'm going to sign up for a web site.
- Millions of people are going to find it, see it and read it.
- I'm going to get tons of business because of this web site or social media.
- I can do all of this without leaving my home office.
- social media can be a substitute for social interaction.
- I'm going to be very rich.
After all, that's what most people want. Right?
Well the reality is much different. Social Media and web sites are a supplement to your business NOT a substitute for your business. You cannot fake your way into a relationship with someone. You can try. But just like people who meet in chat rooms, those relationships don't last.
It's because there's a vulnerability that happens online that doesn't occur face-to-face. The vice-versa is true as well. There's a protection that happen in face-to-face conversations and relations that is missing online.
The biggest part of social media is to get involved in your community and your clients. There is no substitute for that.
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We've been in an educational series discussing how both new real estate agents and existing real estate agents can use technology to reach their clients.
We've said that the majority of business is going to come from referrals.
Because of that, it's vitally important to keep in touch with your customer base. We've said that to keep in touch with your customers, you have to be where they are getting information.
We've said that people are getting information in different ways than they have in the past. People are using technology to get information (web sites, Google searches, asking on Facebook, etc).
We've listed out a few items that agents can post.
But agents want to know, "What really works?" In other words, cut to the chase. Give me what I need to do.
What items are likely to get re-posted or re-tweeted?
Here's a list that I shared with the class:
- topical articles.
- how-to articles.
- informative blog posts.
- interesting press releases.
- top-10 articles.
- local events.
- opinion blogs.
- content related to popular trends.
This list is ever so slightly different than the last list. The last list was items you could post. These are the items that really work.
Final warning though. Just as I stated in class. The problem isn't that this is difficult to comprehend and understand. No needs to get dressed up and come to one of my classes to learn this. The biggest challenge in all of this is similar to the biggest challenge in dieting and exercise. We, as a group (not as individuals), just don't do it.
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I attended a half day seminar given by author and New York local radio personality who has a show about real estate investing (name purposely left out). It was slightly informative but he had a moment where he talked about social media.
He stated how he had 30K+ followers on Twitter. Then he paused and he said, "The problem with social media is no one knows what to say."
All I could think of was "Ahhhhh.....". Thirty thousand followers and nothing to say. I immediately tweeted to him what I recently discovered. When you don't know what to say, say the obvious. The reason is this... just because it's obvious to you doesn't mean it's obvious to everyone else.
In our last post, we said that people have changed the way they get information. We went onto say that they are going to look for information, possibly about you and they are going to find information. It's either going to be information that happens-to-be-there or it's going to be information you want them to see.
So what kind of items do I post about and share? That's a common question and something my recent class asked. Here's a quick list that I mentioned in class:
- links to interesting news stories.
- post educational content.
- promote others.
- link to your blog.
- link to others blog.
- promote your clients.
- link to press releases.
- give away tips and tricks.
- ask questions.
- answer questions.
- give referrals.
- introduce others.
These are pretty obvious to me and should be self explanatory. If I wanted to boost my Google juice I would explain each in detail and give examples. Maybe later, this time that should be enough.
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Last week we asked the important question where do leads come from? We determined that the majority of leads come from referrals or sphere of influence.
This means that it's vitally important to keep in touch with your customers and clients. So I then asked the class the next all important question.
In what ways can you keep in touch with your clients?
This time the blank stare pause shrunk significantly and the class responded:
- blog
- web site
- texting
- actively involved
- google+
- linked in
Right... now we are getting somewhere. They way people get information has changed dramatically over the past decade. In the past, people would get information by newspaper, magazine and cable news.
Those options are still available (at least sometimes) but their effectiveness is dwindling. Readership of newspapers are down 30% year over year. Many mangazines, including my favorite Fortune Small Business, has ceased printing. Cable news seem to be nothing more than outlets for PR companies and others who can pony up the cash to have the "news company" do a story on them in exchange for advertising, a modern day payola.
When people want information they do one of two items. Either they look it up themselves, usually on Google or another search engine. Or they ask someone they know. Asking can be done in person, through Facebook or through Twitter.
The point is, if someone is looking for information about you, you need to have information there for them to see. Either they are going to see what happens to be there or they are going to see the information you want them to see.
Are they going to see information of your past weekend dinner spots? Recent partys? Recent vacations? Or are they going to see information about real estate?
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Where do legitimate leads come from?
This is the question I asked a class of new real estate agents I had. Besides a bunch of blank stares for a few moments, they started to call out answers. Here are their answers:
- Internet Leads
- Web Sites
- For Sale By Owners (FSBO's)
- Advertising
- Sphere of Influence
- Referrals
We discussed these opportunities for about 30 minutes or so listing out a few pro's and con's. Then I added in my experience and mentioned that in more than a decade of watching the real estate industry the majority of leads that convert always comes from referrals and sphere of influence.
This is a fancy way of saying from people who know you or people who know someone that knows about you.
This isn't to say the other means of leads aren't valid. It's to say the best bang for you buck is always from referrals.
In some cases, this is easily seen when a child of a well established agent enters the business. The child, usually in their 20's out of college or possibly in their 30's if they had a few false starts or after sowing their wild oats, does well because their parent (or uncle or aunt, etc) refers a good portion to them.
If that mentor wasn't there to feed business, that individual would probably end up failing like most new agents.
I have witnessed this in a similar way as well. One time an elderly well-established agent was working with a middle-aged less-established agent. The well-established agent passed away and suddenly the less-established agent's business skyrocketed.
For the same reason as the first example. The mentor post-humously feed all the business to the living agent by way of telephone forwarding.
No advertising. No web site. No lead capture. No beating the streets. No FSBO's. No calling on expireds.
Pure and simple networking.
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The Property Call
I just got off the phone with an upset seller who expired her listing in Dec 2010. The listing still showed on Zillow.com.
For about an hour or so, I listened, along with an official company representative, how the company was responsible for all property display and advertising. She further went on to say that the agent is licensed underneath the company and that restitution needs to be paid for damages done since this has been an ongoing issue for nearly a year.
The Property Seller Call
"Well, what do you think?" she asked.
"I think your correct in a lot of ways." I responded.
And I think she has a point. The real estate company does have the responsibility to make sure that the property data is correct.
What's interesting is that most of the internet display is now automatic. Once the property is out of MLS, it removes itself from third party web sites within 24 hours. Monitoring this on a daily basis with thousands of listings across multiple web sites isn't realistic.
The Property Situation
"Don't you have computer systems that know when the contract expired?"
Well, yes. Again, she has a point. So how does the property show on Zillow.com? The property was showing on Zillow.com through a third party advertiser. The agent advertised through a third party luxury web site and the that web site also sent the property to Zillow.com. Since the advertising on the luxury web site was I guess for a year, the advertiser still had the property information and was still sending it to Zillow.com
I guess the agent was supposed to cancel the advertising to make sure it was removed but that apparently didn't happen. Or it did and through a glitch on the luxury web site, the listing still showed and sent to Zillow.com.
In my eyes... hey, it happens. No big deal. We'll pass the info along to the agent and have the agent discontinue the advertising.
In the seller's eyes, she wanted restitution and revenge. She wanted someone to pay!
Broker's Internet Property Display Point
And that's the point. At the end of the day, third party web sites and companies who don't have licenses and who post incorrect information, get to skate away scott free. But the agent and the company has to answer for misinformation in a legal manner.
Doesn't seem fair especially since the third parties are the ones profiting off of information that they don't gather themselves.
It's real world experience issues like this that I was chosen for a nation-wide study of IDX information. Part of what they will be looking into is whether or not property display on social media should be allowed. And if so, at what level and terms.
I'd say after this situation, I have one more example fresh in my mind.
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Click the link below to see how search engines, like google, see your web site. This shows how they see hidden content and how they can't see pictures like you and I.
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Here's another site that will show additional info like INTERNAL LINKS and EXTERNAL LINKS and give an SEO score:
Lastly here another site that will give in-depth details about page structure: