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Great to see more action in the real estate space. One thing I found interesting was that you actually registered to become brokers to distribute the data and g

Great to see more action in the real estate space. One thing I found interesting was that you actually registered to become brokers to distribute the data and get the commission. I'm not surprised to see so much push-back from agents [0]. It's a pretty competitive industry and most agents don't take it lightly when their leads are taken :). I do feel like more technology is being adopted but I am curious as to why real estate tech seems so behind? I also work with real estate data on SimplyRETS (https://simplyrets.com https://simplyrets.com). We aggregate data from MLS's across the US and the state of the art is quite a mess. We took a slightly different approach, though, in that we distribute the data to app developers and brokers through our API and let them manage their leads. Very cool stuff. Keep up the good work! [0] - See comments in http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/openlistings/ http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/26/openlistings/ and http://www.inman.com/2015/02/27/startup-lets-you-shop-without-an-agent-but-uses-agents/ http://www.inman.com/2015/02/27/startup-lets-you-shop-withou....

rgbrgb 12y ago
> I do feel like more technology is being adopted but I am curious as to why real estate tech seems so behind? I think it's 2 things: 1) A lot of technologists find real estate abhorrent. They know it should be fixed but they don't want to be the ones to do it. That's fair. My thought is that the fundamental problem of exchanging money for land is pretty cool, even though all of the connotations of "real estate" kind of suck. So I try to think about it from first principles... what's the ideal way to exchange money for land? 2) It's complicated to get the data due to MLS regulations. Companies like yours help with this, but I believe app developers still have to apply to each MLS to legally get data from a vendor like yourself. It's not like building an app on the Twitter or Tumblr API, you have to call the MLS office and talk to real people (who are usually experts in real estate, not tech) and often pay them real money. Also, I'm guessing your IDX feeds don't always include sold properties or historical data.
- creichert 12y ago
  > Companies like yours help with this, but I believe app developers still have to apply to each MLS to legally get data from a vendor like yourself. Not necessarily, in some MLS areas we are able to distribute on behalf of the MLS vendor. It's on a case by case basis and still requires us to ensure we are working with a valid broker, though. > It's not like building an app on the Twitter or Tumblr API, you have to call the MLS office and talk to real people (who are usually experts in real estate, not tech) and often pay them real money. In general, this is true. However, we are simplifying the process :). Usually, we are able to handle all the dirty work with the MLS vendor on behalf of the broker. Especially in areas where we have a licensing agreement with that MLS already. Not all MLS's support this but we are growing our reach to handle this as smoothly as possible. > Also, I'm guessing your IDX feeds don't always include sold properties or historical data. We can only support what the MLS vendor supports but gaining access to sold and historical has only a problem in smaller MLS areas. It usually costs more at the MLS level, though.

rgbrgb 12y ago

> I do feel like more technology is being adopted but I am curious as to why real estate tech seems so behind? I think it's 2 things: 1) A lot of technologists find real estate abhorrent. They know it should be fixed but they don't want to be the ones to do it. That's fair. My thought is that the fundamental problem of exchanging money for land is pretty cool, even though all of the connotations of "real estate" kind of suck. So I try to think about it from first principles... what's the ideal way to exchange money for land? 2) It's complicated to get the data due to MLS regulations. Companies like yours help with this, but I believe app developers still have to apply to each MLS to legally get data from a vendor like yourself. It's not like building an app on the Twitter or Tumblr API, you have to call the MLS office and talk to real people (who are usually experts in real estate, not tech) and often pay them real money. Also, I'm guessing your IDX feeds don't always include sold properties or historical data.

creichert 12y ago
> Companies like yours help with this, but I believe app developers still have to apply to each MLS to legally get data from a vendor like yourself. Not necessarily, in some MLS areas we are able to distribute on behalf of the MLS vendor. It's on a case by case basis and still requires us to ensure we are working with a valid broker, though. > It's not like building an app on the Twitter or Tumblr API, you have to call the MLS office and talk to real people (who are usually experts in real estate, not tech) and often pay them real money. In general, this is true. However, we are simplifying the process :). Usually, we are able to handle all the dirty work with the MLS vendor on behalf of the broker. Especially in areas where we have a licensing agreement with that MLS already. Not all MLS's support this but we are growing our reach to handle this as smoothly as possible. > Also, I'm guessing your IDX feeds don't always include sold properties or historical data. We can only support what the MLS vendor supports but gaining access to sold and historical has only a problem in smaller MLS areas. It usually costs more at the MLS level, though.