RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) is a web service protocol developed by the National Association of Realtors to help standardize the format of the listing data used by the 900+ MLS associations in the United States.
Most agent members of an MLS association will be authorized for "IDX" (Internet Data eXchange), which normally includes access to a RETS feed. Using the RETS feed, and agent can quickly and accurately download all MLS data for use in his or her own website.
However, even with the use of RETS, the data provided by each individual MLS, as well as the naming conventions and optionally available objects (such as videos, hi-resolution images, etc.) varies widely. This means that there's no way to create a single import routine that will fit all RETS data for every MLS association. That also means this is a custom software service offering-- it is not part of the base IProperty product!
So What Can I Do?
Don't worry! We've got you covered.
The Thinkery has developed a sophisticated RETS import toolset that allows you to synchronize the data between your association (or associations!) with your IProperty website. With this service offering, you'll have a fully automated and customized routine that you can use to keep your data fresh. And by fresh, we mean fresh!
Thanks to the RETS query language, or DMQL, you can run the importer as frequently as you like, grabbing only the new and updated listings. Gone are the days of "traditional" IDX feeds, served in massive flat-file formats, and updated only once a day. With RETS you can be sure your data is as fresh as possible, and your users always have access to the latest listings.
Get Started!
To learn more about the Thinkery's RETS Import service, please contact us.