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What is IDX?
Why Participate?
General Guidelines
How to Participate
Get IDX on Your Site
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What is the Internet Data Exchange Program (IDX)?
Internet Data Exchange is a National Association of REALTORS initiative whereby
brokers give each other permission to display their listings on each other’s web sites.
Brokers who participate can display all of each other’s active listings. If you choose not
to participate, no other broker will be permitted to display your listings. However, even
if you don’t have your own web site, by participating in IDX you can include your
listings in other participants’ web sites.
Why would brokers want to participate in IDX?
IDX is one way to put brokers more in control of the Internet’s impact on the real estate
industry. More and more home buyers are looking on the World Wide Web for housing
information. The cons umer not only “wants” more information before contacting a
Realtor®, but they and sellers “expect” to find the information on the Internet.
So far, this has not decreased the use of real estate professionals in the transaction;
however, national real estate web sites are currently controlling consumers’ behavior and
may pose a viable threat to the role of the Realtor® in the transaction. These national
sites include Realtor.com, HomeAdvisor.com, Homeseekers.com, Homes.com,
Cyberhomes.com and others. A soon-to-be-released ad from Realtor.com drives home
the point as it states, “if you are looking to buy or sell a home, visit Realtor.com”
[paraphrased]. As the largest source of real estate listings in the world, they can do this.
How can IDX help the situation? Internet Data Exchange enables local brokers to have
the “best,” most-accurate information about this marketplace. If a buyer searches the
Internet for “Hendersonville Tennessee real estate” on Yahoo, there are 714 web page
results; 5,234 for “Franklin Tennessee real estate”; 1,166 for “Murfreesboro Tennessee
real estate”; and a whopping 8,249 web sites for “Nashville Tennessee real estate.” If a
web site doesn’t have ALL the listings or is out of date, buyers will typically not return to
that site.
IDX allows brokers to effectively compete with the national web sites for Internet buyers,
and, as local companies, have a better opportunity to gain buyer confidence and loyalty.
At the same time, listing brokers have the unique opportunity to expose their property on
nearly all web sites with local real estate listings.
General IDX Guidelines
While the Internet Data Exchange Program provides permission for the use of listing
information by other brokers in web sites, it also creates guidelines that protect the listing
broker and the consumer.
- The information will be limited to that which is shown on the Buyer Full Report.
- Only Participants engaged in real estate brokerage services to buyers or sellers may participate in IDX.
- Information displayed on web sites will be required to be updated every 48 hours.
- IDX participants may not modify or manipulate the data relating to another company’s listing.
- A special symbol designating listings of other companies will be required along with the company name of the listing broker.
- IDX participants will be required to sign an agreement that prohibits their granting access to or sharing the information with any third party.
- None of the listings will be co-mingled with any non-MLS listings on the web sites.
How do you participate in IDX?
Participating in IDX simply means that you give all other IDX participants (Realtors® in
the Middle Tennessee Regional MLS only) permission to display your active listings on
their web sites according to the Internet Data Exchange Rules and Regulations. By
participating, you obtain permission from all other IDX participants to display their
active listings on your web site. You give permission and get permission in the same act.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE ANY ACTION TO PARTICIPATE IN THE
INTERNET DATA EXCHANGE PROGRAM. As part of the NAR program guidelines,
all brokers are automatically signed up. If, however, you decide you do not want to
participate, you can cancel it through the Internet Advertising Permissions page in
RealTracs, or by mailing or faxing us a note to that effect.
How do you get the Internet Data Exchange listings for your web site?
You don’t need to have a web site to participate in IDX, nor are you required to have all
of the listings of IDX participants on your web site. However, if you do want to take full
advantage of the program and use IDX data on your web site, then contact Tutone Web to learn
how easy and inexpensive it is to have all of the current, up-to-date MLS information in an easy to use, fully
searchable format on your website.
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