The Left Side of Normal Airplanes, The Internet, and Everything Else

A couple of years ago I wrote about my horrific experiences working with MLS listing data from a variety of providers.  I thought it would be interesting to revisit the topic to see what's changed.  Unfortunately, not much.  The client we were working with through all of those experiences eventually got fed up with the constant battle with the images.  They complained to the Florida Association of Realtors, who suggested they try the FAR IDX feed.  Apparently, in Florida, all brokers and IDX providers are required to push their data up to the state level.  The Florida Association then aggregates all of this data into a single, well-formed IDX feed that is actually not all that difficult to use.  Their feed is well documented, normalized (no more having to deal with a dozen ways to misspell Sarasota), and they host the images on their server complete with a list of all of the image URLs right in the data file.  Oh, and it's free.  All the broker has to do is fill out a form and they will be issued access to the downloadable data.

If you're developing an online listing display for a realtor in Florida and you're NOT using the FAR IDX feed, STOP.  Just stop what you're doing and ask the broker to get in touch with the Florida Association and get access to their IDX data.  Compared to MLXchange (or any other vendor I've had the dubious pleasure of working with), their data is like a dream come true.  Not only that, but the support at FAR IDX is far superior to anything else I've experienced in the industry.  I found a couple of minor issues with the feed data and was able to speak directly with someone who had the ability to fix the problem at the source.

The way their feed works is that every quarter they assign a new FTP username and password.  Once you have FTP access, you download the file containing all of the listings for the local association.  In our case, the Sarasota association was joined up with the Mid-Florida Regional MLS, so we got the mid-Florida regional listings which included Sarasota, Manatee, Pinellas, and several other counties.  It was more data than we needed, but we could filter out the counties that were farther away upon import without any trouble.  All of the listing types are in the same file with the same data fields, so we could import everything into one database table.  As I mentioned, they hosted the images and even provided image URLs, so whatever was current is what we were fed through in the file.  No more downloading, sorting, or matching images.  If an agent deleted a photo, it got dropped from the feed the following day.  I can't impress enough how much easier working with their data is.

Unfortunately, that client of ours was bought out by another company, so their site is gone and the other company already had a solution in place, so we don't have any sites using MLS at the moment.  We have one project in production that will make use of MLS data, so we asked them to get access through FAR IDX and we just brought over the import code from the retired site and the data is being brought in daily without a hitch.

So, there is hope for MLS IDX data.  For anyone outside of Florida, ask your local or state association to get in touch with the Florida Association of Realtors and pick their brains.  They are doing it right.

This may very well be the greatest security commercial ever made.

It's been about a year since we moved into the house we're renting, and we recently renewed for another two years.  When we moved in, we spent some money to improve the condition of the house to address some minor issues we had.  First, we had to buy a refrigerator ($400 for a new one with some minor scratches from a used appliance store).  Next, we painted nearly every flat surface in the place (~$200 in paint).  I also replaced all of the light switches and electrical outlets and their respective wall plates because the old ones were dingy, painted over multiple times, and just detracted from the "fresh" feel of the newly painted rooms (~$80 in parts).  Lastly, we replaced the faucets in the two bathrooms with new ones.  The existing ones were very old and splattered water all over the place ($150 in new hardware).

I was recently discussing all of this with someone who remarked that we were "crazy" for investing in improvements to a house we don't own.  They're looking at it the wrong way.  I don't see it as an "investment" in the house.  I don't own it and have no illusions about improving the property resale value or anything like that.  The way I see it, I'm living in the house, and I want to be happy in my environment.  Spending around $400 in minor improvements went a long way toward reducing our frustration with the little things we interact with every day.  When my fiancee does her hair, it's a little easier because I went with a taller fixture in the main bathroom.  When we turn lights on and off I'm not seeing 12 layers of multicolored paint on the switches and wall plates.  When I plug things in, they don't fall out of the wall because the sockets aren't 20 years old.  It's the little things and minor frustrations in life that mean the difference between being content and being constantly frustrated.  Sure, we won't get that $400 back when we move out, and I'm not taking the faucets with me, but in the mean time I'm a happier person, so the cost was worth an improved quality of life.