Open Source IDX: Open Realty and TransparentRETS

[tsteuwer]

I love building websites. In fact, I think I'm starting to fall for code itself. Taking some college courses now for Java

I was emailed Open Realty and TrasparentRETS yesterday and personally I think it's great that the real estate community has it's own open source CRM tool which can import your MLS (with TransparentRETS). I guess you can make your own custom IDX.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone's played with either of these and if so, what do you think. There's extensive documentation and a community to back it up but wanted to see if any of you have had a go at it?

[frobn]

I have been a user and supporter of open-realty for several years.

Here are some of the advantages I have found.

• excellent listing management
• good templating system
• above average intuitive for new user
• easy to modify if you have a basic knowledge of html and php
• ok forum support but arrogant moderators
• easy Wordpress, Joomla and Drupal integration

Re: Transparent RETS, you can do much better with other RETS and IDX developers.

[tsteuwer]

Hey Frobn, thanks for your thoughts on the programs. Why do you think there are other, better, RETS programs out there? Doesn't Transparent RETS just dive right in and hook into the OR platform seamlessly?

In your opinion, which is the best RETS one should use if planning on developing their own IDX system? Preferrably one that uses PHP and mySQL.

[frobn]

Hi Troy,

You are right transparent RETS hooks into the OR platform. The main problem is that Transparent RETS is a proprietary and is encoded. This means that if something goes wrong then you are locked in.

Tying an IDX or RETS into open-realty is not rocket science.

[tsteuwer]

Who would you recommend then to download all the IDX info so you can create your own MLS search engine?

[CarlosAT]

I've used open realty for years too and I love it. You can also add transparent maps and add mapping capabilities to your listings. I never played with the transparent RETS as my MLS doesn't offer RETS feeds, but it seems nice as well. Also, there are some very nice addons out there from third party developers.

However, there comes a point in your career when you need to decide if you are a web developer or a real estate professional. For me that came this year and I'm done with designing sites myself. I would much rather pay a professional team like REW and get what I want without having to code it myself. Don't take me wrong, I love coding too. IT was my first love. But when you are not coding sites everyday, it takes way too long to accomplish things. You need to research it, build it from scratch, debug it, and then by the time you are done, there's something better already out there. You're also on your own and if you get stuck you are left with asking on forums and waiting for replies, etc. Again, too much work and too long.

I'm glad I was never able to install transparent rets. I can only imagine myself trying to build my own custom IDX search. That would've driven me crazy!!

[tsteuwer]

The thing is, I'm not a real estate agent. I have time to do these things for our team.