Hello, I am developing a custom website for a client, and he wants an IDX feed.
I have never worked with IDX before.

Here's my initial questions:
1) Is there just one IDX feed, or are there many?
2) How can I find out which one is right for my client's area?
3) Is it possible to get a raw or any IDX feed for free?
4) I don't need a frontend or any third party software, as I am developing my own... but everywhere I look, I see third parties offering what appears to be "pass-through" services. Is this the standard way of getting it done? I would like to skip any middlemen if possible.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice.

In the united states any broker can apply for a raw data feed via their local mls board assuming their membership is in good standing. This is a broker not an agent privellege - agents who want to develop custom idx solutions must go through their broker - you as a third party vendor will also have to sign some confidentiality documents commiting to only developing that idx for that one site and to the benefit of just the applying broker.

Is there on feed (Per area yes) there is one MLS board for each area
If your client doesnt know who their MLS board is, they have bigger problems
Yes - it is part of a brokers dues (Usually)

You dont need to go through a third party to develop your own solution -

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Not all MLS's provide an IDX feed. The MLS's are mandated to have an IDX solution, but there is no requirement for it to be a data feed. Many small MLS's provide a framable solution only. I've only encountered this with really small MLS's, and usually it is because they lack the funds and manpower to create and run a regularly updated data feed.

1) Each MLS has it's own IDX solution, often they have more than 1
2) Like webmaster said above, the one that your client is a member of
3) Most MLS's do not charge the third party provider. Many will charge the broker a setup fee and often a maintenance fee as well.

So far, I have only encountered 1 MLS that charges the 3rd party provider rather than the broker. This actually makes more sense because I have multiple clients in the MLS, but I only download data once (every 30 minutes). So instead of charging each broker, they charge me $200 per month and I pass on the non-savings to my clients. Much better than the MLS charging each of my brokers $200 per month.

4) No, it's not. Generally, this method is used by Web Designers rather than Web Developers.

I am a Web Developer for a firm here in Seattle. Currently the MLS/IDX only allows 2 feeds per company (ie. Re/Max gets 2 feeds, John L. Scott gets 2 and so on). This creates current problems for us because of how we want to develop our site(s).

If you know of any way that we can get a raw data feed for Washington State, please let me know... We're looking for the best possible source that we can get.


Thanks,
Ron

Hi, Ron. Yes, NWMLS only allows 2 feeds per broker, but they do allow the vendors receiving those feeds to distribute the data to others. The rules governing this are that the recipient does have to have a valid data access agreement (in conjunction with a Broker) with NWMLS and if the vendor is charging for access to the data, the charge can only be for the access, not for the data itself.

My company does not offer this to outside companies, but we do provide it to another company on behalf of one of our clients. The other company is a marketing research company that performs marketing trends research and reports for our client from the NWMLS data.

As far as I know, NWMLS is the only MLS that allows this.

RobertD - can you expand on this a bit? I have a few clients in WA who have expressed interest in us doing a custom IDX but have run into the "only brokers can get data" scenario - are you saying that the broker can give the data login, or access to the raw data to their agents at their descretion?

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A broker is allowed to have two logins for third party data access. Only one third party can use that login. So, a broker can have up to two vendors accessign NWMLS data.

If I am one of those two vendors accessing data for a broker, I can give you access to my local version of the NWMLS data if you have a signed agreement with NWMLS in conjunction with a broker. It doesn't have to be the same broker that I'm working with. It can be any broker.