Trulia and MRED
Today, Trulia has announced a strategic partnership with Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), the largest MLS in the nation which will now syndicate over 100,000 listings directly to Trulia. MRED serves Chicago, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana and serves nearly 8,000 real estate offices and 40,000 real estate professionals.
“The distribution of inaccurate listing data is an industry wide problem. We believe the best way to eliminate data inaccuracies are to directly send the data, as directed by our listing brokers who have opted into Trulia, to where consumers are searching,” said Russ Bergeron, Midwest Real Estate Data CEO. “We chose to partner with Trulia first because of their industry friendly Trulia Data Pledge. We are confident that Trulia is going to protect our data and fairly represent our listings.”
As part of the agreement, Trulia will abide by the guidelines established by the Trulia Data Pledge for listing syndication that was launched in January of this year.
“By proactively syndicating for their membership, MRED will ensure a higher level of data accuracy making it easier for their members to maintain accurate listing information online and ultimately help their members connect with more buyers and sellers to close more transactions,” said Georg Gerstenfeld, Trulia Vice President of Business Services. “We have a very large transactional audience and MRED understands that connecting our audience with the most up to date and accurate information provides their real estate professionals with the best opportunity to close deals.”
MRED goes green, protects from green-washing
MRED is announcing today an additional green design, disclosure, and data verification to its connectMLS™ system. The company says they are “committed to being on the leading edge of green data in the MLS industry” and that they were “an early adopter of best practices in green MLS design and is keeping up with green building and remodeling trends in Illinois.”
Now, new green information field choices are available and MRED customers can upload as many as 14 various green disclosure documents, with many options applicable to existing homes with energy efficient remodeling. The company notes that “the design changes were designed to support the elimination of green-washing – the term used when marketing activities are perceived to make the property sound more environmentally friendly than it might really be. These enhancements also make it easier for appraisers to gain better access to green and utility-savings information when it comes time to secure financing for the property.”
By actually confirming that the uploaded forms are in fact “green” disclosures, MRED’s Compliance Department will continue to insure that the data entered into the green fields is verified and of the highest quality.
“Value is so important in the current market, and energy efficiency is a great way to stand out with value,” said Laura Stukel, EcoBroker and NAR Green agent at LW Reedy Real Estate in Elmhurst. “MRED is keeping up with important trends to make it easier for buyers to find homes with energy efficiency remodeling. Being able to search for the Illinois Home Performance with ENERGY STAR certificate rewards sellers for smart improvements and ensures buyers they are getting a more efficient home.”
Charles Dunne
March 1, 2012 at 11:48 am
Guess where the real estate agent’s marketing dollar is now going to have to be focused. The consumers aren’t going to need to search individual realtor websites found on page one or two of google, they’re going to have there own “MLS” now.