What is IDX

[mortgagecalculator360.com]

What is IDX? Ok it's true I've swallowed my pride and asked a seemingly dumb question.

[Chief Tutor]

IDX stands for Internet Data Exchange. The national board of realtors required every board in the country to offer an IDX by 2003. Not all have provided one but many have. An IDX allows the realtor to offer all active listings from the MLS on their website. The only listings that don't appear are from brokers who have chosen to not allow their listings to appear on the MLS. IF they choose not to show their listings on the MLS, then they are not allowed to use the MLS.

In most markets, about 98% of all brokers are part of the MLS. In some markets, like Metro Chicago and San Luis Obispo California, there are major brokers who have chosen not to join the MLS, and as such, only about 60%-80% of the listings are on the IDX. Check your board to see how many brokers participate in your market.

To get the IDX on your website, there are 3 ways to integrate it into your website:

The cheapest alternative is to see if the board offers a free IDX. Some do and some do not. It varies by market.
The second alternative is to buy a third party IDX solution, which has a contract with your board to offer the IDX in your market. The difference between the first and second solution is that the interface and tools offered by this 3rd party IDX provider is much better than the solution offered by the Board. The monthly prices range from $29 to $69 per month depending on the provider.
The third alternative is the most expensive alternative. Here, you would hire a programmer to build you a custom interface and link it into the MLS. This solution would cost an additional $5,000 - $10,000 on top of the cost of building a website. It also requires an additional monthly cost to manage the program. Unless you are a large brokerage with multiple offices, this solution would be out of reach for most realtors.I hope this helps.

[mortgagecalculator360.com]

Thanks for the great response!

This was a great decision by the national board of realtors.
Brokers not participating have the difficult choice of losing their "double end" market or the synergy of cooperating with many other realtors.