Huntsville Real Estate Resource Center http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate A guide for local market conditions, MLS property searches, buying selling tips, and much more. Wed, 30 May 2012 15:30:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 athomeshuntsville/VEmKhttp://feedburner.google.com Grande Highlands Hampton Cove http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/05/28/grand-highlands-hampton-cove/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/05/28/grand-highlands-hampton-cove/#comments Mon, 28 May 2012 13:58:24 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13759 Grand Highlands Hampton Cove Homes for Sale

Grand Highlands Real Estate

Located at the top of Hampton Cove’s main entrance of Hampton Cove Way is one of the neighborhood gems of this sought after local community, full of custom homes and a few remaining Grand Highlands Lots for Sale.

Both Grande Highlands Hampton Cove and Grande Highland Estates offer spectacular views and the small secluded neighborhoods receive no through traffic from the surrounding area as they back up in 2 cul-de-sacs.

Homes for Sale in Grand Highlands

With minimum home size restrictions of 3000 sqft and 4000 sqft respectively a custom built home on the remaining available lots is an option worth exploring or utilize the links below to explore existing Homes for Sale in Grande Highlands.

Grand Highlands Real Estate Location and Maps

For a perspective on the relationship of Grande Highlands Hampton Cove with surrounding neighborhoods check out our Grande Highlands Neighborhood Map and view our Grande Highlands Homes for Sale Map.

For custom directions from your location, simply click the map marker below to generate and print them out for your convenience.

However best of all would be your own personal interior tour of your short list, and I would certainly be more than happy to assist simply give me a call 256-425-1659 or drop me an email elizabeth@athomesrealty.com and we’ll set things up.

- Elizabeth

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/05/28/grand-highlands-hampton-cove/feed/ 0 Is it worth Building a Large Garage? http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/30/building-a-large-garage/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/30/building-a-large-garage/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:01:16 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13687 Elizabeth Cooper-Golden Huntsville AL Real Estate

Ask the Broker Question:

I’d like to find out if it is worth building a large detached garage on my property in the xxxx  Subdivision. The garage will match the house but will be larger than normal 24X30X12ft tall doors. Thank you

The Answer:

Greetings, and thank you for being our first to “Ask The Broker”! We appreciate it.

I felt the best way to answer your question was to conduct a fairly extensive market report of your specific neighborhood for the past 12 months.

It appears that there has been a high number of foreclosures this year in your subdivision. The market report also showed that the builder is currently reducing the sale price on their homes to clear out inventory. I do think the foreclosure market will clear itself up over the next 12-18 months, but there truly is no way to know for certain. After looking closely at the statistics, I don’t think I would recommend building a detached garage at this time.

My concerns are two fold….a potential buyer qualifying for the additional expense and also the appraisal not adding enough value, potentially. It could certainly help you with resale, but there is no way to guarantee that you would get your investment back in the near future. I wish I had better news for you.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance. If you wish to see the market analysis I performed, I will be happy to share it with you.

Thanks again for “Asking The Broker”

Ask Another Question?

Elizabeth

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/30/building-a-large-garage/feed/ 0 Meet Our Real Estate Brand – Surprise It’s You! http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/21/real-estate-brands/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/21/real-estate-brands/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 23:01:01 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13632 Elizabeth Cooper-Golden Huntsville Realtor

What’s a Brand Anyway?  ’ My Ah HA Moment ‘

@Homes Realty Group has just recently celebrated our 2 year anniversary.  What a wild ride it has been!  Many ups and downs, tears, smiles, frustration, and then, finally, the moment I had been waiting for.  You know…that “Ah HA!” moment when it all falls into place.   Literally.   I had that moment today.

A Success from Day One, but Accidentally

When we opened @Homes Realty, I really didn’t have a clear plan at all.  In fact, I had NO plan.  I knew one thing and one thing only.  Real Estate Consumers deserved better than what our industry was offering.  Come hell or high water, I was going to give it to them on MY terms, not a corporate shirt that doesn’t have a clue or could truly care less about what the consumers want and need.   I was making the rules, the rules that mattered.  …and “The Rules” around @Homes Realty Group are quite simple …The consumer comes first, always!  The rule has been in place since day one, and shall remain.

Our little Company has blossomed

Watching @Homes Realty false start, adjust, start again, and now begin to bloom has been such an amazing experience for me.  I have flourished plenty and I have fallen plenty.  Each time I fall, I pick myself up, brush myself off and figure out how to make it better.  The trials have become fewer and fewer with the tribulations far exceeding my expectations.

The @Homes Realty Brand

It's You ... Our Customer

I have struggled since day one for the words to describe the @Homes Realty Group “brand”.

I hear far too frequently from various agents “we need that big box brand behind us”.  Guess what?  We have NEVER heard that out of a consumers mouth.  Not once.

Consumers have realized all along what I have struggled with verbally….WE ARE our CONSUMERS BRAND.  That was my “Ah HA” moment today …we are our consumers brand!

Our Values are Your Values

From our personal core values that are also our company core values, @Homes Realty Groups intention is to make our clients real estate experience the best it can be, each and every time.

Many of you reading this may think this is so silly to be so excited about.  To me, this is big.  Being able to finally describe the @Homes brand is HUGE for me.

To all of our clients, past, present and future, we are YOUR brand.  It’s all about you, your needs, and what is best for YOU, each and every time.  You have my word on it and the words of the @Homes Realty Group agents.  I promise!

Welcome to YOUR brand, @Homes Realty Group.

 

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/21/real-estate-brands/feed/ 0 Huntsville Housing Market http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/14/huntsville-housing-market-quarterly-report/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/14/huntsville-housing-market-quarterly-report/#comments Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:47:04 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13563 Elizabeth Cooper-Golden Huntsville Realtor

Huntsville Housing Market – 1st Quarter 2012

Our last market update post took a long term annual perspective and highlighted where the Huntsville Real Estate market was at the end of 2011.

This weekend, I have been looking in some detail at how the 1st Quarter of 2012 has shaped up in comparison to the last few years, and while my conclusions are positive they are not as optimistic as much of the recent hub-bub around our market has been. Nonetheless there is much more good news than bad, and I must say that is one positive trend I can definitely live with.

Huntsville Home Sales – A Two Year Positive Trend

In the 1st Quarter of 2012, Home sales on a transaction basis rose by 2%, following a year-over-year increase of 5% recorded in the same quarter of 2011, thus for the first time in 5 years Huntsville Home Sales are on a steady upward incline.

Nonetheless while this new positive trend is welcome news for home buyers and sellers alike, one doesn’t have to be overly observant to realize that if the present positive trend continues it will be another 3-5 years before the Huntsville Housing Market attains the pre-housing crisis levels of 2006 and 2007.

1st Quarter - Huntsville Home Sales

Huntsville Home Sales Multi-Year Performance

Click to Enlarge

When one looks closely at the Huntsville Real Estate market month to month several aberrations stand out associated with abnormal events, such as the Tax Credits of 2009 and 2010 as well as last April’s tornado furry that struck our local market with a vengeance.

Nevertheless by clicking on the chart to the left and examining the 12 month moving average, in some detail, one can tell that 2012 is really a year to pay close attention to, as it could be pivotal and the teller of events to come.

Huntsville Median Home Prices – Up or Down?

Click to Enlarge

If one watches closely the month to month market reports generated by the Huntsville Area Association of Realtors as well as others, it is a bit confusing because as often as Home Prices are reported to be up, they are also reported to be down.

Thus is the case when the actuality is that Huntsville Home Prices are Flat and neither up or down since Home Prices also adjust seasonally along with Home Sales. So don’t read too much into these month to month reports.

Flat home prices are just that: flat. By clicking on the chart above you will see exactly what I am saying. Yet given other markets across the US flat home prices would certainly be welcomed news.

- Elizabeth

 

 

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/14/huntsville-housing-market-quarterly-report/feed/ 1 Homes for Sale in Madison Alabama http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/08/homes-for-sale-in-madison-al/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/08/homes-for-sale-in-madison-al/#comments Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:46:41 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13508 Homes for Sale in Madison Alabama

Madison Al Homes for Sale

Small town america turned suburbia, is an excellent description of modern day Madison Alabama. Once no more than a train station stop with a few residential homes, post office, hardware store, grocery store, and of course a barber shop originally named Madison Station.

Today due to rapid growth, Madison Al is its own municipality with its own School District and primarily serves as residential based suburb of Huntsville. In fact, with Huntsville’s aggressive annexation policies over recent years Madison has found itself almost completely surrounded by the City of Huntsville yet to date still maintains its own unique community identity.

Madison Alabama – A Residential Community

Madison Alabama is also well described as a large bedroom community, while there are a few commercial districts within city limits the township serves primarily as residential neighborhoods of high tech workers whose employment lies on eastern border of the city in Research Park and Redstone Arsenal. Thus it is not uncommon to view between 700 – 800 Madison AL homes for sale at any given time. Utilize the links below to explore all of our current inventory.

New Home Construction in Madison AL

As a large residential community of the greater Huntsville metro area, one of the unique features of the Madison AL housing market is that new home construction abounds with all of the major Huntsville Area Home Builders having an active presence in the city. The links below filter only newly constructed spec homes that are complete or nearing completion.

Short Sale, Bank Owned, Foreclosures Madison AL

Madison Alabama is home to a number of successful professionals in a variety of fields, and with one of the highest average family incomes in the state of Alabama, foreclosures, short sales, and bank owned real estate is rare. Nevertheless being a large market special situations do arise and savvy home shoppers want to keep abreast of these opportunities, thus utilize the links below to explore the current special situations available in the Madison AL housing market.

Madison Alabama Neighborhoods – Subdivisions

Madison Alabama is typical residential suburbia in almost every sense of the word. There are many …many subdivisions and each subdivision is very likely to have its own independent Home Owners Association, so this is information you need to know before embarking on a home site seeing journey in our fair city. We have listed just a few of these subdivisions below so you can utilize the links provided.

However there are so many subdivisions each in different price ranges and each with a different set of amenities such as club house, community pool, common area trails, lakes, ponds, etc. Likely the best way to explore them is to utilize our:

Madison Alabama Subdivision Map

Ashbury Madison AL

Belmont Place Madison AL

 Clifts Cove Madison AL

Creekside At Hardiman Place Madison AL

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/08/homes-for-sale-in-madison-al/feed/ 0 Ask The Broker? http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/07/ask-the-broker/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/07/ask-the-broker/#comments Sat, 07 Apr 2012 16:39:43 +0000 elizabeth http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13468 Elizabeth Cooper-Golden Huntsville Broker

Have a Real Estate Question – Ask Away!

I have had the pleasure of chatting with several of you as you visit our website and use our ‘Chat With The Broker’ tool at the bottom right hand corner of every page. … technology is great isn’t it?   Information these days is often readily available.

Alabama is Different – So Ask Away?

If you haven’t been through a real estate transaction in Alabama, you’re a first time home buyer or relocating from another state, you may very well find it a completely different experience than what you consider normal. We have the answers and we are looking forward to clarifying the most frequently asked questions about Alabama Real Estate transactions, agency, and the like.

With Your Permision

With your permission, your question and our answer may be posted on this blog. Your name and email will NEVER be disclosed publically. If you would prefer private communication let us know in the form below. We abhor spam and will never share or sell your email address to any party.  We promise!

View Previous Questions and Answers

-Elizabeth

What’s Your New Question Question?

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]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/04/07/ask-the-broker/feed/ 0 Welcome New Orleans Real Estate http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/30/new-orleans-real-estate/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/30/new-orleans-real-estate/#comments Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:46:09 +0000 Tim http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13418 New Orleans Real Estate

New Orleans Real Estate

We would certainly like to take this opportunity to welcome Lisa Heindel and Crescent City Living llc of New Orleans Louisiana to our @Homes Partner family.

While we have been discussing an @Homes web presence for New Orleans with Lisa for quite some time, it is great to finally see these discussions become a reality. Moreover even though the New Orleans Real Estate website has only been operational for a month, the acceptance from search engines and more importantly local users has been nothing less than phenomenal.

Upward and Onward from Here

With only a month’s operation to analyze,the prospects of success look very promising. A snap shot this morning showed ~50k pages have been indexed during the month, and search engine users from all the major portals are successfully finding their way to the new site.

New Orleans users are a different breed, they search using different terms than many of the markets we are familiar with, moreover they generally linger longer on the site and visit more pages. E.g, Our Alabama average visit is 6-7 mins,  North Carolina 4-5 mins, and this months New Orleans visitor spent 9 – 10 mins per visit.

Use the provided links below to visit and explore the new site at your leisure.

 French Quarter Real Estate

Garden District Real Estate

Warehouse District Condos

Uptown New Orleans Real Estate

New Orleans Lakefront Real Estate

New Orleans Mid City Park Real Estate

 New Orleans Algiers Real Estate

 Old Metairie Real Estate

New Orleans University District Real Estate

New Orleans Bywater Real Estate

 

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/30/new-orleans-real-estate/feed/ 0 Changing the Real Estate Business? http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/28/changing-the-real-estate-business/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/28/changing-the-real-estate-business/#comments Thu, 29 Mar 2012 03:55:04 +0000 Tim http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13240 Changing the Real Estate Business

Can it Actually be Done?

From the viewpoint of the national financial crisis of 2006-2010, it was evident to all industry outsiders that something had to change! Granted the change   demanded  by many, had to do primarily with mortgage financing, but the internal practices of the real estate industry had to take its licks alongside the mortgage industry and deservedly so.

The real estate industry has long been characterized as, The Ultimate Good-Ole-Boy Network, and its hard to argue against such a characterization. As an outsider from the retail, general services, electronic, and now the software engineering industries; I must admit I have never personally experienced anything like it. For me …a brave new world to say the least!

@Homes Realty – Our Origins

To be honest, I was the culprit that conceived of @Homes Realty Group, yet my thinking was very shallow and revolved around the high fees my lovely wife, Elizabeth Cooper-Golden, was having to pay to just open her business doors each day. Elizabeth loved her then broker (Thelma Dawson) and wanted no part of it. Those of you who actually know Elizabeth, understand clearly that there is no bigger human heart on the planet!

In my stubbornness, I continued to push her. When she finally conceded she blew my mind:

‘If we are going to do this: ” I want to  Change the Way Real Estate is Done“

Holy sh*t …What?  …’That’s not an achievable goal sweetheart?’ …she responded, ‘Of course its not, its not a goal, its a mission and the only vision I can get behind if we embark upon this crazy idea of yours’. So of course the Engineer in me had to ask, “How will you go about changing the real estate industry?”  …her answer was so quick and so simple. I didn’t understand or buy-in until 3 years later when I again had to concede to her superior business knowledge:

“We Put the Consumer First Always!“

Even for those of you that actually know Elizabeth, there are things you don’t know. One of them is that inside the core of this woman is a ‘Granite Mountain of Integrity and Character’. Believe you me, its unmovable and I know because I have tried unsuccessfully on multiple occasions just to budge it a bit. …It don’t budge regardless of consequences. …I have literary seen this woman layoff-dismiss-fire her best friend over business principals and weep for days over it.

The Low Points – Several

Yes there have been several, some brought from external sources, while others we have brought on ourselves. Two stand out among the swarm of candidates:

The primary low point is a really sad external story regarding a local brokerage we thought we were close to.

1) In this case we discovered a local brokerage was putting up spam websites registered in this local brokerage’s name through a foreign contractor to skim various search engine searches to copies of their own website. This was bad enough but the internal meta data of the website pages also reflected back to search engine bots that @HomesHuntsville.com was the originator of such fake content. This is a serious situation regarding a company’s internet authority and can cause unrecoverable harm and injury.

We did not go to the board first even with this clearly substantial harm from a fellow member of the board. No, we contacted the member directly (imagine that) and presented our case and they immediately took down their spam sites.

Sadly our server was then hacked,  the very next day. and I mean taken completely down, from a similar foreign location as the brokerage’s contractor. Sure they knew nothing about it, they didn’t even know their contractor was putting up fake content websites registered in their name. …Benefit of the doubt …Ok  …This is one really stupid local broker or this industry has its share of snakes. You decide we are incapable.

The internal mistakes are more painful than external attackes. Huntsville is a very progressive area when it comes to education and technology. I mean what can you say about a community that has the highest per-capita population of PHD degrees in the nation.  Yet within the local real estate community, it was among the last 2 metro areas in the country to actually allow listing addresses to be displayed publically and didn’t change its stance until late 2009.  Can you say ‘disconnected’?

2) A young man and local independent broker set this as one of his business objectives and in the end greatly influenced why Huntsville consumers can now view listed home addresses online. He took a great amount of internal heat for his consumer  crusade and we believe it effected his business prospects within:  ’The Ultimate Good-Ole-Boy Network’ especially the ultra conservatives who to this date have a large percentage of their listings marked as displaying address not allowed.

The low point for us was, we saw this development coming and reached out to him in warning, yet while we publically agreed with his stance we did not not stand up physically along side him ‘internally’ and take this heat as he did for local consumers. I am telling you the guilt rides us internally to this date, and likely will never subside.

Can We Change the Real Estate Business?

No its not likely. But that doesn’t mean its not worth the effort especially when confronted with such backward practices as described above  …why not join in and let’s press on together:

Because we are actually changing the way real estate in Huntsville is done.

 - Tim

 

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/28/changing-the-real-estate-business/feed/ 0 Huntsville Alabama Home Builders http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/25/huntsville-al-home-builders/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/25/huntsville-al-home-builders/#comments Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:03:37 +0000 Tim http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13143 Huntsville Madison County Home Builder Association

New Home Construction in Huntsville

Huntsville Alabama is a unique housing market when compared to much of the country. One of the attributes that sticks out as unique and obvious is that a large segment of our local Huntsville Real Estate market is composed of new construction housing.

For example just a quick search of homes in Madison and Limestone county with property type selected as new, proposed construction, and under construction reveals that some ~25% of NALMLS listed homes are new construction. Also an article in the Huntsville Times this week quotes a local authority as stating 33% – 35% of local home sales are newly constructed homes.  So unlike much of the country during these trying economic times new home construction in the Huntsville area has continued to be a large segment of the local market.

Sample Builders in Huntsville Alabama

Given this unique character of our local market, please find below a sample list of active Huntsville Home Builders actively building homes in the area. Use the provided links to explore these homes in further detail at your leisure.

Adams Homes

Founded in 1991 by Wayne Adams, Adams Homes started serving homebuyers in Pensacola, Florida. Throughout the 1990′s and early 2000′s, Adams Homes grew its business into markets throughout Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Since 2005, Adams Homes has expanded into markets in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. Our headquarters is located in Gulf Breeze, Florida. – www.AdamsHomes.com

Alabama Heritage Homes

Jim Wright and Collins Pearson bring over 40 years of combined experience to Alabama Heritage Homes and work diligently to make Alabama Heritage Homes one of the most successful new homebuilding companies in Northern Alabama. Developing new communities in the most desired areas of Huntsville. – www.AlabamaHeritageHomes.com

Breland Homes

Breland Homes has serviced the building industry for over 30 years and has more than 100 years combined experience.  We strive to exceed our customers’ expectations with the highest level of professionalism and expertise. – www.BrelandHomes.com

Hunter Homes

At Hunter Homes, we took a different approach to defining our business; we asked the customer what was important to them. They told us they needed more space without spending more money; they wanted a wide variety of options to choose from; and, they wanted it all to be easy. We listened! – www.HunterHomes.com

Jeff Benton Homes

During the 24 years I have been building homes in this area, my philosophy has always remained the same—to provide quality family homes at an affordable price with features you want …all at a price you can afford. We always strive to build homes that are superior to others on the market and more competitively priced. We build each house as if it were our own home. – www.JeffBentonHomes.com

Mark Harris Homes

When it comes to home builders, Huntsville, AL based Mark Harris Homes LLC stands out from the rest. We work closely with our customers to make sure that they have places to live that reflect their unique styles and meet their individual needs. Named 2011 Home Builder of the year for the Huntsville area – www.MarkHarrisHomes.com

Signature Homes

Based in Birmingham, Alabama with offices in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Huntsville, Alabama, Signature Homes has created more than 30 communities across the southeast and provided more than 3000 families with a new home. We are ranked 80th on Professional Builder’s 2011 Top 400 Giants list. – www.e-SignatureHomes.com

Woodland Homes

Since 1995, Mike Friday has been building award-winning homes in unique neighborhoods in the Madison and Monrovia area.  Woodland Homes of Huntsville has earned four consecutive years of first place wins in the Huntsville Parade of Homes. …and recognized by Builder Magazine for five consecutive years as one of the nation’s fastest growing home building companies. – www.WoodlandHomes.com

Buying or Building a New Home in Alabama?

We bought a newly constructed Huntsville home, which is our current residence in 2001. We have built and purchased new construction homes in Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington State, so as a family we have been personally involved with this process a number of different times and under different local and state regulatory environments.

Thus from experience we highly recommend that if you are buying a new construction home in Alabama be sure to have your own representation throughout the transaction, either a Buyer’s Agent or Real Estate Attorney or better yet both!

Not only is Huntsville a unique real estate market when it comes to its quantity of new construction, the state of Alabama is a very unique state when it comes to real estate transaction law. It remains one of a few ’Buyer Beware’ states in the nation and will likely be the last state to give up such practices as ‘Dual Agency‘.  Also be sure to network with other local residents that have been through this process and know first hand why we make such a strong recommendation so be sure to visit and discuss issues with locals such as Alabama Concerned Homeowners Alliance and chat it up on our local Huntsville City Data forum.

Are you a Local Huntsville Builder?

The above alphabetical list is provided as a consumer service and does not represent an exhaustive list of local builders nor recommendation of particular builders over others. If you are a local builder with 3 or more listings represented on the MLS we would be happy to add your entry to the list above just drop us an email.

- Tim

 

 

]]> http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/25/huntsville-al-home-builders/feed/ 0 What is IDX Broker Reciprocity? Why Participate? http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/21/what-is-idx-broker-reciprocity/ http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/2012/03/21/what-is-idx-broker-reciprocity/#comments Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:07:56 +0000 Tim http://athomeshuntsville.com/realestate/?p=13117 IDX Broker Reciprosity

What is IDX?

IDX is an acronym for Internet Data Exchange. IDX is the policy instituted by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) to govern how MLS member participants can display active MLS listing information on their websites. In simple terms, IDX is the means of extracting the data from a Multiple Listing Service and delivering it to a website for public consumption. IDX is sometimes called Broker Reciprocity or IDD.

NALMLS IDX Listing Rule

A Participant shall cause any listing that is displayed on his or her website to identify the name of the listing firm and optionally the listing broker or agent in a readily visible color, in a reasonably prominent location, and in typeface not smaller than the median typeface used in the display of listing data.

Why would I want to let someone else display my listings on their website?

Think of it as free advertising. The more exposure for your listings, brand, and name the better! The more places your listings show up, the faster they are likely to sell. The bottom line is that no one gets paid until the property closes. The Internet has taken a once closed MLS system and opened it up for consumers to make faster and better informed buying/selling decisions. IDX opened the door for free advertising on tens of thousands of websites.

Broker Reciprocity isn’t for me. How can I opt-out?

Brokers (and supporting Agents) who decide not to participate in Broker Reciprocity may submit the opt-out form provided by their local board/MLS. However, opting-out may not be a great idea since your listings, brand, and name will not be displayed across the Internet. Opting out will greatly decrease exposure for your listings, and in our opinion, should be seriously reconsidered. Furthermore, opting-out will decrease the ability of getting the benefit of this powerful marketing tool, which will decrease sales.

Does the IDX data contain any confidential information?

No. The IDX data fields available for display to the public are approved by the board/MLS and do not contain confidential information.

- Excerpts from NalMls IDX agreement and IDX Broker website FAQ

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