I spend a lot of my time meeting with our customers, speaking at panels, and talking to influencers in the industry. Whether it’s online or in person, data accuracy is top of mind for our partners who are concerned not only about selling their homes as quickly as possible, but also ensuring their listings are accurately represented online.
As you can imagine, tackling the data challenge isn’t easy when you receive data from thousands of different sources, with different data formats and different fields. In addition to having teams of developers, engineers and customer support staff who are solely focused on enhancing data quality, we also work very closely with our partners to resolve their data challenges and to improve the quality of data that is sent to Trulia.
Here are two case studies of how we’ve solved some of the toughest data challenges for our real estate partners.
Case Study 1– Zephyr Real Estate
Broker Type: Mid-Size Brokerage
New Data Source: Trulia Data Connect via the SFAR MLS
Zephyr Real Estate in San Francisco, California had previously tried both the direct-feed option as well as utilizing third-party service providers for its team of 200 agents. However, with the availability of Trulia Data Connect, it was evident that the process of getting listings onto Trulia would be greatly simplified by having it come direct from the source.
Trulia’s Data Connect program works in partnership with the MLS to give brokers the ability to opt-in to a direct MLS feed. It also had the added benefits of ensuring greater accuracy and efficiency, which is crucial everywhere, but especially the frenzied San Francisco real estate market. Zephyr, Trulia and the San Francisco Association of REALTORS (SFAR) worked together to launch Trulia Data Connect, an opt-in direct MLS feed via RETS.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Trulia and SFAR to syndicate our data directly from the MLS through Trulia Data Connect,” says Randall Kostick, Chief Operating Officer of Zephyr Real Estate. “By automating data delivery, we increased efficiency as well as accuracy by having all of our listing data come straight from the source directly to Trulia.”
Case Study 2 – First Team Real Estate
Broker Type: Large regional broker in multiple markets
Data Source: Direct Feed
First Team Real Estate, located in Southern California, has always relied on their own internal data to directly feed their listings to Trulia and other real estate portals. This has been a huge differentiator for the brokerage and has helped First Team generate more listings, recruit high quality agents and build their market share.
“In today’s market, we know that homes are selling faster than ever,” says Bill Plattos Executive Vice President of First Team Real Estate. “92 percent of consumers start their search online. We believe it’s our responsibility as a brokerage to ensure our data is accurate and updated in a timely fashion. By providing a direct data feed, we have control over our data. This helps us win more listings, protects our brand, and helps our agents spend time with their clients rather than chasing down service issues.”
Enhancing the accuracy of listing data is complex but it’s a challenge that can be solved through collaboration and partnership.
For more information, visit www.trulia.com.
