Under current law, a real estate broker can not advertise another broker's property listings without the listing broker's permission. This law is why you could not find very many property listings on most real estate broker and real estate agent websites just a few years ago. Large national aggregators were able to provide these listings to the public by opening a Virtual Office Website (VOW). Due to the cost and complexity of operating a Virtual Office Website this was not a viable option for most individual real estate brokers and agents. This gave the national aggregators a competitive advantage. They could show you homes on their websites that we could not show you on ours.
At the same time, more and more homebuyers were turning to the internet to research their home purchase. In 1996, 4% of homebuyers used the internet to research homes. In 2002, that number had grown to 63%. It hit 70% in 2003 & is running at about 80% now.
In order to address the problem, the National Association of Realtors implemented a plan that was intended to level the playing field with the national aggregators allowing brokers and agents a way to remain competitive and at the same time provide you with the information you required as a consumer. This plan has several different names but they all apply to the same program. There is Broker Reciprocity (BR), Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and Internet Data Display (IDD). The IDD designation isn't used very often anymore but you will probably see the other two names when you visit websites that have implemented this plan. The program went into effect January 1, 2002 and is relatively simple. Participating brokers sign a reciprocity agreement form which grants all other participating brokers legal permission to display their listings on their websites. In return, the participating broker receives legal permission to display the other participating brokers' listings on his website. If the participation level was 100%, you would be able to view all available listings on any site that added the software to make it available to you. The problem is that this is a voluntary program and individual brokers can choose to opt out. Brokers who have agreed to the plan still can not show the listings of brokers who have decided not to sign the broker reciprocity agreement. As of January, 2003 one year into the program, only 33% of the brokers in our MLS had signed the agreement. That means that with a BR or IDX solution you can not view all of the available listings. You can only view about one third of the properties that are available. Most consumers and many Brokers and Realtors are unaware of this. I see many websites that feature an IDX home search program that also claim to be providing all of the available listings which simply is not true. The service providers I have dealt with do not explain the limitations of IDX in our market. Other areas of the country do have higher participation levels and an IDX solution would be fine. In the Chicago area your search results from IDX are limited. The main reasons for selecting an IDX solution is that it is less expensive and the password requirement does not apply. Many real estate web sites with IDX still require a user registration and password even though it is not required. I am aware of at least one service provider that is adding a password requirement for all programs to combat spam problems. Service providers that E-mail new listing alerts can generate a high volume of out going E-mail and are sometimes tagged as spam sources. The e-mail is legitimate but the service providers have to spend a lot of extra time getting removed from an ISP's spam list.
A Virtual Office Website (VOW) on the other hand is not a plan or a program. It is a specific business model that is based on the assumption that you are a real customer. The requirement that you provide personal information and that I verify your E-mail address and provide a password protects the MLS data and is in effect our introduction to each other and a handshake that occurs before you can enter my office. When you register with us, it is considered to be the same as walking into my office and asking for my assistance. When you walk into any real estate agent's office, they are allowed to show you any property listed on the MLS that meets your needs. The listing broker's permission is not required. If a property is listed in the MLS it is available for showing. My Virtual Office Website is considered to be the online equivalent of my office in Geneva, Illinois. That is why we are able to show you 100% of the MLS properties that are available on REAL ESTATE ON THE WEB.
We have been providing this service since January 2002 and when we started we were breaking new ground. We strongly support your right to have access to as much information as you need to research your new home purchase & we will continue to provide it here as long as the State Laws & MLS rules allow it. New Rules are in the works that would combine the IDX & Vow Models into a hybrid of the two under the new name ILD which stands for Internet Listing Dispay. The New program does have some opt out provisions but consumers are to be notified that their property will not be displayed on ILD sites. This new plan was to take effect in mid 2006 but is now on hold & will probably be delayed. If you are using online search tools to research your next home purchase you should try to locate a local Realtor or Real Estate Broker that has implemented the VOW (Virtual Office Website) home search program on their web site for you to use. Many of the national aggregator sites are acting as middlemen selling leads to local Real Estate Agents for a fee. Please try to use the services of the local real estate professional that can answer your questions about a particular property that you find online and can really assist you with advice about the local market conditions.
You should also be aware that some National Broker sites do not offer IDX or VOW programs. They show only the property listings available from their offices around the country.
On Real Estate On The Web you can view all of the homes for sale in our MLS which covers all of Northeastern Illinois and the Chicago region. If you have questions or need additional information about a property you find on our site we can provide the information you request. If you would like to see a property we can arrange a personal tour. If you live out of the area and are relocating we can preview a property for you and give you our opinion of the home and its' market value based on current local market conditions. With the home owner's permission, we can sometimes provide additional photos of the home and local area. When you find a home you would like to make an offer on we determine what we believe the current market value of the property and negotiate your contract. We then oversee all of the steps of purchasing a home up to the closing date. If you locate a home in our MLS that is outside of our service area we will attempt to locate a Realtor that specializes in the area you are interested in.
Try Our MLS Home Search Program
