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REinventing MLS
Category Archives: Agent “Doing Business” Discussions
Social Media for Real Estate [Infographic]
Infographic via Buffini & Company
MRED Hacking It at Hack Chicago 2014
MLS Giant Flexing Its Technology Muscle
LISLE, ILLINOIS (October 2, 2014) – Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED), Chicagoland’s multiple listing service (MLS), is participating with the Chicago section of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and other technology companies at Hack Chicago 2014, a hackathon event promoting the City of Chicago’s Data Portal.
The event is designed to encourage the development of creative apps to engage and serve Chicagoland’s diverse community, while using government data from the City of Chicago.
Chris Lambrou, MRED’s Director of Special Projects, is on the planning committee for the event. “It’s important to raise awareness of city portals and bring the data closer to the consumer,” said Lambrou. “The City of Chicago’s API offers software developers a source of public data to innovate with and enhance the quality of life in the Chicagoland area.”
Hack Chicago 2014 runs from October 1 through October 15, 2014. Software development teams in three (3) different categories will compete for cash prizes decided by a panel of judges based on such criteria as overall design, efficient use of data from the Chicago API and innovative creativity.
Sponsors for the event include MRED, IEEE, Google, Motorola, and the Illinois Science and Technology Coalition.
“We’ve had overwhelming support from the Chicagoland IEEE and tech communities.” said Lambrou. “The entire planning committee is excited about the process and can’t wait to view the apps that evolve from this hackathon and interact with the development teams that submit.”
More information can be found at the Hack Chicago 2014 website – http://stc-egov.ieee.net/links/hack-chicago-challenge.
About MRED
Midwest Real Estate Data (MRED) is the real estate data aggregator and distributor providing the Chicagoland multiple listing service (MLS) to nearly 40,000 brokers and appraisers and 8,000 offices. MRED serves Chicago and the surrounding “collar” counties and provides property information encompassing northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. MRED delivers over twenty products and services to its customers, complementing connectMLS™, the top-rated MLS system in the country for two years running according to the WAV Group MLS Technology Survey. MRED is the 2013 Inman News Most Innovative MLS/Real Estate Trade Association, and for four consecutive years the MRED Help Desk has been identified as one of the best small business centers in the United States and Canada by BenchmarkPortal. For more information please visit MREDLLC.com.
What’s a Phablet?
With the release of the iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung Note 4, the term phablet has been thrust back into the public realm. Wikipedia puts it well: A phablet is a class of mobile device designed to combine or straddle the functions of a smartphone and tablet. The word Phablet is a portmanteau of the words phone and tablet. There are two components of a phablet, the ability to make cellular calls and size. This photo from MCPR explains the size component:
Increasingly, more mobile users want to make calls and use a tablet without carrying two devices. In the next month Apple will release a new line of iPads, some think an iPad Mini with cellular calling capabilities will be released while others think the iPhone 6 Plus is an indication that’s not going to happen.
Samsung just announced the Samsung Note 4 and Nokia has a phablet coming out as well. The Galaxy and Note series of Samsung devices is well worth exploring.
Blog Post via ARMLS Blog
MRED Chicagoland Report for August, 2014
Most local markets continue to recover from a soft patch earlier this year. The macro trend is still positive; the micro trend involves more moderate pinching up and down the month-to-month timeline. This is not uncommon in a balanced market, but it’s been so long since we’ve seen one that we’re watching it with perhaps too much trepidation. Metrics to watch include inventory and prices, but also days on market, months’ supply and percent of list price received at sale. Declines in pending and closed sales activity may reflect strong decreases at lower price points and may not indicate softening demand.
New Listings in Chicagoland were up 4.6 percent for detached homes and 1.1 percent for attached properties. Listings Under Contract increased 4.6 percent for detached homes and 3.1 percent for attached properties.
The Median Sales Price was up 8.1 percent to $219,900 for detached homes and 9.3 percent to $177,000 for attached properties. Months Supply of Inventory increased 4.4 percent for detached units but was down 4.4 percent for attached units.
Sustained job growth, lower mortgage rates and a slow rise in the number of homes for sale appear to have unleashed at least some pent-up demand. Since housing demand relies heavily on an economy churning out good jobs, it’s encouraging to see second quarter GDP growth revised upwards to a 4.2 percent annualized rate and stronger-than-expected job growth in recent months. Further improvements are still needed by way of wage growth and consumer confidence but recovery continues.
MRED real estate professionals can log into MREDLLC.com and click on the Statistics tab to get the latest Lender Mediated and Monthly Market Indicators reports. MRED’s August Market Statistics package will be posted on Monday, September 22nd.
Any questions? Please contact MRED’s Help Desk at 630-955-2755 or help.desk@mredllc.com.
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