Making Sense of RETS: Part 3

Getting a little more technical now.....

Let's assume you're developing a website for someone. Naturally, the best way to have updated information in a solid, technically noticeable format is to have direct access to the MLS's database. If you're betting on the MLS giving this to you, I think you'll be disappointed.

Furthermore, consider the extremely possible scenario where you're running one type of system and the MLS is running another. Trying to simply copy their data into your format is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. You can't do it without a lot of work and finesse.

Maybe you get "BedsAll BathsAll StreetAddress BathsPartial RoomsAll" from the MLS (maybe an Oracle database) and you're trying to fit that into a "Bedrooms TotalRooms FullBathrooms HalfBathrooms StreetNumber StreetDirection StreetName" format on your system (maybe a MySQL database).

Square peg, round hole.

So...

Direct access to a database is too much. Access to an FTP server somewhere with once-daily updated data isn't enough.

Meet RETS.

(continued in Part 4)