FranklyMLS.com New Features

New "Open House" search

2012-01-31T14:52:00.001-05:00

Now you can add the phrase "Open House" (with quotes) to any area to see all upcoming registered open houses (this is only of the agent checke a box for an upcoming open. It will NOT look for lazy agents that just put "Open Sun" in the remarks.)

Example:
Vienna "Open House"
22101 "Open House"
"Open House" Lake Barcroft

An hour after the open house ends, the search should no longer show that OH. Note that most agents place OHs midweek.

Feedback?

Frank

--

Thank you,

Frank LLosa, J.D.
Broker www.FranklyRealty.com Better Technology, Better Agents.
Owner www.FranklyMLS.com
Gtalk/IM: fllosa

School Boundary Zones Now for Arlington, Fairfax, DC

2011-10-30T12:36:00.004-04:00

Now after a search, to the right of the map you will see an option to show School Boundary Zones, also know as School Attendance Zones.

Currently we only have Fairfax, Arlington and Washington DC. If you all like it, maybe we can add more.

Disclaimer: Don't buy a home solely based on this data. We also have a "Verify School" link. But ultimately if a school is crucial to your purchase, you need to call the district to verify that everything is up to date and nothing is changing.

Also let me know if you think anything is wrong.

Note this data IGNORES the agent school input field and is based solely on the county maps.

Frank

Cell Mode Changes. Now Shows Favorites

2011-10-13T11:22:00.004-04:00

I made some changes to the cell mode.

Including

Cleaner layout. Moving the search box to the bottom after a search.
More clear how to search for Sold properties when you are out in the car.
Added subdivision info on the results page
See your saved favorites! You will first have to login on the front page of FranklyMLS.com from your cell phone (Yeah I know not ideal) but you will only have to do it once. Then you can save stuff on your computer and when you go out in your car, you can see all of your favorites.

Up next, GPS based "Homes Near You" and "Open Houses Near you"

Anything else you want to see?

Frank

Realtors: Sign your clients up for Branded Alerts

2011-09-27T13:24:00.005-04:00

This is a Step by Step for Realtors to sign up their clients and watch their progress, and edit their saved searches. Many Realtors have asked how to do this, so here is a step by step. This assumes you already signed up for a free Branded FranklyMLS search site.

1) Start from a clean slate. Click http://franklymls.com/clear to make the site act like a new user/visitor (ie no cookies).

2) Hit your branded page. Aka www.FranklyMLS.com/YOURID

3) Conduct a search, for example Arlington Condos from $500k to $600k

4) In the middle of the page it lets you "Save Search" by entering in your clients email address. Enter their email and press Join/Login (no passwords needed)

5) It will ask the user (you) to confirm the link in their email.

6) If you signed up under your branded page, YOU, the Realtor will get a copy of the confirmation email. Either you OR the client can confirm the sign up.

7) Go back to FranklyMLS.com/YourID and if it does not say "Welcome: jon@jon.com" then
log in as them on the front page, upper right corner.

8) Conduct more searches and save those searches. Also if there are special homes you want them to get price change alerts on (you get a copy of all alerts) then click the RED HEART to save those homes.

9) Finish by logging out, by visiting http://franklymls.com/clear (or there is a Logout button on the search page, but don't hit the Unsubscribe button)

Done. Great! Your client will now get daily emails "From Realtor's Name" and you will get a copy of those alerts (which you should route to a folder to check periodically). They can change it to update every 15 minutes by following the directions in the alerts.

EMail me if you have any questions

To make changes to an existing account.
1) Clear out your session http://franklymls.com/clear
2) Go to your IDX Franklymls.com/USERID
3) Login with their email address
4) Conduct searches, save searches, save homes, delete saved homes, etc.
5) When done, clear out your session http://franklymls.com/clear

Let me know if that isn't clear. Let me know if you log in as a user and you don't see your branding on every page.

Frank

Coming soon, a live tutorial demo.

New Mobile Idea, Done in 4 minutes. Suggest yours!

2011-09-27T10:59:00.004-04:00

Chris W. emailed me about some ideas for the site and it sparked a no brainer. I was able to get it live in 4 minutes! And a blog post up in another 5 minutes. A new record.

In mobile mode, FranklyMLS.com/m, I am working on a "Near you" button so you can drive up to a home and in 1 click see all the homes near you. (I know, pretty standard in the app world).

In the meantime, I made it so the mobile mode will list the subdivision and let you click on "See more" to see all the other homes that are active/UC in that subdivision.

Try it out: http://franklymls.com/m/FX7665108, you can test it from your computer too.

I also moved around some things on the cell mode to make it easier to see more data (less indenting).

Thoughts? So keep sending in your ideas so I can expand on them, or just flat out steal them and take credit. ;-)

Frank

10 Tweaks today

2011-09-20T15:10:00.001-04:00

Been making a bunch of changes today to the Full View (1 home per page) http://franklymls.com/FX7665108
including,
1) Clearing out the junk in the upper left and right
2) Moving the HEART saving option next to the Status=Active (before it made no sense to be in the upper right part of the page since it didnt look like part of the listing),http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
3) Add a Mobile mode icon and moved it down near the multiple photos
4) Moved the Neighborhood reviews and House Wiki comments to another location lower on the page
5) Added a printer Icon to let you know you can print a 1 page version of the site
6) And for people that are NOT on a branded version of the site, I added more Frankly logos and chat windows.
7) Moved private notes and View Count to middle left of screen
8) More details for what Under Contract means. (We get a ton of "Can I see this home that is Under Contract")
9) More ads featuring recommended local buyers agents (if you have your owner agent, great, but have them get a free IDX so their name is on each page)
10) Annoying photo of me lurching on the left side of the page ready to chat (already got one complaint on this today, you hate it too?)

What's In It for You? Realtors Ask In Fear

2011-09-16T23:20:00.008-04:00

FranklyMLS invites competing firms to join the site. Why?

Update: Don't Miss Peggy James' great comment on how she profits from FranklyMLS.

I offer several free services for Realtors in other firms. Easy to convince them because it is free? Nope, I spend a lot of time easing their fears & untrustingness (is that a word?).

So here I will list what Realtors from other firms can do with this site to help themselves and WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME.

Ways Realtors can benefit from FranklyMLS.com:

1) Join and get your free branded IDX. Even if you "already have one."
With the branded IDX, the logos of my firm get dropped and replaced with your image and banner. All "request a showings" go to you. When your client signs up for email alerts you are notified and each alert has YOUR branding. Also you get a BCC of each email alert of your client.

Over 250 agents have joined. Many stopped paying their 2003 garbage $50/mo IDX and others have dropped even the "high tech and latest" IDXes.

Why do they ditch their IDX?
a) FranklyMLS.com does so much more. I can't list them here, but recently an "I already have one"-type agent got the "oh mine doesn't do that" moment about 5 times and finally the lightbulb went off that this might actually help HER and her client.

b) Your clients are probably already using the site anyhow, so why not have your name on each page (and stop having them bug me instead of you, but I will get to my benefits later)

2) Contribute to the MLS Wiki (Rules). 200,000 Photos already added by buyer's agents!
Land free clients. No referral fees. A couple agents have closed $1M clients from this.
Buyer agents can add reviews (once your client decides not to buy it) and photo albums (this is why you should be taking buyer agent photo albums for your clients anyhow) to most MLS homes (about 95% of MRIS listings allow blogging/comments).

With these reviews a buyer agent can add photos from the buyer agent perspective. Add information about distance to a noisy highway or something the listing agent might have left out. This is REALLY killer for photoless REOS. This can even save a Realtor (and their client) a 1 hour drive if another buyer agent took 30 photos of a photoless listing (this happened to me once). Hum, imagine agents helping agents. A novel concept.

Agents get points for adding reviews (10 with photos) and top contributors get featured on the front page. With this service, many get more traffic than Google! And if a buyer is looking in a particular area and they keep seeing helpful comments (not annoying ads) they say "hum, maybe I should use that agent".

Also agents can LINK to all of their reviewed homes in 1 click. So people on your blog can see the areas you have recently visited and your comments.

3) Join the referral network. FranklyMLS.com is a hugely trafficked site, but FranklyRealty.com is a smaller firm. So having a network of agents in other areas, I can send clients your way.

Ok, finally, the big question. FRANK WHAT IS IN IT FOR YOU?

Again, I have no interest in stealing your client. It isn't some trick.

Benefits to ME:
1) Your clients are already using the site! So brand it & save me time.
It is kind of annoying to get a request for information on a home, for the user to say "I love my buyer agent Patrick." Ok great, so why did you contact us? It would be easier on me if Patrick had his branded FranklyMLS so I wouldn't waste time with a happily represented buyer. And yes this happens a lot. Recently at a [Large Real Estate Firm's] technology meeting it went like this: "Are you all noticing that half your clients are using FranklyMLS?"

2) A Branded Agent might start contributing to the WIKI.
The Free IDX is also the bait to come check out the site. Once agents get the IDX and give their custom link to their clients (that are wildly happy with the link see one non-Frankly agent's review). And even though the Wiki sends THEM tons of traffic, it helps build a better site for all to use. Having 200,000 MORE photos than ANY other MLS... that is valuable since photos are key. Why go anywhere else?

3) Expanded referral network
Those that I see contributing, are perfect candidates to send business their way. It lets me meet agents from areas I would never have reached out to.

4) Frankly brand respect amongst other agents.
Helping my full time agents have a respected brand to work under is huge.
By offering a free IDX to 250 agents, and helping other agents get a ton of free business, it helps build the FranklyRealty.com brand. When my agent has a bidding war against 3 other no-name firms... it helps when the listing agent is like "Yeah I know about Frankly Realty, your company, you help other agents out." Or "Oh you guys only have the highest quality full time agents with gorgeous 30 photo listings 100% of the time" That is a big plus.
Come on, you know when you get a contract from a firm with a bad reputation, or all weekend warrior agents. You are like "darn, this might be a nightmare deal."

5) Recruiting.
AHA! Ok, everyone will now probably ignore all of the above and say "AHA". Well it isn't like that. While I have interest in growing Frankly Realty, I only want to do so SLOWLY and in select areas. Like maybe adding 1 great and high producing agent a year that is looking to upgrade from their "national brand" firm. (note that most firms recruit 20 agents to get 1 real producer). This site lets them get an introduction to Frankly and 1 in the 200 might join (I turn down many requests). But that is NOT my main motivation. Prove it? In 4 years of free IDXing, last month was the first time I emailed them in batch about an update to the site.

6) Doing Cool Stuff
I just love doing cool stuff. Like building the Frankly I Wish concept in 24 hours from idea to creation to Agent Genius featured story. And it is more fun to do stuff in a large scale with many agents. If I can come up with a way that helps everyone, then why not! And it does create indirect and unexpected benefits like winning the 2009 Inman News Innovator of the Year award. Couldn't have done it without everyone's cooperation.

Ok, so I hope you will join FranklyMLS and see what you are missing. It is free.

Thank you for your time, please report typos

Frank
Founder FranklyMLS.com
Broker FranklyRealty.com Better Technology, Better Agents

Photo Credit Fear

Days on the Market Explained, in the Shower

2011-09-16T12:04:00.005-04:00

Excited to learn more about what Days on the Market is, and specifically the difference between DOMM and DOMP? Well check out this video I made to explain it to FranklyMLS users.

Or you can read the longer version over here about DOMM and DOMP

Frank

Frankly I Wish. Buyers get a leg up Pre-MLS

2011-09-12T19:21:00.007-04:00

Now, on FranklyMLS.com buyers (via an agent) can post ads on specific wishlist neighborhoods to find sellers Pre-MLS. Both sides win. One gets a jump on the market and the other saves paying a listing agent.

Update 3 days after launch: Featured in Agent Genius (kinda with a unnecessary provoking title of cutting out listing agents, but that is not the goal) and 20 buyer neighborhood sign ups and 2 seller contacts (no matches yet).

Background, Frankly MLS gets a ton of traffic. But that traffic isn't just buyers. Many are SELLERs looking at solds and active comps. So based on the suggestion of a user and a Frankly agent, I created Frankly I Wish ads. And when I say "I" created it, I was too impatient to wait for the programmers to do it, that is why it looks to ugly, I did the coding. But who cares, the traffic speaks for itself, it is all about content!

With this system, I will be posting very targeted needs for specific buyers (sponsored by a buyer agent).

Here is one example where Realtor Jay's client was dying to buy in The Clara Barton Condos. Now his ad shows up in all of Penn Quarter.

Dying for a home in XYZ hood? If you already have an agent, great!, tell them to email me, it is free (no slice even) iWish@FranklyRealty.net. Don't have an agent, then email me directly, no obligation to use our agents. Even though our motto is Better Technology, Better Agents.

Don't forget you saw it here first!

Frank, Owner FranklyMLS.com, Broker FranklyRealty.com

If you like our site, you'll love our agents. Better Technology, Better Agents (which tagline do you like better?)

Verify School. Death to the "Call School Board"

2011-07-02T20:44:00.004-04:00

I always hated the lazy agent "Call School Board" entry. Don't you know that people search based on schools and if you leave them out, people will miss your home?

Well now we have a "Verify Schools" link. It shows up in about 60% of the counties. Some are simple links to a page with more info, but many will include the home address in the link and immediately pull up the exact schools for that address.

Like everything though, if a school is a 100% crucial factor, you need to triple check in case the boundaries just got moved.

Try it here: http://franklymls.com/FX7587862

Frank

New Driving Distance to EACH home for sale.

2011-06-26T14:01:00.004-04:00

Now you can enter in a work address or school address and when you do a search in spreadsheet mode, it will show you the driving distance to each home for sale. Super cool new feature. Soon you can add two addresses and it will cookie so you don't need to reenter it each time.

What do you think?

Frankly Price Predictor

2011-06-26T13:59:00.003-04:00

This new feature, dubbed FPP landed a featured post on our Blog.FranklyRealty.com , read about it here.

Attn Agents: Free Branded MLS IDX

2011-06-13T10:58:00.000-04:00

(FranklyMLS users, already have an agent? Please send them a link to this post)

Buyer agents from any local VA, DC, MD, company can now sign up for a FREE BRANDED IDX. Yep! No more need to pay $30 a month or $475 a year etc etc. You get your name and photo on every page. And we make you a shortcut URL like www.FranklyMLS.com/YourName or FranklyMLS.com/YourTown

Then all you need to do is link from your website to your free IDX, or add it to your business cards, or at the end of your email signature file. Your customers will see your information on every search page, and over every home, AND in every Free email alert.

You even get notified when your client signs up for email alerts or asks a buyer agent question. (update 9/2011) You also get a BCC of their daily/hourly email alerts.

Why would we be so nice? Well we aren't being nice. We want you to get addicted to the FranklyMLS.com and start contributing to the WIKI. Adding buyer agent photo albums to share with other agents and other consumers. Some agents have closed as many as 6 homes sales from FranklyMLS.com just by participating, all with no referral fee. But this is not a requirement.

Below is an example of Jeff's branded MLS. I didn't link to it since you would then get his cookie and get his info on every page that you visit.

How do you get one? Email Frank: feedback @ FranklyRealty (dot) NET and also tell me how you heard about it!

After I send you the URL, you will be able to sign up. Here is the HOW TO video (which is also on the link I will send you).

Over 250 happy Realtors use this branded solution, why aren't you? Give me feedback for what you would need it to do to start using it.

p.s. No Framing of the site please. Long story, but the customers hate it.

Written by Frank Borges LL0SA

Alerts are defaulting to daily.

2011-06-10T01:09:00.001-04:00

Well thousands of you were/are getting immediate (30 min) email alerts for saved listings.

We moved the default to daily to free up some resources (ie making the site faster). You can still opt back into the immediate alerts.

Frank

New Driving Directions. Built into each page.

2011-06-02T01:11:00.003-04:00

So this is a really cool new feature.

Now when you are on the main page for any listing, about half way down you have an option to enter in your work address. (Or any address obviously). And after pressing go it will show you the door to door directions and drive time from your work to this listing. It will also keep you on the same page (ie no new browser like before).

But the cool part is after just entering in your work address once, whenever you go to any other listing it will have the map and directions already preloaded. No need to press go, no need to launch another window.

The goal is to help you look at hundreds of homes with as few clicks as possible.

What do you think? Do you want the option to hide the text directions and just get the visual? Would you want the option to do it for 2 addresses?

Frank

Easier Photo Viewing. Click Anywhere To Move Forward.

2011-05-15T21:19:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to tell you about a new photo viewing system.

As many of you know, we added numbers above the image. This is for netboot users with a small screen.

And now we added rollover arrows. You don't need to click on the arrow itself though. You only need to click on anywhere in the right 50% of the photo and it will go to the next photo. Or 50% of the left photo to see that one.

I might still teak the design to make it more intuitive for those that don't read this.

Any other suggestions? Does it work well on your iPad?

Frank
Owner FranklyMLS.com

SOLD DATA IS BLOCKED

2011-05-03T22:29:00.005-04:00

MRIS has required that we block much of the important sold data including DOM and multiple photos.

To see this info you have to logged into the site as a member.

If you are not a member yet, do this

1) On the front page of FranklyMLS.com is asks for your email (no passwords needed). Enter it and press submit

2) You should get an email confirming your email address. If you do not, then check your spam folder. (especially Yahoo users)

3) Once you confirm your email and it should say "Welcome john@john.com"

4) Leave cookies ON.

5) Then you can see sold data.

Also a discussion on this is over at http://facebook.com/franklymls

If you only see the "?" that means your email has yet to be confirmed. Check your spam folders too!

Let me know if you have problems.

If you don't see a login box and you don't see "Welcome", let me know, but you might also try another web browser.

Share Listings via Email to Multiple People

2011-04-05T14:46:00.003-04:00

With super short URLs, people oftentimes will copy and paste the URL of the listing to email it to a friend or their Realtor.

Many don't know that you can email the listing in 1 click. In the upper right corner click on "Email/Share" the listing. This will send you to half way down the page where you enter your FROM email address (which will become the "Reply-To address) and the TO address that it will be going to (spouse, friend, Realtor, yourself).

Starting today you can now enter multiple email addresses by adding a comma.

Name@Name.com, John@john.com, eric@eric.com

And depending on the browser you have, it will remember your emails so you only need to press SEND for each listing.

Would anybody want to email 5-10 listings at one time? Maybe from the spreadsheet view or favorites?

Also we are beta testing 2 driving directions solutions. Please check them out.

Frank

Agent Past Performance Details

2011-03-28T03:36:00.004-04:00

Exclusive: No other site posts this data publicly!

I have spoken before about how important it is to have background sales data on EVERY local agent.

Whether it be to check out their current listings to see how well (or poorly) they market the property, or to see their PAST performance.

Now we made it easier to see this data.

WHERE: The data is shown in the middle of every listing where we show the agent's name and number.

The first link will show you the agent's current listings that are both ACTIVE and Under Contract (the UC have a line through them).

Then we show the past performance. You can look at "All Sold Deals" which will show every deal they have done since 2005 regardless of whether they were a Listing Agent or a Buyer's Agent. Here you can see how many deals they have done, and how many are short sales or foreclosures. This high level view can also tell you if that "short sale expert" really is an expert.

Then you can see the agent's track record in their capacity exclusively as a Listing Agent. Both since 2005 or since 2009. I broke this up because the market has changed so much and I prefer only seeing the most recent data.

When you see the sold data don't miss how the bottom of the spreadsheet will show you an AVERAGE of the agent's performance. Average days on the market, average sold price and my favorite is the Average %OL, which is Percentage of Original List (which is more important than %L, which is the % drop from the last list price after previous price drops).

I also like to sort by %OL to see how many times an agent has gone over list (crucial data for predicting if a current new listing might sell for over list or to call the agent's bluff when they say "this will sell fast and probably over list," and your buyer's agent can respond "Not likely, FranklyMLS says you did 100 listings and only 2 went over list, so that is just a 2% chance")

Disclaimer: I don't really believe in averages. Instead I believe in looking at data and getting a feel for trends. Averages are so easy to be sqewed, for example if you have a 1,000 days on the market $5M mansion, your stats will bomb.

Then you can see the agent's track record in their capacity exclusively as a Buyer Agent.

Again be skeptical of averages!! An agent might win a client an amazing $100,000 underpriced bank listing that happens to go over $5,000 list price, or "101% of %OL." That doesn't mean they are worse than an agent that helped a client get a "deal" or "95% of %OL" on a home that is 15% overpriced. Just look for trends.

Shameless plug for Buyer Agents in general: Hum, ok so now there is more data! Great! So some of you will feel MORE empowered to go solo. Others will smartly think "Hum, maybe there actually is some value to a good Realtor. One that knows how to digest this data and work for the seller's best interest."

At the bottom is a linkable example.

Thoughts?

Frank

Creator FranklyMLS.com

Listing Agent: Michael Rosen 703-880-6770 from FranklyRealty.com
Agent's Current Listings: Actives & Under Contracts

Agent's Past Performance: All Sold Deals (why?)
As a Listing Agent: Last 5yrs or 2009+
As a Buyer's Agent: Last 5yrs or 2009+

More Accurate Aerial Maps

2011-03-28T01:46:00.003-04:00

I got a complaint that the aerial maps that show up on every home for sale were off by a few homes. I thought I couldn't do anything about it because that data is provided to us by the actual MLS.

But after some digging, I found a way to bypass the data they gave us and use our own location finding.

So let me know if you ever noticed this problem and if it is fixed.

Frank

(ps. The pin point is missing on the aerial, I'm working on that)

Agent Free IDX, Now with easier URLs

2011-03-22T11:24:00.003-04:00

Agents: If you have a free IDX (learn about it here), I just made it so the site no longer redirects.

So your www.franklymls.com/Frank will stay on that domain and not redirect to www.franklymls.com/?a=frank

Also the old links will still work.

And now you can link directly to 1 particular home (like if you wanted to make a branded link to your own listing) using www.franklymls.com/frank/AR7553873

Where "frank" is your username.'

Frank

County and City Outlining is live

2011-03-20T14:33:00.002-04:00

Now when your search includes one of the top 30 popular cities or counties, it will show an outline of that area.

Also you can remove that outline to see homes for sale nearby Currently this feature is slow. We are working on making it faster.

Let me know your thoughts.

Frank

Blog post via iPhone sorry for typoes.

Syntax Summary of Features

2011-03-17T20:41:00.005-04:00

I finally updated the "advanced" search page. Soon these will all be checkbox options. But until then... this makes it easier to digest.

Search Syntax Summary

Actives Only	Add the word Active like: 22044 Active (the default is Actives and Under Contracts)
Solds Only	Click the checkbox for Solds within 5 years or solds from 2009+.
Home Type	Enter it as a keyword Detached, Condo, or Townhouse. Try: Mclean Detached or try: Arlington Condos Active
LAND only	Just add LAND, like: Arlington LAND
# of Bedrooms	Try: Falls Church Condos 2bdr or try: 22201 (1br,2br) or try: Alexandria -1br (to remove 1 bedrooms)
# of Total Bathrooms	Try: 22201 2ba (note that 1.5 baths count as 2 total baths)
Year Built	Use this format: Arlington [Built2000-2009]
Lot Size (Acres)	Use: Arlington [Lot .5-3] (Blog with details)
Subdivision	Use sub=cherrydale
Schools	Try ES=Franklin Sherman or MS=Something or HS=Oakton (note this only works if the agent entered the data)
Phrases	Use Quotes like: "bring all offers" or try: "Price william"
REMOVE areas/words	Also known as a negative search. Try: Arlington -condo
Multiple areas/words	Also known as an "OR" search. Use ( ) like: Try: (22101,22201,22314) active or try: (granite,pool,garden) "great falls" active which means: Show all Actives with Granite OR pool OR garden in great falls
Investor Search	List price divided by Tax assesssment. LP=LOW or LP=LOWER or LP=LOWEST like: LP=LOW Arlington condo (see advanced page)
Only Foreclosures	Add the word Foreclosure like: Manassas Foreclosure Also look for the ƒ symbol. (see Blog Post)
Only Short sales	Use it as a keyword. Like: Oakton Short sale
Partial search	Use * symbol. Like: water* for waterfront, or try: fx7*
Agent Search	Use their full name and check off the solds like: Thomas Royce This will give you the agent's listings and purchases (see column on far right). For just one or the other email me for details or watch the blog.

Embedded video on listings

2011-03-06T17:02:00.003-05:00

The local mls, MRIS, only has one authorized video hosting service, which is Videosbyaddress.com. The mls does not allow branded video sources or even Youtube.

Now if an agent has a video hosted with videosbyaddress.com and attached to an mls listing, the video will show up embedded in the listing itself. No need to click on the virtual tour link.

Thanks VBA for the partnership and special coding. Realtor, don't be silly, you should be doing this!

Here is an example of a listing with the video embedded:

http://franklymls.com/FX7534209

Frank

No more jumpy images!! Yeah!

2011-03-02T11:20:00.004-05:00

FranklyMLS.com is the only site that shows the largest photos as the default. Everyone else has to make room for ads and sales pitches. But with that came the drawback or "jumpy images." A really annoying thing that would happen in about 30% of the listings. If the agent uploaded odd sized photos, they photos would jump and make it nearly impossible to rollover the thumbnails.

Well after trying a bunch of complex solutions, I remembered my programming "how to build a website" class from 14 years ago and brought back an old school solution.

Yeah! No more jumpy images. Well at least until somebody reports it to me.

Let me know if you have anymore jumpy images. Email me the browser type, the OS and the browser version.

Remember, we are just a small operation here, trying to keep ahead of the big boys. Thanks for your support.

Frank

Begone those pesky OUTLIERS!

2011-02-21T16:24:00.005-05:00

One benefit to FranklyMLS's keyword search is that it is lightening fast! But the downside has always been that it is only 98% accurate.

About 2% of the time a search for a random zip code might pull up a random 22101 Beachway Drive in Maryland instead of McLean's 22101.

But now that is all so very 2010.

We now figured out a way to scrub out these outliers which makes the new zip code boundary feature that much more powerful.

Now if you search for zip codes, it will recognize that you want a zip code and only show you homes with that zipcode. Skipping over house # and even remarks.

Let me know if you get any errors. Soon hopefully we can do this for county searches, as I know people might search for Arlington and get annoyed by homes on Arlington Blvd in another city.

Hope you like it.

Frank

Netbook Friendly Photo browsing.

2011-02-21T15:50:00.003-05:00

Our photos are 4x larger then any other site. Why? Because most sites waste room with advertising.

The only downside is those with smaller screens sometimes can't see the entire photo and that makes it tougher to get to the thumbnails.

Well now we adding numbers above the main image.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Rollover those numbers and it will change the photos.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Frank

MLS Zip Code Search with Boundary Outlines!

2011-02-15T11:47:00.003-05:00

Now if your search syntax has a zip code in it, the zip code will be outlined for you. This makes it much easier to see exactly where the coundaries are.

Obviously we will be adding smaller add on features to this, but I wanted to get this out as fast as possible.

Try it out. Search syntax: 22044

Coming soon the zip code will have a rollover or title so you know which zip is which (assuming multiple zips). You also will be able to expand the search beyond the zip code and lastly we are working on killing off those pesty outliers that have riddled our keyword serach system. IE when a home is 22101 Broad Street in Maryland, today it might come up in a search for the zip code 22101.

While the site isn't 100% accurate (with mishaps like outliers, we strive for 99.5%) it is 4x faster!

Frank

FranklyMLS ranked #3 in DC Area

2011-02-14T01:13:00.001-05:00

I just got an exciting report that showed that FranklyMLS.com is #3 in traffic behind Long and Foster, and Redfin in the DC area for MLS broker sites.

To think that a small concept could grow and beat most of the powerhouses is pretty neat.

The ranking data is raw but reliable. It comes from a 3rd party hoster of albums for MRIS. They track the number of albums viewed and thus the referral log tracking and ranking.

Thank you everyone for all of your ideas that have helped the site be what it is today.

Frank

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Better Foreclosure MLS Searching

2011-01-31T16:37:00.002-05:00

FranklyMLS.com is mainly keyword based. This has many benefits (speed) but sometimes it can be inaccurate.

Previously a search for: Vienna Foreclosure

would bring up all homes with BOTH the word Vienna and the word foreclosure anywhere in the remarks.

We then took steps to remove errors like remarks that posted "not a foreclosure" (those wouldn't show up).

About a year ago the MLS added some checkbox fields for foreclosures. But, initially the agents were not filling this in, so it was too unreliable to use.

Good news! Agents are now using that field properly!

So now a search for: Vienna Foreclosure
is much more accurate and will only look for
1) homes with the keyword: vienna
2) home where the agent checked off "foreclosure yes" (ie we don't look at keywords when you search for this word anymore)

Hope that makes sense.

Frank

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Larger page option, for those with high resolutions

2011-01-23T12:04:00.001-05:00

I got a request the other day to make a larger map option when searching.

Done.

So now above the map it says "bigger map." Click on that if you have a super high resolution or huge monitor. The map will triple in size. Also your preference will be cookie'd to your browser so you don't need to click it each time.

Let me know if you use this.

Frank

p.s Still working on map searching.

Current site error.

2010-12-01T14:08:00.000-05:00

The site is currently only showing foreclosures. We are working on a
fix.

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Main level Master Bedroom Search

2010-11-21T11:12:00.003-05:00

You all asked for it, we made it happen.

People were asking for a way to search for main level masterbedrooms. Now (assuming the agent put it in correctly) you can use the search syntax [main=master].

So this is a sample search: Arlington Detached Active [main=master]

Recent Price Drop Symbol ↓

2010-07-02T03:27:00.002-04:00

Created after popular demand, if you see a ↓ symbol next to the price of a home in spreadsheet mode, that means the price has dropped within the last 7 days.

If you all want, I might be able to let you sort this way. Maybe next to the DOMP so you can see new listings and newly dropped in the same sort.

Thanks

Frank

Hartly Jose LLosa

2010-06-23T09:14:00.001-04:00

Waterfront search now via keyword

2010-06-21T13:01:00.002-04:00

Apparently. Home might have a $2m waterfront view, but the agent
leaves off the word "waterfront" 50% of the time.

So now if the agent checked the box for "waterfront=yes" then it will
show up when you do a search like: Easton Waterfront.

Frank

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

New Boy & Buyer Agent Data

2010-06-20T02:58:00.001-04:00

First of all, on a non-FranklyMLS related note... My wife and I just
had a bouncing boy. Hartly Jose LLosa.

On a FranklyMLS related note, now the sold data has a column showing
the buyer agent name. This can help with a FranklyCRA.com and it can
be very useful for agents (long story to explain why).

Frank

The FranklyForum has arrive. In Beta.

2010-06-16T00:07:00.002-04:00

So this is VERY much in beta and one of those "If you build it, we can figure out later how to best use it."

I constantly get requests for a forum for the users to speak. And Facebook blows for this. So we now have FranklyForum.com.
One of the features I love is there is no username and password system (I couldn't use the no password system from the search alerts on FranklyMLS for privacy reasons).

So instead of creating yet another username and password, it lets you login using Facebook or a few other similar services. Try it out. Let's start talking.

It is VERY beta and still has some planted bogus questions.

Frank

Under Contract Date Now Published

2010-06-15T23:57:00.002-04:00

I got a simple request yesterday. "It would be great to show the date a home went under contract." And poof, it is up there now. This can help buyers looking at Under Contract short sales so see how long they have been UC.

Not only do we now show the date (under the status) in the "full view" of each home, we will soon add it to the cell phone mode search results. So VERY quickly you will know when a place went under contract.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Frank

Search Just LAND using all caps

2010-05-11T12:00:00.004-04:00

So you should know that we do include "land for sale" in our MLS database. But a mere search for the word "land" used to bring up homes that say "this home has a lot of nice land."

Now, a search for LAND in all caps, will bring up only "land for sale".

Why buy land? My client did:

They bought a Modular Prefab Home. Also known as Prefabricated construction from DovetailUSA.com

Frank

Now a shortcut to school info

2010-04-26T11:25:00.002-04:00

Now FranklyMLS will link to each school that is listed by the agent. The link will send the user to greatschools.org.

We understand that sometimes the agent will not list the school names. While we would love to find the correct information and put that in, it would create too much liability. Just imagine, if we were wrong and you bought a house thinking it was in Oakton, but was really in Vienna's school district. That would not be good.

Frank

Cell Mode with SOLD MLS data

2010-04-07T02:04:00.001-04:00

Now you can search Virginia, MD, DC, MLS sold data in the cell / iphone mode over at www.franklymls.com/cell

Enjoy

Frank

Spreadsheet mode now has Multi-home 1-Page Print & Multi-Hiding

2010-04-04T01:07:00.001-04:00

In spreadsheet mode, use the checkboxes to the right of the listing to
select homes. Also you can pick "ALL" at the bottom.

After selecting the homes, you can

1) Hide several properties at once without reloading the page each
time. (an "unhide" button will appear to undue it all)

2) Print several properties at once. Hopefully these will be a
condensed version that fits in 1 page per listing (on the rare
occasion that I print out a listing, I always hated getting 3 or 4
pages for one home.)

Soon the multi-home print (tm)* will also print out a map with just
the homes you picked.

Frank

Sent from an iPhone

* no not really trademarked

Fast wasn't fast enough. NEW SERVERS!

2010-03-17T10:40:00.001-04:00

So our ultra fast FranklyMLS.com wasn't fast enough. Especially when searching 4 years of sold data by keyword.

So we just launched the new servers that are wicked fast.

Hope you notice.

Frank

Now with Crime Data!

2010-02-24T15:20:00.001-05:00

I got a chat request today, and the idea was so good that I personally
implemented it in under 7 minutes.

You could do an ab session in that amount if time.

I added a small "c" next to the property address In the full view fr
each property. It will then launch a search for that Zipcode on a
Crime Reoorts website. I can instead have it point to the exact
address, but let's try this first.

Thoughts?

Frank

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Now with 1 page Print View

2010-02-08T23:10:00.001-05:00

I got feedback that printing any particular listing would result in 3
pages.

So we now have a 1 Page Print button.

What do you think? I also want to allow people to pick several
favoites to print all at once (and maybe the map too)

Frank

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Bath search is now up.

2010-01-15T14:52:00.004-05:00

Ok, you can now search by total baths.

3ba searches listings with 3 total baths (3 full or 2 full+1 half etc)
4ba searches listings with 4 total baths (4 full or 2 full+2 half or 3 full+1 half etc)
(4ba,3ba) searches listings with Total 3 or Total 4 baths
( 4ba , 3ba ) is fine (spacing does not matter)

Also I had the heart symbol ♥ removed in the spreadsheet mode if the home is already listed.

Does anybody want a symbol for new listings AND listings that have dropped their price over 1% in the last 7 days (over 1%, to stop those that drop $100 to send out alerts)

Frank

Lot Search Size is here!

2010-01-12T13:39:00.003-05:00

Created after popular demand, we now have lot search. The only bad news is it can't be used at the same time as the year built search.

Here is the cryptic FranklyMLS style format:

EXACT SEARCH

[lot2] (searches listings with lot=2 acres exactly)

LOT RANGE SEARCH

[lot.6-20] (.6 or 0.6 are equivalent)
[ lot 0.6-0.9 ] (spaces do not matter)

COMBINE KEYWORDS

MD [lot.5-10] Rockville

Enjoy

Frank

Email alerts link to Cell Mode

2010-01-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

The email alerts will now have a "click for cell mode" so you can see the listing in the faster cell mode.

This was a suggestion from an iphone user. So thank you.

Frank

Now Links to Redfin

2010-01-08T02:38:00.003-05:00

Linking to the competition! Redfin. A trial of a new concept.

Well I don't really see them as competition (I don't mean that in a bad way), and FranklyMLS.com has dozens of top contributors from several firms, and 100+ agents from different firms using their own Free Branded IDX of our site, so heck why not.

I call it Co-opetition. For the better of... the consumer. Put them first and it is amazing how things fall into place.

My theory: Do the coolest stuff you can think of, without regard to where/if you will make money, and it will all workout in the end. (I got that from the quote "if you knew you couldn't fail, what would you do? Do that.")

Why?
Time and time again, the feedback is "I use FranklyMLS.com and Redfin."

Sure I'd rather people just use my site, but if you can't beat em... join em. Well that doesn't really make sense. My point is, people are already hoping from site to site, so why not make it easier? People really like their site, so why not give the consumer the option?

Previously I added a "g" link after the MLS # to help you with your sluething. Now I added a link like this RF that goes to Redfin.

Oh and I reserve the right for "give backs" and change my mind.

Real Estate is fun again!

Frank

(p.s. Does anybody want to see a more direct link into the property, or do you like the map step first?)

Search by Year Built

2010-01-07T01:09:00.003-05:00

Nothing too sexy with this updated feature. I actually had it created 6 months ago, but forgot to tell anybody.

Now search by Year Built.

Use this syntax in your search: Arlington [Built2000-2009]

I know maybe one day I should make the site look like all the other sites with pretty drop downs, but isn't it more fun this way?

Next up, search by lot size and bathroom.

Frank

Sold Data on the Listing Agent, A Better Breakdown.

2010-01-04T00:35:00.006-05:00

Just a minor tweak, but a necessary step toward compiling better statistics.

Now when you are looking at a listing's full view, you wil see this next to the listing agent's name:

(See Actives & UC / Solds: Lister / Buyer / Both)

As always it will show you the agent's active litings and listings under contract.

The old way showed you all the deals the agent closed (now called "Both"), regardless of whether they were the buyer agent or the listing agent. That didn't help much if you were trying to look for selling patterns.

So, now you can see the breakdown seperately. So just review the agent's sold listings, or just deals where they were the buyer agent (including dual agency deals) and "Both" will show all the listings and purchases together.

Next up, the sold columns will show you the averages for sold prices and % off original list. So in a quick snapshot you can see how the agent has done vs their initial asking prie. However, don't be silly and rely too much on this information. While it might show an agent is an Overpricer, it might show that an agent that UNDERPRICES is getting a high % of list. Don't mistake that to mean they are a "better" agent.

Frank

p.s. Agents, you really should be using this to get a quick snapshot of "who is this agent, what do they tend to sell and what is their style". See FranklyCRA.com and make sure to email me for you free branded MLS IDX.

"f" for Foreclosure

2009-12-30T10:34:00.001-05:00

If you see a funky "f" symbol next to the price for a listing in
spreadsheet mode, that is likely a foreclosure, REO, or Bank listing.

First of all, the listings are flagged with an "f" if the listing
agent checked the box for "bank owned" or "foreclosure".

However, as many of you know, sometimes bank listing agents are lazy.
So they just skip the checkboxes and put it in the remarks like this
"Hurry for this Bank Owned" listing.

So just like the short sales which get an *, we scrub the remarks
looking for the words: foreclosure or bank owned or REO. And then we
go a step further and remove the "f" if it says "not an REO".

While not 100% perfect, it is close enough and gives you a split
second guide to bank deals. That is the point of FranklyMLS, speed!

Please let me know if you find a listing that has an "f" when it
shouldn't, any any other feedback on this.

Sorry it took so long, I should have doe this last year, but I was
looking for bank deals for a client and I thought "geez this is stupid
that we don't distinguish these."

Thanks

Frank
Owner FranklyMLS
Broker FranklyRealty

Sent from my iPhone sorry for typoes.

Easier to view the # of viewings and # of saved.

2009-12-24T13:20:00.002-05:00

Now we put on the top right side of the listing how many people have viewed a listing and how many have saved it. For example:

As of this moment
http://franklymls.com/CV7136184
says: Saved by 8 Users. Viewed by 37. (22%)

Also with the %. Hopefully in the future we can use this data to see if there is a correlation between the list price and the sold price for homes that are saved by a high % of people. Won't that be fun?

Frank

Now with an @ Twitter account. @FranklyMLS

2009-12-23T01:43:00.001-05:00

Green Stars for Short Sales

2009-12-20T01:57:00.003-05:00

This feature was so cool that I upgraded it to my main blog.FranklyRealty.com, Click here to read it

And here is the video in case you are too uninterested to read the details:

Now with Altos Research Charts

2009-11-29T14:38:00.004-05:00

Ok this data and charts on the fly from Altos Research is HOT. I have just started to incorporate a chart with the zip code trends into FranklyMLS.

Here is an example http://franklymls.com/AR7194068

There are 100 variables to choose from. I chose to make the timeline "4 or 5 years" I could make it more like 6 months, but I figure people prefer the big picture and not the exact trend.

Also I added a link next to the DOM which will send you over to Altos to look at the Days on the Market trend for that zip code. Again, I could incorporate this. Maybe in a rollover?

Do you like it? What about moving the charts to the spreadsheet results page?

Frank

Sort your Favorites

2009-11-28T03:19:00.001-05:00

By popular request, you can now sort your favorites. Seems simple enough, it just never got high enough on the to do list!

Frank

Pick 1 or 4 year Sold Data

2009-10-14T00:59:00.001-04:00

So we went from 18 months to 4 years of sold data. But then people complained that that was too much data. Too much data!! Ok, ok, I hear you.

So now there is a checkbox option for sold data from the last 4 years, or sold data from just 2009.

Again, this is MLS data that shows the seller subsidy and the NET price.

You likey?

Frank

New "Clear" feature vs Logging out

2009-10-05T08:09:00.003-04:00

I now set up www.FranklyMLS.com/clear which will clear all three cookies for

1) Favorite homes

2) Saved searching

3) Agent branding

This is particularly useful for agents that wish to log into their client's account and leave notes, or favorite homes. So if you are working with 3 or 4 clients, you can make sure not to mix anything up, by going to /clear each time.

If one "Logs out" that does not remove agent branding.

Frank

Best Route (kinda) your favorites.

2009-10-01T03:12:00.004-04:00

So there is a new feature. Currently called "Route Favorites"

When you have your homes saved as Favorites, they show up on the top of the page. You then click on which homes you want to see on the map (there is a # to the right of that) and click Route Favorites. This will then show you where the homes are on the map.

Now technically it isn't a "best route" or driving directions, but the idea is you can eyeball which homes you should see first and the # will show you the address.

If people like this, I can make it better.

Anybody?
Frank

New Consolidated Login System, Any Bugs?

2009-10-01T00:02:00.003-04:00

Ok, so people were yelling and screaming about not being able to login. The old way if you were not already logged in, you would add a home and then be prompted for your email address (no passwords required).

Now you can login, and it will give you a "welcome frank@frank..." so you know you are logged in.

Also previously the Saved Homes, called "Favorites" was a separate account and login versus the Saved Search (emailing you changes you to saved criteria). Now they are consolidated into one login.

Let me know if you get snags.

Also we had to start blocking people who are too high tech for cookies. Those that scrub cookies end up breaking the site, so if you don't use cookies, we can't help you, sorry.

Frank

(anybody know how to make it so emails to Yahoo aren't trashed into spam?)

3 Featured Comments on the front page

2009-10-01T00:00:00.002-04:00

We are now featuring the most recent three comments from Realtors (or buyers) on the front page. We do this to further encourage adding to the WIKI. More exposure, and Google juice for the contributor and more of a "oh now I get it" for consumers that don't get the Wiki concept at first.

Currently it only displays home reviews that have photo albums.

Thanks!

Frank

Search for Agent's BUYING activity

2009-09-22T09:11:00.002-04:00

Now you can put in an agent's name (start with the last name) and search under SOLD to see their sold listings (previously available) AND now their sold purchases.

The Sold homes where they were the buyer agent, that is the new part!

Soon I will make it easier to see in the spreadsheet mode how the agents did, and whether they were the buyer agent or the listing agent.

Frank

iPhone Users, add a Shortcut

2009-09-09T00:20:00.003-04:00

Attn iPhone users. I'm working on making your site experience better. Maybe an APP, but who needs another app if you can just add a bookmark which is essentially the same thing (on my site).

Because the iPhone browser is so powerful, and people want ALL the data, I stopped rerouting iPhone users to the faster cell mode.

If you want an icon to the front page, then go to www.FranklyMLS.com on your iPhone and press the + button at the botton of the page and this icon: will become your shortcut.

For iPhone users that prefer the faster trimmed down version, you can go to www.franklymls.com/cell and press the + to save this image as your shortcut.

I know the graphic is ugly, but FranklYMLS isn't known for graphics right? (not one graphic on the site). My designer will get on it shortly though.

Now off to fix the screen resolution (anybody know how to do that?) for phone users.

Frank

MLS Under Contract Types. We show all 3

2009-09-08T22:58:00.007-04:00

Bottom line: Under Contract means almost SOLD. No need to email us and say "Is it still available? Can I see it?" It is not available for showings. It has a ratified contract on it with a serious buyer and closing might be days away. Favorite the home to sign up for an alert to be notified if it goes back to active.

There are three stages of Under Contract on the MRIS MLS system. At FranklyMLS.com we show all three.

In 22201 right now there are 55 homes for sale under some sort of "Under Contract".

- 4 are: Under Contract/KO (Kickout) (These are pretty rare, 10%)

- 33 are: Under Contract/NoKO (No Kickout) (These are the most common at 60%)

- 18 are just plain: "Under Contract" about 30%

Under Contract/KO (w/Kickout)
This means that the home for sale has a contract that has been signed by the buyer and seller. However there is some terms in it that make it a "KICKOUT."
For example, if there is a home sale contingency, the seller is effectively saying in the kickout: "Ok, you can keep in that annoying home sale contingency, but if we get another offer, we will give you 3 days to 'sh*t or get off the pot.' " So when the other offer comes in, the buyer has to decide if they want to take on the risk of not selling their home, or if they want to let the seller sell to somebody else.

The downside for the seller is when it hits this stage, it gets dropped from many MLS sites and agents and buyers stay clear of it. Which is a shame.

This type of contract is only for about 10% of the homes for sale. If you have a GREAT agent, they should be looking for these as well. They are prime candidates. Why? The buyer has already been beaten down on the price (which is not posted publicly) and now all you need to do is come in with better terms (read my blog on terms terms terms). Nothing is guaranteed, but you have a shot.

Under Contract No/KO (No Kickout)
This is the most common Contract type. It doesn't have a particular term in it that will allow a buyer to easily get kicked out. However there are still some contingencies such as a Home Inspection or HOA Docs or an appraisal contingency. So a home buyer can put in a back up offer on these. Many agents will not because they think it is a waste of time, but you can still do it. The best approach is to make an offer with strong terms (and maybe a tad higher, if you can find out the other offer amount) and make it clear to the seller that if the buyer so much as sneezes or asks for anything unreasonable, you will be there and close quickly and not be a pain in the neck. Then you might have a shot.
Note that you can pull a back up offer at anytime before it becomes the prime offer. Ie if you plan to offer elsewhere.

Just: "Under Contract" Regular
I added the word "regular." It is actually just listed on the MRIS system as "Contract."
Some agents are lazy and skip the first two steps and put it in like this. Why? It takes 1 more step to enter into the MRIS system when it has gone from one stage to another stage and they can get fined by the MRIS if they forget to update it.

Listing Agent tip: Never ever list it as just "Under Contract- Regular" Why? The MRIS system is whacked and it shows other potential buyer agents who the listed buyer agent is! Who cares? Why in the world would you want to tell the world WHO the buyer is, before you close? This is private information and MRIS should change their policy on displaying this (only on the back end).

Written by Frank

4 Years Sold Data and Crosslinking

2009-09-08T07:43:00.001-04:00

Due to multiple requests, we now have sold data for almost 4 years back! We were 1 year, and then 18 months.

Also we have crosslinked the sold data. So if you see an active listing that was previously sold within the last 4 years, there is now a link to show you what the house used to look like and information when it was previously sold.

Now I am working on data to make it easier to search for an agent's track record.

Frank

iPhone And Cell Mode for MLS Searching

2009-08-26T22:46:00.003-04:00

So FranklyMLS.com is probably the easiest way to view the MLS on your cell phone. Previously I was routing all cell phones to www.franklymls.com/cell. However iPhone users felt their browser could support the regular page.

So at the request of a client, I have made it so iPhone users that enter through FranklyMLS.com will see the normal front page AND (this is the latest tweak) when they click on a listing, they will see the regular computer version, and not be switched over to the cell mode.

But if you are on an iPhone, or another phone, and you enter in on www.FranklyMLS.com/cell (faster/smaller images), when you click on any listing you will see the cell mode. SOon there will be a link at the bottom of the cell mode for you to see the regular CPU version.

To those that don't use their cell phone to follow the MLS, this might seem like minor tweaks, but to hard core users, it can be very frustrating when some of the data that you come to expect isn't as easily accessible.

Frank

INMAN Innovator of the Year Winner: FranklyMLS

2009-08-09T13:34:00.004-04:00

Many of you might not know what INMAN is, but it is the leading real estate news organization outside of the official Realtor association.

Anyhow, Frank, the creator of FranklyMLS.com won the 2009 Innovator of the Year award to a crowd of 1500 people two days ago at Inman Connect in San Fran.

Kinda cool that they noticed our little ole MLS site here on the east coast. Thanks Inman. And thank you if you are one of the many that have sent in suggestions for making the site better.

Inman Article: View Annoucement

Watch video:

I will have a more detailed blog post on how everything unraveled out in San Fran and I will post it on Blog.FranklyRealty.com, so make sure to subscribe to that blog.

Post written by Frank

(Photo by Tim Suh)

(Video by Ray from VideosByAddress.com)

As demanded! SORT by column headers!

2009-08-06T14:33:00.004-04:00

You asked for it.
I gave a bunch of excuses for not doing it.
Now we have it!

Previously the only way to sort in spreadsheet mode was to click on a scroll bar and pick from a luandry list of ways to sort.

We just recently redid the backend of the site (to make it 50% faster) and in doing so, somehow the sorting option works with the new infrastructure.

We will still have the drop down sort options. We might remove the repetative stuff like Price and DOM, but we will leave the more complex srting like % of tax assessment to sales price.

Thoughts?

Frank

Now showing LAND

2009-07-23T10:19:00.003-04:00

We now are showing LAND. It will have the word: Land: before the address. I might change this to a "L" after the MLS number so it uses up less room.

To search for just LAND in a county like Arlington, search for Arlington Land. It will still pull up homes that mention land in the remarks, but it should be 90% accurate and lightening fast.

Frank

Add Private Notes

2009-06-29T10:55:00.002-04:00

So now you can add private notes on homes that you like.

In the full view (the 1 page with all the info on the house) look in the upper right hand corner. There you can add notes about that particular home. Fill in the box and press SAVE (does anybody want this to automatically add the home as a favorite?).

Then as long as you are a) logged in or b) on the same computer, it will keep your notes.

If the home is saved as a favorites, when you rollover the MLS#, it shows you the remarks, but it also will show you your private notes. That way when you have 10-30 homes saved to favorites, you can remember what you thought of each one.

Frank
Broker FranklyRealty.com

Tons of Sorting Options

2009-06-16T12:56:00.010-04:00

Many people miss the power of the sorting options in all search mode, so I thought I would go over them now in detail. Note that once you sort, when you come back to the site or do another search, that sort option will be the default for you. No need to resort it each time.

To sort, look for the "Sort by" followed by a scroll bar. This should be above the results.

Price/High- This one should be obvious. This is the default. Homes with the highest (current) "for sale" price are listed first.

Price/Low- The lowest (current) "for sale" price.

DOMm/Low- This is Days on the Market "M" M stands for MLS. SO it shows you how many days this home WITH THIS MLS# has been on the market.

DOMp/High- This is Days on the Market "P" P stands for Property. This DOMp shows you total days on the market for this property regardless of multiple agents and several MLSs (it resets after 90 days off the market). This number is more accurate if you want to know "How many days have they been trying to sell this home?" Many sites won't show you this. They think the consumer needs less info and they dumb down their site.

(more on DOMM vs DOMP)

City- Alphabetically by City.
Zip- Sorted by Zipcode
BDR/Low- Sorting by the # of total bedrooms. Lowest first.
BDR/High- Highest number of bedrooms first.

Lot/Low- Lot size (if entered in by the Realtor). Lowest first.
Lot/High- Highest listed first.

ADVANCED- These are more complex!

List$/Tax Low- This is List Price divided by Tax Assessment. The lowest ratios are shown first. This is an amazing feature that is frequently missed. While sure, I constantly say NOT to use the tax assessment to value a home accurately, you CAN use it to quickly show you the "bargains" in a zip code. Homes that are 20-50% below tax assessment mgiht be great fixer uppers or bank deals. You can even sign up for alerts to "show me homes that are 50% below the tax assessment". This is a must have for investors. Here is Jeff's video how to:

List$/LastSold- This will in one click show you homes that have dropped the most since their previous purchase price. It is the current List Price divided by the Last Sold price.

Built/Low- Year built.
Built/High

SQFT/Low Total interior square feet. Sometimes this includes the basement, sometimes it does not. Also note that MANY agents leave this off, so this is not a great way to sort.
SQFT/High- Larger units shown first.

Subdivision/Asc- Alphabetical order for the subdivision. A-Z
Subdivision/Desc- Same as above but Z-A

# Views/High- This is cool. This tracks the number of people that have looked at the property. So you can sort to see the most popular listings first.

Last$Change- This sorts by the last DATE of change in the price. So the homes at the top have most frequently dropped their price. This can be better than sorting by DOMm to see newly listed homes. The recently dropped homes shouldn't be missed!

OpenHouse- Pulls up all the Official Open Houses first and then the Unofficial "maybe" Open Houses based ont eh remark's keywords. For example if it says "Open Sunday" in the remarks and the home has been on for 60 days, there is a good chance the agent was too laxy to update their listing. We use the wavy symbiol to show maybe: ~.

Walk Score High- A new feature! Allows you to quickly see which homes have a higher walkability score from WalkScore.com

CloseDate High- This works great in the SOLD mode. It lets you sort by the date the home last sold. Good for recent sales, but also for homes that sold in the 1990s (when hairdoos were cool!).

ListDate High- Shows the most recent listed homes first. This works well for people watching Short Sales that are under contract since the DOMm get frozen.

Am I missing anything? Any benefit of one of these?

And don't forget you can export to Excel and sort using that as well.

Written by the Owner of FranklyMLS.com: Frank LL0SA

Now with 15 months sold data

2009-06-09T14:44:00.001-04:00

Before we had only 3 months of sold data. Now we have 15 because you all requested it and loved it so much.

Frank

MLS Blocking Comments & Zillow. Also Wiki Reviews moved up

2009-06-09T11:32:00.000-04:00

So NAR just launched some new rules that allow the seller to block public comments about the home and block Automatic Valuation Model like Zillow.

Being that FranklyMLS.com is the First Wiki MLS with public comments and photos, one might think this would put a damper on things. Nope. For the 5% of homes that block this data, we will be letting consumers know that "Home seller has blocked this data".

If they blocked the Zillow AVM data, then we can not show the Zillow price. So instead we will link to it. Heck, the consumer is just going to jump over to Zillow anyhow to get it (if they want it, even though the AVM is more of a toy and not to be used as anything close to an appraisal).

If the seller blocks comments... then if a buyer agent (or consumer) adds comments to a listing that does not allow public comments, that contributor's name and link to their website will show up, but the comments will be blocked (in red). The consumer will then have to contact the cotributor (usually buyer agents) directly for information that they have.

Therefore the information is NOT public on the site.

What next?

Ban a buyer agent representing a buyer's best interest from telling a buyer over the phone what they thought about a place? Gimme a break.

Blocking this stuff just makes the homeowner look bad.

In an unrelated related note, in spreadsheet mode the wiki comments have been added in blue to the rollover. Now you can more easily see what others have said about the home.

Frank

Embedded Walkscore and sort in spreadsheet!

2009-05-23T10:26:00.000-04:00

Now the full listings have the Walkscore instead of linking to a page that will slowly calculate the walkscore.

Also the Walk Score is displayed on the front page spreadsheet mode (all the good stuff is only on spreadsheet mode). And you can even sort by Walk Score!

Anybody wanna make a Youtube video thanking Walk Score for all the cool work they are doing? I know they would appreciate it.

Posted by Frank

SOLD DATA LIVE!

2009-05-21T10:41:00.000-04:00

First we gave you email alerts with the sold data for homes in your saved search and favorites.

Now you can search for the MLS sold data.

So the same day the Realtor closes the listing as SOLD, we have it. This includes seller subsidy, something the tax records will never have and can be as high as $50,000.

Other sites might show old Tax data, but we have the MLS data which is more accurate and faster.

Update: now with 15 months.

Enjoy

Frank

Numbers in the Pins for the Map

2009-05-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

New little feature. For those that get their results on a map, we added numbers in the pins. Those pins will correspond to the first column in the spreadsheet mode.

So home #1 on the spreadsheet will have a pin with a 1 in the middle.

Soon you will be able to mouseover the pin and it will highlight the row for the home on the spreadsheet.

Frank

New sorts, Like Open Houses & Last Price Change

2009-05-17T01:54:00.000-04:00

You can now sort and see all the Open Houses in your search criteria. The shortcut symbols are:
^ stands for a scheduled Open House
~ stands for "maybe" an Open House based on the keywords.

We show TWICE the number of Open Houses compared to other sites. How? We show not only the Open Houses based on great Realtors that check an "Open House" box when entering in the MLS data, but also the lazy Realtors that just put the info in the remarks.

Other things you can now sort by: Subdivision. Year built.

And here is one you have requested: Last Change in Price. Similar to sorting by Days on the Market, but it shows you Days on the Market at the current price.

I know some of you want to be able to click on the column headers to immediately sort that way. We might do that, but it isn't as easy as it seems (with the system that we have).

Frank

"Check it out" Email a Friend, or YOU. 1 Click

2009-04-06T12:14:00.000-04:00

New "Check it Out" feature.

Now you can email a friend, yourself, or your agent an MLS listing in one click. Also this is done without passwords or logging in.

Look halfway down the page (should I move it up?) for the three boxes and a submit button.

1) Enter the "from" address and a
2) Enter the "to" address and
3) Answer the spam math question

You only have to do the above once. Then the site will cookie (remember) what you put in, and going forward you will only need to press the submit button.

Thoughts?

Frank

Now with Mapping

2009-03-26T12:40:00.000-04:00

We got mapping on there now.

Still very raw in beta, but figured we could fix it up along the way.

http://tinyurl.com/franklymlsMap

SOLD ALERTS!!

2009-03-14T19:30:00.000-04:00

Finally!
We have Sold alerts. If you have saved a favorite home and it goes under contract... we will email you the day that it is recorded as closed on the MLS. We will even show you the seller subsidy price.

Also if you save a search such as : Arlington Bank, it will email you all homes that sell in that search criteria.

Frank

Wiki Contributors: 100 points & Branding Steps

2009-03-09T13:34:00.003-04:00

This is for the buyer agents out there (from any company) that are FranklyMLS.com Wiki Contributors (adding photos and comments to listings).

You get 100 bonus points when you link from your blog or website back to YOUR reviewed homes on FranklyMLS.com .

Usually agents will put "My Reviewed Homes on FranklyMLS.com" (but not in red)

How to get the right link to get the 100 points (and for buyers to see each home you have visited):
1) Go to the front page of FranklyMLS.com and click on the number by your name (not in the top 10, click on "All Contributors").
2) Copy that URL. It should look like this:
http://franklymls.com/default.aspx?m=R&h=ALL&s=100014&a=USERNAME
3) Paste it in your website around the words "My Reviewed Homes on FranklyMLS.com"
4) Email me for your 100 points.

(Optional note, add the &a=USERNAME to insure that your cookie is added to every visitor, so your ad follows them)

Don't forget to put your IDX in your email signatures:

Search the MLS: www.franklymls.com/Username

Other tips:
When you review a neighborhood in a blog, consider linking to all active homes in that area. (Matrix links don't last forever, FranklyMLS.com links do). Make that link have your branded IDX. Like this:
Link name: See all Actives in "Old Dominion Gardens" for sale
Link URL: http://franklymls.com/default.aspx?m=R&h=ALL&s=%22OLD+DOMINION+GARDENS%22&a=JohnDoe

Also add shortcut Favorite links like I have done on blog.FranklyRealty.com (I did it without my branded IDX, but you should add your &a=JohnDoe to the URL)

- Arlington Condos to $700k
- Alexandria Foreclosure to $500k
- McLean "Motivated Seller" All $
- Falls Church (Sort:List$/LastSold)

Did I miss anything?

Frank

Easier Links to Google

2009-03-04T13:07:00.000-05:00

Many homebuyers like to Google the MLS # and Google the street name to see if there is more information on a home. Now we make it easier with a "g" hotlink next to the address and MLS#.

What do you all think? Anybody using this? I got the idea from a user.

Frank

Sort by Total Views

2009-03-02T15:11:00.000-05:00

Now the spreadsheet mode will show the # of views each home has. And you can sort by the # of views to see which homes have been seen by the most viewers.

What do you think about this? Should I keep it? Drop it? Replace it with # of saved listings?

Frank

Fairfax now has a Direct Link to Tax Data

2009-03-02T15:10:00.000-05:00

Now all the Fairfax listings will link directly to the government's tax data. That way you can get the 2009 tax assessments and owner information in 1 click.

Soon the other counties will follow.

Nobody offers this. ;-) Yet another FranklyMLS.com first.

Frank

Hide a Listing, Click the X

2009-03-01T22:26:00.000-05:00

Now you can click on the "x" when using the spreadsheet mode. This will hide that listing forever. No more needing to see that annoying anomaly that keeps coming up in your searches.

I got this idea from Match.com when I was on a few years ago. It was great to click the X and never see certain people every again.

Also you can UNHIDE the listings by clicking on the Unhide Listing button (it only appears after you hide one listing). For now it will bring back ALL the hidden listings. If enough people use this, we can let you un-hide them one by one.

Frank

Now with FSBO Data!

2009-02-22T17:26:00.000-05:00

FranklyMLS.com now publishes FSBO data from ForSaleByOwner.com .

The data is integrated into the regular results.

If you want to see JUST see FSBO results, then try a keyword search for: FSBO Arlington.

What do you think?

Frank

Just added WalkScore

2009-02-01T12:43:00.000-05:00

Just added WalkScore to each listing.

I hope to integrate this data more including letting you search for homes that are above a certain score that you are looking for.

Thoughts?

Frank

Email Listing Agents

2009-01-30T00:54:00.000-05:00

So now you can email the listing agent directly from the listing.

DO NOT EMAIL THE LISTING AGENT AN INFORMAL OFFER!

This is in beta mode and will be removed if people abuse it. (which I am close to doing).

I strongly recommend AGAINST EVER contacting the listing agent, (Yes I know it is counterintuitive, read this).

But I offer it anyhow. Why? Because I want to make the site as open as possible. If a buyer wants to shoot himself in the foot... I wannna be the one giving them the crossbow.

Since I respect email addresses, Unlike MRIS which helps promote spam, all emails are hidden from not only the html, but also the actual email that is sent will hide the agent's email in the BCC (otherwise spam cultivators can click 100 pages and grab all the "to" emails).

I do get a BCC of the emails to make sure you all don't abuse it.

Here are some recent dumb questions.

1) "Would it be possible to schedule a viewing of the home?"

This was asked to a listing agent for an REO that just hit today. Yeah right, they don't reply to buyer agents, so why they gonna reply to you. And no, they don't even care enough to put more than 1 photo, they aren't going to email you back.

2) "can you send more info about this property like floor plans, options, closing cost assistance"

Um, no. They won't. If they had that info and they cared, they would have put it in the listing. Do not expect a reply.

3) "What is the status of the home? Is it under contract or still available."

What part of the remarks did not make sense that said "Bank has already accepted offer".

4) "I think we'd like to take a look at this property. Could you email me a plat, and any other photos, particularly of the barn, run-in, and fence? Any interior photos would be great, too. I'll check your website to see if any are there. We are seeing a place on Saturday already... maybe Sunday, or coming week?"

You maybe had them until you said "We are seeing a place on Saturday already". That usually means "I have a buyers agent". To which the listing agent will reply "why you bugging me, get your agent to show you."

5) "I would be interested in seeing this property. Please reply to my email address."

That is the buyer agents job. This will tick off the listing agent.

6) "My fiance and I were interested in taking a look at this house this weekend. We are relocating to the DC area this spring. Would we be able to look at it on Sunday morning?"

This is a bank property. You will not get a reply. Also it says "BANK HAS VERBALLY APPROVED ON LISTING PRICE," Was that not clear? Come on people. I really need to remove this feature.

7) "I am interested in this home.We need to sell the home we have now first. "

Translation: "I am a sucker." And yes, that was the entire email.

8) "Just wanted to let you know that the list price for LO6969184 most assuredly was inadvertantly entered with an extra zero. You may want to update MLS with the correct information. It is currently listed at $4,499,000."

Finally! A decent email to a listing agent.

9) "I'm interested in a rent-to-own situation. What terms is the seller considering? "

Rent to Own is for suckers, any good buyer agent would tell you that. They do not exist. It should be called... why don't you just rent and buy next year?

10) "Hello! Is this listing still available? You can either email me at the above address or call 410.5555550. Thanks so much!"

What part of "Under Contract" was not clear?

11) "We are working with a realtor- Is this home completed? Are there photos of the completed home?"

ASK YOUR REALTOR, NOT THE LISTING AGENT!

12) "Do you think that in the near future you will submit more than the six pictures. It is impossible to get an idea of what this lovely home has to offer with so few photos on a 21000 sq ft home. Can we get more soon..Please!!! I have an agent but I saw this online. "

NO! If the agent is so lazy as to only take 6 photos, AND you have your own agent... can you say DELETE.

13) "Interested in viewing X AAAAAA Ct in XXX. Will be in Area Saturday Jan 31st. Can I set up an appt? "

This is REO, you will not get a reply.

14) "I am very interested in this house based on it's description and curb appeal. Is there any way you could email me pictures of the inside of the house, so I can decide if I'd like to take a closer look? "

Yeah right. 80 days on the market. They have only 1 photo... yet that sucky agent is going to somehow take photos for you? Yeah right.

15) "Hi i am a first time buyer. i was wondering if you have already sold this house an if not what i can do to see about purchasing "

Ouch. Can you can the wolf and little red riding hood?

16) "What is the absolute minimum the sellers would consider? "

NO NEGOTIATIONS ARE ALLOWED through this!

17) "iss it possible to get pics aand more info. on this prop......condition,.... "

no

18) "Hello i stay 5 min away and i am looking for a new house please call me i would love to see this house thank you for your time. "

Home was under contract.

19) "I came across this listing and wanted to ensure that it was in fact off the market. If not, I would appreciate a call / email back as I would like to get more details. I am in the market and would be willing to move quickly should it be available and meet my requirements. "

Again, a question for a buyer agent.

So there you have it. These were not cherry picked, just everyday questions.

So should I turn off this feature? Or make it harder to click?

Frank

Faster Cell Mode

2009-01-30T00:25:00.000-05:00

While people loved searching from www.franklymls.com/cell (it gets routed there automatically if you go to franklymls.com on your cell phone) it was still a little bloated when they got to the full listing page.

So now... each listing has been slimmed down to the bare essentials. Faster loading for cell users.

Let me know if you want me to reorder things.

Frank

Now with Minimum Pricing.

2009-01-22T14:55:00.000-05:00

So I was stubborn for a year. Not allowing people to search with a minimum price. WHy? The idea was the site was so fast that you just stopped looking once you found what you liked. I had one buyer that bought $70k UNDER his minimum price. A random bank property (mispriced) hit and that was that.

But without minimums, the sorting can get messy. (ie if there are 100 homes and you sort by year built, you might get junk up top).

So now we have old fashioned Min and Max. It will cookie what you select, so you won't have to do it each time

So let me know what you think.

Frank

Request More Photos. (Per Listing & Bonus Points)

2009-01-19T04:18:00.000-05:00

So the Wiki MLS has added over 50,000 photos to our local MLS from buyer agents (an alternative perspective). Up until now the photos were taken by buyer agents that were already out with their clients. The idea being, "Why not share the photos with the world after the buyer decides they are not interested?" and pick up some points along the way.

Well now, a buyers on the site can specifically request photos of a particular listing.

If it works out, I might create a page that lists all the requests and the contributors can try and fulfill them. Maybe even for an extra 10 points or something.

This idea was in part from Simon Hahn, our newest rising star contributor.

Frank

Live Chat

2009-01-19T04:16:00.000-05:00

Just added a new feature. LIVE CHAT (in VA DC MD)

I had the top WIKI contributors sent me code that would work with their current GTALK or AOLIM chat programs. Now a user will see a "LIVE CHAT" link at the top of each listing page and be able to ask 1 of 10-15 agents questions about the listing they are looking at.

Let's see if anybody uses it!

Update 1-28-09: This has been a smashing hit. 20 Realtors have signed up.

Frank

More on How to use live chat and instant messenger

Tag A Hood! Now Added to the Wiki MLS.

2009-01-16T02:05:00.001-05:00

Just launched minutes ago. Tag A Hood (tm)

Now Realtors that have written great "hyper-local" blog posts can attach those to listings.

Using our "Tag A Hood" system, you can add your specific blog post to any listing, and it will automatically attach itself to other listings in that subdivision (ie building or neighborhood).

The points are the same as the Wiki Photo albums. 1 point for a comment, and 4 points (was 10) to link to a full blog post (with photos etc).

I recommend either making a short summary of your post, or just teasing the reader with the first paragraph and encouraging them to click the link.

This will be unmatched SEO link juice for your blog post. So not only will you get traffic from FranklyMLS.com visitors, your Google ranking will rise. Try it, and give me feedback.

Frank

Creator FranklyMLS.com

Frankly MLS

Photo by Peter

Frankly MLS New Blog, New Features

2009-01-13T00:28:00.000-05:00

So this forum will be a more frequent update on new features for FranklyMLS.com and a request for feedback.

Feel free to leave questions and suggestions at anytime on any blog post.

Frank Borges LL0SA
Owner FranklyMLS.com
FranklyRealty.com Broker