The other day I went to visit our local Chamber of Commerce and was overwhelmed by the amount of brochures and flyers of the different things to do in my community! After I settled in at home, I began browsing through the various brochures and noticed one in particular, New Hampshire Wine & Cheese Trails.  All you have to do is mention the word cheese to me (okay wine, too) and I am all over it!  While flipping through the pages I noticed a farm located less than a mile from my house.  I had remembered driving by this farm before, but I just thought it was a local cow farmer and never really thought twice about it. Brookford Farm is located in the small Town of Rollinsford, NH. It’s nestled on Sligo Rd, a small back road in the heart of farm country. Rollinsford, if you have never been there, is a hidden gem. Not many have heard of it and hopefully this blog won’t let my secret out to too many individuals. Perhaps I’m a little bias, but I am actually surprised that it hasn’t been featured on WMUR’s NH Chronicle; it’s such a beautiful town. Upon arrival at Brookford Farm the first thing you might notice when you get out of your car is the smell of cow manure but if you can get past that you will find a little slice of heaven! You will notice a small painted sign above a door that says “Store”. You won’t find anyone in the store because it’s a self-service facility. There’s a paper form with pricing information and a cash box to make your own change. Good luck finding a store that trusting anymore! The store boasts a variety of organic products including whole raw milk, reduced fat raw milk, raw cream, yogurt, quark, as well as a variety of meat, eggs and vegetables. It would be a great place to bring the kids to. I noticed the farmer’s children running around in shorts and muck boots, playing on the tractors and in the fields. If you are skeptical about drinking raw milk, don’t be. All the cows are up to date on their vaccinations (by law) so you won’t get tetanus, like you could in the old days and nothing tastes better than fresh raw milk. Quark, if you have never heard of it, is one of the most delightful, spreadable cheese your taste buds have ever encountered. When I got to the store they were all out of milk, but the farmer was kind enough to get me a fresh cold glass (returnable) bottle right from the milking machine. I promptly walked over and petted the cow that I believed was the kind yielder of my daily vitamin D

What is IDX?

IDX (Internet Data Exchange) is a real estate property search that allows you to search for listings within your MLS (multiple listing service) area. Each state has their own rules and regulations, features and prices and IDX providers must abide by them.

Some of the larger real estate companies have developed their own searches, such as Keller Williams. These searches are only available to agents within their organization, and agents are usually charged a monthly fee to use these searches on their personal websites. Smaller companies do not have the luxury of these searches and must either use the one provided by their MLS (if available), hire a developer to build one for them using the raw data from MLS, or hire an IDX provider.

Why do I need IDX?

You’re saying, “Why would I need an IDX search on my website, if people are just going to go to Trulia, Realtor.com, etc? If you even think you can get someone to look at your website (hopefully you have SEO – whole different blog), you’ve got your lead! The property search is the SINGLE most important thing on any real estate site.  If I’m doodling around on your website and I’m pleased with the way it looks and navigates, I’m most likely going to use your search at least once! If I find a house that I like, BAM! If it bleeds, it’s a lead! A good website coupled with a good IDX search and great SEO will pay for itself in no time, if you use it properly. The key to making it worth your while is to FOLLOW-UP on your leads! Your leads are only as good as the person that is responding to them.

How do I pick an IDX provider?

Your local MLS

Not all MLS’s offer this option and usually the ones that do offer very generic searches that are not, in my opinion, user friendly and are not customizable.

Hire a developer

First of all, you better have some deep pockets before you start the hunt for a good developer. Next you need to find a good developer. Need I say anymore?

Hire an IDX provider

An IDX provider already has the front-end (basic look and feel) of the search built. The IDX provider contacts your MLS and downloads the data into the pre-built feed. Data fields from State to State will vary, your search may need to be branded, and other technical changes may need to be adjusted. This is what you pay for in your initial “setup fee”. Monthly fees also apply. These will vary depending on how much your MLS charges IDX providers for the data. This fee will vary from State to State.

Look for an easy to navigate search, reasonable pricing (monthly/yearly), flexibility to make  your own customizable searches, the option to have your IDX framed or linked to your website, and it’s probably not a bad idea to find a company that’s local or has people that actually KNOW the areas they are dealing with.  The best way, in my opinion, to find a good IDX provider, is to search all the local real estate websites in your area.  Act just like you would if you were looking for a home.  There’s a lot of IDX companies out there.  It’s your money, so choose wisely.