(New York, NY) — In an attempt to bring its website to the next level, UrbanDigs is taking advantage of a new listing feed from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY).
Since its foundation in 2010, UrbanDigs has been providing real-time market data, property pricing, and client collaboration tools to its real estate subscribers. New York City listings have been featured on its website for about a year, but require registration in order to view them. However, with the new feed from REBNY’s Residential Listing Service (RLS), that has all changed. According to Urban Digs founder and CEO, Noah Rosenblatt, the registration hurdle is out the door.
RENBY and RLS
REBNY, not Realtor-affiliated, represents more than 17,000 real estate professionals in NYC, and RLS has near 6,500 for-sale listings in Manhattan at the moment, according to Rosenblatt.
Since its launch in August, Realtor.com, Homes.com, the New York Times, The Real Deal and other sites have also joined the RLS network.
How the RLS integration will work
Currently UrbanDigs is using a listing a listing feed from vendor, RealPlus, and will continue to use it for agent toolset and backend analytics platforms. Once the site switches over to the RLS direct feed, consumers will then only have access to the listings via RealPlus if they connect to an agent subscriber.
UrbanDigs is the latest site to jump on the RLS syndication network and already Brown harris Stevens, Compass, Stribling & Associates, Douglas Elliman, Town Residential, Highline Residential, Redfin, Warburg Realty, Simone Song Properties, City Connections Realty and others have opted in to submit their RLS listings to UrbanDigs, Rosenblatt said.
The UrbanDigs edge
Upon integration of the RLS feed, UrbanDigs plans to market itself as a product for consumers in addition to agents, but it is not looking to challenge StreetEasy.
Rosenblatt says UrbanDigs provides a different type of experience.
“What makes us different is that we’ve combined market analytics and data with tools that allow the agent and the consumer or the consumer and their friends or family to collaborate, co-search, discuss and analyze. At the end of the day it simplifies the real estate experience,“ he said.
Negotiations between UrbanDigs and Brooklyn MLS to display the latter’s listings on its site are in the works, according to Rosenblatt. In addition, listings from the New York State MLS, Long Island MLS, and the Bronx-Manhattan MLS are expected to be added by the end of this year.
