Home Junction Provides MLS API For dashCMA – A Revolutionary New Approach To CMA Home Pricing Presentations

An effective MLS API can have a very real effect on companies that strive to make it easier for real estate agents to establish accurate prices for client properties.

For that reason, Home Junction is excited to announce that it has teamed up with dashCMA – a company that provides an innovative new approach to home pricing tools to help agents and their clients determine listing prices.

DashCMA is the brainchild of Karen Abram.  She previously worked as an agent for Keller Williams Realty but soon became very frustrated with the 60-plus pages of data presented in current CMA documents.

The major catalyst for this new product was that Karen had a unique background earlier in her career.

She started as a “data storyteller”  for the Los Angeles Daily News sports department. This was an important role, because as you know, statistics are a part of every sports story.

Karen then honed her skills in data interpretation working for major advertising companies where she created analytical models for numerous Fortune 500 companies.

As a real estate agent, when she experienced the way CMAs were compiled, she realized it was the perfect opportunity to apply her talent.

“I wanted to be able to focus on one page that encompassed the multiple perspectives needed for effective pricing,” she said.”Understanding these pain points firsthand combined with my five plus years experience building pricing models for Fortune 500 clients was the right balance and motivation to get started.”

So she did. Working with software developers, Karen was able to condense home pricing data into a one-page, visually-pleasing dashboard.

dashCMA condenses CMA into one-page dashboard

With dashCMA, an agent can walk homeowners through the numerous factors that go into determining the most realistic price for their home.

Here are some of the datasets included on the dashboard:

·         Closed, Active and Pending Comparables

·         Property types such as Number of Bedrooms, Year Built, Living Area and Lot Size.

·         A helpful mapping tool that can be set to extract comparables from a designated radius.

·         Market status that gives an indication if current conditions show this is more likely a Buyer’s Market or Sellers Market, how many similar properties are for sale, the rate of sales, Fresh versus Stale Properties, direction of pricing and average Shelf Life of properties.

·         There is also a “Flag” section where data can be adjusted if it is not relevant to the homeowner’s situation.

·         Overall perspective of price ranges – this table presents a number of different scenarios, including home value estimates from Zillow, that give homeowners an overview on the range of prices out there that may be relevant to their property.

And, more importantly, she made the format interactive and flexible, so the agent can adjust the information to better align with the exact characteristics of any home in the discussion.

To get feedback on her new pricing model, Karen conducted several focus groups both with agents and homeowners. They all liked the way she refined the CMA data into a format that was easy to understand and customize.

“This single view allows the agent to have a focused pricing conversation with their client and to effectively demonstrate that they considered the bigger, more thorough, pricing picture,” Karen said.

As everybody in the real estate business knows, pricing a home correctly is a challenge. Sellers might have unrealistic expectations about the value of their home. Or some agents might offer to sell a home for much more than it is really worth, which leaves the listing sitting on the market for long periods of time and frustrates the seller.

DashCMA took a complicated process, and made it much easier to comprehend.

MLS API provided by Home Junction

When it came to extracting data from the Multiple Listing Services, she chose to work with Home Junction and our super-effective MLS API.

“We are very pleased to be working with dashCMA and glad they chose us to connect with the various MLS services out there,” said Ed Kim, Senior Vice President. “Extracting data from an MLS can be a complicated process because each one has its own technical requirements and regulations on the use of their data.”

Karen said she found Home Junction very helpful in helping guiding her through the “nuances” of each MLS.

Brokers and agents should give dashCMA a test drive. Right now it is available in the greater Los Angeles area. Soon it will be available in Las Vegas and there are plans to roll out the product nationwide.

Right now, the company is offering a free 7-day trial.

In addition, the cost is only $15 per month. Very reasonable when if you think about all the effort and time that goes into helping clients establish a price for their property.

“DashCMA equips the agent with a modern pricing perspective that their competition isn’t showing,” Karen pointed out. “That can help them win more listings, win more accepted offers but more importantly, win their client’s trust.”

Home Junction is pleased to be involved in any project that makes it easier for brokers and agents. Our mission is to provide the technology that can help real estate professionals become more effective at their jobs.

DashCMA is certainly one of those tools.

The company has taken a very complicated (and oftentimes emotional) challenge, and with the use of a Home Junction MLS API, made it much simpler.