Features List

Over the past years we have added many new features to OpenHomez.com. Rather than have you scan through this entire blog we thought we would create a consolidated features list. Each feature is linked back to the blog entry that describes the feature in detail. Another good source of summary information is our FAQ page

Current features of OpenHomez.com include:

Free syndication of your open house listings
Broad Internet Syndication
Send us your open house data for syndication
Email and SMS notifications
RSS feed of YOUR open houses
Download To A Calendar
Download To A GPS
Download GPS/Map Data
iGoogle Gadget with up to 5 zip codes
Google Base Syndication
Google Earth
OpenHomez on Twitter
Notify.me Of Search Updates
OpenHomez on Tumblr
Tweet to your personal Twitter account

All of this for FREE. Our service is completely ad and donation supported.

Searching for open houses does not require a login or sign up. Neither does the use of the RSS, download, and gadget features above. We only ask for ID and email address if the email or SMS notification options are chosen. All links come back to listing agent's site. We do not sell or distribute any information collected on our site. We do not SPAM.

Come back to this page often as new features will be posted here.

Syndications and Exposure

One of the main goals of OpenHomez.com is to provide you a single site to post your open house information and then automatically have that information propagated throughout the Internet, saving you from the tedious task of visiting each of the various classified ad and real estate sites. We will constantly be adding new ways to expose your open house information to as many search engines and eyeballs as we can. Below is a current list of our progress towards this goal.

Current Syndications And Exposure:
OpenHomez.com Notifications and Alert System
OpenHomez.com Open House Blog
OpenHomez.com Open House RSS Feed
OpenHomez.com Google Group - Allowing user comment and feedback
OpenHomez.com Google Calendar
OpenHomez.com iGoogle Gadget

Google Base
Google Buzz
Looksmart.com(Edgeio.com) and its properties
Oodle.com and its properties

Classifieds.MySpace.com (via Oodle.com)
Vast.com and its properties
RealtyFeedSearch and its properties
Eventful.com and its properties
VillagesList.com
Posterous
Twitter
Tumblr
Yakaz.com
Technorati
FriendFeed
Dwellicious.com

Things we are working on:
Automatic feed to Zillow.com
Automatic feed to Trulia.com
Automatic feed to Syndic8.com

Send Us Your Data

Effective immediately OpenHomez.com is accepting your XML data feeds. If you have a large number of open houses that you would like to post on OpenHomez.com this option will save you some time. You can upload all of your data at once. No need to enter individual listings online. Of course all of your listings, regardless of how they were entered, are available to you online.

If you're interested in bulk upload of your data please review our XML Data Feed Instructions. If you have any questions, suggestions, or an open house existing feed available, please don't hesitate to email us.

Frequently Asked Questions - FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (and answers) - Below is a list of our most frequently asked questions and answers. If you don't find the information you need here please free to send us an email with your questions and suggestions.

Why should I post my open houses on OpenHomez.com? - One of the main reasons to post your open house information on the Internet is for exposure. The more eyeballs that see your posting the better turn out you will have at your open house. The problem is that visiting all of the various classified ad sites and search engines takes a lot of your time. A primary goal of OpenHomez.com is to provide you a single site to post your open house information and then we propagate that information for you. Post your information once on OpenHomez.com and we'll make sure it is spread throughout the Internet. Look for our Syndications and Exposure post in this blog for additional information.

Will this always be free? - The basic services of OpenHomez.com will always be free. The current service is supported by ad revenue and your donations. In the future we may offer premium services for a fee.

How long will my listing stay active? - An individual listing will remain accessible to you for 30 days after the event date in the listing. Any listing with an event date older than 30 days will be removed from our data base. You may renew any listing still available by simply changing the event date in the listing.

How long will others be able to see my listing? - Any listing that has an event date greater than or equal to the current date will be visible to others. Other listings will only be visible to the poster/owner.

Are pictures allowed in my listing? - Picture files for company logo, individual poster, and the listed property are allowed by not required. All pictures are referred to by URL. We do not currently allow pictures to be uploaded to our site. Pictures should be formatted for optimal display. Company logo and individual pictures will be displayed at 120 pixels wide. Property pictures will be displayed at 300 pixels wide. We recommend you use Picasa, Google's free picture editing software to prepare your photographs.

What is meant by SMS Email? - OpenHomez.com will email an alert to the SMS email address that you provide. Most mobile carriers provide a standard email address for submission of SMS messages via email to their subscribers. Here is a good list to start with. If you can't find your carrier on this list please contact your mobile carrier for instructions on how to email an SMS message to your phone. We suggest you test your SMS email address by emailing yourself an SMS message. Once you have it working you can copy that email address into your OpenHomez.com account.

Can I Provide A Bulk Data Feed? - Openhomez.com accepts bulk data feeds of open house data in XML format. Please review our XML Data Feed Instructions for further information.