Har.com

[jm1fd]

I don't think it represents anything except what they've said it is: a site attack from a virus that IT is trying to fix.

There's more to it than just a virus. Viruses don't cause 4 day outages within IT organizations that have a clue. Any decent IT organization would have been back up and running again in no more than 6 hours....24 hours at the most.

[mpbro]

There's more to it than just a virus. Viruses don't cause 4 day outages within IT organizations that have a clue. Any decent IT organization would have been back up and running again in no more than 6 hours....24 hours at the most.

I agree. I don't actually know any of their administrators, but as you pointed out before, a data-entry error allowed you to see the SELECT that pulls data out of their database, and thus to see the structure of the database. It is very hard to find reliable IT talent in Houston. The oil business has drawn many away, at large salaries.

But to be fair, they (HAR) give more access to the MLS than almost any other local Realtor associations. Showing contract status is very helpful for us non-agents. The database is not large, but they service a large number of users simultaneously, and speed is rarely an issue.

[houstonmacbro]

I agree, this is hardly a virus issue.

[SamHouston]

There's more to it than just a virus. Viruses don't cause 4 day outages within IT organizations that have a clue. Any decent IT organization would have been back up and running again in no more than 6 hours....24 hours at the most.

Exactly my point. If REALTORS wasn't the most protective, monopolistic system this side of Major League Baseball, then maybe they would have an IT staff that can do more than just post apologies. If REALTORS had any competition, fees would be lower and HAR.com would have been fixed days ago. Can't argue with capitialism.

[mpbro]

Exactly my point. If REALTORS wasn't the most protective, monopolistic system this side of Major League Baseball, then maybe they would have an IT staff that can do more than just post apologies. If REALTORS had any competition, fees would be lower and HAR.com would have been fixed days ago. Can't argue with capitialism.

The biggest problem in TX is the lack of a sales disclosure law. A non-Realtor property valuation site is much more interesting if you have access to recent sales. Once we get disclosure, you'll see lots of interesting competition to HAR.com. In the San Francisco Bay Area, you have a million sites that show listings, etc. The local realtor assn hasn't even bothered to build anything as good as Har.com.

[houstonmacbro]

The biggest problem in TX is the lack of a sales disclosure law. A non-Realtor property valuation site is much more interesting if you have access to recent sales. Once we get disclosure, you'll see lots of interesting competition to HAR.com. In the San Francisco Bay Area, you have a million sites that show listings, etc. The local realtor assn hasn't even bothered to build anything as good as Har.com.

When I lived in DC they used to print home sales (and to and from I believe) in the newspaper each week (I think it was a Sunday or Monday). Info included final sales prices.

That was cool!

[mumbles]

HAR realtors can very quickly print you out a sheet of recently sold homes and prices. Exact prices, not the worthless price range they have on their web site. Why do they want to hide this info from us?

[Parrothead]

I'm not defending HAR.com or its IT department, but until you have all the facts, I don't really see what the point is in blaming any one thing.

No one is hiding any information. Go to the Harris County Appraisal District if you want actual sale prices on specific houses. That's what you do if you don't have an agent, or a friend who is an agent.

I pay a lot of money to be a Realtor. If you want to know what I know, you can either hire me or find it your own way.

[jm1fd]

No one is hiding any information.

PERFECT! Go ahead and set me up on the sales price data feed, then, would ya? You can just eMail me a zipped CSV file containing all the sales data prior to when you sign me up on the data feed. Alternatively, just send me the URL where I can look up the data on the HAR site. Thanks!

Edited May 7, 2007 by jm1fd

[mumbles]

You are also paid a lot of money when you sell a house, yet I see very few realtors that are up front with information. When you go to an open house or are shown a house by the listing agent all this info should be handed to you without asking. Copies of CMA's and disclosures should be available at the property. I expect buyers that don't know to ask, seldom see the CMA's

Realtors dont seem to know how old the A/C units are, what material water pipes are made of, how old the roof is or any other really useful info on the history of the house. When I sell my house all this info will be on the property where any buyer can pick it up the first time they view the house.

This is the information age, it's time for things to change. Realtors aren't needed to find the property anymore, they need to be more than someone that comes to let you in the door.

I'm not defending HAR.com or its IT department, but until you have all the facts, I don't really see what the point is in blaming any one thing.

No one is hiding any information. Go to the Harris County Appraisal District if you want actual sale prices on specific houses. That's what you do if you don't have an agent, or a friend who is an agent.

I pay a lot of money to be a Realtor. If you want to know what I know, you can either hire me or find it your own way.

[mpbro]

No one is hiding any information. Go to the Harris County Appraisal District if you want actual sale prices on specific houses. That's what you do if you don't have an agent, or a friend who is an agent.

HAR seems to release sales data to HCAD once a year, in a flaky and unreliable way. Year-old comps are pretty stale in such a dynamic market. But, this is certainly better than nothing, since by law they have to release nothing. We need a TX disclosure law!

This is the information age, it's time for things to change. Realtors aren't needed to find the property anymore, they need to be more than someone that comes to let you in the door.

Anecdotally, I'd say that the best agents really don't mind putting information in the hands of clients. It saves them work. Even sales data. Your average client has neither the aptitude nor the inclination to actually use comps to make an informed property valuation.

Edited May 7, 2007 by mpbro

[KatieDidIt]

Its back up at 80%. It looks different and has a lot of new features. Lot size search..YES!!! ............ Most recent listings aren't on yet though.

[jm1fd]

Wow. I think I need to load that virus onto my systems. Its one of those newfangled feature adding viruses!!

Site is SOOOO SLOOOOW

Well...it looks like they botched the site upgrade, and didn't have a good plan for removing the upgrade once it was in.

[Pumapayam]

Its back up at 80%. It looks different and has a lot of new features. Lot size search..YES!!! ............ Most recent listings aren't on yet though.

You all are worse than crackheads going through rehab.

It will come back sooner than later.

Wow. I think I need to load that virus onto my systems. Its one of those newfangled feature adding viruses!!

Site is SOOOO SLOOOOW

Well...it looks like they botched the site upgrade, and didn't have a good plan for removing the upgrade once it was in.

I was thinking the same thing, a virus and upgrades at the same time. . . please.

Someone f-ed up the database when upgrading the software.

[mumbles]

YES it is looking fine!

[houstonmacbro]

I did a couple of searches yesterday. Did they also do something with the pictures? They look cleaner and sharper. Almost like they've been optimized better for the web than before.

Or is it just my imagination?

[mumbles]

Who knows, maybe they will even put the CMA info where we can access it. Think how much time that would save all the realtors if we could print it out ourselves.

[houstonmacbro]

I just heard a report on BizRadio (1320 AM) news that HAR is now back up and that the (official) problem was malicious hacker. It went on to say that they didn't want to bring it back up until (presumably) the errors were corrected and it was secure.

Edited May 8, 2007 by houstonmacbro

[KatieDidIt]

Its not fully back up though. And they are about 24 hours behind on posting new listings. Many pictures are still missing.......yet it has upgrades. Lot search and Spanish search.

I have found a couple other engines that are a little awkward but at least they are loading in new MLS listings with in a few hours for public viewing.

[musicman]

Its not fully back up though. And they are about 24 hours behind on posting new listings. Many pictures are still missing.......yet it has upgrades. Lot search and Spanish search.

I have found a couple other engines that are a little awkward but at least they are loading in new MLS listings with in a few hours for public viewing.

Katie go have a strong margarita. it will help the situation.

[KatieDidIt]

Katie go have a strong margarita. it will help the situation.

HA! That is ALL we do up here.

Its become the adult member family motto for the past three years: "Have a drink and try to forget about it."

Edited May 8, 2007 by KatieDidIt

[houstonmacbro]

HA! That is ALL we do up here.

Its become the adult member family motto for the past three years: "Have a drink and try to forget about it."

That's great advice in a LOT of situations. Especially the HAR fiasco.

But, outside of the site being down and people missing it, how many people are ACTUALLY USING IT to look for a home or other property to PURCHASE.

I mean, are most people griping because they need it for work, or because they WANT to use it to look for stuff.

[musicman]

HA! That is ALL we do up here.

is it REALLY broken? LOL

[SamHouston]

Stuff I miss from old HAR.com:

1) Map search (I actually liked the one they had before the google map one)

2) The personalized section (saved searchs, bookmarked listings)

3) Being able to pick 10, instead of 5 per page

4) Recent home sales (even with the ~$75k ranges, they had pictures)

5) New listings search

6) Open house search

7) The map feature on a listing opening up a map where you could plot other properties, not Yahoo)

Things nice about the new HAR.com:

1) Lot description

2) Maint. fees on condos ($0.75/sqft @ the Huntingdon!)

[sevfiv]

i hope the "indexc" page with the list-o-links isn't the final product!

they HAVE to bring back the recent home sales!

[mpbro]

i hope the "indexc" page with the list-o-links isn't the final product!

they HAVE to bring back the recent home sales!

HCAD now has a neighborhood sales feature, including some fairly recent sales. They don't list addresses, but they list sqft and exact sales price, which is something new. Click on "neighborhood sales" from any property detail page.

Edited May 8, 2007 by mpbro

[AJ_Xterra]

Those aren't exacts...actually aren't anywhere near them...20-30k off at least on some.

[KatieDidIt]

You still have to beat the site to make it work just a little.

[musicman]

You still have to beat the site to make it work just a little.

please have another 'rita. you're starting to worry me.

[jm1fd]

HCAD now has a neighborhood sales feature, including some fairly recent sales. They don't list addresses, but they list sqft and exact sales price, which is something new. Click on "neighborhood sales" from any property detail page.

They've had that feature for ~3 years....