Subdivision & City Stats Now Live!

Posted on March 20, 2014 by Corey Hart
20

Mar

2014

We are pleased to announce the addition of Cities and Subdivisions into RBI stats, exclusively for rbiEXPERT customers.  ZIP codes just weren't cutting it for some of our users, in some cases they were too small ("I'd like to report on Bethesda, not just one part of it") and other times the ZIP code just isn't granular enough (especially for those ZIP codes with a variety of different housing types).  You asked, and we've delivered solutions to both problems in the latest release.

Need more granular stats?

rbiEXPERT customers can now see critical trends for over 7,500 subdivisions! We aggregated Legal Subdivisions and Advertised Subdivisions in order to satisfy whichever type is most relevant to your specific market.  Any subdivision that averages at least 6 sales per year has been included in this build.

Want to go bigger than ZIP code? 

rbiEXPERT customers can now access interactive charts, custom reports and more at the city level. Using the USPS preferred city name categorization, we now offer stats for over 600 cities in the MRIS footprint.  

Enhanced Change Location Function

Along with these new location types, we've also optimized the way to switch from location to location.  The Geo Jump bar has been replaced by an all-in-one Change Location feature.  Here are some tips for using this new feature:

Looking for a Region?

Both general and association region results are available via the auto-complete list.

Want a county's stats?

Type in the first 3 or 4 letters and you’re golden. Keep in mind, the auto-complete list is ordered from largest location types to smallest.

Looking for a city?

Just start typing it in. Cities are the 3rd grouping to show up. Obviously the more letters you type in, the higher your result will show up on the list.

Want to zip to ZIP trends?

Just start typing in the ZIP code number for the fastest route.

or...you can also browse all the ZIP codes in a particular city by typing the city into the Search box.

Looking for a subdivision?

Depending on your area, you might prefer the Advertised subdivision over Legal or vice versa. We’ve crunched the numbers for both, so the choice is yours.

or...you can also browse the subdivisions available in a particular city by typing the city into the Search box.

Subdivision FAQs

Who can see subdivision-level statistics?

All stats for subdivisions are available exclusively for rbiEXPERT customers. A free, 14-day test drive of rbiEXPERT is available for all new subscribers. If you cancel before the 14 days are up, your credit card will not be charged.

Why isn’t my subdivision available?

Subdivisions were added based upon a minimum number of sales in the past two years. Any legal or advertised subdivision that has fewer than 12 sales over the past two years (averaging less than half a sale per month) was excluded from the product.  For statistics to be useful, this minimum was necessary or the reports would just have a bunch of zeroes.

Why do you have both Legal and Advertised subdivision?

The legal Subdivision is provided by the public records for a listing.  These are filled in for most listings, but sometimes they are not the known name for the area.  For instance, in DC, the Georgetown area is shown as Old City #1.  The Advertised Subdivision can be entered by the agents when adding a listing and represents what an area is locally known as.   Statistics for both have been provided because there is value in looking at both sets of statistics.

Can I compare more than one subdivision using Compare Geos in the interactive charts?

Not yet.  At this time, you cannot use Geo Compare to add more Subdivisions to a given chart. However, if you are starting from a Subdivision page, you can compare that Subdivision to any ZIP code, city or county.

What is the difference between Legal and Advertised Subdivision?

Legal Subdivision is the name of the subdivision as provided by the taxing jurisdiction and cannot be edited by the Listing Agent for the listing.  The Advertised Subdivision is available in a listing to provide the subdivision name that may be more locally known and the Listing Agent has the ability to edit it in the listing.

The number of sales in an Advertised Subdivision appears to be low, why?

If you are looking at an Advertised Subdivision, some listings may be missing in the stats due to agents making typographical errors or other mistakes when entering a listing into Keystone. Another reason: The Advertised Subdivision field defaults to the Legal Subdivision name, some agents may choose to update that name while others leave it as is. The data reported is solely based on the final input in that user-editable field.  

Why do I see the same subdivision with more than one city name?

Some subdivisions cross City Names/Zip Codes due to how the subdivision was built over the years.  Also, subdivision names are not unique and the best way to represent them was to include the city name with each.

Another agent entered a listing in the wrong advertised subdivision, how do I get this corrected?

Contact the Compliance Department with MRIS to let them know of any listing that may have an error in it.

Why don’t I see any Static Charts on the subdivision page?

We are in the process of phasing out Static Charts in favor of deeper Interactive Charts, so the Static Charts tab was not built for these new location types. Based on customer feedback, the Static Charts were not all that valuable and this will save resources to commit to other, cooler things in the future.

City FAQs

Who can see city-level statistics?

All stats for cities are available exclusively for rbiEXPERT customers. A free, 14-day test drive of rbiEXPERT is available for all new subscribers. If you cancel before the 14 days are up, your credit card will not be charged.

What was the methodology followed to aggregate “city” statistics?

The United States Postal Service groups one or more ZIP codes into what’s referred to as a “USPS Preferred City Name”. RBI ran all of the MRIS ZIP codes against the USPS Preferred City Name database in order to map every ZIP code to a city. Once we had every ZIP associated with the applicable Preferred City Name, we then ran all listing activity for applicable ZIPs, which were then stored in the City rollups.   This methodology was the ideal way to get to a standardized list of cities.

Can I compare more than one city in the interactive charts?

Yes. Unlike Subdivisions, we have enabled cities in the Geo Compare. At this time, you cannot use Geo Compare to add more Subdivisions to a given chart. However, if you are starting from a Subdivision page, you can compare that Subdivision to any ZIP code, city or county.

Why don’t I see any Static Charts on any city pages?

We are in the process of phasing out Static Charts in favor of deeper Interactive Charts, so the Static Charts tab was not built for these new location types. Based on customer feedback, the Static Charts were not all that valuable and this will save resources to commit to other, cooler things in the future.

How can a city and ZIP code have the same stats?

Whenever there is only 1 ZIP code associated with a “Preferred City Name”, then the stats will be identical.  In such cases, if you were to compare the city with its ZIP code, you will only see one line charted.

cities, subdivisions
Comments: 2  |  Back to rbiBLOG

I will check this out... cool

I will check this out... cool idea. But there are so many variables. For example, I live in Leesburg. Leesburg has 2 zip codes. Both contain in town locations and out of town locations and have really different markets. I would love to be able to show that rather than drilling into the neighborhood subdivision. Many neighborhoods are too small and won't show enough activity.

This is great! Is there a

This is great! Is there a way for me to combine ZIP codes into an aggregate "area served"?

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