Systems and methods for searching for and translating real estate descriptions from diverse sources utilizing an operator-based product definition
Disclosed herein are: systems capable of searching, receiving and conglomerating the data from real estate databases of varying formats, and translating that received into a common format; execution of pre-defined translation rules referencing data tags used within the system or the originating databases; rules constructed in a simple, hierarchical or a class-based structure whereby one rule depends upon the output of another rule for its input; data sources prioritized or merged where the same property-related information is presented in more than one source; map definitions containing rule sets crafted for a particular use, such as for a particular consumer or user; such systems used in the course of real estate appraisals, in property search reports, extending across databases of differing formats. Detailed information on various example embodiments of the inventions are provided in the Detailed Description below, and the inventions are defined by the appended claims.
1. A system for searching and conglomerating data from sources of real estate information utilizing different formats for real estate description data, the system comprising:
a connection device for electronic communication over a network;
a processing device;
storage comprising at least one storage device;
instructions stored in the storage which, when executed by the processing device, cause the system to:
receive operator-based search criteria from an operator for producing a report, wherein the operator-based search criteria comprises a class and locality of properties;
determine a plurality of sources of real estate information from which real estate property descriptions are to be obtained;
for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information, determine source specific search criteria, wherein determining the source specific search criteria comprises translating the operator-based search criteria to match a format or capabilities for at least one of the plurality of sources of real estate information;
provide the source specific search criteria to each of the plurality of sources of real estate information;
receive from the plurality of sources of real estate information a result of searches performed using the source specific search criteria for the plurality of sources, wherein the result of the searches comprise a set of real estate information including descriptions of a number of real estate properties, each description including a number of characteristics of a property;
translate the set of real estate information for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information into a common format in accordance with translational rules, wherein the translational rules are selected based on a consumer; and
generate a report for the consumer based on the translated set of real estate information for the plurality of sources.
2. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to:
identify a consumer-based map definition, wherein the consumer-based map definition comprises the translational rules; and
read the translational rules from the consumer-based map definition, wherein translating the set of real estate information for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information comprises translating based on the translational rules reads from the consumer-based map definition.
3. A system according to claim 2 , wherein the instructions are further configured to obtain an operator-based map definition comprising the operator-based search criteria and to prioritize between rules contained in the consumer-based map definition and the operator-based map definition.
4. A system according to claim 3 , wherein the instructions are further configured to apply a rule priority specified within one or more of the consumer-based map definition and the operator-based map definition.
5. A system according to claim 2 , wherein the instructions are configured to determine the plurality of sources of real estate information based on a list from the consumer-based map definition.
6. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to read a destination from an operator-based map definition and provide the report to the destination.
7. A system according to claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to receive an operator-based map definition over a network, the operator-based map definition comprises criteria for use against real estate information sources.
8. A system according to claim 1 , wherein translating the set of real estate information comprises utilizing data tags from an operator-based map definition to identify and extract characteristics of properties.
9. A computer implemented method of conglomerating real estate descriptions from a plurality of real estate description databases, the method comprising:
receiving operator-based search criteria from an operator for producing a report, wherein that operator-based search criteria represents a class and locality of properties;
determining a plurality of sources of real estate information from which real estate property descriptions are to be obtained;
for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information, determining source specific search criteria, wherein determining the source specific search criteria comprises translating the operator-based search criteria to match a format or capabilities for at least one of the pluralities of sources of real estate information;
providing the source specific search criteria to each of the plurality of sources of real estate information;
receiving from the plurality of sources of real estate information a result of searches performed using the source specific search criteria for the plurality of sources, wherein the result of the searches comprises a set of real estate information comprising descriptions of a number of real estate properties, wherein each description comprises a number of characteristics of a property;
translating the set of real estate information for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information into a common format in accordance with translation rules, wherein the translation rules are selected based on a consumer; and
generating a report for the consumer based on the translated set of real estate information for the plurality of sources.
10. A method according to claim 9 , further comprising:
identifying a consumer-based map definition, wherein the consumer-based map definition comprises the translational rules; and
reading the translational rules from the consumer-based map definition, wherein translating the set of real estate information for each of the plurality of sources of real estate information comprises translating based on the translational rules read from the consumer-based map definition.
11. A method according to claim 10 , further comprising applying rules from the consumer-based map definition and an operator-based map definition according to.
12. A method according to claim 11 , wherein the priority is specified within one or more of the consumer-based map definition and the operator-based definition.
13. A method according to claim 10 , wherein determining the plurality of sources of real estate information comprises determining based on a list from the consumer-based map definition.
14. A method according to claim 9 , further comprising reading a destination from an operator-based map definition and providing the report to the destination.
15. A method according to claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises receiving an operator-based map definition over a network, the operator-based map definition comprising criteria for use against real estate information sources.
16. A method according to claim 9 , wherein translating the set of real estate information comprises utilizing data tags from an operator-based map definition to identify and extract characteristics of properties.
17. A method according to claim 9 , further comprising delivering the report as a printout.
18. A method according to claim 9 , further comprising delivering the report as a file stored to a storage device.