MLS RETS module proposal

I have worked with several MLS IDX feeds and recently launched a RETS based site, http://nashvillehomes.com. With Nashville I did not do a node import, I decided to instead use a custom module which has some advantages but then it leaves you with having to custom code everything.

I have found only 1 module that deals with RETS and it's 5x and seems to be maybe more complicated than it has to be.

I was thinking of putting together something similar, but simpler.

The dependencies would be:

CCK, node_import and optionally views for a UI to show the MLS listings as a way to administer.

In a nutshell:

It would create a default CCK content type (s) and allow for some customization as to how the fields are mapped to MLS columns. It would do a batch import on cron run at a particular interval, delete old listings and update listings that has have a newer 'moddate' than the last updated date. I like the node_import for importing CCK content bc it works well with CCK. I would probably opt to use the phrets library since I've used it in the past and package it in the module.

Why?

The idea is that this would be a plug and play module where all you need are your RETS credentials/settings and it handles the import. Once RETS data in is CCK, you can build views and do whatever you want with it.

Potential Issues:

-RETS is implemented differently across providers
--I would propose we have includes for overrides to handle differences as they come up instead of each developer just hacking the module
--I think being able to customize how CCK maps to the MLS columns gives some flexibility here, bc the module would read the columns of the content types and allow you to modify the CCK field, add/remove CCK fields so that you can handle differences without hacking
-RETS splits up different listing types as different 'content types' with different fields, eg Commercial, Residential, etc.
--So I might have to have a content type for each listing type and let views handle pulling them together in searches

Scope:

I would like to keep the scope of this project very narrow, just manage the importing of RETS mls content into nodes. I'd like an optional module packaged that implements an administrative view for viewing MLS data in a table and maybe that module could grow to add additional views later on.

Thoughts/concerns? Thx -J