by G. Sax, Head of Communications, RESO
Welcome to “Three Questions,” an interview series that introduces you to real estate industry professionals, their businesses and how they interact with real estate standards. The goal of the series is to humanize the tech side of the industry, fun included.
This week’s interview is with Anthony Jordan, Senior Professional, Data Engineer at CoreLogic and recent winner of a Workgroup Contributor Award for his efforts toward the advancement of the RESO Universal Property Identifier (UPI).
We delved into the new version 2 of the UPI, which was approved at the RESO 2024 Spring Conference, and then lightened up the mood by talking about golf, the English Premier League and good food. Enjoy!
Q1: What were your contributions to the UPI Workgroup that warranted an award, and are we on the precipice of a full-scale industry move to a UPI way of life with the release of version 2?
Anthony: I looked over public records for the entire country for oddities and discrepancies. My work was done in tandem with the exceptional Steve Clarke.
Most of my time on the project had me looking up parcel numbers in our database, documenting things that would cause errors with the UPI. I stripped out spaces and hashes and things like that.
Keeping the integrity of the data was my goal. Removal of certain characters caused duplications. We found discrepant information within certain U.S. counties.
The biggest thing that we saw for the new v2 format with the URN and colon delimiter was to not alter the original source number in any way. So no character stripping – “1-23” vs. “12-3” are just fine as unique entries, and they shouldn’t become a duplicate entry of “123.”
And we determined that that needs to be consistent and universal across all systems in order for v2 to work properly. If we follow that rule, then we know that we’re using the specific parcel number as presented and that everyone else is going to use that, too.
So in essence, by not cleaning the data, we’re keeping it cleaner. We maintain its integrity.
We see that in the Data Dictionary all the time – data entered with fat fingers, half bath entered as ½ vs. half. We’re standardizing those things in a way that allows us to clean up the data.
The structure of the new UPI will be entered as field name, colon, source data, and that should work wonderfully.
I think UPI v2 is going to be good for the advancement of the industry. Any problems that surface from it will just give us an opportunity to advance it further. It’s not going to be perfect, but it gives us a fighting chance to truly standardize a UPI.
I’m also really excited about the international aspect of the UPI. The model can work beyond the U.S. across an expanse of countries.
Q2: You have an associate’s degree in Business Administration and Management from the Golf Academy of America–Myrtle Beach. What’s that all about?
Anthony: It was like a technical trade school. I took a couple of gap years after high school. I enjoy learning and especially learning new skills, so when a friend told me about learning how to manage golf courses and about how to get a PGA [Professional Golfers Association] apprenticeship, I jumped at the chance.
You can actually become a club pro or even a PGA Tour Professional.
I ended up working at a 54-hole facility and taught people how to work on their short game. I was also a golf coach at a Quaker school in North Carolina.
To me, with golf, it’s no different than what we do with real estate data. It’s all about data points. Hit a golf ball, changes of position, the equipment. It can all be learned, organized and measured.
Q3: You are a fan of the English Premier League, and you specifically support Liverpool. How does an allegiance form to a team from a faraway land in a pro sport that is not as popular in the U.S. compared to other sports?
Anthony: I have a connection to Liverpool through my friends. When they asked me to take a look at the English Premier League, I didn’t know anything about it, but I knew it was better than MLS – well, the American soccer league, MLS.
Now I’m hooked. My best friends are from Liverpool. I’ve spent about 14 weeks of my life there so far, so it’s very dear to me.
The first match I went to was Liverpool vs. Everton. The rivalry games between the two clubs are called the Merseyside derby. Goodison Park, the stadium where Everton plays, is separated from Anfield, where Liverpool plays, by only one mile.
The saying goes, “Your club chooses you, you don’t choose your club.” It’s just in your heart. You know when you love your team.
Knowing that your voice matters in communities and groups, whether it’s as an American that enjoys English football or as a young professional learning the ropes of RESO, is really important to me.
Another saying goes, “Liverpool is my religion, and Anfield is my church.” That’s how important it is to them over there.
Bonus Question: You are something of a foodie. Where did that passion come from and have any RESO conferences ever given you a terrific culinary experience?
Anthony: I became a foodie when I was about 12 or 13. I watched TV personalities like Emeril and Alton Brown, each of whom got me excited about the food itself and the science behind it.
I worked in food service for 16 years, doing everything from expo [food expeditor], grill house, fine dining, server/bar side and more. Like everything I do in life, I wanted to learn everything I possibly could about the food business.
Even today, I try to cook at home up to five times per week, finding new ingredients and tastes to experiment with.
I have to say that RESO does a great job of picking the best cities for good cocktails and food.
One that really sticks out is called State Street Eating House + Cocktails in Sarasota, Florida.
