Browser extension
Common Elements Brain. The association intelligence layer for your browser.
When you are on a page about a community association, a property in one, or a company that serves them, Brain shows what Common Elements knows beside the page, and the next step. Today it works on property listings. Association and vendor websites are next.
Free for Chrome and Edge. Listed in the Chrome Web Store as Common Elements Insight while Brain features roll out; it updates in place.
How it works
From the page you are on to the record behind it
- 1
You open a page
A listing, an association's website, a vendor's site. Brain does nothing until you ask, or until you allow it on that site.
- 2
Brain recognizes it on your device
It works out what the page is about inside your browser: a property in an association, an association, or a company that serves them.
- 3
It matches against Common Elements
Only the minimum needed to find the match is sent, such as the listing's address. Page text and browsing history never are.
- 4
The record appears beside the page
Registration, management, inspection status and more, each with its source, in a panel next to what you are reading.
- 5
You act on it
Open the full record today. Request a quote, start an RFP, follow, ask, or claim are coming in Brain.
Where it works
What Brain recognizes
Each kind of page is labelled with where it stands. Only "Available today" is in the extension now.
- Available today
Property listings
The association behind a listing on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com or Trulia, with its record beside the page.
- Coming in Brain
Association websites
On an association's own website, its full Common Elements record: management, governance facts, documents we hold, and who serves it.
- Coming in Brain
Vendor websites
On a contractor's or service firm's website, its Common Elements profile: reviews, credentials, service area.
- Planned
Management company websites
Portfolio of associations of record, firm license status, relationships and reviews.
- Planned
Government and public-record pages
On a state registry or licensing page, the Common Elements record the filing or license belongs to.
Actions
The next step, from the page you are on
Brain does not run workflows itself. Each action opens the right place on Common Elements, such as the RFP hub, the community forum or an association's record, with the context already filled in.
- Available today
Open the full record
Every match links to the association's page on Common Elements.
- Coming in Brain
Request a quote, create an RFP, compare, save
From a vendor's website, start a quote request or an RFP with that vendor invited, or save them for later.
- Coming in Brain
Follow, ask a question, claim, join
From an association's website, follow it, ask the community a question, or claim or join it on Common Elements.
- Planned
View portfolio, compare firms, request a proposal
From a management company's website.
Privacy
Recognized on your device. Only the minimum leaves it.
Brain's single purpose, as declared to the Chrome Web Store: " Adds Common Elements association intelligence and actions to relevant webpages." Everything it reads and sends is in service of that.
Recognized on your device
Brain works out what a page is about inside your browser. It does not send page text, page HTML, images or form contents anywhere.
Only the minimum leaves it
For a listing, the address, ZIP, state, the property's approximate map position, and an association name if the listing shows one. That is what is needed to find the match, and we do not keep it in our database.
It runs where you say
Today the panel looks nothing up until you open it. Brain will ask no site access at install: you click the icon on a page, or allow it site by site.
No browsing history
For websites, Brain will check the domain against a list of known Common Elements domains kept on your device. A site not on the list causes no request at all.
No listing data into Common Elements
Insight has an optional setting, off unless you turn it on, that shares listing facts with us. Brain removes it. Brain reads a listing to help you, not to feed our database.
Full detail on the Common Elements Brain overview and in our privacy policy.
Who it is for
Pick the page that fits your work
For board members
Check a vendor, a manager, or a neighboring association before the vote.
For managers
Research an association before a proposal, and check the vendors you bring in.
For vendors
See what boards will see about your company, and make your site recognizable.
For agents, buyers and sellers
HOA and condo due diligence on the listing you are already looking at.
For association research
Find the association behind a property, and read its public record.
Looking for the listing-page features in detail? See Common Elements Insight.
Questions
Common questions
- What is Common Elements Brain?
- A browser extension that recognizes when a page is about a community association, a property in one, or a company that serves associations, and shows what Common Elements knows about it beside the page, with the next action one click away. Its single purpose is to add Common Elements association intelligence and actions to relevant webpages.
- How is Brain related to Common Elements Insight?
- Brain is what Insight becomes. Today the extension is listed in the Chrome Web Store as Common Elements Insight and works on property listings on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and Trulia. Brain features (association and vendor websites, a side panel, actions, site-by-site permissions) arrive as updates to the same extension. If you install it now, it updates in place.
- Is it free?
- Yes. Your first 10 lookups need no account. After that a free Common Elements account keeps lookups going. There is nothing to buy.
- Does Brain read the pages I visit?
- Only to recognize what a page is about, on your device, and only on pages where it runs. Today that is listing pages on the four supported sites, and it looks nothing up until you open its panel. Brain will ask for no site access at install: you click its icon on a page, or allow it site by site.
- What does it send to Common Elements?
- For a listing: the address, ZIP, state, the property's approximate map position, and an association name if the listing shows one. That is what is needed to find the association, and we do not keep it in our database. For websites, Brain will send the domain, and only when that domain already belongs to a Common Elements record. It never sends page text, images, form contents, or a list of the sites you visit.
- Does it put Zillow or Redfin data into Common Elements?
- Insight has an optional setting, off unless you turn it on, that shares listing facts to improve association matching. Brain removes that setting. Brain reads a listing to help you understand the association, not to add the listing to our data.
- Which browsers does it work in?
- Chrome, and Chromium browsers that install from the Chrome Web Store, such as Microsoft Edge.
- Does it work inside management software?
- No. Brain does not run inside association management software, and we will not add that without the software vendor's agreement and a design that keeps everything on your device.
Start with the listing you are looking at.
Install it, open a listing on Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com or Trulia, and open the panel. Free, and no account needed for your first lookups.
Add to Chrome