Realtors should dictate terms to listing portals
Letter to the Editor
By Inman News, Tuesday, May 29, 2012.Re: 'Edina Realty pulls the plug on Realtor.com' (May 22)
Dear Editor:
My opinion of this happening is: "great."
I have for a long time not believed that Realtor.com is giving listing agents what we should have as far as our listings go. I also believe they work together with the MLS boards to make money at our expense.
I am pretty sure our MLS boards can, if so desired, dictate to these third-party companies -- especially Realtor.com -- that we, the Realtors with the listings, receive a much better package. In fact, I think we should have all the listing benefits these companies offer at no cost.
Here is my problem. Years back, a seller I represented asked me why other listings on Realtor.com had multiple photos and other upgrades. I also wondered why I was not personally getting calls on my listing. When I called Realtor.com to ask why, I was told that in order to get the enhancements I would have to pay. To have my personal contact information in the listing, when I am the listing agent, I would have to join and yes, once again pay.
The supposed huge benefit to us is the exposure of our listing on their site. They give a free basic listing, but that's it. If the seller wants the similar benefits, we have to pay Realtor.com a hefty sum. I feel held over a barrel with this type of deal. We already pay enough to our memberships to NAR, CAR and the MLS boards.
Realtor.com gets money from us as well as our inventory. They use it to attract tons of advertising and God knows what else. Our listings are the raw data that enables these companies to make millions from advertisers. That is not enough, I guess. They throw us a carrot and charge through the nose for something we should already have.
Complaining to my MLS board, California Regional MLS, does no good. They defend this and get agitated when I push the issue. They say the free input of our listing is a great benefit and try to make me feel like I am being ungrateful. I am sure they profit by keeping this sweet deal alive with Realtor.com.
I think they suck as representatives of our industry. I would love to see all real estate third-party vendors work more on listing agent benefits. After all, without listing agents, there is no Realtor.com. I have colleagues who feel the same way. Some I know do not use Realtor.com for this reason.
I think we Realtors as a whole should let these companies know what our terms are and not have it the other way around. I think Realtors should learn from Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart dictates to vendors that everything is at their discretion including what they will price products at. If the vendor doesn't agree, they send them off on their way. The ones that agree greatly benefit from the relationship. Too bad it doesn't work for us.
Mark Camou
First Team SnS Real Estate
Diamond Bar, Calif.
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Submitted by Dustin Kuschel on May 29, 2012 - 2:29pm.
Mark,
I couldn't agree more with what you said. Realtors have become so blinded as to what these third party sites are all about. Their primary goal is to make money and we are allowing it by giving our data away for FREE!! Here is a link to a great article that shows what is really going on behind the scenes of these third party sites http://www.vht.com/news/PDFS/FriendorFoe_Battlewith3rdPartyAggs.pdf.
Dustin Kuschel
Edina Realty
Brainerd, MN
Submitted by David Barr on June 2, 2012 - 6:09am.
Mark:
You hit the nail on the head. We should be dictating how our listings are displayed by our MLS associations and the sites they syndicate to, especialy Realtor.com.
Dustin, I was really happy to read previous blogs on this site about what Edina Realty is doing to help combat this as well.
Dont' get me started on Zillow, Trulia, or Realty Trac. Any agent displaying their listings on Zillow or buying an upgraded package on those sites should realize they are funding companies that are seeking a stranglehold on our business.
Fight back by producing the best possible custom website for your market with a robust IDX feed. Clients will find it and rely on it.
David Barr, Broker Associate
Sandals Realty of Sarasota
www.davidbarrhomes.com
Submitted by John Rowles on June 4, 2012 - 6:35am.
David, you are on the right track advocating a robust site, but IDX by itself is not necessarily the answer.
Google sees value in connecting their users with the originators of the content they seek, be it real estate listings or anything else.
By repeating the exact same content over multiple domains, IDX diminishes the value of original listing content as much, if not more so, than syndication.
(I have a post about this @ http://www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog/?p=15018)
While I understand the logic of pulling out of syndication and Realtor.com, you want to be sure you have an IDX site and a listing content management strategy working together to make sure you aren't clearing out the big third party domains only to make room at the top of Google for competitors who have your listing content via IDX.
John Rowles
CEO / Co-Founder
MainRhode Real Estate Search Tech. LLC
www.mainrhode.com
Submitted by Roger Noujeim on June 14, 2012 - 10:25am.
Agree with all the comments. The reality is that three key facts should be considered in terms of whether to publish listings on a third party site(s) or not:
1- It is much more expensive, resource intensive and unlikely for anyone to be able to pull in all the traffic they need directly to their site, without advertising elsewhere as part of their marketing mix. Since listings are a key attraction for consumers, these assets are a primary ingredient for the advertising. The candy that generates the leads. Not utilizing listings to pull in leads from other places where traffic is ample, is akin to marketing suicide. It's like not including your listing in the local newspaper on the weekend, in the old days.
2- The broker, and through them, their listing agent must be the primary contact associated with their listing on any and all third party sites they publish on, much like how things are in the papers. There are several great sites that not only enable this but have this as part of their DNA and beliefs. Look them up and ensure your listings are there. It's great, free advertising that builds brands and generates leads for free. Using the newspaper comparison, they're even cheaper. They cost nothing.
3- Prioritize sites that help you do more with your listings.
i) Ensure that you have the same rights to upload the same number of photos and add all the details you want as all the other agents on the site, without restrictions.
ii) Seek sites that allow you to reach and network with buyers nationwide and internationally. It's 24/7 marketing for free, if the site incorporates the networking component.
iii) Sites that allow you to accept offers and negotiate prices and close deals on the spot, all online. The benefits http://www.listedby.com/forum/topic9-the-advantage-of-selling-property-a... of this evolving technology are huge especially in terms of accelerating the sale, because buyers who present bids online are supposed to be already financed. This removes one of the primary hurdles and delays in real estate sales, to speed up the process.