Realtor.com Loses Northwest MLS
From the Seattle PI, the Northwest Multiple Listing Service dumps Realtor.com
The Northwest Multiple Listing Service will stop sending its home listings to the nation’s most popular real estate Web site in April. Local real estate executives disagree over whether the move is about focusing the MLS on providing information to its members or making it harder for smaller brokers to reach home shoppers who use Realtor.com. Many brokers plan to continue sending listings to the site on their own.
I wonder if this is a harbinger of things to come. I think brokers are exerting greater control of their listings as they begin to see the marketing value in them. So, how will this play out for other sites that are scraping those data sources?
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9 Comment(s)
7 Trackback(s)
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Tony Arko | Nov 29, 2006 | Reply
I read your post and I was stunned. I think it is a huge statement regarding the use of the listings to generate leads. Realtor.com is set up to make NAR money first by charging agents for additional photos as well as featured agent ads. I hope it works out for them and Realtor.com loses its stranglehold on buyers.
Athol Kay | Nov 29, 2006 | Reply
The guys at Zillow must be doing the Running Man dance….
Evan Gould, Redondo Beach, CA | Nov 30, 2006 | Reply
I’m not trying to pimp realtor.com, but the truth is, homebuyers still use it and it is a prominent website. I know that when I have a listing, I want it marketed into every nook and cranny in the world. I don’t care how it gets to the buyer; I just want it in front of their eyes and on their radar. Limiting or removing marketing outlets is a disservice to your seller clients. This decision seems wrong.
Tony Arko | Nov 30, 2006 | Reply
If I am not mistaken, you as an agent can manually put your listings into realtor.com. The Northwest MLS has chosen not to automatically send the listings to realtor.com. And obviously the agents with a say so in the Northwest have no problem with doing that if they choose to.
Dave Toledo | Dec 1, 2006 | Reply
I may be wrong but I don’t think the NAR gets paid by Move, Inc.(formerly Homestore) the publicly traded company that runs Realtor.com. It may have been a good move on the part of the NAR to let Move, Inc. run Realtor.com in the days when it costs millions to run a website but I think the NAR should now take a serious look at running its own website and reaping the revenue benefits. Move, Inc. is valued at almost 900-million dollars.. I wonder if it would be worth anything without the content provided by Realtors.
Athol Kay | Dec 1, 2006 | Reply
The money apparently goes from NAR to Realtor.com
cf http://therealestateguide.blogspot.com/2006/11/blood-in-water-2-handout.html
Rob | Mar 14, 2007 | Reply
I truthfully believe that agents who guard their listings hurt themselves. The market is moving toward a free information and MLS access for the general public. It is the Realtor who loses out, and even as a Realtor myself I am not shedding a tear. I really think we will not recognize this industry in less than 5 years.
Patrick Figueroa | Mar 17, 2009 | Reply
The real problem is MLS and NAR and the sub groups known as “boards of realtors).The real estate business model as it exists is out of date run by a group of monopolies.We need to get these people out of our business.
homes Alexandria VA | Nov 26, 2009 | Reply
It is sad that the brokers do not get it. It is like trying to stuff Pandora back into the box. Lets just turn the clocks back 40 years.