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Agents, what are your opinions of companies that opt all their listings out of internet mls feeds? I just noticed one of our competitors did it so they wouldn't be on the mls search on our website. Frankly, I think this is a lame thing for them to do to their Sellers. Not only will their listings not appear on our site, they won't show up on remax, century21 or weichert... national companies that a lot of Buyers use to search the MLS. It doesn't really affect our site at the end of the day because I just framed in the MLS site and they can't opt out of that. snicker.
As long as their sellers know they aren't on the IDX feed and are okay with that, there isn't a problem. It's only a problem if the sellers are unaware of their policy.
As long as their sellers know they aren't on the IDX feed and are okay with that, there isn't a problem. It's only a problem if the sellers are unaware of their policy.
I'd bet large amounts of money that the companies that "opt out" of IDX do not make it a point to inform their sellers of that fact or the implications thereof.
I would not be surprised if more of the large brokers don't start this trend. It would potentially drive more buyers to their website. Why should a small broker benefit from the listings and buyers you work so hard to build and maintain ?
I would not be surprised if more of the large brokers don't start this trend. It would potentially drive more buyers to their website. Why should a small broker benefit from the listings and buyers you work so hard to build and maintain ?
Dell does not advertise Compaq computers.
When we work for the Seller we should give them the most exposure possible. Buyers don't think about companies opting out, they think " hey I'm searching the mls on Remax.com, properties are coming up I must be seeing everything"... so your only shot after that is for them to see a road sign.
When we work for the Seller we should give them the most exposure possible. Buyers don't think about companies opting out, they think " hey I'm searching the mls on Remax.com, properties are coming up I must be seeing everything"... so your only shot after that is for them to see a road sign.
Unless they start an advertising campaign to educate the public. I could see where one of the biggies pulls away and 2-3 others follow.
What would the public do if they knew that to see a CB or ReMax Listing you had to go to their website ? They would go to their website.
As long as it's promoted by the companies who make the effort to educate the consumer, I personally think it would work. There again you don't go to Chevrolet's website looking for a Ford.
Looking at it only from a business (or maybe power is the right word) perspective, I always thought that real estate professionals shot themselves in the proverbial foot when they made the decision to put everything on the internet. Brokers were the only source of information regarding properties for sale, photos, property details, etc. before making all of that info available to the masses. Now, everyone with a computer has access to far more info that they once had to rely on brokers and agents for and the importance of the professional, I think, has diminished to the point that agents are not the singular authorities on the market that, at least I thought, they were before I got into the biz.
Obviously from a consumer's point of view, it was a great move but I wonder if those who first agreed to make the info available online, especially now that anyone can then comment anonomously on the listing or price or area, right on the same page as the listing, feel that they made a mistake in retrospect.
There again you don't go to Chevrolet's website looking for a Ford.
But it's not a product, it's a service. We are allowing people to move on to the next phase in their lives whatever that may be... a new job... a bigger house... a shorter commute... a home they can afford... closer to ailing family. This stuff is important, we have no right to slow down the process just to line our pockets.
Looking at it only from a business (or maybe power is the right word) perspective, I always thought that real estate professionals shot themselves in the proverbial foot when they made the decision to put everything on the internet. Brokers were the only source of information regarding properties for sale, photos, property details, etc. before making all of that info available to the masses. Now, everyone with a computer has access to far more info that they once had to rely on brokers and agents for and the importance of the professional, I think, has diminished to the point that agents are not the singular authorities on the market that, at least I thought, they were before I got into the biz.
Very well said. The biggest assets of companies is not given away so other companies can benefit. Why would a large company want to support the smaller discount broker who uses their assets to cut their prices ?
I wouldn't be surprised if the big brokers didn't stop the distribution of their listings outside the MLS except to their own website. The feeds benefit the little guy, not so much the bigger ones.
Very well said. The biggest assets of companies is not given away so other companies can benefit. Why would a large company want to support the smaller discount broker who uses their assets to cut their prices ?
I wouldn't be surprised if the big brokers didn't stop the distribution of their listings outside the MLS except to their own website. The feeds benefit the little guy, not so much the bigger ones.
Actually I disagree. Consumers hate having to site hop. So what will happen is that they will ignore real estate agent sites and just spend more time on Zillow, Trulia, and R.com. This gives them more clout and I think that is bad for real estate agents.
Zillow and Trulia buy the feeds independently of IDX systems, as does R.com. At least that is how I understand it. Pulling out of IDX is a bad business decision, I think. If one of the biggies pulls out of IDX because they don't want their listings to be on other agent's sites, they'll get skewered online by the real estate community. Brand suicide isn't a good idea, IMO.
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