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Is Your Listing Everywhere on the Internet?

By
Industry Observer with Swanepoel T3 Group

Is Your Listing Everywhere on the Internet?

There are more than 1 million REALTORS® in the US who will list your home with a claim of top-notch internet marketing. But just like the old promise of I’ll advertise it, the promise of on the internet needs to be investigated and understood, because on the internet doesn’t necessarily mean everywhere on the internet.

Buyers today search for homes on a variety of websites. (Click to see my listings on different sites)

  • Regional broker websites like Bairdwarner.com®, LongandFoster.com®, and Ebby.com®

  • National brand websites used by franchise broker locations, such as those associated with RE/Max®, Century 21® or Keller Williams®.

  • Agent websites, usually populated through IDX (Information Data Exchange).

  • Websites sponsored by online or print publications such as the Wall Street Journal® or the Chicago Tribune®.

The Multiple Listing Service is on the internet, but buyers don’t directly use the MLS. The MLS is for brokers to share information with other brokers and their clients. Unless you want to wait for a buyer to be emailed your listing by a broker or agent, you want your listing to be syndicated.

Ask how and where the listing brokerage syndicates (or distributes) their listings. On the one hand, of course a broker would like to feature their listing on their own website. But remember, buyers can and do have a choice of websites to search for homes, so you want your listing to be everywhere.

A listing agent needs to make sure that the home looks good on all of the websites where the listing is syndicated. This means that the agent checks to make sure that the photos are all present and in the proper order, that  the price is correct, that all the information is accurate, and that the videos are correctly linked. Each time the information is updated at the core location (usually the MLS) the listing agent should make sure that those changes are accurately represented downstream in the syndication sites.

Are the listings Enhanced, Featured, Pro? Websites like Realtor.com and Zillow.com may accept all the listings in an MLS, but require that the individual broker or agent pay an additional fee to show more photos and more information about each listing. For example, since buyers want to see as many photos as possible, a listing on Realtor.com is much more likely to be viewed if it has multiple photos instead of the standard four photos.

You need to make sure that your home isn’t just “on the internet”, but “everywhere on the internet”, where ever a buyer might search for homes.

I'm a Realtor® with Baird & Warner Real Estate in the western suburbs of Chicago. My listings are syndicated to over 2000 sites around the country. Please give me a call at (630)945-7935 if you are thinking of selling a home.


Comments (69)

Steve Opacke
LI House Tours - Smithtown, NY

You didn't mention the 2nd largest site on the internet YouTube.

Sep 15, 2011 01:48 AM
Dagny Eason
Dagny's Real Estate - Wilton, CT
Fairfield County CT, CDPE Homes For Sale and Condo

Leslie - What a wonderful feature!   Well done!   I also use Postlets and ListHub, and find my listings everywhere - I love the extra pictures feature with Postlets and then it syndicates automatically to so many places!

Sep 15, 2011 02:15 AM
Leslie Ebersole
Swanepoel T3 Group - Saint Charles, IL
I help brokers build businesses they love.

Dagny #54: I'm going to look at Postlets again. Attractive eflyers,

Steve #53: You are completely right! We do upload videos to YouTube. I should have given it a mention, but as you know, video is a huge universe. I was focusing on the electronic data that passes from one site to another through syndication.

Phiip #52: Yes, there is stuff floating out there that is years old -- especially on YouTube. This is one argument for sticking to IDX rather then manual entry in multiple locations.

Donald #50: Yes, I'll have that in the next post. Such a simple step that people skip!

 

Sep 15, 2011 02:30 AM
Tim Bradley
Contour Investment Properties - Jackson Hole, WY
Commercial Real Estate Expert in Jackson Hole, WY

I share the dozen or so websites that our commercial listings go out on. Clients LOVE to be able to look up their own listing...

Sep 15, 2011 02:43 AM
Debora Nichols
Residential Sales, Purchases, Investors, Vacation Homes - Phoenix, AZ
Realtor Anthem,Phoenix,Scottsdale,Glendale,Peoria

Love the idea of a list.  Hopefully somebody will share one, or better yet as you suggested, it would make for an excellent blog.

Sep 15, 2011 03:45 AM
Lucien Vaillancourt
Native Sun Realty, Inc. - Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville Florida Real Estate

No matter how many sites you use to market the listing there will always be some that the seller will come up with that you don't normally use.  I listed a home owned by a Navy couple and the seller wanted his home on Military By Onwer.  At the time I had never even heard of the site.  I now ask the seller where they expect the home to appear on line and do my best to accomodate them.

Sep 15, 2011 04:06 AM
Rob Arnold
Sand Dollar Realty Group, Inc. - Altamonte Springs, FL
Metro Orlando Full Service - Investor Friendly & F

Our MLS allows us to check off specific boxes and opt-ins for various IDX and internet marketing. 

Sep 15, 2011 04:07 AM
Jim McCormack
Nashville Short Sale Specialist - Jim McCormack - Edge Advantage Realty, LLC - 615-796-6898 - Murfreesboro, TN
Nashville Short Sale REALTOR - Stop Foreclosure

I use listing syndication to send my Nashville listings to 40+ websites including Trulia, Zillow, etc.

Sep 15, 2011 04:14 AM
Anu Dutta
Citi Living Solutions - Forest Hills, NY

Good post Leslie. I think Horpads, Postlets (recently bought by Zillow) is some sites who send feeds to tons of different sites. And ofcourse Zillow and Trulia pro accounts will do the rest.

Some local MLS sites send feeds too different sites as well as. Then if you use good key words in You Tube videos for your listings will bring some good results too, when someone googles it as per those keys words.

Sep 15, 2011 06:15 AM
Liane Thomas, Top Listing Agent
Professional Realty Services® - Corona, CA
Bringing you Home!

Yes, a big part of my listing presentation covers the 100's of websites we place their home on.

Sep 15, 2011 06:36 AM
Steve Waddicor
SB&A Realty Group - Fall River, MA
Greater Fall River, MA Homes for Sale

Great post, good information.  These are the sites customers see first in most cases before they become clients. And thanks for the links.

Sep 15, 2011 07:49 AM
Lyn Sims
Schaumburg, IL
Real Estate Broker Retired

Good post but I won't see myself paying for extra features on Zillow or Realtor.com when pictures are the absolute norm in this day & age.  It's just a way to milk the agents for something that is already provided to them.  We send 16 pictures to the MLS, they pic only 4 which is a disadvantage.  Why do they do that?

Just like why charge extras to feature virtual tours, movies, etc. when they are already provided on the MLS? I'm sure if sellers knew this is the way business was done they wouldn't be thrilled. That's why each agent should take control of their listing syndication & try & enhance it as best as possible.

Sep 15, 2011 09:22 AM
Kimo Jarrett
Cyber Properties - Huntington Beach, CA
Pro Lifestyle Solutions

I'm curious as to how much of your gross profits do you allocate for marketing and is the percentage based upon your total advertising budget or simply to a particular property? At some point, your allocation will be compromised, wouldn't it?

Sep 15, 2011 09:44 AM
Anonymous
Rod Osbeck

You wrote:

"A listing agent needs to make sure that the home looks good on all of the websites where the listing is syndicated. This means that the agent checks to make sure that the photos are all present and in the proper order, that  the price is correct, that all the information is accurate, and that the videos are correctly linked. Each time the information is updated at the core location (usually the MLS) the listing agent should make sure that those changes are accurately represented downstream in the syndication sites."

I thought that was great that you check every downstream site until I read:

"I'm a Realtor® with Baird & Warner Real Estate in the western suburbs of Chicago. My listings are syndicated to over 2000 sites around the country. Please give me a call at (630)945-7935 if you are thinking of selling a home."

How do you have time to check each listing on 2000 sites-even if you only have one listing I need to know how to do it? I've been puzzling over this for two days and finally have to ask. 

Sep 15, 2011 09:55 AM
#63
Bill Reddington
Re/max By The Sea - Destin, FL
Destin Florida Real Estate

Too many sites out there to check them all. I get 3 or 4 inquiries a month on old listings from sites I have never heard of or sold months ago. The majors seem to get it right. Thats enough for me.

Sep 15, 2011 01:10 PM
Cara Marcelle Mancuso
Golden Girls with SW Desert Homes - Tucson, AZ
Call a Marana neighbor, I'm THERE!

Good advice!  I'm thankful that our broker belongs to list hub that gets us out there to 40+ sites.  Then I also work with some other features  like Listing Widgets (that farm out to YouTube) and some loan officers that have website program, other agents that will guest "feature" on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. plus blog it out, craigslist it out...SEO baby!  Great post!

Sep 15, 2011 02:38 PM
Leslie Ebersole
Swanepoel T3 Group - Saint Charles, IL
I help brokers build businesses they love.

Cara: thanks!

Bill: really? Using IDX should eliminate most of those calls.

Rod: It's syndication....like dropping a pebble in a pool. I don't personally place it on individual  sites...it's the systems that the firm has in place. If you mange the lisitng on the MLS, Zillow Trulia and Realtor.com it shows up reasonably well on all the downstream sites. It's probably even a larger number than 2000, if you add in all the agent and broker sites that now use IDX. I'm not an expert, but feel free to call me and I'll explain the best I can.

Kimo: BW is a largish firm in Illinois...1,600 agents. The cost of syndication are spread across many listings.

Lyn: Brad Andersohn (Zillow) pointed out that they don't charge for extra pics, while Realtor.com does. Since R.com is/was the NAR site, I think this is unfair. Since so many successful agents say "of course we offer Enhanced on Realtor.com", what else can the rest of us do?. But honestly, it does crack me up when a 2 bedroom TH with 6 rooms has a dozen+ photos of the community to hit the max of 25. But some of the highest ranking agent sites benefit from the SEO all those photos and detail on the aggregator sites. 

Steve: thanks

Liane: KW does a great job with their listings in my area.

Anu: I need to refresh on Postlets now that it's part of the Zillow family

Jim: sounds great

Rob: the technology behind the scenes is amazing

Lucien: that's funny! There is always something new.

Debra: If you work backwards from the highest ranked consumer search sites for your region, you can get to your list.

Tim: our IT Director calls them "vanity searches". :-)

 

Sep 15, 2011 04:13 PM
Gene Riemenschneider
Home Point Real Estate - Brentwood, CA
Turning Houses into Homes

There are a lot of places to get the information out.  I find new ones all the time and find my listings in places I had never heard of through syndication.

Sep 16, 2011 02:15 PM
Anonymous
Peter Michelbach

Leslie -- GREAT POST! ...you are so technical and sophisticated...I would however not hesitate to employ you, if I were ever to come to the US, only because you inspire unconditional trust, professional knowledge and for your analytical skills...and I'm a strait gun...purchase price max $750 K, 100 miles from the city center, quiet and secure neighborhood, 3x3, study, plus theatre room, triple garage, dbl glazing, NO POOL, sauna, smal nuclear shelter, wine cellar, 600-800 sqm private land ...simple and no frills.

How I miss the good old days, when via a handshake trust was sealed, connection created and mission accomplished. Nowadays, I still work with my past clients, still the good old hand-shake method, not that much into the new trends, sorry. Best. Peter

Sep 21, 2011 02:41 AM
#68
Dale Taylor
Re/Max 10 New Lenox Illinois http://dtaylor.remax.com - Frankfort, IL
Realtor = Chicago Illinois Homes Townhomes Condos

I appreciate your points!

Dec 26, 2011 01:55 PM