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Yet Another New Listing System Makes Its Debut

Marketing a listing on the web continues to become more involved as new listing systems are debuted and begin competing for home buyers’ eyes. The latest to debut is the “Point 2 NLS“, or national listing service. Point2 is company that specializes in websites for real estate agents. The company offers a free standard website for agents and listings entered on the Point2 sites are shared across a number of other home search sites.

My brokerage firm, Keller Williams Realty, recently debuted the new “KWLS” or Keller Williams Listing Service for Keller Williams agents. KW plans to use this listing data in partnering with other third party sites to provide maximum web exposure for our listings. The common mission with both of these services is to “put control back in the hands of real estate professionals”.

Blame it on the MLSs. They have the data but refuse to let it freely wander the web. You can only protect the data so much. Now that agents and homeowners can list properties all over the web, the value of the MLSs is in a freefall.

Add these new listing databases to Google Base, Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo! Classifieds, Oodle, Craig’s List, etc., and now listing a property is a lot more involved than a 1/2 hour or so on the MLS. Need to make a price change? Make sure you visit all of your listing sites to make the changes.

Since the web is so fragmented at this point in time and buyers eyes are on many different sites, we have to make the effort to market listings wherever we can. Maximum exposure is key. The last thing we want our clients asking us is “why can’t I find my listing on…..?”

But as the cream rises to the top and certain sites begin to grab and keep the majority of home search traffic, we may only have to enter listing data in one database once again.

So the question is, who’ll win the race to be the site to search for homes? My bet is Google. As Joel Burslem at The Future of Real Estate Marketing mentions, Google is targeting real estate professionals with a new page documenting its suite of services. Google is already claiming that it “has more real estate searches than all real estate specific web sites.”

But in the meantime, we as Realtors should be prepared to spend some additional time entering and maintaining our listings on the web. Get used to it.

My Home Search Solution

Posted by Lenny Gurvich on 01/04/2007 04:46 PM

Comments (34)

tampa, florida, mls, sellers

34 Comments on Yet Another New Listing System Makes Its Debut

JAN

2007

Great minds must think alike Lenny! I posted this on the "NLS" less than an hour before you did.

One of the nice things a Point 2 web site does is syndicate your P2 listings across multiple national providers. Takes all the tedium out of entering listings on GoogleBase, Propsmart, Oodle, Trulia, Edgeio and more. Updates are automatically fed to all those sites. I haven't had time to play with the NLS to see if it would also syndicate listings.

Should anyone be interested in a free Point 2 Agent site, info is here.

Tangerine dreams!

Interesting, I'll have to check it out. I have made a committment to put 75% of my marketing efforts and dollars to the web this year. Your post helped kick that in gear and I have logged on to post my first listing on googlebase...and then go from there.

You bring up some good points, Lenny. It's true that this practice of manually posting listings here, there, and everywhere can only go on for so long but we do owe it to our clients to do all we can.

I think that all of the online competition is good but totally confusing and overwhelming for the public and may begin to have an adverse reaction. A buyer recently called me crying that she didn't know where to start. Which is why the new REMAX national site is terrific. I don't know what the KW site will be it sounds like a compilation of KW listings that will be downloaded to loads of other sites. It's getting too comlicated and I think competition is good.

There is not a doubt in my mind. If google launches a real estate specific search and simply puts the icon anywhere on their page, it will become the search engine of choice for homes overnight. Google is my home page. I imagine it's a lot of people's home pages.

Another to add to the choices we have for online exposure, but Google will be tough to beat if they do it.

I post my listings in different places but the first change I am doing in 2007 is hiring a virtual assitant to do this for me.

book marked. I totaly agree. We need to put our best foot forward and get our clients what they need as fast as possible.

What do you think people are getting from all of these sites that they can't get on Realtor.com. Realtor.com seems to be the most comprehensive and popular site for the public in my area and I think it is done pretty well. If Realtor.com evolves and adds new tech to the site, I don't see how others can compete.

If you all haven't tried it, postlets.com simplifes the task of submitting listings to multiple sites. But I did just confirm with Point 2 that Point2NLS members listings will be syndicated across their partner sites.

Lenny, I just started working on my Point2 agent site. If I'm handshaking with other agents will it automatically go to Point2NLS? I'm still having problems deciding to handshake with other agents.

Good post, Lenny. Agree with you (and Jeff and others) on Google.

I keep a list of where I post my listings, otherwise it would be impossible to keep track and remember when I have to make a change. Postlets.com is good but I use some other sites as well.

Chad,

Realtor .com has been the leader for some time now, but going forward they'll have some stiff competition. Many of the new sites don't differentiate between a brokered listing and a FSBO. They'll welcome any listing. Many of them, in my opinion, are much more user friendly as well, and offer users better technologies.

Here's a question: Is it wrong for us to post listings on sites that are trying to circumvent and ruin the MLSs? With data so freely shared these days, what is the value of the MLSs as compared to any of these other sites? Five years from now sellers and buyers will still need the services of a Realtor, but will we need the MLSs as we know them today?

Kay, I am not that familiar with the workings of the Point2NLS just yet. So unfortunately I don't have an answer. Anyone else?

Lenny, good post! I think the new Point2LS is just another continuing fragmentation and potential deterioration of the original. Customers are getting their home information continually from these "other sites" as it does give increased exposure to listing agents or agents that have "handshake agreements" to advertise other agents listings. I think it's a great idea, and ultimately it's beneficial to the "seller" because their home is EXPOSED to more and more markets, thus selling quicker and for more of the asking price.

We've come a long way, baby...years ago you could buy a ready-to-assemble HOUSE in the SEARS CATALOG! And now you can buy log home kits on multiple sites on the Web, or even a whole town on eBay. What next?

The Point2 website did a great job of explaining what they are and how they work, but I couldn't find the cost to participate. Does anyone know how much it costs?

If "listings" are so quickly distibuted to the "mega" sites in order to gain maximum seller exposure, why do we charge the seller anything, when they can do it theselves?

We may not have to worry about "uploading" the listing anywhere? Or changing the data content at all?

REALTOR.com only posts listings that come from the MLS.

It appears that Point2 has added the ability to display handshake listings from outside of your own trading area. The basic services, which are pretty robust are free. I think it's $40US per month including a killer website and blog platform.

http://nls.point2.com/

It is nice to see we are having more and more choices, I have alway felt the MLS system is just not keeping up with the times and will eventually get bypassed.

JAN

2007

vFlyer.com

Jeff Turner - from what I'm reading this week, you won't have long to wait for Google

Sites like this will continue to proliferate is my humble prediction (I have a point2agent website and love it, by the way). I would hazard a guess that the MLS will continue to be the most comprehensive site for quite some time....only time will tell!

I am not sure that multiple sources of some of the listings does much for the consumer. They only get pieces that way instead of a more complete picture.

The multiple sources to view some listings, will soon turn to multiple sources of ALL listings for consumers. Listing agents, in a rush to expose their listings, will gladly share MORE info than what is provided by the MLS's. The public MLS sites will NOT be the most comprehensive place for the consumer to get ALL the information. IMO

My vote goes to Google if in fact that happens. I've not done the Point2Agent but it seems like it is very popular with the agents that use it. Can't beat FREE.

David,

"If "listings" are so quickly distibuted to the "mega" sites in order to gain maximum seller exposure, why do we charge the seller anything...."

Don't we do a heck of a lot more than simply put the home in front of prospective buyers? Should we subtract the value of that from our commissions?

Randy,

"I am not sure that multiple sources of some of the listings does much for the consumer. They only get pieces that way..."

Agreed. Most of these sites don't come close to offering the data that our MLSs do. (If only all listing agents would complete more than just the required fields). Whomever has their mug, name, number, link or whatever posted across that listing gets the lead when the consumer needs more info.

David,

"The public MLS sites will NOT be the most comprehensive place for the consumer to get ALL the information."

Maybe the MLSs survive because of that fact?

I'm going to have to check out Point 2 Agent - I have heard Jay Thompson sing it's praises - and I see you and several others are on board with it. One more for the list!

Lenny,

Thanks for the post. I agree that the googlers have it hands down. I had not heard of some of the other options available for posting listing (Point 2 NLS), I shall check them out.

Hi Lenny,

Sometimes with no regulations a site like point 2NLS becomes junk in and junk out. If anybody can post a listing, with free login accounts there becomes alot of listings that are never updated or non-listings.

Microsoft threw in the towel years ago when they were competing as the #1 web site for real estate content against realtor.com.

There will always be hot new web sites to post listings, craigslist being a big lead generator. You can be on multiple web sites with one post and one update send the information to all the web sites.

Technology is supposed to make your life easier not more complicated. I'm managing over 45,000 listings for several thousand agents and brokers that appear on most major real estate portals every day.

You never know where a buyer will find your listing, which is if you can have an efficient Internet listing management tool, it will be very simple and cost effective to bring in buyer leads and use as a listing tool.

I still like realtor.com best - it has great traffic. It takes hours to post your listing to all the different sites if you want to have the best exposure

I still feel all real estate is local. I have yet to make a sale off any of these National listing websites. While I sell to many out of town buyers none of them have ever come from any of these sites. If 70% of internet users use search engines - local sites with local content come up in searches why would savvy buyers use these fragmented national sites. To me they seem no different than the lead generators.

Gary,

"I'm managing over 45,000 listings for several thousand agents and brokers that appear on most major real estate portals every day."

Thanks for the info. Yours sounds like a great service for those looking to save time. Your list of sites (portals) seems to be failry comprehensive. THere are some in there of which I was not aware.

Also,

Roger from Point2 contacted me to clarify exactly what their new sysytem is designed to do. Per Roger:

"One thing real estate professionals don’t need today is another listing site. That’s why the NLS is a relief. Instead, it is:

A cooperative marketing, data repository and advertising launch pad for licensed real state professionals. It enables selective co-marketing relationships based on individual peer to peer decision making. It’s also a gateway from which an agent can launch their listings onto consumer sites including Google Base, Trulia and others, from a single screen and monitor the ROI. It is also not consumer facing, like the property listing sites. It is for the sole use of real estate professionals to build co-marketing relationships and repurpose their listings for advertising on key consumer sites, on their website no matter who their service provider is, and on their blog."

Maryann

It takes hours to post your listing to all the different sites if you want to have the best exposure.

You can check out my site and we do it all for you. PostYourListings.Com

Buyers look on local web sites and National web sites for listings usually in searchable databases.

Craigslist being one of those anomalies that is so successful because it is sooo simple. Sort of the complete opposite of a site like Zillow...

All other Real Estate web sites that advertise listings are taking money away from Newspaper print adds. That is why you are seeing so many of them advertising their web sites or making deals to show listings packaged on other web sites. It makes for a better cost effective decision for real estate agents.

Heres's a clip from an article from Business Week

By Timothy J. Mullaney

Real estate listings are moving online, and newspapers are racing to protect their classifieds market by following them

Most Sundays, Bob Peltier buys six ad pages in the two Twin Cities newspapers. But Labor Day weekend was a turning point for the president of Edina Realty, Minnesota's top real estate firm. Instead of pages of open-house listings, Edina ran one page in each paper: The ad had a picture of a computer, but no information about houses at all. Instead, it told buyers to see Edina's Web site for open houses. "This is the start," Peltier says. "In 2007, I'll spend 50 percent less on the newspaper."

Peltier's decision shows how a soft housing market could deliver yet more bad news for newspapers. Three new studies say the $11.6 billion real estate ad market is set to shift hard from print to the Internet.

"If "listings" are so quickly distibuted to the "mega" sites in order to gain maximum seller exposure, why do we charge the seller anything, when they can do it theselves?"

Hopefully a good real estate agent does FAR more than put a home in the MLS, or any other site.

Can the seller complete a legally binding contract for themselves?
Can the seller distinguish one offer from another? (the highest price offer isn't always the strongest)
Does the seller understand how to get their home ready for showings?
Does the seller comprehend all the figures on the HUD-1?
Can the seller effectively negotiate with the buyer to maximize their position?
Does the seller understand the required disclosures?
When the deal is spiraling out of control due to inspections, lenders, buyers remorse and a plethora of other things that can go wrong, can the seller right the ship and get the deal closed?

I could go on and on, and on.

Agents do (or should do) MUCH more than input a listing. In fact, that's pretty much the most insignificant thing we do (or should do).

As for Realtor.com -- what a waste of potential that site is.

JAN

2007

by the way, with a P2 site, you enter your listing on your own website, and it's syndicated to at least 15 other sites such as google base and trulia. ONE place to input and manage your listing. PLUS it's on other agent sites that agreed to post it. Cool stuff. Fell free to peek www.twincityseller.com

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