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Is Realtor.com worth renewing?

I have a BIG decision to make in the next month. Realtor.com seems to be where most of the average consumers go to search for homes BUT the money they are asking for is MUCH more than free! SHould I stay with the enahnced listing package and just bite the bullet?

Posted by The Joel Schmidt Team The Fastest growing Team in Brighton Mi on 12/30/2007 09:29 PM

Comments (29)

Post is included in group: Point 2 Agent Sites

29 Comments on Is Realtor.com worth renewing?

DEC

2007

Joel, I'm keeping a presence on R.com, but have dropped the expensive programs that never paid off...

I guess the big question would be: "Is it working for you?"

If you are getting enough solid leads that end up in sales, then you might want to keep it up. But if you are not getting a large enough bang for you buck, then don't waste your money. Blogging on multiple platforms can catch buyers that use google and other means for searching.

I am lucky. At EXIT Realty, we have a comprehensive tool called eListing that is fantastic but you have to be an EXIT agent to use it. It has an 800 call capture system, internet eMagazine, listing creators, flyers, and cds that are all integrated and automated to make it real easy to promote your listings online.

We are by invitation only, but if you are interested in our tools and our culture of handing down wisdom, then I'd consider inviting you.

Take care...

Patti Ann

Joel, I've been very disappointed with Realtor.com myself. I don't plan to renew this year.

I've never paid Realtor.com just because EVERY time I got a floor call on a property that a customer had found on the site, there were huge errors in the listing. They're just a pain in the butt.

BTW, you have a spam comment.

A lot of people, myself & my colleagues included are not paying Realtor.com for the Showcase package. Having had the package & having watched leads on Realtor.com dwindle while other sites I use give me back more than I could have ever dreamed of I can officially say - No thanks Realtor.com

I agree with Peter. With our number of listings increasing drastically, so does the cost of R.com. If they would set your price on how many of those listings sold rather than just listed then it would be a lot more reasonable. They all sell eventually, but paying for them up front does not seem to make too much sense for the quality of leads we receive.

NO, it is NOT worth it. I didn't do enhanced listings and I am fine. First time since 2000, very liberating.

REALTOR.com looks like the typical real estate flea market website with dozens of links spread around in hopes that you'll find something of interest. When you start drilling down those links, it just gets worse. Very disappointing for an industry portal.

Wow! I guess the question is, fellow REALTORS.....is....shouldn't we expect more from Realtor.com? What a shame. Realtor.com SHOULD be the best tool we have and the one in which we invest. Too bad......perhaps someone at Realtor.com should wake up?

DEC

2007

I did not renew. It is way over priced, and counter productive. It is not smart to pay for a service where the banners of other agents, and services of others are marketed all over the place. That is the #1 mistake in web marketing!

I have just renewed the enhanced listings. The main reason is that if you do not should a consumer search for an agent in an area/zip-code you will not be listed. I have always disliked the fact that Realtor.com markets itself as the official Site of NAR. We are all member of NAR so I believe we all should be listed in the agent search even if we do not subscribe to any of their products. After all with out our listings they have nothing to sell.

Brian- I believe we need to be there too. I agree it is sooo expensive!

Patti Ann- Sounds like Exit Realty does alot for you.

Eric- Where will you be putting the money you are saving?

Lisa- Thaks for the spam lookout! Yeah I agree, they are a pain in the butt

Peter- I am beginning to believe what I hear. Thanks

Aaron and Mindy- Paying up front is the major problem I have too.

Missy- Alright my mind is made up. Thanks!

Frank- They have some work to do to get the Realtors back on board

Jim mazziotti- I hope someone fron realtor.com is reading all this.

Jim- Great info..

Joel, I too struggle with the same decision. I believe, we should negotiate with realtor.com, if they want our business. The prices need to stay down, considering sales have been down...... I appreciate your comment on my blog, and I wish you a happy 2008 year, may all your dreams come to reality this year. God Bless you. Lu

I have subscribed to a number of different levels or programs with Realtor.com and simply never saw it as being worth the money. At least at this point in the game.

What I mean by that is that Realtor.com used to be the site that all of my customers (sellers) used to ask me about (i.e.: "Will I be on Realtor.com?"). And I was always able to tell them that they would have a great ENHANCED listing on Realtor.com, and due to the fact that I really like to track my numbers I was able to see that I was getting A LOT more traffic, views and over all bang for my buck from my own web sites. I like to have a web address (sometimes personal to that specific listing) hanging from my primary yard sign that direct everyone to a specific site that allows me to TRULY customize a page for that listing. Realtor.com would allow for a "little" bit of customization, but not like I could do on one of my personal sites.

I just wasn't getting enough traffic and hits for my clients, and I wasn't really pulling enough out of it for myself to continue to justify it from a marketing stand point.

But a lot of this comes down to your personal experience with the Realtor.com system, and the other also comes down to where else are you going to be putting your money, and are you getting better results from that. Those 2 factors should speak volumes to you.

I hope that helps.

DJ Breckheimer
www.djBreck.com

JAN

2008

Scott- I know it's such a catch 22 isn't it!

Lu- Thanks Lu.. God bless you too and I wish you your breakthrough year this year. I know it's hard your first couple years...

DJ- Oh I agree. I would always pump up Realtor.com as THE website their home would be showcased and now I have SOOOOOO much more to show where we advertise. I am still unsure though because i just converted another lead today from realtor.com.

JAN

2008

I haven't paid Realtor.com for years. I don't appreciate sites that use our listings to generate business and then charge us back for it. Just my 2 cents.

Aly

JAN

2008

Good question?! I have to re new soon too. I don't even know what the price breakdown is,...as you get more listings. I've had MANY listings this year, but so withdrew soon after listing...which leaves me paying a higher fee on Realtor.com, which tracts # of listings...not sold ones. DO you know the price breakdown??

JAN

2008

I just cancelled my realtor.com also because of a much higher rate because I had many more listings this past year. With more listings and a large drop in actual results from r.com, I cannot find anymore value with it.

My "rep" just emailed me to let me know the consequenses for not renewing with them. Here it is.

Sorry to see you leave Realtor.com!
I want you to be aware of what has happened to you and your listings since your membership expired:
Your name, your agent photo, direct phone numbers, email address have all disappeared from your listings.
Only one photo is being displayed.
Your website is no longer connected to Realtor.com.
Your listings will no longer have the Neighborhood information tab
Your name has been removed from the directory of Realtors.
You will no longer have the ability to show your sellers how many times their property have been viewed on Realtor.com.
Your contact information has been removed from MSN.com, Wall Street Journal.com, Juno.com, and 80 other websites.

Wow, I did not realize that they did so much for me. Too bad it is only hype without the results.

Take Care.

FEB

2008

I agree with Aly on Realtor.com - they S U C K! Our own national assn charging us back for referrals on our own listing base. Besides they charge $19.99 for posting a tour to your own listing. Twenty bucks for 2 secs upload time. What is that per hour? What is that per second - wait a minute! I hear they are hurting now with the downturn in the market, alot of folks have quit their banner ad upgrades, etc. Can't say a positive thing about them & they think they are the only game in town! Why don't you help fix that?

Buying in to Realtor.com does seem quite expensive ... But, if you want to draw attention to your listings ... It's the way to go! Enhanced Listings better represent your Sellers' interests. And allow you to control the text. Take a look ... Decide for yourself.

The first question you need to ask is what's your return on investment. Its the same question you need to ask about all of your marketing expenses. When you calculate your return on investment include listings that you won and buyers.

Although I do not like the high fee associated with marketing on Realtor.com, I have won listings and buyers have found me through my advertising on Realtor.com. The marketing expense has created a return on investment so I will be renewing in 2008

If you generate income from it keep it. If you don't generate income, then lose it.

I have a problem with shelling out my hard earned money for self advertising.

I have to disagree with the blanket statements to boycott Realtor.com as a marketing and advertising venue. As a Virtual Assistant, I have had the pleasure of working with realtors across the U.S., most of whom are advertising on R.com.

The first reason I disagree is because all marketing and advertising venues do not work for everyone. Because it did not work for some does not mean it is worthless for everyone. With R.com, it really depends on many factors, the largest of which is your geographic location. Highly saturated areas show that the realtors have less success than lower saturated areas.

The second reason I disagre is because the marketing systems that need to be in place in order to make R.com work for you are most often not in place so everyone who markets there will not take full advantage of what they are paying for. As a result, many say they are not getting anything from it.

Let's face it... Realtor.com is not going anywhere. They may be struggling right now as many agents drop their advertising packages with the downturn in the market but they are here to stay. Is it right that they charge realtors for the leads they get from their own listings? I think not. Is it right that they charge what I feel are such exorbitant fees for the advertising packaes? I think not. Is it right that realtors have to pay to be listed in the national association's official website for realtors? Again, I think not. However facts are facts. Realtor.com is typically the first place consumers go when they are ready to buy or sell real estate. Which means, it is important to some extent to be found there.

I do not typically recommend that agents get more than the enhanced listing package simply because of the fees involved. With the enhanced listing package, your listings get the "showcased listing" banner when you want them, you get many more photos, etc. This, to me, is worth it because your listings stand out over other listings, which brings more attention to your listing and your contact information.

That being said, I do agree with others who have stated that you need to do some homework before making this decision. How many leads have you received from R.com in the last year? How many of those leads have turned into clients? How many people contacted you as a result of a listing they saw on R.com? How much have you paid in the last year for your advertising on R.com? Now, what are some of the other places where you advertise? How much have you spent on advertising there? What was your return on investment for the other advertising venues?

Once you do this homework, you will be able to determine whether or not it is worth your while to continue advertising with R.com.

I hope this helps!

~Renae - Market 4 Real!

FEB

2008

My question to those of you saying you will not renew, specifically the listing enhancement package, is what do you tell a client who calls you up and says "Hey, I noticed that my listing only has 1 photo on REALTOR.COM. Why doesn't my listing have more detail and pictures like the others I see?"

As an I.T. Director working for a Coldwell Banker franchise I cannot begin to tell you how many times over the past year I have had an increasing number of our agents call me up and say, "Nick, my client is upset that they only have one photo on REALTOR.COM. How do I get more pictures up there??"

There is literally no answer to that question other than "You must get a Realtor.COM listing enhancement package." and then....the kicker, especially for many old timers..."YOU have to take the time and enhance it yourself." When I explain that to our agents caught in this dilemna, the phone usually goes silent.

Today's consumer is becoming more and more savvy and more and more interested in knowing where their listing is online. I truly believe this is going to be a much bigger problem as time goes on as the younger generation starts buying and selling homes.

Now that I am licensed, I can tell you, that I absolutely do not ever want to be put in a position where a client asks me that question and I have no answer.

FEB

2008

Joel,

Here is my take on Realtor.com. I have had them for 2 years and just dropped them. They keep going up on their price each year and I can honestly say that I have sold 1 home from them. All our listings are posted there without up paying their outragous fees. They just don't have our name and contact information with it.

I have recently learned that there is a company that they gave a Steal of a Deal to..... I'm waiting to get a contact persone and see if I can help get that same type deal at our company.

I see you have recieved several comments.... Some for.... Some against.

I have to say that I agree with Nick about the enhanced package... if you work with sellers you need to have it. It is extremely unfortunate that r.c is gouging us price wise in a market where are struggling to survive. I have have had the enhanced package since I got my first listing years ago and my sellers like. I have also used the featured homes packages, which years ago worked great. The exposure offered by r.c has decreased and the price for now less exposure has increased. I will probably not renew my featured homes this year as it goes up every year. Last year I paid $3300 for 1 zip code. When the exposure was higher it was far more worthwhile. They you feed into aol real estate, remax.com, yahoo real estate, and many others. A featured listing on r.c would also be a featured listing on all of these site. Not so now! While the features slots feed to less places evey year, the fee for such goes up. It's gone over $1000 since started it a few years ago and now it feed to less than half the places. I see fewer and fewer slots being sold... perhaps they should rethink charging more for less.

Joel - Jim and I still subscribe to Realtor.com. However, we almost dropped them completely this year because of the cost. We just dropped one of our pictures instead. We're going to track it this year and see whether or not it's worth staying on board next year. I believe that if their costs were much lower that more agents could afford to join and build it back up to be an important tool.

I don't see how you cannot use it if you have listings. At least in my market everyone I ask says they look at R.com to find homes. That's pretty strong. I haven't invested in advertising myself yet but that is my next step.

FEB

2008

Re Realtor.com (RDC), they put your listings on over 60 sites for the price they charge to enhance your listings, and give you a full page colored ad that's the same as it appears on RDC. If you had to pay for this yourself it would be cost prohibitive. The charge is based on how listings you've had in the last 365 so they can estimate would it will cost them to pay these over 60 sites for your listings for the coming year. If you put 10 ads in the newspaper vs 25 ads, you would be paying 2 1/2 times more for those ads. RDC charges only by each agents personal HLC (Historical Listing Count) to be fair to every agent. The prices have not gone up this year to the agents even though the prices increased to RDC for these additional sites!

As with all sites, the listings are only going to look as good at the time put into each listing by using the enhancements to give it 'curb appeal' on the internet. You don't buy a car and expect it to come with a driver..............it's up to each agent to use the tools they pay for with RDC and the majority do not. It makes a vast difference in how the listings appear on all of their partners sites and on RDC. Taking 5-7 minutes to enhance each listings and having it look good for the life of the listings is worth the time to take; besides which, when viewers see what you do for your clients it may entice them to call that agent to list their property.

As for misinformation on listings, it's up to the agent/office to be sure that the information on the data sheets to the MLS is correct to begin with. Sometimes the perameters you'd like, don't work with the MLS as far as defining the listing catagory.

Their site is being updated/upgraded as we speak. There's a lot of new people with great technical experience working daily to make that site better. Still, go to Alexa.com or Quant.com and check how may viewers other sites are getting compared to RDC.

When you see leads coming from other sources, the way that websites are setup these days, if someone views your listing on RDC and click on 'visit website', if that website is hosted by someone other than RDC, the website is set up to show that email as being a lead from them even though it was generated from the RDC listings.

Sorry. but someone needed to say this on their behalf and it's obviously me.

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