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One More Reason I don't need my listings on Zillow or Homes.com!

By Greg Nino

Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Compass 0524642

February 15, 2012 07:24 AM

I don't need zillow or realtor.com

The proof is in the pudding as they say. Above you can see just how relevant and potent our mls really is. I don't need Zillow to host my listings (especially after they have sold) so they can turn around and attempt to sell the traffic right back to me. I don't need Realtor.com trying to charge me to "Showcase" my listings on a website that has little value for my sellers.

Not one single time has a buyer EVER called me and said they found a home on Zillow that they'd like me to show them. Not once.

I did get a call from a very upset home owner last year. He accused me of "listing his home" after it was closed. Apparently it was my OLD listing (closed 3 years before) but it was STILL being promoted on Homes.com as active listing Really?

My MLS points traffic to my website. They really do! I don't pay extra for it and I don't pay a monthly subscription. My sellers get the best exposure they can possibly get right from the Houston MLS. Zillow might have bigger numbers, but the quality of requests doesn't even compare. You can see that to date I've received almost 1,000 leads. ONE THOUSAND.

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John Turner

PARKS - Nashville, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Tennesse - Murfreesboro, TN

The Turner-Victory Team at PARKS

Very well said!! I have experienced some of the same frustrations.

Feb 15, 2012 07:28 AM

Jo Olson

HOMEFRONT Realty - Kettle Falls, WA

Retired - HOMEFRONT Realty @ LAKE Roosevelt

Greg, it looks like your MLS is doing its job. Others should follow their model.

Feb 15, 2012 07:44 AM

Cindy Jones

Integrity Real Estate Group - Woodbridge, VA

Pentagon, Fort Belvoir & Quantico Real Estate News

Interestingly enough I was contacted today about my rental listing from Zillow. It was a first and I don't pay for any extra zillow advertising. Came out of the blue.

Feb 15, 2012 08:03 AM

Bryan Robertson

Los Altos, CA

I've never paid Zillow to promote my listings and in fact have gotten a lot of negative feedback from clients who find their old listings shown as "active" on the site long after the sale. Zillow and Trulia are very misleading many times.

Feb 15, 2012 08:06 AM

Eric Michael

Remerica Integrity, Realtors®, Northville, MI - Livonia, MI

Metro Detroit Real Estate Professional 734.564.1519

I still have a bone-headed client call me every now and then asking about a house they saw on trulia or zillow. I explain that they need to look up houses on my website.

Feb 15, 2012 08:14 AM

Bobbie Smith

Stroudsburg, PA

570-242-1891

Wow! Your MLS is doing great for you. Wish ours worked that way also. What a nice asset to have.

Wouldn't mind those dues so much if it produced leads directly to me. AWESOME.

Feb 15, 2012 08:24 AM

Bob Stewart

ActiveRain - Seattle, WA

ActiveRain Ambassador

You are lucky......HAR is one of the best MLS's in the country as it relates to their consumer facing website. Most agents are not so lucky.

I do have to wonder about the 'hits' stat of 1.5 Billion. That is impossible. That has to be a misprint. That would put HAR in the top ten sites nationwide.....maybe number 1. What does that stat mean? Any idea?

Did you really get 986 email leads? Is that over the entire time the system has been up and running? Or just in January? (which again, would seem impossible)

Feb 15, 2012 08:34 AM

Bob Stewart

ActiveRain - Seattle, WA

ActiveRain Ambassador

I didn't read close enough. I see now that the email leads has been to date, not just for last month.

Feb 15, 2012 08:41 AM

Greg Nino

RE/MAX Compass - Houston, TX

Houston, Texas

Bob,

Since 2006 I've received those "email" leads. It doesn't count the phone calls to the office. From 2004-2006 my listings were under a different person, my past team leader. Still, that's about 15 leads per month.. give or take. Still not too shabby considering they're freebies. All houston listings have the office number on them from the consumer side... so they are forced to call the office for information. The amount of property calls is different for every office obviously. Certainly lucky to have such an awesome association. Hits are a little unworthy to be honest. If I have HAR saved in my favorites and go to the site it counts as a hit. In a busy day you can see how that number can increase very fast. Most importantly my listings are getting the best exposure I can possibly provide when it comes to websites. In our mkt the vast majority of buyers come with a buyers agent who obviously relies on the MLS to view these homes, make appt's and so much more. Our site has more apps, toys and gizmos than you could possibly imagine. This is why I get so annoyed w/3rd party sites claiming to "help" my sellers exposure. Ironically, I need a few of them for my buyer leads. A necessary evil if you will. It's okay to hate what you need sometimes. ;)

Feb 15, 2012 08:56 AM

Richard Iarossi

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Crofton, MD

Crofton MD Real Estate, Annapolis MD Real Estate

Greg,

It's refreshing to see an MLS that's working with, and for their agents. There are far too many examples of it working the other way.

Rich

Feb 15, 2012 10:00 AM

Jennifer Prestwich

Henderson, Thornton, Broomfield and Westminster - Henderson, CO

Madison & Co Properties

That sounds like one heckuva MLS, Greg. Funny, I had a buyer client tell me he found a home on Zillow, and it was in the neighborhood he wanted to live in. I happen to work that area pretty heavily and I was certain the home he mentioned wasn't for sale. It wasn't. It had gone through foreclosure and some enterprising agent posted it to Zillow as his own listing... So I called him and asked what was up.

Funny, he couldn't seem to "find the file" on that home.... must've left it at the office.... uhhh... yeah... I'll have to call you back on that one....

Feb 15, 2012 11:00 AM

Jackie Connelly-Fornuff

Douglas Elliman Real Estate in Babylon NY - Babylon, NY

"Moving at The Speed of YOU!"

I get calls from buyers who see a home on Zillow that is an REO property for a very low price. When I check it further, turns out that home is not an REO property and not even for sale. Talk about false advertising!

Feb 15, 2012 12:35 PM

Karen Crowson

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Rancho Bernardo, CA

Your Agent for Change

When I get calls from consumers on stuff that they 'found on their own', it' frequently outdated information from another site.

Feb 15, 2012 03:25 PM

Doug Rogers

RE/MAX Coastal Properties - Destin, FL

Your Real Estate Resource!

Greg,

Those are impressive numbers. Now imagine if your ads were featured on Realtor.com and were able to capture some of your competitor's leads from Zillow? You would be rich my friend!

Feb 16, 2012 03:54 AM

Rich Cederberg

eXp Realty - Albuquerque, NM

eXp Realty Agent Albuquerque

Great job Greg! And you're obviously caring for those leads because if you weren't they would stop coming. Keep up the excellent work. You make us all look better!

Feb 16, 2012 10:53 AM