The Truth Sets Every Realtor Free. Thank You Zillow!
This is an excellent information that every reader both seller and buyer of real estate should read. I had a seller once that insisted that I price his house according to Zillow. I reluctantly did as he asked informing him that the pricing was way over what really was. Guess what his house never sold because it was over prices.
I've never been a supporter of Zillow. And it's not just Zillow, it's any company who takes my listing and attempts to turn around and sell me the traffic. The 'exposure for said seller' is and was the material lightning rod in the lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors. NAR lost the fight because in the end, the whole it's what's "best for the public" won.
Funny stuff. Some of the same people who pushed for the lawsuit are the very same ones who benefited from it. There isn't a buyer I've closed in ten years that found the home they wanted to purchase on a 3rd party site. This includes Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and almost all the others. Our MLS is excellent. Our membership for the Houston area includes over 23,000 members who pay into a system that benefits its clients greatly. It's a small example of what NAR could and SHOULD be doing. The horses have long left the barn, but it doesn't mean that the one million members across the United States and Canada can't redefine what advertising means.
Today one of my clients made an interesting comment while signing a contract with the builder. She said to me and I quote.. "I guess I can turn off that app from Zillow. The damn thing kept taking us to houses that didn't exist!"
Instead of fanning the flames I listened. Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing. My client was saying it all on her own in front of 3 others. Her husband polished off the conversation saying.. "Yeah, I've read how off they were, but that site just kept taking us to properties that weren't even on the market."
Word of mouth is the single biggest form of good or bad advertising. It's why restaurants and retails stores either make it or break it. The Internet may seem different, but it's not. Our online reputation will eventually define who we are. Consumers can't wait to talk about "that company."
Even the best companies are incorrectly victimized about their goods and services. That's to be expected. You can't make everyone happy.
But given enough rope, and even the biggest and wealthiest institutions will find a way to destroy themselves... one little unhappy consumer at a time. Some of these internet sites Realtors hate become a victim of their own success. The very thing that makes them appealing - free, quick home evaluations (almost always inaccurate) will eventually make their business model unsustainable.
Here are some fun companies to remember...
1. DeLorean Motor Co.
2. PaineWebber
3. Merry-Go-Round
4. Beatrice Foods Co.
5. Pullman Co.
6. E.F. Hutton
7. MCI Worldcom
8. Enron
9. Eastern Airlines
10. Woolworth's
11. Pan Am
12. Standard Oil
13. Arthur Andersen
14. General Foods Corp.
15. TWA
16. Bear Sterns
17. Pets.com
18. Kozmo.com (remember these guys?)
Greg Nino, Houston area Realtor®.
Helping residential buyers, sellers and tenants 7 days a week.
Available @ 832-298-8555RE/MAX Compass (Formerly RE/MAX WHP)
The information contained in this blog is believed to be reliable and while every effort is made to assure that the information is as accurate as possible, the author of this blog, and its comments disclaim any implied warranty or representation about it's accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for any particular purpose. All information is copywritten and the property of Greg Nino.
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