A Trove of (mls)information

Source: MarketingCharts.com

It might as well be said by someone, so why not me?

Everyone looking to buy a home is using the Internet. 100% = everyone.

Whew, that feels good.

After reading this morning’s real estate article in The Washington Post where they regurgitated a National Association of Realtors statistic that only 90% of buyers are using the Internet, I thought that someone needed to set the record straight. That last 10% simply does not exist and I will ~~make a $10,000 bet~~ buy the first person who can produce someone in that 10% lunch at Chick-fil-A.

The Post article discussed listing databases and how some listings are on some but not on others. I have heard this complaint from clients for years who have found a listing on Realtor.com but not FranklyMLS, or on Zillow but not Homesdatabase. What really grates them, and probably you, is when they/you learn from the agent that the listing already is under contract.

The article also touches on an idiotic debate in the real estate industry where some brokerages are deciding not to allow their listing to be posted on third party sites like Trulia or Zillow because those sites actually make money. Yes, it comes down to the fact Trulia and Zillow make a profit placing ads around listings. The Post even states: “more than 30 million people visited Zillow in January” which must mean they have successfully tapped into THE CONSUMER.

If you are selling a home, wouldn’t you want it on a site with 30 million visits?

With that in mind, I did add a more advanced real estate search capacity to this blog. I will do my best to fill in certain area specific search pages to make life easier for you… and know that I encourage feedback so please let me know how I am doing.

Here are a couple of screen shots for what I have planned for a search called Vienna Real Estate Guide. The great thing is that this will be data from the MRIS database which is our regional MLS. Make sense?

The focus here is on the consumer (that’s you) and hopefully filling in those blanks you find on those third party sites.

On another note, when I am the listing agent on a home know that those third party sites are giving major exposure for my client’s homes (that’s a good thing). The goal is to meet the buyer where they are looking. In my opinion, if an agent told me that they didn’t post to Zillow or Trulia it would probably be the end of the relationship.

A few years ago I started noticing a trend when my clients would come to meeting with printouts from multiple real estate web sites. They really didn’t care if it was the Redfin, Frankly or L&F site because they had questions about the homes and I was their professional real estate guy. Today’s savvy consumer probably has an app or three on their phone to look at homes which I feel is very helpful. In my experience, finding the house is the easy part.

If the site works for you, then use what works for you!

After reading that Post article you may start to wonder about the “Tangles of the Web”. Go into it knowing that you should not put all your eggs in one basket (wed to just one site) because by using multiple sites know you will be seeing almost everything (legal made me restate that).