RealSeekr.com Launch [Product Review]

Thanks for sharing, I’m over there filling out my stuff now and WHOO HOO they have 1 of our mls systems!

Lani;
I really like the folks, and its nice to see real estate professionals explorng new options in the industry, but isn’t the aggregation issue the same? As the site gains traction, the upside ability to earn a profit from their work is going to be a result of what I call the “crack effect”. We start out with a harmless media program that costs little or nothing (Trulia cost me ZERO at first, with logos that linked back to my web site) then when the aggregation gains traction, the enhancements start to get more and more expensive (After a year on Trulia, those little logos would have cost as much as our company’s website, just for the branding and the link).
I guess if anyone’s going to benefit from that I would prefer it be someone I like, but I really think that the businessperson’s best protection is in driving their own traffic to their own sites where they can benefit from the consumer contact directly.
I also have some heartburn about the FSBO listings being on the site where we put ours. Again, if the site gains national traction it will be from the preponderance of REALTOR listings, andthe FSBOs will be getting additional exposure to the traffic driven by the other 85% of themarket. As a real estate person, that doesn’t benefit my business at all. The same with realtytrac – their ubiquitous presence on every search engine that will have them as a method for selling subscriptions that people then forget to cancel (and I’m one of them – duh!) is really not what I think the consumer wants when they look for real property. I think they want the direct goods.
That being said, again, I am in favor of these particular people having every success possible, so congratulations to Gia and Grant for being creative, and best wishes for their success.

I’m thinking these “business links” aren’t going to be popular with the tRibe.

eClosed.com – Flat Fee MLS

Flat Fee MLS Listing starting at $289

Atlanta Flat Fee MLS/FMLS Listing Service

Connecticut Flat Fee MLS Services $299

But hey, anything that raises the bar for REALTOR.com is a good thing. After all, REALTOR.com wouldn’t be added a “warm color pallet” and “engaging voyeuristic images” if they hadn’t seen them somewhere else first. And yes, those are direct quotes from the “talking points.” Read ’em and weep.

Wow! I love your way of reviewing =) You give clear cuts of the pros and cons. Cheers and thanks for the info =D

I looked at properties or at least tried and I find nothing for Las Vegas. Will they be on board? I like the concept and wish you luck. I am more of a buyers agent and do not do many listings.

I will Benn I like the concept and anything that will improve our industry is a plus. This just might do it. Thank you for bring this to us.

@ Frank –

I just read a few minutes’ worth over there and my thoughts on it are simple –

That is exactly why I tell people to own their own respective domains and content.

For a starter, go here.

The AR folks are writing under someone else’s rules; there’s nothing wrong with that, but people should understand that going in. If they don’t, that’s really their fault.

> These sites will proliferate until the consumer is satisfied and all of the information is available – one-stop.

But all the information isn’t available in one stop, Vicki. The IDX feeds aren’t complete. There are choices made as to what information is sent and what isn’t. For instance, despite my constant requests, I can’t filter REO properties because the needed field isn’t part of the local MLS’ IDX feed.

So what you end up with is a collection of sites, all with incomplete information, and even with all of the incomplete information from multiple sources you never get all the information.

> If your seller asks you why you didn’t use that cool new site they saw on agentgenius, are you gonna tell them the truth?

I’d probably tell them that the cool new site has limited viewership and a limited return, Jeff … which, as I read it, is mostly a waste of breath. If it’s easy enough to upload, then I’ll do it. If it takes too much time to do, I probably won’t.

One of the better aspects of the Point-2-Agent platform is the syndication of listings to a number of different sources.

One last thing – I don’t look askew at the listing aggregators because I want the buyers leads from my listings to come to me. I look askew at them because I want the buyers to come to me directly. This likely still will happen on my niche sites like Westbrook Village Real Estate. which rules the roost on Google. But I’m not as thrilled about the notion of competiton when that competiton is being fueled by my listings. My own listings being used against me is less than cool.

Same reason I don’t bother with AR … the Google Juice is cool but it’s fueled by my content. So now that I left, I’m competing with an AR profile from someone using a platform that I helped build (in a miniscule way) with my own content.

We’re creating our own competition, kids.

@ jonathan – try filtering the remarks field with the words corporate addenda required you might find REO stuff – It works for me.

@bawldguy – I love the list of priorities for the listing agent – but you gotta admit that its tough to provide someone (not these folks for whom I have good wishes) with the stock to put in their store, and then be charged for the privilege of using it- I think that’s where people get twisted up – And the flip side argument might be that the people who inquire on our company’s site are introduced to our company’s properties as early as practical. If they go to someone else’s site, they may never have them promoted by in the most beneficial manner. – Maybe yes, Maybe no, but its a thought!

Bill — I appreciate your thoughts, but as usual, I must be behind the home agent curve here.

If the point is to sell the property, and the site assists the agent in that endeavor, why does the agent balk? The site charges money?! OMG! What next, the agent charges his sellers when escrow closes? What will they think of next, capitalism?

Sure, it’s their store, and they’re getting your listing sold. That’s why they’re in business. That’s the part I’m missing. So what? Isn’t selling listings the point of it all? Are these sites supposed to model the Red Cross? Are they real estate’s version of the Peace Core, helping poor agents everywhere?

The client is king, not agents. It’s our clients for whom we work and who pay us for RESULTS. They care not a whit about our marketing costs, lead generation, etc. They hired us to sell their property, period.

If this conversation is being read by potential home sellers, I wonder what they’d have to say?

We already know, don’t we? It appears many agents are putting the emphasis on the wrong syl-LA-ble.

Bill — Excellent point. Since this is Lani’s post, I’ll use a baseball analogy, rare indeed.

Closed escrows are RBI’s (runs batter in) as that’s how we know who wins. Runs scored/closed escrows.

Yet, sometimes it requires a hitter to give himself up by bunting for a sure out, which allows a runner(s) to move into ‘scoring’ position. If the next hitter comes through with a solid hit, the run(s) score, moving the team closer to another win.

The next time you see a baseball game where a hitter successfully executes a sacrifice bunt, watch what happens when he returns to the dugout. The entire team is waiting to offer congrats and props for taking one for the team.

Putting your seller’s listing on a site leveraging it for others’ benefit is a small price to pay for selling the home.

Seller’s tend to respect agents with high RBI totals. Knocking in runs IS the name of the game, right? Sometimes a sacrifice is required to get them into scoring position.

Lani’s rollin’ her eyes as she reads this. 🙂

Frank — Let me continue my one-act pony gig. 🙂

Giving up complete control? If the listing sells, and enough have to or agents wouldn’t be using them as much, the agent makes money. Big time money.

A $300,000 listing commission @ 3% is $9,000.

I’ll take the $9,000 and they can have control. Works for me. It also works for the seller.

Oh yeah, the seller. 🙂

BawldGuy Talking, last year most listings on Zillow didn’t sell. Call it a sign of the times rather than a reflection on Zillow. The problem comes when the listing expires and another agent picks it up, but you are still “advertising” that listing on Zillow. If the other agent complains to the MLS, you get fined. If you complain to Zillow, they tell you they own the listing. This has happened to actual Zillow users.

Matthew, here is the section of Zillow’s Terms of Use that caught my attention, from section 3:

…you grant Zillow an irrevocable, perpetual, worldwide license to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, and translate your Submission, in connection with the Services or in any other media, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

“Irrevocable” and “perpetual” imply that you cannot remove the listing from Zillow without their consent.

“Edit” and “modify” imply that Zillow can make changes to the listing without your consent.

“Sublicense” implies that Zillow can resell your listing to anyone, anywhere without your consent.

Seems to me like you are giving up complete control of the listing when you post it to Zillow because you agree to the Terms of Use when you post the listing to Zillow.

Sorry for hijacking the thread. ReelSeekr obviously has an opportunity to provide a better solution for agents by respecting their need to have reasonable control over the listing. I wouldn’t have a problem with ReelSeekr sublicensing the listing to other aggregators, provided they disclosed all of those aggregators (some online systems refuse to disclose, citing “confidentiality agreements”), get permission from the agent (or homeowner, if FSBO), preserve the agent’s rights with regard to the listing (i.e. if you sell it to Zillow, their unfair TOS do not apply), and agree to transmit removal instructions to all sublicensees in a timely fashion (no more “Flying Dutchman” listings that sail on forever).

Am I being unreasonable? I’m simply trying to protect the agent, since every aggregator I have ever seen has placed all responsibility on the agent, even if the agent didn’t know they had the listing. I ask you, how is that fair?

Bill – there are a few phrases that might help filter for REOs but it would be much, much, much easier if the Miscellaneous field (which contains “Lender Owned Property” was on the IDX feed.

Jeff – as we discussed this afternoon, I’m not necessarily upset. I’m sorta bored. And feeling a bit stretched in needing to keep up with all of these sites that do essentially the same thing. Adding a live chat isn’t the most spectacular differentiator. Neither is being designed by agents.

If this site somehow helps a listing sell, beautiful. Very happy. Short of that, it’s just another example of a site with no value-added content of its own hoping to make some cash with other people’s listings.

This is a great debate – I personally see both sides. I chose NOT to put my listings on Zillow in the beginning, because of their “terms of use”, lack of control over my listing and the fact you can never remove information or a listing.

Did it matter? No! ReMax of Indiana decided to put all their listings on Zillow. Once they do, a buyer has to sign in at the ReMax site to obtain more information. To publish as much useful information to the buyer, I have to go back to Zillow to edit or claim my listing. As Ines said, it takes a considerable amount of time to enhance your listings at all these sites. I, too, use vFlyer, Point 2 and Real Estate Shows to syndicate my listings.

Buyers are looking for information, it’s what they want and if they have to browse several sites, they get frustrated. According to the NAR statistics, the last thing a buyer is looking for is agent contact information. We have to give them information and prove our value is not based on being the keeper of information.

As a listing agent, it is my job to get the home sold. As such, I did sign up at RealSeekrs. I don’t believe my sellers care where the buyer comes from, as long as they get there.

The bonus for me, is, there is a link out there for buyers and sellers to connect directly to my sites. This provides an opportunity for them to research me as an agent, when they are ready.

@Jonathan – You know that I’m not nuts about putting ANYONE between agents and consumers, and therefore am not crazy about the whole concept of aggregators. And I think if we (the industry) had not been asleep at the switch) we wouldn’t have allowed people who have neither produce nor customers to eat our lunch (or at the very least take the potato chips off the tray)

Stepping aside from the debate over the pros and cons of listing aggregators, what I’m left with is this basic thought – did we need another one of these sites?

Having said that, in answer to your question of course we need another one of these – because this is a business opportunity for the Freer’s, and if they are creative enough, and work hard enough and spend the time, they deserve to make the most of the opportunity they create.
We really do live in the best country in the world IMHO, and if this is an opportunity for them to advance themselves, I would say Go for it! – At least my potato chips might end up in the hands of someone from our industry… Amd Thanks for the opportunity to make a Memorial Day Holiday Plug, I’m feelin Uber-Patriotic this weekend 🙂

It appears as though RealSeekr.com has gone out of business.