Geoffrey Schiering weighs in on the MLS listing syndication war between aggregators such as Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com and MLS Boards in multiple markets including the recent dropping of Diverse Solutions from Denver’s MetroList approved 3rd Party IDX Vendor List:

Realtors have finally started to push back against the questionable practices of the real estate listing aggregators (or "syndicators"), Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and others. For years, these deep-pocketed online media corporations have been growing exponentially at the expense of the professional real estate community. The aggregators take the intellectual property of individual Realtors, mix it with other content, re-brand the property as their own, and then sell related advertising rights back to the Realtors who they took the property from in the first place. And in the process they create substantial confusion in the public marketplace of real estate buyers and sellers. Realtors have begun to realize that this is harming the real estate industry, and a "real estate syndication war" is heating up.

MLS listings definitely contain copyrighted material. Specifically, the property descriptions and photographs in the MLS listings belong to the individual real estate agents who wrote the descriptions or took the photographs. Copyright subsists from the moment of creation. Whether or not those copyrights are formally registered with the Library of Congress, they are copyrighted materials.

So how have the listing aggregators been allowed royalty-free publishing rights to copyrighted materials? Well, the individual real estate agents and real estate brokers who create MLS listings are members of local associations of Realtors. The Realtors associations publish the "Multiple Listing Service" (MLS) for their local communities. And the Realtors associations have, until recently, given unrestricted permission Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com and others to republish the MLS listing feeds.

But last month the Associations of Realtors in San Diego and in Denver took bold steps to attempt to protect the integrity of their MLS data vis-à-vis the syndicators. First Denver MetroList announced that it would no longer provide an MLS data feed to Diverse Solutions, an MLS listing distributor that was recently acquired by Zillow. Then the San Diego Association of Realtors modified its MLS data stream to allow listing agents to input "Advertising Remarks" which include the names, website addresses, and phone numbers of the listing agents. In the next two months the large syndicators must display the Advertising Remarks alongside the San Diego real estate listings on their sites. Any syndicators who refuse to make the change within the next 30 days will be cut off from the San Diego Realtors MLS.

The move by the San Diego Realtors (Sandicor) is a particularly positive step. A big problem with the MLS aggregators system is that they tend to mislead the public regarding the identity of the listing agent. In most cases the agents who are displayed alongside the syndicated listings have no relationship to the property, and may have little or no knowledge of the neighborhood. The "recommended" agents are usually just advertisers on the syndicators’ websites. This poses a serious likelihood of confusion with the public, and the San Diego Association of Realtors is working to fix that.

The MLS has been, and will continue to be, critical to well-functioning real estate markets. Individual agents and real estate brokers pay a hefty monthly fee to belong to their local boards of Realtors. Access to the MLS, both for receiving and for distributing information about homes for sale, has always been a big reason for Realtor membership. It is the way that professional Realtors exchange information about properties in their markets. And, with the help of IDX (Internet Data Exchange) and RETS (Real Estate Transaction Standard) technology, the MLS has become a direct source of information to the public. The MLS, either directly or through its member Realtors, matches buyers and sellers in an efficient, open marketplace.

So isn’t it a good thing when the MLS data is republished by Trulia, Realtor.com, or Zillow? Won’t sellers just get more exposure with buyers and buyers have an easier time finding properties for sale? It would be great if it were that simple, but the answer is NO. It is not better.

Syndicators Mislead The Public

Another big problem is that the local MLS is not the only place that syndicators such as Zillow get information. The syndicators grab information from a variety of online sources. And not all the information is accurate or up-to-date. As a result, the public is being confused and often misled. Realtors are losing credibility with a public who no longer knows who or what to believe.

I’ve personally published a "house for sale" advertisement on Craigslist (a home that was not on the MLS), and in less than 24 hours the property description and photos that I’d posted on Craigslist were being displayed alongside my local San Diego MLS listings on Zillow. Anyone can publish anything on Craigslist, whether it’s real, fake, exaggerated, or a downright scam. And when Zillow displays unverified, junk information right alongside MLS listings, the public assumes that the junk is just as accurate as the MLS data.

Outdated information on Zillow, Trulia, and similar sites is also harmful. I regularly receive inquires from prospective buyers who’ve seen this or that property for sale on Zillow. When I look it up I find that the property is in escrow, or was recently sold, or was sold literally years earlier. Occasionally there are property addresses that don’t even exist. And when people get the truth they are often skeptical. If it was on Zillow, they wrongly assume, it must be correct.

The Realtors associations that publish MLS listings have strict standards, and those standards are meant to protect the public and to protect the reputations of member Realtors. The listings must contain accurate information and measurements. The listings may not have any misleading sales language or cross-promotions with other businesses. San Diego MLS Listings must be removed from the MLS within 48 hours after an offer is accepted from a potential buyer. Short sales and foreclosures with accepted offers awaiting bank approval must be re-categorized in "Contingent" status rather than remain on the MLS as an active "for sale" listing. There is a whole book of rules that Realtors must follow with regard to MLS listings and advertising. Yet the rules don’t apply to the listing aggregators. Public beware.

Local Real Estate Sites More Accurate

Fortunately the public does have access to legitimate MLS listing information. Individual Realtors and real estate brokers have access to MLS data feeds. The individual agents and local real estate brokers publish those MLS data feeds directly to their websites with the help of IDX and RETS service providers. The information on these individual agent and local brokerage websites is almost always more timely and accurate than the information found on Zillow or Trulia. Realtors who do not comply with the MLS listing rules on their websites can lose their Realtor membership and MLS service. There has been no such incentive for the listing aggregators.

The MLS listing syndicators can expect increased resistance from other local associations of Realtors. The syndicators have been profiting from the work of Realtors by selling advertising placement to the Realtors themselves. The syndicated websites tend to confuse the public regarding the identity of the listing agents. The MLS listings published by the syndicators are mixed in with inaccurate and unreliable data that the syndicators gather from other sources. As a result, the reputations of Realtors and the Realtor Multiple Listing Services are compromised. In the real estate business, reputation and reliability are critical factors in every Realtor’s career. Realtors and the public at large should be concerned, and support efforts to bring the listing aggregators under more reasonable control.

UltimateIDX share their views on the MLS listing syndication war developing between MLS Boards and aggregators such as Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com in several major markets including Denver’s MetroList and their recent dropping of Diverse Solutions:

If you check almost any major market in Google you will find sites such as Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia dominate the majority of the Top 10 slots for all major real estate search phrases.

Many Realtors that are competing for these search engine rankings are unknowingly feeding these mega aggregator sites they compete with by furnishing them listings and populating them with more content.

Let’s keep it real. "Content is King" and it is difficult for a local Brokerage to compete with National Real Estate aggregator sites. Major parts of the major Search Engine algorithms are; content (number of pages), visitors, pages viewed and time on the website. So it is almost impossible for "Mom/Pop" Brokerages to compete with National aggregator websites with hundreds of thousands of pages and collective SEO scores from all markets of page views, visits and time on site.

I am a former Real Estate Broker. I come from a family of Realtors. I understand what it takes to solicit listings and then do the workup, measurements, photos and all the required paperwork. So I find it repulsive that I would do all this work, give it away to websites that I compete with and in some cases be charged for any leads that may be generated from it.

Time to Move On or Change Business Model

Aggregators/Syndicators really need to go by the wayside just as the old monthly/quarterly MLS Books (and the Dinosaurs) did back in the day. Option 2: change their business model into a revenue sharing venue with the Agents that feed their websites.

Option 2 is highly unlikely. However in my proposed scenario instead of Realtor.com receiving fees for furnishing listing data (provided by Agents) to aggregators/syndicators without cost, they would pay the contributing Agents on a per listing basis.

Additionally all aggregators/syndicators should be held to the same rules by the Local MLS Boards that their Members are for display of data (listings) owned by the Local MLS Boards.

MetroList Drops Diverse Solutions

In any war there are casualties. Innocents are unwillingly swept into conflicts as collateral damage and the MLS listing syndication war is no different. As for the Diverse Solutions/Zillow situation with Denver’s MetroList I really do empathize with the MetroList Members that use Diverse Solutions. And I will be the first to admit that Diverse Solutions is a class act.

A lot of hard work and money goes and into real estate websites and changing IDX vendors creates more expense and work at a time when many Realtors are already in distress. However, I do understand the decision made by MetroList and believe it to be in the best interest of all of their Members.

However, there has been a lot of anger directed towards MetroList over severing ties with Diverse Solutions. This anger would be better directed at Diverse Solutions in my humble opinion. If they were looking for a buyer they should have known that selling to an aggregator such as Zillow would be controversial.

We need not shed tears for Zillow inasmuch as their intentions when purchasing Diverse Solutions were relatively transparent.

Yes it is extremely unfortunate that some Denver MetroList Members have been victimized but they were not done so by MetroList.

Keeping it Real

The truth is Realtors are currently acting as busy little Bees for these gigantic aggregators for very little in return. It really is time to rethink syndication and keep it local within and under the watch and rules of the Local MLS Boards.

NOTE: Portions of this post were submitted as comments on 2 different blogs that were not approved so it developed into a post here.

I heard from a client that Morgan Carey was up to his old tricks again slamming any one that competes with him. So I went a looked and sure enough he has an imaginary Member (melissayost – 2 Posts) slamming the UltimateIDX.

The truth of the matter is that we have never served Casa Grande, AZ or any other MLS market in Arizona for that matter. But the truth has NEVER impeded Morgan Carey on any front especially when it comes to slamming competitors.

In his thread at (www).realestatewebmasters.com/thread27972.html Morgan states “Anything has got to be better than UltimateIDX”. Now while my list of REW Clients that have converted to the UltimateIDX continues to grow he can not site one of our clients that have switched to the Real Estate Webmasters IDX. So if “anything” is better than the UltimateIDX where does that leave REW?

While our disputes over the years are well known and subject of much Internet lore, you would think that Morgan and Real Estate Webmasters would just shut up. Especially after narrowly escaping FBI prosecution for hacking the Pro Real Estate Network Forum.

Morgan’s unethical practices and “Black Hat” SEO are continuously overlooked by his fanatical followers and “Kool Aide Drinkers” at Real Estate Webmasters regardless of the depths he is willing to sink to. I mean come on; you guys must at least feel the need to shower after some of your orchestrated attacks on Morgan Carey detractors. Don’t you?

There are actually very few days that I am not contacted by REW clients that want to use the UltimateIDX. The problem is that we can not map a new MLS for one or two Agents. We need at least 10 Agents to commit to using our services prior to us mapping a new MLS market. And unlike REW who is rumored to not pay MLS Boards for data feeds, we pay all required fees to any Board that charges for the feed. To do anything less constitutes theft and jeopardizes IDX Client’s access to the much needed data.

When I heard that NAR requested logs from REW concerning the latest ruling and Morgan declined I must admit I found myself rolling on the ground. The LAST thing that Morgan wants is for National Association of Realtors to see computer logs that might be shared with Local MLS Boards. That could well be the end of REW.

And don’t forget that the REW Summit 2009 is coming up July 30 through the 31st in Nanaimo, BC and for ONLY $499 you can line up and kiss Morgan Carey’s hairy while the former Porn Webmaster teaches you how to sell real estate. This is a MUST Attend Event for all Morgan Carey “Kool Aide Drinkers”!

Background:
A couple of years ago Google devaluated (and in some instances penalized for) reciprocal link exchanges by Real Estate sites and God Bless them for doing so. If we are all going to be honest the whole idea of exchanging a link with a REALTOR in another city or state was nothing less than a blatant attempt to manipulate the SERPs. And it worked for years.

I personally spent endless hours soliciting reciprocal link exchanges and then constantly auditing them to make sure the site owner was living up to their part of the exchange. This time could have and should have been used to update existing content and writing new content for my website. In other words adhering to the Google Webmaster Guidelines…. Da! So when the word came down from on high that the link scam was over and everyone had to take down their spammy 50 page “State Directories” while others were wringing their hands I was celebrating and quickly went back to writing fresh content.

I still have serious heart burn with real estate sites that have reciprocal link exchanges on their Home Pages. I’ve read all the excuses in the forums and on blog posts that these are “Referral Partners” and they share clients. I guess we are also supposed to believe in the Easter Bunny too. While Matt Cutts and Google are aware of the practice and it is a clear violation of their Webmaster Guidelines they have yet to act on this link scam. My guess is that eventually they will and I urge all beginning real estate webmasters to avoid this practice.

Quality Back Links

There are other ways to get quality back links and adhere to the Webmaster Guidelines. Good, relevant, fresh content is the best way. We you write articles that are authoritative and have useful information website owners will link to the article without even being asked. This gives you a premium one-way link.

Another favorite is Blog Comments on blogs that use the DoFollow tag. Like anything else, spammers hit the blogs hard using comments to perpetuate their spam and most blog software is NoFollow by default. You now must use a DoFollow plugin or hard code your blog to follow external links. Personally I feel the DoFollow movement is the right approach to encourage visitors to contribute to your blog by posting comments that are relevant to the post and contribute to the conversation. I personally use the DoFollow plugin on all of my blogs. I do however moderate my comments and will use the “Delete” button in a heart beat on any and all spammers.

By using the DoFollow tag I have increased visitor participation on my blogs and have made some new acquaintances. Without comments from my visitors my blogs seem to be a one sided conversation and while I may not agree with all of my comment poster’s opinions I do like the fresh perspectives they add. So for me Comments are a win-win scenario.

DoFollow Blog Lists

There are a lot of DoFollow Blog lists out there. If using any of them I strongly suggest you verify that the blogs you posts to truly do use the DoFollow plugin. What I would like to do here is create a list of DoFollow Blogs that are specifically related to “Real Estate”. If you have a DoFollow Real Estate Blog please post it in our comments and it will be added to the list. This will give REALTORS the opportunity to communicate with likeminded individuals in an industry that we are all involved with.

It creates fresh content for your website and gives your readers different points of view.

This list will be monitored and audited on a regular basis. If the DoFollow plugin is removed or if the blog is found to perpetuate spam you link will be removed. All Blogs must comply with the Google Webmaster Guidelines at all times.

Caution: For website owners that are considering using the DoFollow Plugin I strongly urge you to moderate ALL of your comments. I also suggest you only accept quality comments that contribute to the conversation.

The List:

• IDX Services
• Las Vegas Real Estate
• San Diego Homes
• Atlanta Real Estate

While industry experts may vary on the percentages of real estate transactions that begin on the Internet from 70-84% none of them will disagree with the importance of capturing and managing real estate leads. This was the driving force that moved the founders of UltimateIDX™ to create our system. Our founders are REALTORS® and we understand the importance of real estate leads. Let’s face it, the days of a real estate Brokerage’s ability to survive on “walk-in” traffic alone is over. If you want to stay in business you need to learn how to get leads from the Internet and how to convert those leads into closed transactions. In this market it is more crucial than ever to keep leads (potential buyers) in your pipe line.

While we all love it when a buyer visits our website that needs to move or relocate within 30 days. The truth is it just does not happen that often. Discounting “tire kickers” buyers can generally be classified in one of four groups;

A) 30 Day Buyers
B) 30 – 90 Day Buyers
C) 90 – 180 Day Buyers
D) Over 180 Day Buyers

All to often inexperienced real estate Agents discount C an D buyers opting to devote most if not all of their time to the quicker sales that A and B Buyers potentially offer. The more seasoned Agents see the time lag on the C and D Buyers as an opportunity to develop a relationship with the buyers over time. By developing a relationship with the C and D buyers the seasoned Agent has a much better opportunity of making a sale than he/she does with an A or B buyer. The veteran also realizes that sooner or later the C and D buyers will turn into A and B buyers. The trick is to build your real estate lead pipeline so that you have a steady supply of all classifications of buyers.

Lead Notifications

One of the most critical steps involved with real estate lead capturing is the follow up email and phone call. Agents need to know as soon as a potential customer registers on their website so the Agent can follow up immediately. The UltimateIDX™ immediately sends out a “Welcome” email with YOUR contact information from YOU. The system also notifies you of the new registration by: Text Message, Email, Web Alert or all three methods. Your notification will give you the Name, Phone, Email and searched properties of the new lead. You will also be notified of “Revisits” each time a registered lead goes back into the system.

REMEMBER: Most experts report the Agent that contacts a new lead within 15 minutes of them logging on to their website and starts a rapport stands the best chance of making the sale.

Suggestion: Call within 15 minutes. Keep your call brief, professional and friendly. Introduce yourself, explain that you noticed that they logged onto your website and invite them to contact you if they need further assistance. If the call is going exceptionally well offer to set them up on your VIP Email Alerts so they can be notified of new listings on the MLS that match their criteria. DO NOT keep them on the line if they do not wish to talk.

Lead Management

Our Client Resource Manager allows you to monitor your leads search habits as it records the search criteria, viewed listings and saved favorites. In addition to giving you a good indication of what a potential customer is looking for it helps you quickly identify “tire kickers” and mark them accordingly so no time is wasted pursuing them. This frees up your valuable time assisting serious property buyers.

Summary

Different Agents in different markets use techniques for follow up that may or may not work for other Agents in other markets. Phone calls and drip mail are some of the most popular methods to keep in touch. Try different things with different intervals and take detailed notes on your lead follow up. Chart what works best for you, and repeat the process. The main thing is to follow up, build that rapport and make the sale. If you don’t your competition will.

Today is one that will most certainly go into the history books and justly so. The Nation inaugurated the 44th President of The United States, President Barack Hussein Obama. America’s first Black President.

Although I am on the record as opposing Obama in the 2008 election for a multitude of strong reasons, I sincerely wish President Obama “God Speed” and all the best for him, his family and our Nation.

While Obama was elected for all the wrong reasons there has not been a President in my life time that has more reasons to succeed than he. Despite his campaign rhetoric engineered to cater to the left, he has already demonstrated a willingness to govern from the center and in order to be successful he must. The lofty ideals of liberalism are simply unrealistic when taken as a whole. Much like a diet of candy may sound good the simple fact is that it is unsustainable and would be damaging to your health. Liberalism unbridled is just as unsustainable and would damage the health and security of our Nation.

Challenges

President Obama faces many immediate challenges that are just as historic as his Presidency. The faltering economy, the real estate slump, the War on Terror and a House and Senate controlled by the far left are just a few of the challenges ahead. The latter may prove to be his biggest challenge for without the support of the House and Senate it will be difficult to successfully address the others.

Politics and Real Estate

I have recently fielded a couple of calls reprimanding me for discussing politics on a real estate blog. Yes my Mother was a Real Estate Broker and did teach me never to mix politics and religion in real estate however; the current real estate industry crisis we face was created solely by politicians in the name of politics, power and corruption. Let us not forget that the collapse of Wall Street was preceded by the floundering of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The truth is that there is no separating Politics and Real Estate.

While President Obama campaigned on promises of “feel good” programs and legislation that would be detrimental to the real estate industry it will be interesting if President Obama attempts to keep Candidate Obama’s promises. My guess is no and that even if he is that naive when it comes to the economy, his economic advisors will enlighten him.

Summary

President Obama must abandon many of his campaign promises and govern from the center if he is to overcome the obstacles and challenges ahead and concentrate on his legacy from day one instead of repaying his political allies. He must rein in spending by the House and Senate and limit any “stimulus” expenditures to programs that will actually stimulate the economy. Ideals such as dumping billions into the Education system in an effort to repay the Teachers Union for their election support must be quashed. Notions such as this are very easy to see through and will not stimulate the economy. He must act and spend responsibly or we may be in for a very rough ride and the Obama Presidency will be mired by failure and controversy. The decision is his alone.

May God Bless President Obama and the United States of America.

I am constantly hit with questions about when I think the real estate market will rebound from Real Estate Agents all across our Nation. The short answer is “No Time Soon!”

Before the real estate industry can begin a recovery we must first hit bottom and unfortunately I feel we are far from that yet. The housing market is not only suffering from the subprime lending fiasco it is currently driven by nothing less than fear and lack of confidence.

Public perception of the real estate market as a solid investment is shaken daily by the news of record braking home foreclosures. This “cancer” is now spreading rapidly infecting neighborhoods across America with devaluation of homes that took no part in subprime lending.

Homeowners are experiencing their equity diminish weekly as homes are just not selling. While some buyers are waiting for the market to hit bottom before buying others that are normally qualified buyers are experiencing difficulty in obtaining home loans as the credit crunch continues to tighten.

Recovery

There will be no recovery anytime soon. On top of all the issues facing the real estate industry we have a Presidential Election right around the corner. While the main stream media has a true love affair with Sen. Obama, Wall Street reels over the prospect of an Obama Presidency. As well they should. Sen. Barrack Obama has demonstrated his distain for business and as made his intentions of raising taxes on business across the board well known. Legislative bills that Obama has co-sponsored shows a severe lack of knowledge when it comes to the real estate industry and the economy as a whole. If Sen. Obama is elected as president we can count on Wall Street and investors sitting on their hands for at least a year until they can assess how Obama handles key issues in the economy such as taxation.

In addition to the Obama wildcard there are still ARMs (Adjustable Rate Mortgages) that have yet to mature. Some Subprime loans that were originated in 2005 will not mature until sometime in 2010. This means there will be many more foreclosures in months to come. So the immediate prospect for industry recovery is bleak to say the least.

Agent Survivability

It is clear that many real estate Agents will not survive these tough times. It is unfortunate but as in nature only the strong will survive. That is NOT a bad thing for the industry. Real estate has always and always will cycle. In bad times weak Agents will drop by the way side and while the quality of professionalism improves the competition becomes less intense. This is a win-win proposition for both the general public and the true real estate professional.

For real estate Agents to survive they must be good managers of their time and resources. Unnecessary expenditures and marketing expenses that do not work need to be pruned. To survive we must make every penny and every minute count. Those that do will survive to see better times.