Tue 4 Dec 2007
For the price of a latte and a scone….
Posted by Marlow Harris under Real Estate
[8] Comments
Since the broker-owned Kirkland, WA-based Pacific Northwest’s NWMLS has discontinued their feed to Realtor.com, many individual agents are frustrated that their listings aren’t featured on Realtor.com.
So, an out-of-state and REALTOR-owned MLS has stepped in to assist. At a cost of just $5 each, an agent can post all of their listings to Realtor.com using via RMLSlite, a sub-MLS of the Regional Multiple Listing Service in Portland, OR.
RMLSlite listings are not included on the main RMLS site, as full RMLS subscription would be required for that, but they will appear on Realtor.com and this is a great way for Realtors who’ve lost their feed to get their individual listings on Realtor.com in a convenient way and at a reasonable price.
December 4th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
For what it’s worth, brokers/agents and owners are welcome to view and post your listings for
free now on PropertyShark.com in our For Sale section http://www.propertyshark.com/mason/
Hope it helps!
Brian
December 4th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Hey Brian,
Thanks for that reminder!
December 4th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Now I have heard of homes getting a little extra traffic from Realtor.com, but is it really the norm. Wouldn’t most serious buyers already be working with an agent and be using the cooperating IDX off their agents site? Is it really worth the time and lack of a Mocha and Scone for the day
December 4th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Well, I wouldn’t bother. You and I and everyone else around the Pacific Northwest knows that we don’t use Realtor.com and it’s just a tiny blip here and not on the radar. But apparently, the rest of the country doesn’t know that and they DO use it. So perhaps it would be worthwhile to catch an unattached Buyer relocating here who may not know any better, but you’d think they’d just Google “Seattle Homes” and find a better Seattle real estate website that way.
A site like http://www.SeattleDreamHomes.com.
Oh, that’s my site! Hey look at that, it’s number 1.
Realtor.com is #3, however.
If you search “Seattle Homes for Sale” I drop to #2 and Realtor.com drops to #10.
But when searching “Seattle Real Estate”, while I drop to page 2, Realtor.com isn’t even in the first 5 pages.
And even if someone relocating from NY to Seattle DID search Realtor.com, they’d quickly be discouraged after realizing it only has about 20% of the listings that are actually for sale in our area.
December 5th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I thought it was a disservice to the MLS membership to discontinue that realtor.com feed — since we all had the ability to opt out if we *didn’t* like it. We’ve since gone through the hassle of feeding realtor.com our listings, but it took our web guru, some $$’s in his time, to set it up. And as far as whether it’s worthwhile? Who knows, but it’s free…and it sure can’t hurt. Maybe there is some guy in Omaha who will buy one of our listings and hasn’t yet googled “Seattle Homes” to see it on YOUR site
December 5th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Yeah, Gordon. Ha ha!
On the face of it, it does seem to be a disservice in the short-run to take our listings off Realtor.com.
But looking ahead, in the long run, it would behoove all other brokers of major firms to really spend the time and money to make their site the “go-to” site for local real estate, rather than behomoth Realtor.com
I think that’s the only rationalle behind it, eh?
I’m always rootin’ for the little guy. I always try to shop local and I prefer a locally-owned business to a large, national chain.
We, as local real estate professionals, should really be championing the smaller locally-run business first, don’t you think?
I really like your new re-designed site. RPA’s a well-run “local” firm, and I think that’s a great marketing tool.
December 5th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
Thanks Marlow. And thanks for visiting my new blog the other day which I’ll shamelessly plug here: blog.seattlehouses.com
The big firms in Sea have great sites, no question. Huge traffic and share. But the fact is, no matter how great Windermere’s site is or becomes, my prospect in Omaha, looking at a national site, won’t see Windermere’s listings. I think at some level that hurts my seller and doesn’t give them the fullest exposure I can give them. Will Mr. Omaha, when he gets serious, eventually stumble onto WRE or your site? Probably. But as an AGENT — not a broker promoting the company — why not get the prospects at every possible turn?
BTW, I’m with you big time on championing smaller, locally owned business. Are you saying you’re ready to make a change away from that huge corporate entity with which you’re affiliated?
December 5th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I don’t think its worth it.