Open Letter to Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, MSN Real Estate, Zillow and Trulia

Dear Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, MSN Real Estate, Zillow and Trulia,

Welcome to the NAR.

For many years and many millions, we at the NAR have fought to keep banks out of Real Estate (then we've started mortgage brokers and bankers of their own). But in our settlement with the DOJ, we've made it necessary for you search engines to join us in the NAR, and become active RE brokers, to get our listing data.

On behalf of Realtors everywhere, Welcome!

One of our "victories" in the settlement with the DOJ was that we can require anyone wanting to access/scrape our MLS data, to be actively involved in the sale of Real Estate. To be, active, or not to be, active? That is the question.

We've always loved new competition. And we've always embraced new Real Estate models. Haven't we? At least that's what we told the DOJ?

Our dues are pretty much the same for little one-agent brokers and big national franchise brokers, like RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, and soon Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate, Zillow, Trulia, etc. We've set the bar for admission pretty low.

Please don't bring your computer skills, Internet expertise and billions in funds or millions in VC money to establish discount or MLS-only brokerages. We've had enough trouble fighting the DOJ and a bunch of under-funded Real Estate discounters and Internet start-ups.

Although you have to become a Realtor and actively sell Real Estate to get our data (unless we give you our data, as so many of us already do), please don't. In the past we were so afraid you'd become active brokers, but we didn't really mean to force you to become active brokers. Please don't.

You're pretty good at selling ads. And we're pretty good at selling houses. Let's just keep it that way. OK?

We didn't mean all those mean and nasty things we said about you, the discounters and the MLS-only models in the DOJ case. You're nothing like the banks. They sell money. You sell ads. We've kept them out of Real Estate. We've made you come in.

We're tired of spending our NAR and Local AR dues to fight to keep our data closed and on the Hidden Web. Then we go and pay our brokers a Website fee to push our listing data out to you. Why, you guys even adopted the RETS Standard before all our MLSs did. That's not fair.

Why do you offer free advertising and free exposure for us and for our listing, anyway? What's the catch? Is it anything like the free CMAs we offer to our clients? Please cut out those 10 second Virtual CMAs while you're at it too. The sellers still need us. Don't they?

We're not afraid of you and your ad-revenue model. Everyone knows that the only money in Real Estate is in selling the house. Not in selling those stupid little text ads on the side of the page that no one ever looks at.

Should we continue to boast to our prospective clients about the number of Websites we push their listings out to? Then try to hide their listing data from as many of you search engines as we can?

We'll play nice. We'll obey the rules. Can't we all get along?

Thanks for listening.

And again, Welcome!

Happy Searching.

Posted by: Cliff Jacobson

Adapt Or Die!

WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing

Comments

[order checks]

I agree with your idea but, there are different school of thoughts producing different ideas that has to brought into consideration.

[philippines properties]

Web companies were not being fair.. specially on us small-time realtors.. I hope these web companies choose appropriate actions that could benefit all kinds of realtors...

-david