The Great Give-Away
The increase in the number of internet real estate sites that are capturing leads and selling them back to the real estate agents who do the work of the transaction is disturbing. Why do real estate people continue to allow this to happen? I have no issues with the sites themselves, but I do have a problem with most people who think that the access to the listing information is public record. It is not. The aggregated compiliations of real estate listings is a product that should be sold to the sites, not given to them!
Let me use an analogy of a clothing manufacturer. Ralph Lauren makes, or hires someone to make, a line of dresses. Ralph Lauren then sells those dresses to a clothing Wholesaler, who, in turn, sells them to a variety of Retail stores. Ralph Lauren may retain certain exclusive designs for his own retail stores, or may include the designs sold to others in his retail stores, too. Customers come in the various stores to look at the dresses, and hopefully buy them.
In real estate, sellers and their listing agents and brokers create a product (the listings.) Those listings are given to the Wholesaler (the MLS.) The Wholesaler gives those listings to the Retailers (real estate offices, real estate websites, and internet referral sites.) Customers come in to real estate "stores" or go to websites to look at houses and hopefully buy them.
The differences are that in the clothing manufacturing business, the maker SELLS the product to the Wholesaler, and the Wholesaler SELLS the product to the Retailer. In the real estate business, the product is being GIVEN AWAY!
The aggregation of the listings is a valuable product that many Wholesalers and Retailers want and should be willing to pay for. The people creating the listings should get paid for them, and the Wholesalers should get paid for aggregating them for the retailers. Why do we still insist on giving away this information?
It is quite possible that the Government may REQUIRE that the products be provided to ALL the retailers. That would be similar to requiring Ralph Lauren to provide his dress lines to ALL retailers, including his competitors. The reality is that the manufacturer can choose to provide his dress lines to as many or as few retailers as he wants. He can even choose to not make them available to any of them; he could open a boutique on Rodeo Drive and that could be the only place in the world to get the product.
Your thoughts?
Let me use an analogy of a clothing manufacturer. Ralph Lauren makes, or hires someone to make, a line of dresses. Ralph Lauren then sells those dresses to a clothing Wholesaler, who, in turn, sells them to a variety of Retail stores. Ralph Lauren may retain certain exclusive designs for his own retail stores, or may include the designs sold to others in his retail stores, too. Customers come in the various stores to look at the dresses, and hopefully buy them.
In real estate, sellers and their listing agents and brokers create a product (the listings.) Those listings are given to the Wholesaler (the MLS.) The Wholesaler gives those listings to the Retailers (real estate offices, real estate websites, and internet referral sites.) Customers come in to real estate "stores" or go to websites to look at houses and hopefully buy them.
The differences are that in the clothing manufacturing business, the maker SELLS the product to the Wholesaler, and the Wholesaler SELLS the product to the Retailer. In the real estate business, the product is being GIVEN AWAY!
The aggregation of the listings is a valuable product that many Wholesalers and Retailers want and should be willing to pay for. The people creating the listings should get paid for them, and the Wholesalers should get paid for aggregating them for the retailers. Why do we still insist on giving away this information?
It is quite possible that the Government may REQUIRE that the products be provided to ALL the retailers. That would be similar to requiring Ralph Lauren to provide his dress lines to ALL retailers, including his competitors. The reality is that the manufacturer can choose to provide his dress lines to as many or as few retailers as he wants. He can even choose to not make them available to any of them; he could open a boutique on Rodeo Drive and that could be the only place in the world to get the product.
Your thoughts?
posted by Realty Executives Int'l at 2:51 PM
8 Comments:
Rich,
The horse has left the barn. We're about 5 years too late.
Lead generation companies will continue to do business, and in fact, the
better companies will succeed.
Why? Door knocking is too hard for most agets. Cold calling is basically out.
So, that leaves much more passive activities: mailings, signs, ads.
And, these activities just don't match up with today's buyers. According to NAR over 74% of all buyers start their search on the web. And, they generally end up working with the FIRST agent they
contact or are contacted by.
So, to decry what's happening is to overlook any opportunities. A marketing plan will have to
allow for a variety of prospecting methods...and one of these methods is internet lead generation.
That's the reality.
Rich,
The horse has left the barn. We're about 5 years too late.
Lead generation companies will continue to do business, and in fact, the
better companies will succeed.
Why? Door knocking is too hard for most agents. Cold calling is basically out.
So, that leaves much more passive activities: mailings, signs, ads.
And, these activities just don't match up with today's buyers. According to NAR over 74% of all buyers start their search on the web. And, they generally end up working with the FIRST agent they
contact or are contacted by.
So, to decry what's happening is to overlook any opportunities. A marketing plan will have to
allow for a variety of prospecting methods...and one of these methods is internet lead generation.
That's the reality.
And, thanks to you...I now
have a Blog: moveuptonaperville.blogspot.com
Hi Rich,
Glad to see you enter the world of Blogging! I use the same exact template for my real estate news blog.
I was so fed up with these lead companies that I did something about it. I spent the past several years building my own web presence, and it has grown into a strong one!
I own over 30 real estate domains and run four real estate sites right now. My main site and the most productive one is PhoenixHomes.com. That one brings me the most business, but I do get leads from my Scottsdale and Paradise Valley real estate sites.
My advice to all who read this is to fight back by building your own web presence and you won't have to worry about the lead companies.
Good article Rich!
Sincerely,
Matt Pellerin
Paradise Valley Office
You have a great website here, and I'm going to tell all my friends about it.
You have a great website here, and I'm going to tell all my friends about it.
You have a great website here, and I'm going to tell all my friends about it.
You have a great website here, and I'm going to tell all my friends about it.
LENDING TREE is now paying for placement on GOOGLE as www. MULTIPLE-LISTING-SEARCH.net isnt that cool! Lets not do anything!! Thats fun!! We dont need to have our websites found- lets not spend any money to place REI site anywhere- just have it be "our secret"!!!
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