wrar – helping brokers reclaim their listing data - march 4, 2014 presentation slides

WRAR - Helping Brokers to Reclaim Their Listing Data

Marilyn WilsonFounding Partner of WAV GroupBoard of Trustees for the National Small Business Association

Jody Wainio, SFR, WHSBuyers Choice Realty2014 WRAR President

David Eggleston Jr., ABR, SFRIntracoastal Realty2013 WRAR & MLS Director

WILMINGTON REGIONALASSOCIAT ION of REALTORS®

Reasons for Formation of Listing Syndication Taskforce• Broker and Customer Complaints of Inaccurate data• Putting brokers back in control of their Data• New focus from NC Real Estate Commission



Process of Building Recommendation• Surveyed Broker-owners • Formed Taskforce of Large Broker IT staff,

Brokers from smaller firms, agents from all size firms

• Several meetings, several studies and materials reviewed by group

• Evaluated alternative syndication service providers

• 3-month process • Board of Directors Approved Proposal;

marketing taskforce formed



Recommendation Approved:• Discontinue syndication by WRAR as of May

9th, 2014 • Did not renew contract with Listhub – current

syndication services provider• Marketing taskforce contracted with third

party to help communicate outcomes to members

• Recommendation does NOT affect IDX or VOW policies in any way


What is Listing Syndication and how is

it different than IDX and VOW?


What is listing syndication?

• Method for brokers to authorize distribution of their listings to third parties like Zillow, Trulia, Homes.com etc.

• Syndicating enables a broker to post their listings online for display to consumers.

• Any broker who is an MLS Participant may authorize syndication of his/her company’s listings ONLY.

• Syndication is NOT to be confused with IDX policies.

WRAR Listing Syndication Taskforce

Rationale


Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication• Could not support sending REALTOR®

data to non-REALTOR® organizations• Data accepted from many sources, not

just REALTORS®• Creates confusion and mis-information

for consumers

David Eggleston Jr., ABR, SFRIntracoastal Realty2013 WRAR & MLS Director


Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication• Data provided has more inaccuracies than

broker websites; More than ¼ of the listings listed for sale are not active currently

• Taking on broker liability for inaccurate advertising of listings risk without significant lead generation and impact


Reasons for Discontinuing Syndication• Many brokers opt in to all channels and then

« set it and forget it »

• Majority of our members did not even know they had opted-in to all channels

• Allow brokers to make their own decisions about syndication with the realities of today’s

online marketplace

Promise of Listing Syndication


The Original Premise/Promise

• Listing syndication will provide FREE exposure to listings

• Put your listings where consumers are shopping – online

• Online will replace costly offline newspaper advertising


Reasons for Participation in Listing

Syndication Today• Provides exposure to your listings especially for

consumers that do not know you yet

• Helps agents secure new clients with the “Quantity” Story;

• Perception that it is necessary to be competitive

Update on Listing Syndication

Third Parties Dominate Online

UHAUL.COM

HOMEFINDER.COM

NCI Interactive

Connectwithlife.com

REDFIN.COM

Internet Brands Real Estate

FrontDoor

LoopNet Sites

Century 21 International

Coldwell Banker

AOL Real Estate

Apartments.com Sites

MSN Real Estate

ForRent.com & Homes.com Network

Realtor.com

Trulia - PRIMEDIA Network

Yahoo! - Zillow Real Estate Network

0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000

1,5161,5191,5362,1812,1912,3772,4102,8393,5483,5523,6694,374

5,37111,842

17,72822,065

33,372

Total Digital Population Mobile

REALTOR.com is #3 now

Mobile now more than 2/3 of total traffic

Local Brands do not Lead

Dominate in Mobile AND Websites

Page 48Page 41

2/3 of traffic now captured from mobile devices

• All Syndication Sites are NOT created equal - Nearly 95% of

property views coming from 3 channels

• Less than 1 click-through per listing per month

• Less than 1 in 4 listings receive an inquiry every month

• 41 of 52 Syndication Channels provide 20 or less inquiries or

email across ALL listings

Local Syndication Results

Accuracy Higher on Broker Sites

Data Lags on Third Party Sites

For 28401 Zip Code

WRAR.com – 130 listings

Zillow – 268Trulia - 220

Inventories can be overstated

Listing Agent Does Not Get Top Billing

“THE” source for Agent Referrals

630,000 Reviews Nationwide In Just 2 Years

THE Local advisors

Calling the market

Affordable Technology Offerings and Education

50,000 agents pay on average $271 per month

Affordable Technologies

On-going Marketing Education

Defending against the Zestimate

Price $325,000 Zestimate $225,964

Other Concerns

• Re-Syndication Forwarding data on to another (unauthorized) site

• Unauthorized usesHave you affirmatively agreed to your data being

used on “Powered by” sites

• Use for 3rd Party Integration (Sindegration)

Broker Responses to Listing Syndication

Stay the Course

Many believe they CANNOT pull out of syndication no matter what

Simply Turn it Off

• Well-known family-owned business in Wisconsin

• #1 Market Share; Strong online position - #2

• Gained market share

Never turned it on in the First Place

• 3 to 5% Market Share

• Never turned it on

• Focused efforts on their own website

• Did not affect recruiting, retention of listing presentation success according to company

Focused Efforts with Largest Sites

Pittsburgh – 5000+ Agents

• Chosen two syndication partners and promoted heavily with them

• Removed listings from all other sites

Jim Abbott recognizes

power of MLS Consumer

Website

Promote the MLS Site and your own Broker Site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4pZ0zJdfAY



How to Inform Your Agents


• Simply Turn it off and Do Nothing • Educate them; Show them Lack of

impact• Demonstrate lack of lead conversion

vs. other sources• Update listing presentations highlight

power f MLS website and IDX/VOW sites• Invite them to attend Webinar – March

12th at 2:00 pm EST

Next Steps


Discontinuation Date: May 9th, 2014

The MLS will no longer send your listing data to any third party site. Third party vendors should remove brokers’ active listing data.

If you want to continue syndication send email to [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Questions?


To submit a question go to Questions in Gototraining and type it in:

For More Information go to:http://www.wrar.com/syndication

For help go to:[email protected]

Questions??

http://www.wrar.com/syndication


1. We know that the franchises will continue to syndicate whether they have a choice or not – the little guy says how do I continue to syndicate in order to compete in a cost-effective way? Give our brokers the talking points about consumers shouldn’t care about syndication? If you want to continue send an email to [email protected] and you will help them.

2. Realtor.com – are we still going to syndicate to them? Yes3. Why did we choose to stay with REALTOR.com and not with the others – they have a

direct feed that is more accurate than others and follow the code of ethics – they also hold the realtor.com brand. We’re giving them a direct feed that is updated every fifteen minutes

4. Does this mean that you are going to cut off IDX feeds? No, this does not affect IDX in any way.

5. What will be the cost for me as a small firm to syndicate on my own? We will not leave them in the lurch – email us at [email protected] and we’ll help you figure it out

6. What would WRAR recommend that we do for syndication for our brokerage? It’s really not up to WRAR – it’s a business decision for you to make for your company

7. What if our firm decides to syndicate via another syndication services provider, will WRAR support us in that effort? Yes, send an email to [email protected] and well do our best to help you.



wrar – helping brokers reclaim their listing data - march 4, 2014 presentation slides

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