Earlier this year, Zillow Group (Zillow, Trulia, Diverse Solutions, etc.) and many Multiple Listing Services (MLS) throughout the nation, ended formal agreements with one another. As a result, listings within these markets’ MLS seized to syndicate, or automatically integrate, with sites such as Zillow, Tulia, Yahoo Real Estate, etc. Not surprisingly, this left many people who had recently listed their houses wondering why there house was not available on these sites.
At Hunter Rowe Real Estate, we pride ourselves on finding innovative solutions to better serve our clients. So when we heard that listings would no longer automatically syndicate, we asked the following questions:
Will these changes negatively affect our clients?
Fortunately, no! Although there were a handful of buyers who said they saw a listing on Zillow or Trulia, we found that whether or not our clients’ houses are listed on syndication sites had very little to no effect on the likelihood of their house selling. During our experimental period with these sites, we concluded that they DID NOT increase speed of sales, DID NOT provide increased buyer traffic, and the handful of “buyers” that did contact us were too late, had incorrect information, or were simply not qualified. In fact, we have even seen an increase in number of sales and a decrease in “Days on Market” since syndication ended.
See our recent statistics at relevate.life/statistics
Whether or not we feel it is necessary, many clients would still like to have their houses on sites such as Trulia and Zillow. Should we offer to provide this information on behalf of our clients?
Yes, of course. We strongly feel it is unnecessary to provide our clients’ listing information to these sites. However, if our clients wish for us to provide their information to these sites, we have the ability to very quickly distribute the listing information to 20+ sites such as Zillow and Trulia and will do so at their request.
Are there any dangers associated with distributing information to sites such as Zillow and Trulia?
Unfortunately, yes. We have had a handful of clients experience what could have been potentially dangerous affects from having their houses on these sites and have found that there are several potential risks that have been documented. Many syndication sites do little to protect the consumers’ data such as your property photos, occupancy status, etc. This information is readily available and easily used by CRIMINALS for:
- PHISHING SCAMS via email and craigslist and like websites
- RENTAL SCAMS via email andcraigslist and like websites
- THEFT
- HOUSE INVASIONS
Overall, our proven process to sell our clients’ houses fast and for the most money does not include the need to use sites such as Zillow and Trulia. However, if our clients would like their information on these sites, we are happy to provide this service.
