Edina Realty Changed Listing Syndication

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

In November 2011 Edina Realty made the decision to discontinue syndication of its listings to Trulia and REALTOR.com.  Over the last few years these syndicators had changed their tactics to the detriment of the listing brokers and Edina Realty had finally had enough.  While Edina Realty never syndicated to Zillow, Zillow most certainly has the same issues.

This pullout by a large broker, the flagship broker of HomeServices of America (the second largest broker conglomerate in the country), created quite a buzz throughout the industry on both sides of the debate (1, 2).  Would we see a large exodus from the syndicators?  How big of a problem is this? At what point do brokers say enough is enough?

In late January 2012, Abbot Realty Group put to video many of the same arguments made by Edina Realty and by doing so amplified the debate.  Edina Realty did pull out of Trulia shortly after their announcement, but due to ongoing negotiations regarding 82 of its agents that have contracts, listings are still being sent to REALTOR.com though that is likely to end shortly.  There have been some other brokers that have followed, including the trend-leading GoodLife Team pulling out of Trulia just last week.

Since this move, Zillow, Trulia and REALTOR.com (Move Inc) have all made moves to address concerns of brokers and agents, including:

Zillow

  • Hired Jay Thompson, Broker-Owner of Thompson’s Realty, national real estate speaker, and known by many as The Phoenix Real Estate Guy.
  • Hired Bob Bemis, CEO of the Arizona Regional MLS (ARMLS), a nationally recognized leader in MLS and REALTOR association circles
  • Hired Duane Fouts, former Arizona broker and a former President of both the Arizona Association of REALTORS and ARMLS
  • Partnered with Tom Ferry to provide new tools to brokers and agents
  • Releases plans to hire nearly 100 new salespeople to market its offerings
  • Launches new CRM, analytics and information plaform

Trulia

Move Inc. (REALTOR.com)

  • ListHub, a subsidiary of Move Inc (REALTOR.com), just released enhancements to their syndication tool to provide brokers more guidance on which aggregation websites adhere to certain standards of practice.  This should help address concerns by brokers about not knowing what happens with their data when they submit it to these third parties.
  • Hired John Whitney, another industry insider known well in association and MLS staff circles

The new hires will not only give the syndicators more understanding into the minds of agents and brokers but also provide better outreach to these people to both listen for ways to improve and to better sell agents and brokers on the tools the syndicators offer.

While conversations about the diminishing value of syndication to REALTORS had been going on at one level or another for several years, I argue it was Edina Realty’s bold step that raised the volume on the conversation and really got the ball rolling. Since then, syndicators have been very busy with hiring, retooling and partnering – all things I believe were inevitable eventually but slow in coming till now.

No matter how you feel about syndication, the firestorm of debate in the last six months has moved these companies to action. I believe this will benefit all REALTORS and brokers that choose to stay with the syndicators as they now have a healthy fear of going too far and thus will be more cognizant of their actions going forward because they know everyone is watching.

I also believe the relationship to syndicators will increasingly become more like how REALTORS and newspapers used to interact (payment for eyeballs) versus just a barter system (listing data for eyeballs) we’ve enjoyed with syndicators till now.  I’ll leave that discussion to another post.

Full disclosure: Edina Realty has been my broker for 9 years, these views are mine and not necessarily the views of the company nor its agents.

Filed Under: Opinion Tagged With: , ,

Twin Cities Home Sales Surge to 2nd Highest Since 2006

April 30, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Twin Cities home sales for the week ending April 21, 2012 hit 1,281 signed contracts, which is  the 2nd highest level since 2006.  The highest week was the week ending May 1, 2010 (1,469) and was spurred on by the expiration of the home buyer tax credit.

 

The surge of home sales continues and shows no signs of slowing down.  Buyer activity remains very strong while potential home sellers seem reluctant to list their homes for sale, which is leading to more multiple offers and a feeding frenzy on the choicest of homes.

There is so much good news in the market today I worry about being labeled a shill for the industry.  I hope you look at my past posts and see that I look at this market with a healthy dose of skepticism, but I’m really having a hard time finding anything negative to mention!

Want to see more stats?  Take a look at the latest Twin Cities Weekly Market Update.

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, tax credits

Agent Networking Outside the MLS

April 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The local MLS is by far the most comprehensive networking tool for real estate agents to match buyers with sellers.  Last year more than 40,000 sales were recorded in the MLS for just the thirteen county Twin Cities Metro area.  While the MLS is a fantastic resource, it can’t serve the needs of all buyers and sellers.

For example, with today’s rapidly declining supply of homes for sale and surging buyer demand, many buyers are being left on the sidelines because they cannot find a home to purchase.  This market has changed so much in just the last nine months!

On the other side, thousands of potential sellers sit paralyzed wondering if their home would sell today at a price they could accept.  They don’t want to list their home due to the inconveniences of having to change their lifestyles while the home is for sale unless they are sure it will sell, but if an offer came forward at the right price and terms, they would happily sell.  In fact, in pockets all across the Twin Cities we’re starting to see home prices tick up… something most homeowners are still unaware of.

Effectively, many potential sellers today are worried about being market rejected.  Let’s face it, none of us want to be rejected and with the declines in Twin Cities home prices the last few years it is very understandable that many of these homeowners are hesitant.  There are also other sellers out there that are preparing their home for sale but for numerous reasons are not yet ready to list it on the open market.  Enter Edina Realty’s solution:

Network ONE was first developed over a decade ago but with all the changes in our market, it has been significantly been revamped over the last year to become far more effective.  I was lucky enough to participate in some of the initial redesign plans and am proud of what was accomplished.

Network ONE allows Edina Realty agents to enter in their buyer’s criteria and be matched with Edina Realty agents that have prospective sellers.  I like to think of this as The Buyer MLS, something I first heard Stefan Swanepoel discuss about four years ago.  This tool allows an agent to reach all of their Edina Realty coworkers – invaluable when today agents are covering larger market areas than ever before.

Instead of just being able to network a buyer need amongst their office of 50-100 agents and agents they know across other brokerages, they can now touch all 2000+ Edina Realty agents.  To use a cliche, this is networking on steroids.  Over 1000 buyer & seller needs are currently active in the system.

At the same time, this registry of buyer needs can be used to show prospective sellers the demand for a home like theirs.  Now all of a sudden the potential to sell their home becomes far less fantasy and far more real.  If they want to “dip their toes in the water” and gauge actual interest, their agent can act as matchmaker with the buyer agents and if a match still looks good after further discussion, the seller and their agent sign a Network One Contract and then the buyer can be shown the home.  Matches do happen and are happening with greater frequency as the market gets hotter and more needs are entered into Network ONE.

For sellers that are confident in their desire to sell, Network ONE is often just a stepping stone and if a buyer does not come forward before they are ready for full market exposure, the home is listed on the MLS anyways.

There are many other ways in which this system has already been used and I know I’ve only heard a small portion of the successes we’ve generated through this tool in just the last few months.

Network ONE is not meant to replace the MLS but rather act as a complement to it.  By filling in the unserved gaps left by the MLS, Edina Realty has created a system that will bring buyers and sellers together to create additional sales that would not have happened otherwise and turn our matchmaking agents into real estate rock stars in the eyes of those clients.  And in case you were wondering, this feature is only available through Edina Realty agents :)

There is no one single fix for the housing market but creative solutions like this that solve fundamental market inefficiencies can help further the housing market recovery that I believe we are already entering.

Hat tip to Ross Kaplan for his blog post about this same subject, which encouraged me to expound on the as well.

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, MLS Compliment & Criticism, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Days on Market Does not Matter

April 8, 2012 By 1 Comment

Buyers often ask me how long a particular house has been on the market.  I dutifully give them the information but at the same time I am always shaking my head.  In most cases I’ve encountered in the 9 years I’ve been selling, the time the home has been on the market has had no bearing on the value of the house.

Ultimately, homes don’t sell because of price, condition, features, location or market exposure.  If we just look at price as the only influencer, every property will sell at a price that takes into account the condition, location and market exposure.  Homes that have been on the market a long time are overpriced, plain and simple.

When shopping for a current-year car, do you ask the dealer if the car is new on the lot or it has been sitting there a while?  How about when shopping for household items at Target?  When a retailer want to clear inventory they will “clearance” it, but other than that, we know very little about how long something has been for sale.

Buyers often over think the seller’s motivations.  While sometimes a listing agent will spill the beans and share more than they should, usually we are largely in the dark as to how low a seller will go.  Buyers try to guesstimate the seller’s willingness to negotiate based on market time, when there are many other factors that go into a seller’s willingness to negotiate price.

Especially as the market begins to recover, the only true measure to use is the home’s value (condition, features, location) versus other similar homes nearby.  If the house is way overpriced, you offer what it is worth (minus some negotiating room), regardless of what it is priced at or how long it has been for sale.  The days of low-balling and getting the house for under market are largely over so it is often futile to try.

Photo credit: cvedovini on Flickr

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Opinion, Personal Experiences
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