Comments on: Hate REALTOR.com for Only the Right Reasons

By: Judy Orr

Judy Orr — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:58:40 +0000

Mark, if it wasn’t FSBO.com then it was one of the other ones (possibly ForSaleByOwner.com). I know because out of curiosity I applied to be one of their “local” MLS agents a few years ago. I didn’t go forward with it, though, just wanted to see how it worked.

Had I signed up I would have been listing their MLS properties which would have ended up on R.com as a basic listing. So I know these flat-fee fsbo type sites are using local agents to add their MLS listings & have been for quite some time. Once they’re added to the MLS they’re usually sent to R.com.

In fact, fsbo.com wrote a retraction in their blog stating that the only way to get listed on R.com is to be listed in the MLS by an agent/brokerage. So if they’re offering R.com listings as part of their services, these MLS listings are being added by local agents as I don’t see how else they could get on the MLS in their local area.

By: Mark Storolis

Mark Storolis — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:30:41 +0000

@ Judy
“From what I learned several years ago, FSBO.com actually joined up with local agents in all MLS’s. The agent had to sign an agreement with them and were able to handle all of the fsbo/exclusive agency listings in their MLS.

They have always been on R.com with basic listings.”

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY BOGUS (and obviously confabulated)

By: Mark Storolis

Mark Storolis — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:25:51 +0000

@ ALL DUMB AGENTS
It’s funny how lazy agents can be with their money. It’s easy to exploit people when they just don’t want to be creative.
Guerilla Marketing by Jay Levinson is a wealth of knowledge on ways to market cheaply and more effectively. Unfortunately many agents are fools, and they DON’T READ BOOKS. They fail to realize that sales is a combination of marketing/psychological/legal skills that must be honed by research.

Complain about marketing costs. The best marketers do not have the deepest pockets. The best marketers know how to test social exposure and creativity.

Question: How much more attention would you and your clients get if you spent $3,659 to Search Engine Optimize your personal site.
Answer: 20,000 hits a month… for me at least.

By: FSBOs on Realtor.com. Still. | Real Estate Magazine - Real Estate Opinion Column - AgentGenius

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:17:18 +0000

[...] big issue in the real estate blog world that there were FSBOs on Realtor.com. At the time, I wrote a post about this. This whole thing has now died down like it is all fixed. But,THERE ARE FSBO LISTINGS [...]

By: Eric Blackwell

Eric Blackwell — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 22:04:37 +0000

Russ;

Just caught up with this post as well after all the hoopla…had a lot of REAL work to be done. I’ll echo Jay.

A-freaking-men.

Nicely said. Well put and spot on.

The responsibility for this one lies squarely with ForSaleByOwner.com on this one. There are plentiful other reasons that R.com is not helping our industry, but you are correct that this is not one.

By: Judy Orr

Judy Orr — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:52:10 +0000

Fred,

From what I learned several years ago, FSBO.com actually joined up with local agents in all MLS’s. The agent had to sign an agreement with them and were able to handle all of the fsbo/exclusive agency listings in their MLS.

They have always been on R.com with basic listings.

By: Michael Sosnowski

Michael Sosnowski — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:19:51 +0000

We use R.com and only do so because of the fact that it is expected. It is sad that this so-called business has been allowed to survive on the backs of realtors. To be charged for providing THEM our listings….just crazy. On another note, I am absolutely sick of R.com trying to sell crappy products. How about this – take a look at the listing traffic report. It shows NA when there is no featured agent, featured tours, etc. Talk about promoting your products, then making agents “look bad” if they send that link to a client. When we use this data (for what it is worth), we have to edit this junk out.

By: Jay Thompson

Jay Thompson — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:23:23 +0000

Good on ya Judy! Sounds like you’ve got a great broker who’s not looking to fleece his/her agents and ride their coat tails to retirement. That’s the kind of broker I aspire to be.

By: fred

fred — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:57:54 +0000

I have been reading about this news for the past couple of days, and speaking from a different perspective, I don’t think R.com is bad at all. I have been using the enhanced listings for a long time (even when I used to be a traditional broker), and they serve a great purpose to the sellers.

The issue with forsalebyowner.com is completely seperate from R.com. They are somehow using a CA broker http://elist.me to submit out of state listings through her local mls. This loophole allows the fsbo to be listed (for a flat fee) and bypass dealing with local realtors (i.e. not having to pay the co-broke).

The question I have… IS THIS LEGAL? can a CA broker list a home in another state without having a license in that state? I am researching this now, because if this is true, it’s the loophole that allows them conduct business this way.

should be very interesting to see how it all plays out.

Fred Romano, Broker

By: Judy Orr

Judy Orr — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 23:50:15 +0000

Jay,

I work for a very progressive company that I left the broker I was with for 22 years to join. I pay a very low monthly fee and a very low per transaction fee plus E&O and that’s it – I get 100% commission after those small expenses. Plus Showcase Listings, full-time staff and 2 brick & mortar offices to use.

In fact, I felt guilty getting my first 100% checks after those small fees and figured the company wouldn’t be able to sustain itself for the long-term. Figured I’d get it while the gettin’ was good.

Three years later and we are getting agents joining us from all of the top franchises and are growing by leaps and bounds. Oh, and our Broker is wonderful, knowledgeable, available and fun!

So if I am paying for those Showcase Listings, I don’t know how!