How Zillow, Realtor.com and Trulia Hurt Buyers and Sellers

As a hard working, ethical real estate agent I've long wondered how I could explain the downside of syndicated real estate sites like Realtor.com, Zillow and Trulia to potential clients without sounding self serving.

After all, I have spent thousands of dollars on these slick advertising platforms myself in an attempt to do the very best marketing job for a seller or to meet a potential buyer to let them know how well my team could represent them in a home buying transaction.

Realtors compile this information and then the third party syndicators take it and use it, without rules or responsibility for accuracy or updating, and then sell ad space back to the Realtors in what some see as a hold-hostage situation.

The truth is, these sites do not allow a seller to sell more quickly or a buyer to have access to reliable, updated, valid information.

How many times have I had to explain to a potential buyer that even though they are looking at a beautiful ad for a home that says it is currently for sale, the home sold weeks or even months ago, or the price listed for the home is $30,000 less than what the home is actually listed for?

And then there was the time I had to show a potential seller that even though Zillow said his home was worth XXX, the homes Zillow was using as comparables had been destroyed in 2004 in Hurricane Ivan so could not be used to establish value of an existing home.

As Jim Abbott explains in the ARG video, third party syndicators may well have slowed the housing recovery by providing inflated inventory information and misleading buyers.

For reliable information on the Pensacola real estate market, and to see ALL homes actively listed, visit www.PensacolaForYou.com.