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Select a City: No Preference Allen Anna Carrollton Celina Frisco Little Elm Lucas Mckinney Melissa Murphy Parker Plano Prosper The Colony Wylie Choose a property type: Residential Multifamily Commercial Land Lease

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MAP

Select a Starting Point: No Preference Allen Anna Carrollton Celina Frisco Little Elm Lucas Mckinney Melissa Murphy Parker Plano Prosper The Colony Wylie Choose a property type: Residential Multifamily Commercial Land Lease

What is your price range? No Minimum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000 No Maximum $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $325,000 $350,000 $375,000 $400,000 $425,000 $450,000 $475,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,750,000 $2,000,000 $2,250,000 $2,500,000 $2,750,000 $3,000,000 $3,250,000 $3,500,000 $3,750,000 $4,000,000 $4,500,000 $5,000,000 $5,500,000 $6,000,000 $6,500,000 $7,000,000 $7,500,000 $8,000,000 $8,500,000 $9,000,000 $9,500,000 $10,000,000

Number of rooms required? Baths 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+ Beds 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8+

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Online Home Search Technology Heading Back to the Ice Age if NAR / MIBOR Ruling Stands

Is the future quality of the public's online Real Estate search experience about to change for the worst? That is the question a lot of Realtors® are wanting to know. Because what is now happening under MIBOR's new ruling (The local board of Realtors® of Indianapolis) which was laughably supported by the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) may be setting the stage for higher consumer costs for Realtor services and much less access to quality online real estate information the public has come to expect and consumers should be both concerned and outraged.

Are We About to Frustrate Consumers in the name of Money?

Capitalism is about money and professional trade organizations are about standards but it seems the distinction has become increasingly blurred. Usually when a large organization tinkers, it is to make more money for themselves or to make it more expensive for others, but one thing is for sure someone is going pay and it is not just going to be Realtors® if the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) distorted anti-search engine “scraper rule” gets more widely accepted around the various realtor boards throughout the country. It is going to be the public that takes a giant step backwards in the level of exposure they now get when they list their home with a local realtor® not to mention the loss of the quality of online information they now enjoy as a result of the remarkable efforts of tech savvy Realtors® and dedicated web development companies like REW in Nanaimo BC, Canada.  Inefficiencies and red tape typically mean paying more and that is why the NAR / MIBOR ruling can and in my opinion will eventually cost the public more at a time when technology improvements should be reducing consumer costs.

NAR and MIBOR says Google is a "Scraper Site?"

Sure blame it on Google! That choice was an easy and convenient 'out' for NAR. Lets blame it on Google, while the agents take the hit is more sellable then "lets blame it on the agents." Keep reading and see if what I am saying does not make sense. With 20 years in engineering before entering the real estate profession I learned years ago that troubleshooting required an open mind and a decision making process that eliminated what the problem "was not." Finally when you get rid of what the problem "is not" the actual problem reveals itself. When I looked at this issue from the point of view of just 'who' is going to be most affected by NAR's decision it was clear to me it was not Google. In fact Google could give a rats behind about being denied access to certain agent websites, it will simply tabulate indexes based upon what it CAN CRAWL. So no problem for Google, no penalty for Google and business as usual continues at Google leaving the agent to bear potential damages of NAR's so called "anti-scraper" decision and you can add the public as being number 2 in line behind the agents.  

The fact is Realtors® are the local representatives for the people we serve in our local markets. NAR is not the local expert, NAR does not answer our clients personal questions and concerns when buyers don’t show up or their expectations are not met. So why would NAR essentially frustrate the online marketing efforts of countless real estate practitioners to promote their clients listings? Is it not the Realtors® who not only FOOT THE BILL for the public’s IDX system but spend thousands of dollars in website development costs to provide quality content to buyers and sellers? So why would NAR and MIBOR take such steps to essentially sensor public access to online IDX listing information by denying Google from accessing IDX listings on local agents websites? Was the Public complaining about the online content they now enjoy? Of course not! The state-of-the-art has taken huge leaps in just the last 12-24 months and if NAR wants to improvement further over the information the public accesses then it must take back Realtor.com from the PRIVATE company that now owns it. Read about the "Realtor.com" issue and how it impacts the Real Estate Industry and American Realtors.

Realtor.com and the Public Misconception of its Value? 

I am a member of NAR and believe in a sound code of ethics, but NAR needs to know who Realtors® primarily serve and that is NOT NAR, it is our clients and the public at large. Six years ago when I got into Real Estate I used Realtor.com and even paid more money to have premium listing spots for my hometown. The biggest problem was I can’t recall ever selling one home as a result of Realtor.com and so I terminated my rather EXPENSIVE account with them and they called year after year wanting all kinds of money to renew and I said NO! I have even had a client terminate their listing with me because he wanted better Realtor.com exposure and I still would not go back to Realtor.com. I begged this individual to reconsider and told him that I have never sold a house via Realtor.com and hence it was an unjustifiable expense for me, but in the end he cancelled. That was ~18 months ago and this individual's home is still UNSOLD today for almost $50K less then what I was trying to sell it for! Yep, this individual got cool Realtor.com exposure and his 2nd and 3rd listing agents got to pay hefty Realtor.com fees and other advertising bills out of their own pockets.

Realtor.com as it is currently arrayed just makes no sense in the Dallas MLS market and this opinion is shared by many local agents who have shared their thoughts with me. The only reason I harp on Realtor.com is the fact that NAR somehow magically changes Google from a "Scraper site" when it indexes local listings found on agent websites, back to "Google.com" when it indexes the same IDX listings on Realtor.com! To see how all this is going to affect the operation of public MLS access go to ground zero "Agent Genius" in Indianapolis and read and see if you can't smell a tampering little rat!

Broker Reciprocity Already Exists to PREVENT Google Indexing, But Why Would Any Broker Want To Limit Public Listing Exposure?

Locally in North Texas a Broker has the RIGHT to select whether they want their listings appearing on other broker’s websites WHEN THEY ENTER THEIR LISTINGS INTO NTREIS MLS. This is known as the “Broker Reciprocity Rule.” Did MIBOR have this feature? If not, then MIBOR needs to get this feature into their MLS system and the problem is solved. If a Broker truly wants to defend his listing from showing up in the Search Engines under another broker's website they can evoke the NO RECIPROCITY field in MLS and Google, Yahoo and others will NEVER find that listing on anyone's website except the listing agents, Realtor.com and elsewhere the listing agent wants to advertise. The question is what SELLER would want this when it means less public exposure?

I can’t ever recall with any of the listings I have taken where a client told me, “Can you please make it difficult for the public to find my home on the internet?” It has always been quite the opposite, the word “shotgun” comes to mind. And although I do have the ability to RESTRICT my listing from other brokers websites, If I told a home owner I was going to exclude buyers from seeing their MLS listing on  Keller, Ebby, Re/Max and the thousands of smaller agent websites, do you think they would tell me to take a hike? But isn’t this exactly what NAR is about to do if they get their anti-competitive “Scraper Site” ruling widely approved so that all search engine roads leads to Realtor.com, Truilia.com and Craigslist.org?

What Do Realtors® Do? They Market and Advertise LISTINGS and NAR wants this STOPPED?

NAR's proposed ruling is akin to taking ice cream out of the Ice Cream Parlor, food out of the Restaurants, air planes out of the Airline Industry, but as silly as this sounds this is net effect of what will happen when Realtors® primary marketing efforts via IDX feeds they receive from their local boards (That they pay dearly for) are prevented from being freely accessed by the public. The fact is when a Broker agrees to reciprocity, (the ability to allow another broker to re-advertise their listings) then search engines must be free to index these listings and organize them in whatever order the search engine scientists deem are logical and relevant for the public. I know my listings are on 1000’s of agent websites and sometimes Google shows this listing as mine and sometimes some other agency gets higher rankings in the Search Engine and it shows up for them. That’s life! The difference between agents like me and NAR and MIBOR is that I /we don’t consider Google or other Realtors® as scrapers if my/our listings shows up on their website as a result of Google indexing just so long as my/our listings are getting MAXIMUM public exposure. 

Here is the underlying fact that is being missed in all of this; it is the Client / seller who wants more exposure not less. They don’t give a flip about Broker Reciprocity (until it means less marketing exposure for them) and they could care less if a “Keller” listing can be fund on “Re/Max” so long as it CAN BE FOUND! The public wants better technology for their money and not a return to a pre-internet Ice Age. This "scraper rule" in my opinion smacks on being illegal and anti-consumer. It helps to funnel the public to the most influencial Megga agencies with the most listings delivering buyers back into the laps of listing agents just like it was in the good old days. NAR knows fully well that a buyer is nearly always better served when they are represented by a buyer’s agent versus the listing agent. This is the law of agency 101.  My point is this let the consumer choose where they go for their real estate needs based upon a fair and competing marketplace as this will deliver the greater good for consumers and help drive down their costs.

Did "Scraper Site" Join Terms Having Interchangeable Meanings?

scrap·er (skrpr) n. One that scrapes, especially a tool for scraping off paint or other adherent matter such as ice on a windshield. See http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scraper

Looks like NAR is doing its best to redefine the word "scraper" for the internet age. And that brings me to a very important point about just who the so called "IDX scrapers" actually are according to the logic NAR itself is putting out about this exploding issue. You see a scraper site is using technology to access data it is not entitled to. Certainly Google is not a "Scraper site" as implied by NAR and MIBOR because if it was a true "scraper site" why would NAR knowingly permit Google to "scrape" Realtor.com or other approved websites? Although NAR has classified Google as a "scraper website" in a play of words, it will be the tens of thousands of American Realtors (and millions of their clients) who are about to pay the ultimate price for what NAR calls scraping. The fact that NAR allows Google to access "Realtor.com" and other approved sites and that such access does not constitute "scraping" admits on the face that Google is not a scraper site. This also implies a double standard and unfair trade practice aimed at Realtors® to say the least that will in my opinion will eventually cost consumers more for agent services. 

Does The "Scraper" Shoe Fit Realtors®?  

So if Google is NOT a data scraper then one can only be left with the realization that agents who PAY to have rightful access to IDX data and now prevented from sharing it with their local markets as a result of NAR's ruling were indeed the problem the "Scraper rule" set out to solve. Logically speaking, if agents who now have MLS IDX listing data that is indexable by Google and the problem is deemed solved by NAR only by selectively preventing local agents (who have broker reciprocity rights to readvertise) from having IDX listing data indexed by Google, then regardless of who NAR claims is the "scraper" their (NAR's) logic fails because scraping only STOPS when the AGENTS are prevented from being indexed by Google. The fact is Google remains unaffected by NAR's decision, selective competing businesses like Realtor.com becomes an obvious beneficiary or this arbitrary decision which shunts former agent traffic directly to THEM, web development costs incured by Realtors essentially becomes a loss, natural lead generation derived from the operation of a free and fair market is clearly being manipulated, and it is the agents who are left to bear all the negative consequences.

With this said it surely seems that the "scraper" shoe does indeed fit the agents even if the play on words attempts to single out Google as the guilty party. The fact remains the fallout from all of this is clearly born by the agents and then the public. Technology has indeed created time and money saving efficiencies for consumer and it looks like greed is about to take them away.

Hopefully when NAR meets to take up this issue in a more general way in mid May NAR will reconsider its actions. Broker Reciprocity explicitly allows competing brokers to readvertise other brokers listings and to create selective barriers to prevent this is simply unconsionable and grossly unfair.

Please Don't Drag us Back to the (not so) Good Old Days! 

You know the old days of doing real estate REALLY SUCKED on many levels in my opinion. Buyers were always at risk of being steered at the behest of agents who had other motives in mind. Many homes were simply not shown whether by mistake or design. The amount of time and energy required were in many cases wasteful of both human and natural resources. Now technology changed all that and NAR wants to take it back to the dark ages and that simply can not be allowed nor should it be tolerated.

You can read more about this evolving topic and as always I invite your opinions.

http://www.mygulfcoastbeachteam.com/2920292-carmel/

http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/blogs/morgan-carey/7732/show/

http://www.itkeepsyourunning.com/mibor-nar-hurting-membership/

http://activerain.com/blogsview/1065970/a-local-board-of-realtors-just-gave-more-power-to-zillow-trulia-etc-over-it-s-own-members

http://www.ericonsearch.com/mibor-and-nar/

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