Once upon a time there was a building that had a mouse problem. They knew they had a mouse problem because they found mouse poop in the kitchen drawers. “Ick!” yelled the cook, “Something must be done!”
So the smart people got together to tackle the problem. One of them suggested getting a cat. They would let the cat live in the building and it would take care of the mouse problem for them. “The problem with that,” said one wise person, “Is that we’ll have to leave the cabinet doors open. And we’ll have to feed the cat and set up cat litter box duty. No thanks!”
Someone else suggested getting a plastic snake and putting it in the drawers where the mouse poop was found. “This will not work,” said one of the farmers. “I use plastic snakes in my garden to scare off the birds and they work well. But plastic snakes do not scare off mice. Mice are not afraid of plastic snakes. They just run right over them and ignore them.” So they scraped that idea.
Eventually they decided to use mouse traps with some peanut butter smeared on the trigger. And of course, it worked like a charm! The mouse problem was quickly eradicated and everybody was happy.
Are you looking to buy a Tulsa Oklahoma house online? Are you using sites like Trulia, Zillow, Realtor.com and others? If so, you’re a whole lot like those people who wanted to take care of the mouse problem using the cat and the plastic snake. You’re getting some information about Tulsa Oklahoma houses, but not necessarily the correct information.
And why is that? Because online sites like Zillow, Trulia and even Reatlor.com get their information from a database called the Multi-List System. This is where all Real Estate folks put the information about houses they have for sale. And all this information is regulated. It has to be entered correctly.
This information is released to online sites like Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. And guess what? They are not regulated. They can do with the information anything they wish. Now, this doesn’t mean they willfully change it. I’m convinced they don’t. However, we often find that correct information does not find its’ way from the Multi-List Database to Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com. Somehow or other, details sometimes get lost in translation.
How do we know this? Because often, when a home buyer calls about a property they found on one of those sites, the information is incorrect. The property may have already been sold. The estimate of value is off or, the agent listed by the property actually has nothing to do with the property.
That’s when we go to our Multi-List system where we find accurate and real-time information. We can tell you when the house went for sale, IF the house even IS for sale and who the listing agent is and if there has been any price reductions. We can tell you lots of other helpful information also. All you have to do is ask!
So the next time you’re looking for a property, go online if you want. But to be a smart Tulsa Oklahoma home shopper, call up your local real estate agent. They’ll get you what you need!
Real results...it's as simple as using peanut butter to catch a mouse! And everyone knows that works!
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Bob Haywood
Owasso, Oklahoma Realtor
Tulsa, OK Realtor®/ McGraw Realtors
Bob@BobHaywood.com
(918) 272-7272
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I agree with your blog wholeheartedly but also would have to include some REALTORS web site that keep old listings to show volume.
Bob, You are right about the external websites.
Just this morning I got a call on one of my listings that expired 8-2011. The owners were discouraged and decided to let it expire when it had not sold. I traced the information & it showed the lot had been on Zillow 5 days. So I clicked the link from whence it populated. Guess what? It was OUR website. We have an IDX feed and we syndicate from other places and we DON'T know where this feed is coming from but it is WRONG. And we don't know how to stop it. Trulia says it was added 180 days ago but indicates it is off market.
So I shudder when people are using these websites as they are out of date.
Bob,
Yes, we've had many buyers who were searching additionally beyond what we were sending them from MLS- just to make sure they left no stone unturned. Yep, you guessed it, they'd send links from other sites and ask about this or that property. Well, you know what comes next, the homes were SOLD 6 months ago- or off the market or under contract.
Work with your agent folks - you'll get the most relevant data and their expertise, which is priceless!
All the best, Michelle
I heard what might be a record breaking example of out of data in the last several days when one of my buyers gave me an address she found on line & wanted to see - and checking on MLS, it was clear that the last time it was actively listed was in 2007....
http://agbeat.com/cities/seattle/zillow-ends-listings-api-pulls-fsbos-from-redfin-other-sites/
Did you see this article heaven forbid FSBO gets in the mix of the data
Marilyn, missed that one. Will go check it out!
very interesting take on things... many consumers think that Trulia, et al, are the same as the multiple listing services.. and they couldn't be further from the truth.
Don't feed the beast. Zillow, Truila and the likes are all competitors. They take OUR info (listings) and sell the leads from our work to the highest paying person. Then they want us to pay them to advertise on their site next to our own listings. HOW FREAKING DUMB ARE REALTORS? Stay away from these sites. The info is bad and so is the business.
I tell every potential client this some thing, minus the mouse story, the first time I talk with them. They don't always listen, but they understand it when I keep telling them that the house "was sold months ago."
The issue is that they pull from third party sites and not directly from the MLS. I think Zillow is heading toward pulling from the MLS.
Zillow has "merged results" that combine listing and tax record data to create their view of what's correct. The problem with that is sometimes the data is wrong, from both sources. Or the wrong source overrides the correct source. It's a tough issue but I'm inclined to rely on the MLS rather than a listing syndication site. The only way to fix that would be to limit what the syndication sites can change when showing data.
Bob...
You are preaching to the choir here, and I think these sites have had their day in the sun!
Awesome post, I have several clients that state they saw this and that online. At the end all there info is not updated.
Their lack of updating have caused numerous problems for our group !!!
Awesome blog -- reblogged this one for sure!
Great analogy, Bob. I can't remember how many inquires I've fielded from an online site that had wrong data, closed six months ago or simply didn't exist (wrong address). Always best to stick with the local folks.
Hi Bob, thanks for this post. I wanted to share some information regarding Realtor.com's listing data. Our site's listings are sent directly to us from our 900+ MLS partners every day, and 82% of those listings are updated directly by the MLSs every 15 minutes. The rest are updated every one to 24 hours. Accurate listing data is so important to us--we agree that no one wants to waste time looking at a property that has already sold or may have had a price change that puts it out of budget.
Agregator sites such as the one you mention were never designed to provide a service to the consumer they were designed to generate an income stream for the service. In our area our personal web sites are updated direct from our board so they are even more current than the National MLS® site by up to 48 hours
Congrats on the feature! You make a great point. If a client wants real time, up to date information they need to call a local Realtor. Truilla, Zillow and the rest are not very accurate. Thanks for sharing and have a great week.
Bob, I loved your mouse story - and now, I'll add to my presentation. I do get leads from Zillow, Trulia and Realtor.com - and I do mention that the data there is borrowed from our MLS - so why don't you get the original?
Bob - This is quite an analogy. And, you're right. I've had so many people find wrong information on some of the sites.
Well done! If only home sellers knew how their property was being used the minute they have it listed . . . fodder for the third-party syndicators, who milk millions and millions of property listings for fun and profit . . . and the home buyer has no recompense at all. I love my MLS.
Bob:
Probably all of us have received calls from a buyer wanting to see a property that sold years ago. That information is out in the ether and no one knows how to correct the problem. A woman who bought a property I had listed at least 5 years ago called me to ask me to take the information down from the web. I told her that the MLS showed the property sold, and so did the sites we syndicate to. But others don't acknowledge update of listings and that is how she found it still on the web.
Hi Bob, I like your analogy. Let's get another animal in there and say, 'get it from the horse's mouth. Can I tell you who the snakes are? Never mind, it is a public post. lol
Bob, what a great way to tell the story about syndicated sites and the information they provide.
Good Morning Bob, This is a fantastic blog that really brings up a troubling trend. I ioften get lists of homes, addresses or MLS number from buyer who have used these sources and the homes are under contract or even closed. The buyers get frustrated becuase they do believe it is all one in the same. I always hear if it is online it has to be true?
So many of my buyers are on this site and think they are getting information I don't have....ugh. After awhile of sending me listings that sold a year or more ago, they go back to my site and get accurate information.
Incredible post! Zillow is misleading end consumers into making incorrect decisions about their financial future.
Great aritcle, I keep telling consumers but you put it so eloquently, worth re-blogging