Online real estate marketplace Trulia has hired iHomefinder founder and CEO Alon Chaver to build new services for brokers and multiple listing services, expand data quality initiatives, and strengthen industry partnerships.
As vice president of industry services, Chaver will be responsible for the strategy and direction of Trulia’s broker, MLS and data teams.
Chaver is "a well-respected industry veteran with an in-depth knowledge of listing data standards," Trulia CEO Pete Flint said in a statement. "His expertise will be invaluable as we continue to improve data quality, deepen industry relationships, and expand our services to help agents, brokers and MLSs grow their businesses. We are delighted to welcome him to the Trulia team."
In his LinkedIn profile, Chaver describes himself as having brought "a strong sense of legal and ethical responsibility" to iHomefinder’s "operations, network of high-trust relationships, and the hundreds of MLSs who trust iHomefinder with stewardship of their data."
 Alon Chaver |
Third-party websites like Trulia and Zillow often get listings from multiple sources, which can make it difficult to maintain accuracy. A recent WAV Group study sponsored by the brokerage Redfin found more than one-third of agent-represented listings on Trulia and Zillow were no longer for sale. The study found the sites also lacked data for about one-fifth of properties that were listed for sale in an MLS.
Several brokerages have decided to withold listings from third-party websites because of concerns about accuracy and ads for agents with competing firms that often appear next to listings. Other brokers have opted to pay for "enhanced" listings or are providing direct listings feeds in exchange for featured placement of their listings and limitations on ads from competing brokers.
Realtor.com, which has ties to the National Association of Realtors, gets listings directly from MLSs and has not been a target of complaints about listing accuracy, although Edina Realty, the largest brokerage in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, stopped providing listings to Realtor.com in May, citing ads for competing brokers around its listings.
Trulia and Zillow have both launched campaigns to obtain listings directly from brokers, rather than through third-party syndicators. In May, Trulia recruited Matt Dollinger, who’d been vice president of strategic development with an innovative Chicago-based brokerage, @properties, as head of industry relations.
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