I hear you knockin', but you can't come in

So it wasn't just Trulia that got the door slammed on them at the Prudential Real Estate show in San Diego this week. Zillow was also shown the door (see Inman News story).

Both companies booked exhibit booths and flew execs to the show only to be told to pack up and leave before the doors opened. Trulia COO Sami Inkinen said his company was told they weren't welcome by none other than eRealty founder Russ Capper, because Trulia competes with the exclusive agreement Prudential has with Yahoo! Real Estate (Capper and Yahoo! wouldn't comment).

That agreement puts Prudential brokers' listings on Yahoo! Real Estate, then makes their agents pay referral fees when they close a deal using a lead generated through the arrangement. Trulia and Zillow let (beg?) brokers to send them listings and they don't charge them fees (unless they want to buy ads).

Ironically, Capper -- who ended up as president of Prudential's e-commerce subsidiary, Prudential Real Estate Services Co., after Prudential bought eRealty for its technology -- seems to have made the transition from the outsider shaking up the establishment to defender of the status quo.

Inkinen wasn't really miffed -- business is business, he said, and it was Prudential's convention -- but some Prudential brokers wondered if their franchisor was really looking out for their best interests (Prudential Real Estate issued a one-sentence statement saying the company "is committed to the needs of its affiliates and to providing them with the highest level of service and support.").

Side note: is that former eRealty CFO Stephen Amante adding his voice to the "What a blunder!" comments at Sellsius blog (which broke this story)? Stephen, if you're reading this, Inman News and TurnHere share a founder but are separate companies.
--Matt Carter, Inman News

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