Compare real estate syndication sites with 'scorecard'
Threewide report includes Cyberhomes, Google Base, Trulia, Zillow, among others
By Inman News, Friday, May 14, 2010.
Scorecard screenshot courtesy of Threewide Corp.Real estate data management company Threewide Corp. has released a report to help brokerages compare 55 listing syndication services, the company announced Wednesday.
Threewide compiled the "scorecard" from a survey given to participants of the company's listing syndication system, ListHub. The survey covered such characteristics as listing refresh frequency, property types displayed, and listing duplication policies, the company said.
Participating companies include Yahoo Real Estate, Cyberhomes, Google Maps, Homes.com, Trulia and Zillow, among others.
ListHub counts 270 multiple listings service organizations nationwide among its customers -- including 28,000 brokerages, the company said. The scorecard is meant to allow real estate professionals to more easily compare and contrast ListHub's many partners.
"The primary audience for our scorecard are the agents and brokers and practitioners, (to help them) be smarter about online media and make better decisions about where they send their listings," said Celeste Starchild, ListHub's vice president of sales and marketing.
"If a site only purges listings every 14 days, for example, some brokerages might not like that. If a homeowner buys a house and still sees it up and it has pictures of the interior, that might lead to some sticky situations," she said.
ListHub also hopes the report will encourage transparency among the providers and help brokerages manage their clients' expectations.
If a customer expects his or her condominium listing to be displayed in a certain number of sites, for example, but it isn't because some sites don't have a category for condos, the brokers will know in advance, Starchild said.
The scorecard is free to ListHub members. Work to assemble the scorecard took about five months. ListHub had sent the scorecard to participating companies for fact-checking. ListHub plans to update the report every six months, with plans to eventually publish it quarterly, Starchild said.
Scorecard screenshot courtesy of Threewide Corp.
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Submitted by Victor Lund on May 15, 2010 - 6:53am.
This is a fantastic program and we commend ListHub for taking on this problem. Data accuracy on many third party listing websites is horrific. In earlier WAV Group studies, as many as 50% of the lists were inaccurate on some sites in some markets.
I believe that Brokers have an expectation that the data being delivered to these sites through Listhub are being updated and purged as changes to the listing happen.
Listhub has been delivering listing updates, but the third party sites are under no obligation to modify or purge the data they receive - an often, they dont.
I also hope that Listhub tackles the next big issue with third party listing websites - the notion that the terms of use on many of these sites allow them to re-syndicate or sell the data, or reuse the data for other purposes. This is also clearly beyond the broker's expectation.
Studies about Listing Accuracy and Terms of Use are available at the WAV Group blog - waves.wavgroup.com
Victor Lund
Partner
WAV Group
http://waves.wavgroup.com
http://www.wavgroup.com
Submitted by Missy Caulk on May 17, 2010 - 5:06am.
Where is it? I couldn't find any scorecard that didn't cost to download and I am a member through my Brokerage.
Missy Caulk
Ann Arbor, MI
Missy@MissyCaulk.com
www.AnnArborRealEstateTalk.com
www.SearchAnnArborHouses.com
Submitted by Ginny Cain McMurtrie on May 17, 2010 - 6:15am.
What would have been smarter of Threewide would have been to issue a public 'state of syndication services' report for everyone to see, not just members. This is the kind of transparency we need from companies like Threewide who are routinely measuring this stuff.
Submitted by Celeste Starchild on May 17, 2010 - 7:49am.
Thank you for your comments!
Missy, if you login to your account and click "Channels" you'll see the scorecard on the top right side of your screen. Please email me if you need help finding it: cstarchild@listhub.com
Victor, great points! The scorecard does reflect the "re-syndication" policy of each site. We also note whether the site makes and API available for other companies to access the listings, and whether each site "powers" other sites. With one or two exceptions, sites that make a practice of re-syndicating listings and sites that distribute listings via and API do not include ListHub listings in these feeds.
Submitted by Victor Lund on May 18, 2010 - 7:58am.
Celeste - I particularly like the information regarding the policies of third party websites related to categories like Inactive Listing Removal Frequency, listing URLs, Listing Error Reports, and as you mention - re-syndication.
In our Listing Terms of Use report, we were trying to educate brokers and MLSs about details in their syndication relationships that they should be mindful of. Likewise, your comparison report will serve to provide brokers with a tool that makes it easy for them to compare the differences between the thrid party listing websites. They are not all created equally.
Obviously some are more in tune with protecting broker data and displaying it accurately. The report should raise the bar across all of the sites - I highly commend you and your company for driving excellence in listing syndication - it makes a difference.
Victor Lund
Partner
WAV Group
http://waves.wavgroup.com
http://www.wavgroup.com
Submitted by Andrew Mooers on September 16, 2010 - 1:48pm.
Anything that helps Johnny Appleseed my 170+ real estate links like wildfire so I can do the handywork once or twice and then lightning happens is applauded. More eyeballs, ears to see the imagery, copy, video is a very good thing and replicates a real estate broker's marketing efforts.
Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers - Houlton Maine / Aroostook County
www.mooersrealty.com
www.meinmaine.com