What's Realtor For?

An interesting read. This article is about how an Internet entrepreneur try to sell his house on Ebay, should alert us - real estate agents. Blame the Internet.. because that's how it get started. The Internet gives the tools for do-it-yourselfers the mechanism to cut the middleman (that' us!) and deal direct. 

This story is not about average Joe but, about someone who knows how to take advantage of the technology and the world surround it.

Excerpts:

An Internet pioneer who founded one of the first online travel networks is selling his Northern California waterfront home on eBay.

Dan Whaley, who founded The Internet Travel Network in 1994 and later sold it to Sabre/Travelocity for $750 million, had received 96 bids on the San Mateo, Calif., house as of Friday, with the highest bid at $812,100.

Selling a home without the help of an agent is unusual under any circumstances, even when the seller uses established companies such as Help-U-Sell and services like ForSaleByOwner.com. But Whaley has gone even further. He put his 1,600-square-foot, three-bedroom house for sale on eBay without even naming a reserve fee.

This Dan guy is using the tool that most real estate agent uses, and take it to the next level.

For-sale-by-owner listings are not new on the Internet, but selling a home on eBay is unusual. Whaley acknowledged that the giant auction site isn't the best vehicle for marketing the property to a large number of people.

"I am using eBay as an order taker, a broker between parties, while I market it outside using different techniques," he said.

To market the house, in addition to listing the house on craigslist, Whaley is discussing the sale on a neighborhood e-mail list. "That list is a great place to let people know you're selling your home. Members tend to tell friends who want to live here that a home is up for sale."

The craigslist and eBay listings include links to a Web site Whaley established as another marketing tool. The uncluttered, vivid site consists of one large square in the center of the page that rotates photos of the Mediterranean style pool, koi pond, Moroccan style fireplace and other features of the home. The site also has links to a description of the house and the bidding process.

There's also a link to the "Books Not Bars" organization, a group that works to direct youthful offenders to schooling and other organizations instead of incarceration. Whaley has long been associated with Books Not Bars and is donating a large part of the money he'll save on real estate commissions to the group.

Okay, fellow agents, whether we like it or not -- the Internet and technology will change the way we do business.

If not soon, sometime in the future.
- Urban Trekker

Related Link:
Dot-com pioneer auctions home on Ebay [Inman News]

Comments

[Ben]

Hi,

I'm not a realtor (software developer/entrepreneur), but am highly interested in the problem you describe above. Actually, I'm developing a service for people to sell their properties with a little more touch than your average sterile MLS listing, and also a much much better way to shop. My desire to try this sprung up from the completely inadequate way that I as a consumer am forced to shop for houses online. When I checked out cost to list, I was stunned by how much listing fees are. That was my impetus.

Here's a question I have though, are realtors interested in promoting their properties in a system that puts them right along-side FSBOs (such as ebay, or another non-MLS site)?

I get the feeling that many realtors may like the idea that somehow MLS data and it's rules and debate about rules protect them from competing directly against FSBOs --- at least regarding competing on the internet.

In my opinion, protecting, hiding, or "owning" listing data is a concept that does not have staying power. I think it's time for realtors to take the gloves off, resist the urge to hunker down and "own" data, and simply compete online, and market online better than any guy like the one in your article post could do. You must become online marketing experts.

Using the MLS to list online is a bad way to market, with no differentiation, no conversation, no real highlighting of you as a property promotion expert. Maybe the MLS is great on your side of the transaction,(although the technical cost to list doesn't justify the cost they charge) but from the consumer side, the shopping experience is just plain bad, and when I shop I have no idea who you, the realtor, are.

Do you think most realtors agree regarding MLS data ownership? Are realtors excited about marketing online? Is the internet still scary? Would realtors be interested in listing in something that wasn't the MLS?(assuming a better web experience)

I hope I'm able to make a point. Not being a realtor, please let me know if I'm missing any key issues.

Thanks for the article post and reflections.

thanks
Ben

[San Diego Real Estate Man]

While I can see more people trying to sell their properties and real estate direct in the future, there will always be a need, IMHO, for a "buffer" aka agent/broker in the middle. People by nature are greedy S.O.B.s and will kill each other if you let them. Many people don't have the time or inclination to search for the "perfect" home or income property for them. Most people want someone to hold their hand, which is why real estate agents/brokers have a job. It will be interesting to see how the coming months and the likely slow down of the national real estate market affect all of this talk of, "the end of the broker."