I don’t know how many posts there will be in this series but I will continue to post them until I find out. I want NAR to completely reclaim Realtor.com. I want them to take it away from MOVE (formerly Homestore). I want everything about Realtor.com to be a member service included with our dues – just like realtor.ca is for Canadian Realtors.
My Realtor.com pencil sharpener graphic above is pretty much how most Realtors who are involved with selling real estate tend to see Realtor.com.
Is there anything about Zillow you don’t like? How about Trulia? Anything you don’t like about Trulia? There are perhaps a hundred (a thousand?) other me-too sites that I won’t even mention. Let me tell you who to thank.
Thank the early to mid 90’s NAR Board of Directors. If it wasn’t for them and the decisions they made Zillow, Trulia, etc., etc., etc. would not exist. Oh, I know, the internet changed everything, blah blah blah. How do I know? Simple. Look again at the Canadian version of "Realtor.com". Then, check around Canada and notice how Zillow, Trulia and any other home valuation, MLS search (fill in whatever adjective you like) aren’t there. Not there. Why? Canada has homes. Canada has homes for sale. People buy and sell homes in Canada. Canadians want to know what their homes are worth.
Why aren’t any of those companies in Canada? Realtor.ca is the answer.
I understand that the decisions made by the NAR about Realtor.com a decade ago seemed like a good idea at the time. It is easy to now find fault with those decisions – that isn’t my point. I am not accusing them of doing the wrong thing then. I am asking them to do the right thing now.