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Tom Kelly
Tom Kelly
The Real Estate Adviser

November 13, 1998

Realtors' web site is on a roll

By TOM KELLY
The Real Estate Advisor

ANAHEIM, Ca. -- Stuart Wolff was rolling along.

Even though his electronic Powerpoint presentation had crashed, the brains behind Realtor.com -- the nation's most visited real estate website -- was bubbling to tell reporters gathered for the National Association of Realtors annual convention how consumers have now viewed one billion homes on his site in fewer than two years.

"We have more than 450 multiple listing services nationwide placing listings on the Realtor.com system," Wolff said. "We have 95 percent of all existing homes listed for sale in the country which is approximately 1.3 million now.

"I call it a national resource, one that everyone can benefit from."

Then, a couple of questions seemed to yank away the punch bowl just as Wolff's session was on the upswing.

"What's going to take to get all the major multiples to join Realtor.com," a reporter asked.

"What do you mean?" Wolff asked. "We have more than 450."

It was time to interrupt.

"What is it going to take to sign the Northwest Multiple?"

"Oh, I see you're from Seattle," Wolff nervously laughed. "Things are a little skewed in your corner of the world."

Skewed may be right -- perhaps it's the rain. But the Kirkland-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service (formerly the Puget Sound Multiple Listing Association) remains the only major broker-agent group in the country not to subscribe Realtor.com, the official site of the National Association of Realtors.

Wolff is chairman and chief executive officer of RealSelect, the parent company that operates Realtor.com. MLS firms around the country do not pay a fee to participate on Realtor.com or one of its competitors. Instead, the individual MLS is viewed as a "content provider" and is compensated by RealSelect for posting listings on Realtor.com. RealSelect makes its money by charging advertisers and promoters a fee for a presence on Realtor.com.

Wolff not only seems to resent the fact that the Northwest Multiple is not a player, but it also has him frustrated and perplexed. Why would anybody not accept his-self made national resource?

"Some of our larger brokers don't feel these sites are necessarily real estate friendly to the industry," said Jack Johnson, executive director of Northwest Multiple. "A lot of them feel that this thing is still in its infancy and there's no real reason to jump right into it."

The Northwest Multiple now represents 839 companies in 1,014 offices and 14,140 brokers and salespersons throughout King, Snohomish, Pierce, Kitsap, Skagit and Grays Harbor counties. Associations in other counties are expected to join soon.

"We address the issue periodically and there are many concerns among our

members," Johnson said. "One of the main ones is that many of these national sites draw consumers to the lending part of the transaction. That is not something we are excited about as a focus."

Clearly, loan information has been a huge issue -- and presence -- on real estate sites. Some critics say deals have been made with more than listings in mind. For example, Fannie Mae, the nation's leading provider of mortgage money, recently signed a deal with RealSelect that would allow Fannie Mae to post its home financing information on and promote its foreclosure housing stock -- some 20,000 units a year -- that are listed with Realtors.

Johnson said he did not feel Western Washington homebuyers and sellers were being neglected regarding an on-line presence. The Northwest Multiple has its own website (http://www.nwrealestate.com) and nearly all properties listed for sale can be found there. However, some brokers say that referrals could be enhanced by a presence on a nationally recognized site like Realtor.com or Microsoft's HomeAdvisor.

Some companies have struck deals with Microsoft's HomeAdvisor, which is Realtor.com's chief competitor. John L. Scott was the first local firm to sign with the Redmond-based site and several other individual offices of RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker Bain and ERA have followed suit.

Wolff, who holds a masters degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Princeton, says he is not concerned by the competition.

"The real estate industry comprises 15 percent of the nation's total annual gross domestic product," Wolff said. "There's segmentation in the marketplace and I don't see that going backward. So, we expect there will be a lot of big players out there and a lot will come and go. So, I say, 'Bring them on."'

Consumers have shown that they are hungry for real estate information on the net but are skittish about purchasing electronically -- unlike books, stocks and plane tickets. The average buyer-seller prefers to accumulate information and work with a real estate salesperson.

"And I don't know what to do about getting those Seattle-area listings," Wolff said. "I've been up there, I've sent two other guys up there . . . It's just one of those things."

Remember, things are a little skewed in this corner of the world.



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